Please talk me out of it!!!!! Help!!!!!

[Hockeychic]

DH and I are currently booked on a Eastern through Disney. Great looking forward to it.

However, DH gets on the internet this morning and realizes that we can get a better cabin, Outside as appose to inside and including tips for $1000 Canadian cheaper then the disney cruise.

My heart says disney but my chequebook is saying Carnival Glory.

My kids are 16 and 13 but we do love disney...well DS at 16 doesn't care as long as it is warm.....lol

Please convince me to stay with Disney....or some good reasons why Carnival is better. I have heard rumours however on another website that there is a slot tournament and a singles group going to be on this cruise through carnival.

What do you think!!!!

Help please!!!!

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Without a doubt I would stay with Disney.

 

[Bethipooh4]

Hands Down, Disney...

Even my 21 yr old son prefers Disney.

Have been on Carnival, not impressed.
PM me if you want some specifics about Carnival vs Disney, my opinion of course.

 

[Mortlives]

My checkbook tried to tell me the exact same thing. However, the Magic is going exactly where I would like to go, and while we're at sea waiting to get to our next Port of Call, we'll be on a *Disney* cruise ship. Which means DS is welcome (I think it was Carnival's website that said under *18's* couldn't go anywhere on the ship alone), we can attend the Golden Mickey's, our stateroom has a proper bed (I've heard this isn't always the case with other ships), there's lots of stuff for us to do that isn't too "adult", and we can count on Disney quality and service. No contest, as far as I'm concerned.

Kungaloosh!
Morticia.

 

[lindakmonty]

I've only been on the Disney cruise 4 times and wouldn't dream of going on another line. Of coarse my son is only 4 yrs old...but the quality alone is worth it to me. The shows, the food, the service and the ship itself is just wonderful to me. I do enjoy reading others opinions on other lines though just to know what others think of them and the overwhelming majority of what I read also agree Disney it is for sure. But of coarse I got married at WDW so...I'm just a little Disney crazy my son hears the word vacation and he automatically thinks he's going on a Disney cruise!! I would definately stick w/Disney... its worth it!!

 

[26555]

With the ages of your kids, you might want to price RCCL, voyager class.

 

[Hockeychic]

We can not due RCCL due to travel dates. I have checked them out and they do look nice.

Thanks everyone for your advise....keep it coming......I think it might be working

 

[mmouse37]

After 13 DCL cruises with kids who are now 21, 20 and 17.....we just came back earlier in the month from the Carnival Legend out of NYC.....

You really cannot compare the two lines as they are very different, but just let let me say that there is life and fun after a DCL cruise on other lines...

Food was great, ship clean, tons of activites, very comfortable beds....any my kids all much preferred the nightlight on Carnival compared to DCL. And contrary to what a poster mentioned above....under 18 year olds are allowed to go places without adult...though the 18 and over pool was strictly enforced!!! There was a casino onboard and it was full every night, though I did not participate as that is not my thing....if you walked on that deck you did have to pass through the casino and it was smokey at times, but to avoid that you just had to walk on the deck above...

You have to make the choice...DCL will always be my favorite but I will certainly, for cost reasons, cruise other lines and still have a great time. Cost will always be a factor and DCL's prices keep going up and up making it harder to sail with them every time.

I believe the Glory and Legend are only 1 year apart but the Glory is larger.....

The following is copied from another post about Carnival that I posted about last week.

McDonalds sells billions of burgers though, don't they!!! I have cruised Carnival a few times the older ships do tend to get a more younger crowd but I saw more drunks on DCL than I have ever seen on Carnival.....most recently June 30 to July 8th on the Legend (build 2 years ago) out of NYC to San Juan, St. Thomas and Tortola....we had a great time....it in no way compares to Disney as far as service, but they do a great job. We were a group of 50 people and all had a great time....

Carnival surpasses DCL in their pool deck areas and breakfast/lunch buffet areas....several buffet lines, more variety of food than DCL, plenty of seating. The decor of the Carnival ships are very lavish and a bit over the top but they are meant to be that way. They surpass DCL as far as amount and size of elevators as well. I did not see any lower class of people than I have seen on DCL.

We encountered nothing that would keep us from cruising Carnival again....On the two formal nights people were dressed to the nines.....there were no drunks to be seen anywhere....food was great (and they even turned people away from the dining room if they were not dressed appropriately....i.e. shorts!)....there were all ages of people from infants in strollers to grandmas and grandpas....a strictly enforced adult only pool area and club area. Our kids liked the nightlife much better than DCL. They had a great time.

So many people knock Carnival but unless you have gone recently don't be so quick to judge. I would never really compare Carnival to DCL as it would be like comparing apples to oranges...they are different and both have their good and bad points.

Anyone on these boards for any length of time knows that I love DCL and have sailed with them 13 times....I just want to say that DCL will always be my favorite but there is an enjoyable time to be had on other cruiselines. Oh and the Carnival promo line is "The Fun Ships", not "The Party Ships"....

I also would like to know what ship the OP was on.

Here is a link to our pics from our Carnival cruise this month in case anyone would like to take a look....

Part 1 http://community.webshots.com/album/392088732kqsOep

Part 2 http://community.webshots.com/album/393162528ZUjTWh

Part 3 http://community.webshots.com/album/393162528ZUjTWh

 

[Eyore4Ever149]

Do you think you will get the vacation you want (and deserve) if you are on a cruise other than Disney? If you think you will have just as much fun and be just as thrilled and not wondering "Would we have been happier on Disney's boat?" than make the choice to go with Carnival.

