We are saving $1800 the last week in July. More if you price them now. That is with 6 people: 4 in an outside (window stateroom, compared to a Cat 10 and 4 in inside guarentee, versus a Cat11. I hate not doing DCL, but just couldn't fork the $$ out. I am so glad to hear positive about Carnival. I figure to roll with it and enjoy it, because after all it is a cruise.
Promised to "tell" about our Carnival cruise, so here it is!
- Thread starter hilltopfamily
- Start date
Wow that is quite a price difference! I am not opposed to taking a Carnival Cruise in the future, but I must admit that I am still concerned about their party hard meat market image.... I look forward to hearing more reviews on Carnival Cruises.
This year our 1st cruise I will have to take my son out of school for the cruise and the ex-wife was not very happy about that.... If we cruise again it will probably have to be during summer break or when school is out....
Thanks for the info...
This year our 1st cruise I will have to take my son out of school for the cruise and the ex-wife was not very happy about that.... If we cruise again it will probably have to be during summer break or when school is out....
Thanks for the info...
We did a Carnival Cruise after Valenine's day out of Miami (Eastern Route on the Carnival Paradise) There were many kids on board. My daughter (age 7) loved Camp Carnival and she chose to go to Camp Carnival more often then when we took our Disney Cruise. Disney was our first cruise, so we will always have great memories of the vacation. However, we booked Carnival only 3 months ahead of time, and received a much better rate than if we would have went on Disney (our quotes for Disney were double than Carnival for the same week!)
There was a topless deck, but it is at the top of the ship, with restricted under-age access...I didn't notice any crazy drinkers on board...in fact there were many families there!
I thought Disney did a better job keeping the ship clean, but other than that, I enjoyed our vacation on Carnival!
There was a topless deck, but it is at the top of the ship, with restricted under-age access...I didn't notice any crazy drinkers on board...in fact there were many families there!
I thought Disney did a better job keeping the ship clean, but other than that, I enjoyed our vacation on Carnival!
hilltopfamily
"The sun and the sand, and a drink in my hand....w
- Joined
- Jan 1, 2003
- Messages
- 558
Well, again I can only relate my own, 1st hand experience (and thanks for the many others here who have relayed great CCL experiences, I love reading all about them!!! Keep writing and telling us about your experiences! ) Yes, the ship we were on is older and smaller than DCL & received a 3 star rating, but I will compare the price between these 2 because when I compare the 2 experiences we had on board both ships, CCL was at a minimum JUST as good as DCL, and in many cases superior. Due to this, the star rating has no meaning to me, our actual experience is what counted for us.
The following are my actual costs for the 2 cruises we've taken plus the 1 we currently have booked. I price out cruises (future as well as currently booked ones) almost daily, going to many sites and looking for the best fares. It's like a hobby for me!!! We have the same cabin type (2 inside cabins) and placement (low and mid deck) on the ships in each case (except as I said earlier, we received a free upgrade from Carnival on our last cruise, where we ended up 2 decks higher).
-----Price on DCL Eastern itinerary booked 8 months ahead for 1st week in August 2003 was $184.71 per person per day.
-----Price on Carnival Celebration Western intinerary during costly spring break season, booked only 3 months ahead of time, was $85.20 per person per day.
-----Price on Carnival Elation Exotic Western itinerary booked 8 months ahead and occuring during the same time frame as the Disney cruise 1 year prior, is $92.85 per person per day. And in regards to the star rating system, this ship is a 4 star ship, like the Magic, about which tremendous reviews have been written. It is the same age and size of the Magic and was just recently (in the past year) gone through a big refurbishment.
As you can see, our Elation cruise is truly just 50% of what our DCL cruise was! And our Celebration cruise was about 45% of the cost! Even if our experience on DCL had been better than that onboard CCL, I still can't imagine how a cruise could be 50% better of an experience!
To the other previous CCL cruisers who have posted~~~is this in line with what you experienced?
The following are my actual costs for the 2 cruises we've taken plus the 1 we currently have booked. I price out cruises (future as well as currently booked ones) almost daily, going to many sites and looking for the best fares. It's like a hobby for me!!! We have the same cabin type (2 inside cabins) and placement (low and mid deck) on the ships in each case (except as I said earlier, we received a free upgrade from Carnival on our last cruise, where we ended up 2 decks higher).