When we do a Disney vacation I know I am sacrificing the opportunity to take other vacations and do more- but I know how much I have come to love Disney and all that that name offers. Disney vacations have a certain imagery in my head that no other vacation offers. I know I said I would do a Cape Cod vacation next summer- but here I am- only 3 months after my trip, wondering if I can handle waiting 2 years to return to Disney.

Will a cruise of any other kind do this for you? And frankly, you already had the funds set aside to do Disney right? Its not always about cost-

I wish you the best of luck and encourage you to go Disney this time around- and do Carnival on some future vacation. I can't imagine you will me on a Disney Cruise wondering if you should have gone on Carnival!

 

[tvguy]

Okay, lets convert those Canadian dollars to help those using U.S. current understand.
$1000 Canadian equals $820 U.S.

$820 divided by 7 days means Disney is $117 a day more expensive than Carnival.
$117 a day divided by 4 people is $29.29 per person per day more for Disney. So, ask yourself, is the Disney experience worth $29 a day per person over the cost of Carnival?
Need more help deciding? Let's compare Disney theme parks to "other" theme parks. Price of admission for one adult to Six Flags is $44.
One day admission to Disneyworld is $59.75. Disney is $15 a day more expense than other them parks per person.
Which would you rather go to, Six Flags or Disneyworld, and is Disneyworld worth $15 a day extra? I think the answer to that question should be in line with whether you would enjoy a Disney cruise enough to justify the extra cost.
Personally, I think everyone should go at least once on a Disney cruise. But better to cruise on another line, than not at all.

 

[castlegazer]

there's no shame in cruising another line - Carnival Glory is a very, very nice ship. Bigger and more diversified than the Magic. You can't compare lines with Disney - you can compare other lines against each other, just not with Disney. You sail Disney for the Disney service, magic, and characters. You sail other lines to go cruising.

I have sailed Princess, Celebrity and came very very close to sailing Carnival out of NYC. I am sailing DCL in the spring and will likely sail other lines after this experience. One reason is that my husband and I love cruising - we can't cruise as much as we want on DCL - its just not cost effective.

Research the Glory and see what you think. Also, as others have said, research other lines too.

This is kindof a stupid question to ask here, though. You will most likely get 90% of the respondants to tell you to go DCL. Its a not a very unbiased view of cruising here.

 

[imomtojd]

"My heart says disney but my chequebook is saying Carnival Glory."

If you can afford it then I would stay with the DCL if your choice is between that and Carnival. I've been on several Carnival cruises and while we had a good time, there were many drawbacks that would make me choice another crusie line for future vacations. There was lots of drinking and loud young adults on all the Carnival cruises and the thing that turned me off the most was the abundant smoking. You CAN'T enjoy most of the venues unless you don't mind smoke (and I do). Next year we will be taking our first Disney cruise and we are so excited. We will definately be trying other cuise lines in the future (DH and I love cruising) but will stay away from Carnival.

HTH Lisa

 

[captaincrash]

You can get sailings even CHEAPER then the Glory....

And by the same token you can spend much more than DCL. It really boils down to your REAL budget and indentfying the priorities. Glory was built in 2001 versus the Magic in 1998 with a refit in 2000+ 2001. The space ratio is 37.0 on Glory versus 35.0. Passengers/crew on the Glory are 2974/1150 versus the Magic with 1754/950. This translates into 2.59 Glory passengers to each crewman versus 1.85 Magic passengers per crewmen.

Further considerations: Magic has the huge kids' facilities (OK for the 13 YO, possibly less so for the 16); versus GLORY with kids facilities that seem decent sized (I looked - it's on the SUn Deck). BUT really - the kids' facilities are definately q world apart qualitatively being DISNEY. Also... Magic has substituted their deck space that otherwise would be casino a area for more family and children's spaces.

Heck... so how does it compare in SUMMARY?

IMHO - Glory is bigger and newer (on paper) and they actually have larger space ratios. Larger by 5.7% versus Magic. However - the Magic IMHO is physically maintained to a level that rivals the NEWEST ships I've sailed on. Plus on space ratio - I PREFER the layout of the Magic versus Carnival ships - so in spite of the ratio edge I think Carnival squanders it things I don't appreciate (like bars and the casino). So these considerations "wash".

GLORY can be interpreted as a mass market machine intelligently designed to it's credit to improve customer satisfaction WITH profitability to the company. The passenger to staff ratio of 2.59:1 versus Magic with 1.85:1 on the Magic is a signifiacnt difference - er rather - it's a statement of market position and design intent. Consider.... the Crystal Harmony (arguably the Flagship of the world's best super luxury BIG cruise line) has 940 passengers with 545 crew for a ratio of 1.72:1. Plus we've always appreciated the undeniable difference in service from Disney to other mass market lines we've sailed on.

Now.... I gotta run ... so I'll finish this later.

 

[lindakmonty]

another thought...if you're trying to just save some cash, are your dates flexible? sometimes you can save a ton just by WHEN you sail..? just a thought....

 

[lilo62]

It'd be Disney hands down for me.

 

[Hockeychic]

Thank you all for your opinions. I believe we will be staying with DCL

You all have very valid points and I appreciate you taking the time to express them.

 

[lindakmonty]

I really don't think you will regret your decision. Have a blast on your cruise!!

 

[Big MacK]

Disney is a little more expensive than other lines. Other cruise lines can cut the cost due to the Casinoes on board.
Do you think the lush hotels in Vegas and Atlantic city are supported by the cost of their Hotel Rooms?

 

[mmouse37]

Other cruise lines also many far more ships than DCL does which drive price down for them......DCL sails at full capacity almost always so the demand is always high so they can charge pretty much what they want!!! Basic supply and demand. Other cruise lines have thousands of cabins to fill each week in their fleet while DCL just has the two ships....

MJ