-----Price on DCL Eastern itinerary booked 8 months ahead for 1st week in August 2003 was $184.71 per person per day.
-----Price on Carnival Celebration Western intinerary during costly spring break season, booked only 3 months ahead of time, was $85.20 per person per day.
-----Price on Carnival Elation Exotic Western itinerary booked 8 months ahead and occuring during the same time frame as the Disney cruise 1 year prior, is $92.85 per person per day. And in regards to the star rating system, this ship is a 4 star ship, like the Magic, about which tremendous reviews have been written. It is the same age and size of the Magic and was just recently (in the past year) gone through a big refurbishment.
As you can see, our Elation cruise is truly just 50% of what our DCL cruise was! And our Celebration cruise was about 45% of the cost! Even if our experience on DCL had been better than that onboard CCL, I still can't imagine how a cruise could be 50% better of an experience!
To the other previous CCL cruisers who have posted~~~is this in line with what you experienced?
I've enjoyed the first hand reports of different cruise reviews. We cruised DCL 11/03 - had a great time...our tweener with special needs sailed at a particularly tough age - days b4 13. We are cruising Carnival in August of this year after a lot of research. I think - for those that speak Carnival in one breath - let's remember... when you speak CCL - clarify port, itinerary and how many days sailing. If you cannot do that - then tone down the dramatics about gropings. If a person can remember nuances in other's comfort zones and public displays, then they will surely remember their ship name and port of departure. 
I am sure he can remember where he sailed, when he sailed, how many days he sailed ect..... I did not ask him every detail of his cruise. I guess next time I will remind myself that some have trouble comprehending written word.... I never said I sailed and could not remember the details. I offered to find out his itinerary if anyone was interested...... Sheeesh!
On another note and my main reason for not going carnival, I did a yahoo search of 'Carnival Cruise Message Boards' and found several. Do the search yourself and read the boards.... Name-calling, rude behavior, and a woman offering herself up for private 'massages' at $500 per hour or $1,500 per night and so on and so on and so on... Don't believe me? Do the search yourself and read some of them boards...... People asking about drink till you puke contests.... Ya, that's a cruise I want my son on... About the only thing I did not read on the Carnival boards was for a LA gang crips and blood reunion.....
Those boards, my friends experience and the FEW rude people who have posted on this thread have convinced me to stay as far away from Carnival as I can get.... I will cruise Disney during the off season and pay a little more for my own piece of mind....
On another note and my main reason for not going carnival, I did a yahoo search of 'Carnival Cruise Message Boards' and found several. Do the search yourself and read the boards.... Name-calling, rude behavior, and a woman offering herself up for private 'massages' at $500 per hour or $1,500 per night and so on and so on and so on... Don't believe me? Do the search yourself and read some of them boards...... People asking about drink till you puke contests.... Ya, that's a cruise I want my son on... About the only thing I did not read on the Carnival boards was for a LA gang crips and blood reunion.....
Those boards, my friends experience and the FEW rude people who have posted on this thread have convinced me to stay as far away from Carnival as I can get.... I will cruise Disney during the off season and pay a little more for my own piece of mind....
floridaminnie
Enjoying life one adventure at a time.
- Joined
- Mar 4, 2002
- Messages
- 6,009
I was thinking of going on Royal Caribbean. They are still much cheaper than DCL, but don't appear to have the same clientel as Carnival even though they are owned by the same company as Carnival.
Does anyone know of a good source for info/reviews on the CCL Miracle? I'm afraid DCL may be out of our price range, now, too. The Miracle is sailing out of Jacksonville, which would be extremely convenient for us (we're less than 20 miles from the port), but all I know is that it's brand new. I too, have always had concerns about the low-rent, party image Carnival has had for years. Thank you for posting about your positive experience.
4cruisin
Proud Charter Member Of The Tagless Clique
- Joined
- Apr 11, 2002
- Messages
- 1,659
Price of CCL vs DCL
Booked the 12/4/04 7 day Western on DCL while on board Magic 1/03.
Cat 6 2 adults with air and 1 night at Orlando Hyatt $3891.54
This includes "special rate" booking early and on board.
CCL - booked 3/04 for 1/23/05 sailing on CCL Miracle. Brand new ship as of 3/04. 2 adults category 8D? Deck 6 private balcony, cabin is basically equal to DCL except no split bath. $1879.00
Add airfare to Tampa $214 pp = $2307.00. Now all we need to do is book hotel room for 1 night pre cruise through priceline...figure it will be around $75. Total cruise should be about $2400.00. That is apprx $1491 less than DCL. I love DCL but I cannot justify the $1500 difference. The extra money I save can go towards another trip, clothes or souveniers.
As I said in a previous post, I probably would not have choosen to cruise CCL on my own. The cruise was a gift but I am so glad that I had the experience and now I have no problem cruising CCL and will probably try several other lines just to compare.
Happy cruising!!
Nancy
Booked the 12/4/04 7 day Western on DCL while on board Magic 1/03.
Cat 6 2 adults with air and 1 night at Orlando Hyatt $3891.54
This includes "special rate" booking early and on board.
CCL - booked 3/04 for 1/23/05 sailing on CCL Miracle. Brand new ship as of 3/04. 2 adults category 8D? Deck 6 private balcony, cabin is basically equal to DCL except no split bath. $1879.00
Add airfare to Tampa $214 pp = $2307.00. Now all we need to do is book hotel room for 1 night pre cruise through priceline...figure it will be around $75. Total cruise should be about $2400.00. That is apprx $1491 less than DCL. I love DCL but I cannot justify the $1500 difference. The extra money I save can go towards another trip, clothes or souveniers.
As I said in a previous post, I probably would not have choosen to cruise CCL on my own. The cruise was a gift but I am so glad that I had the experience and now I have no problem cruising CCL and will probably try several other lines just to compare.
Happy cruising!!
Nancy
After reading the message board link provided I decided NO WAY!
http://www.travelmb.com/Carnival_Cruise_Line.php
These are all current postings so one has to ask themselves if the Carnival reputation has really changed??????
http://www.travelmb.com/Carnival_Cruise_Line.php
These are all current postings so one has to ask themselves if the Carnival reputation has really changed??????
My family also enjoyed our Carnival cruise. We had previously cruised with DCL 3 times & LOVED it. We had also heard the usual about Carnival, but I decided to go into it with an open mind & had a GREAT time. My husband, however, was comparing to Disney at every turn & did not enjoy it as much. We were on one of their newer ships The Pride & it was really a beautiful ship, different than Disney , of course, but still beautiful! We also found the food right on par with Disney as well as the service.
My son was 4 at the time & liked the club as much as he did on DCL. Our daughter, however was only 7 months old & while they don't offer anything like Flounder's, they would take the under two's after 10 pm for a small fee. We tried this one night, but wouldn't you know that was the night my son did NOT want to stay!! Even when on DCL we only used Flounder's one night for our Daughter ( 20 mos. at that time). They seemed to do more arts & crafts type things in the Carnival club, as the area itself was of course smaller, there was less of the running around, but like I said, my son enjoyed it just as much as he did DCL!! Everyone we met (CM or guest) was friendly & accomodating to our infant daughter (with VERY few exceptions with the guests!!).
We did not notice the drinking/partying as we pretty much avoided those areas, but did hear the occasional group returning from the clubs late at night, it was not enough to bother us, we just noticed it. We did however notice more smoking on the open decks on Carnival. We were also not really into the Carnival shows (which are definitely NOT for kids), but we did find other things to do at night after dinner. That was the one place DCL REALLY stood out for us, in the family shows, which for us now with a 6 & 2 year old are just perfect!!
Our Carnival cruise was in Nov. 2002, so it is no longer fresh in my mind, but I do remember it fondly, it really was a great time & not "just for the money" . If I had paid the same price as one of our DCL cruises, it would have been just as fun, but I did indeed pay quite a bit less. My husband would disagree, he found fault with everything that was different than it was on DCL. Being the one who researches our vacations (and who handles the checkbook) I have to convince my husband that we will indeed be trying out other cruise lines, as DCL is really getting a bit too expensive, that being said, we did return to DCL this Jan & were hooked enough to book a 7 day for April 2005!!
We've also tried Norwegian, which I enjoyed, but not as much as DCL or Carnival & we will be cruising on Royal Caribbean's Voyager of the Seas in October. I would reccomend Carnival to anyone of my friends, even those with children. In fact, my cousin cruised on Carnival in November with her family (husband & dd's 6 & 9) and LOVED it so much she will be returning this November.
I also believe that your attitude going into ANY vacation can really make or brake the experience. I was told what to expect on Carnival but was pleasantly surprised with a great family vacation!! With many of the cruiselines moving ships to departure ports closer to my home, we will continue to try other lines, though I must admit that DCL is still our favorite & I cannot really explain why!!
My son was 4 at the time & liked the club as much as he did on DCL. Our daughter, however was only 7 months old & while they don't offer anything like Flounder's, they would take the under two's after 10 pm for a small fee. We tried this one night, but wouldn't you know that was the night my son did NOT want to stay!! Even when on DCL we only used Flounder's one night for our Daughter ( 20 mos. at that time). They seemed to do more arts & crafts type things in the Carnival club, as the area itself was of course smaller, there was less of the running around, but like I said, my son enjoyed it just as much as he did DCL!! Everyone we met (CM or guest) was friendly & accomodating to our infant daughter (with VERY few exceptions with the guests!!).
We did not notice the drinking/partying as we pretty much avoided those areas, but did hear the occasional group returning from the clubs late at night, it was not enough to bother us, we just noticed it. We did however notice more smoking on the open decks on Carnival. We were also not really into the Carnival shows (which are definitely NOT for kids), but we did find other things to do at night after dinner. That was the one place DCL REALLY stood out for us, in the family shows, which for us now with a 6 & 2 year old are just perfect!!
Our Carnival cruise was in Nov. 2002, so it is no longer fresh in my mind, but I do remember it fondly, it really was a great time & not "just for the money" . If I had paid the same price as one of our DCL cruises, it would have been just as fun, but I did indeed pay quite a bit less. My husband would disagree, he found fault with everything that was different than it was on DCL. Being the one who researches our vacations (and who handles the checkbook) I have to convince my husband that we will indeed be trying out other cruise lines, as DCL is really getting a bit too expensive, that being said, we did return to DCL this Jan & were hooked enough to book a 7 day for April 2005!!
We've also tried Norwegian, which I enjoyed, but not as much as DCL or Carnival & we will be cruising on Royal Caribbean's Voyager of the Seas in October. I would reccomend Carnival to anyone of my friends, even those with children. In fact, my cousin cruised on Carnival in November with her family (husband & dd's 6 & 9) and LOVED it so much she will be returning this November.
I also believe that your attitude going into ANY vacation can really make or brake the experience. I was told what to expect on Carnival but was pleasantly surprised with a great family vacation!! With many of the cruiselines moving ships to departure ports closer to my home, we will continue to try other lines, though I must admit that DCL is still our favorite & I cannot really explain why!!
As far as I can tell this isn't posted by the OP to start a debate! There was a debate about something similar to this on the debate board! The op offered HER first hand perspective on her cruise. I would think that people on here would respect an opinion and move on after all if some people sail with another line that leaves more space for someone else to sail DCL! It's just an observation.....and an opinion...I think a step back and take a deep breath is in order here.
Heidi
Heidi
It is called providing information!
She posts the wonderful side of Carnival and there is obviously another side that families should be aware of before spending their hard earned money on it.
I am not debating anyone, I am posting information that a family with children might want to consider before booking a cruise. For ME and ME alone, I will spend the extra money for DCL and avoid having cruise mates from the board I posted earlier...
That is my opinion and everyone is entitled to their own... Enjoy whatever cruise line you take or wherever your vacation takes you, but an abundance of information is out there on that particular cruise line and in my opinion it should be researched before spending a boat load of money on it or bringing your children on it.....
Besides, is this not a Disney forum??????????? Anyone wanting information on Carnival can easily do a search and find thousands of reviews both good and bad along with a ton of other information
She posts the wonderful side of Carnival and there is obviously another side that families should be aware of before spending their hard earned money on it.
I am not debating anyone, I am posting information that a family with children might want to consider before booking a cruise. For ME and ME alone, I will spend the extra money for DCL and avoid having cruise mates from the board I posted earlier...
That is my opinion and everyone is entitled to their own... Enjoy whatever cruise line you take or wherever your vacation takes you, but an abundance of information is out there on that particular cruise line and in my opinion it should be researched before spending a boat load of money on it or bringing your children on it.....
Besides, is this not a Disney forum??????????? Anyone wanting information on Carnival can easily do a search and find thousands of reviews both good and bad along with a ton of other information
txtara
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Mar 6, 2001
- Messages
- 458
I cruised on the 3/13 Western Carnival Glory.......The ship was very nice...always clean and tastefully decorated...the food was
always good...lots of choices for lunch and dinner ....and the service we received was great. I assumed that there would have been alot more kids on board than there were....there were actually very few children....the shows could not even hold a candle to DCL....and they really pushed the alcohol....for the price I would cruise them again but not until my children are much older of without them....while my kids are still young I will stick with DCL.
always good...lots of choices for lunch and dinner ....and the service we received was great. I assumed that there would have been alot more kids on board than there were....there were actually very few children....the shows could not even hold a candle to DCL....and they really pushed the alcohol....for the price I would cruise them again but not until my children are much older of without them....while my kids are still young I will stick with DCL.
Greysword
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Apr 6, 2004
- Messages
- 2,075
The post made by 4cruisin got me intrigued, and I wanted to take the price comparison (sp?) challenge, so I went to DCL and Carnival's websites to compare cruises.
I chose the following:
Carnival - 7 Days to Western Caribbean departing from Tampa, FL 1/23/05 with 2 adults, Category: 8D, Deck: Empress, Stateroom: 6223
DCL - 7-Night Eastern Caribbean Cruise 1/22/05 (the one I'm on
), 2 adults, Cat 6 Deluxe Stateroom with Verandah.
Conditions: I took out all insurance and transfers from DCL, since that is how Carnival has it set up. I will assume the airfare in 4cruisin and hotel stay will not change due to the dates (MCO and TPA have the same basic fares for 1/21/05 - 1/30/05 in each city (I checked that too for my trip
).
Ok, DCL adds in posrt fees, taxes, etc into their online quotes (I checked my TA's figures with DCL website yesterday), so I went to the near end on Carnival's site for purchase.
The results (drumroll please): ..............................
Carnival web offer: with taxes and port charges... $2401.80
Disney web offer: with taxes and port charges... $3,054.70
That is a difference of .... $652.90
Thus, it is significant for some and not for others. You can decide.
Thank you for your attention. Please watch your step as you exit the ride.
I chose the following:
Carnival - 7 Days to Western Caribbean departing from Tampa, FL 1/23/05 with 2 adults, Category: 8D, Deck: Empress, Stateroom: 6223
DCL - 7-Night Eastern Caribbean Cruise 1/22/05 (the one I'm on
), 2 adults, Cat 6 Deluxe Stateroom with Verandah.Conditions: I took out all insurance and transfers from DCL, since that is how Carnival has it set up. I will assume the airfare in 4cruisin and hotel stay will not change due to the dates (MCO and TPA have the same basic fares for 1/21/05 - 1/30/05 in each city (I checked that too for my trip
).Ok, DCL adds in posrt fees, taxes, etc into their online quotes (I checked my TA's figures with DCL website yesterday), so I went to the near end on Carnival's site for purchase.
The results (drumroll please): ..............................
Carnival web offer: with taxes and port charges... $2401.80
Disney web offer: with taxes and port charges... $3,054.70
That is a difference of .... $652.90
Thus, it is significant for some and not for others. You can decide.
Thank you for your attention. Please watch your step as you exit the ride.
hilltopfamily
"The sun and the sand, and a drink in my hand....w
- Joined
- Jan 1, 2003
- Messages
- 558
I am the OP and I do feel that you are, if not debating me, at least questioning a bit the truthfulness of what I continually refer to as my "first hand experience". Yes, this is MY opinion, and you yourself have said I am entitled to it, therefore I am not at fault in starting this thread. Many others have posted here, also relaying their first hand opinion, which I believe is of great value. I said at the beginning that I was not attempting to start an argument and that I was merely providing a comparison of MY experience. Yes, there are plenty of cruise boards out there, and maybe you are still new enough here to have not read postings by the moderators several times in the past that indicate we are free to discuss other cruise lines here on THIS forum also. In fact, until just a while back, Dreams Unlimited, the sponsors of this board, booked cruises for other lines in addition to DCL. As I originally said, I was posting back here after our cruise as I had requests pre-cruise to do so from some posters on this board. If you're not interested, feel free to discontinue reading postings here. Being a previous satisfied DCL cruiser, I will continue to visit this board from time to time. I enjoy the people here and all discussion of cruising. I will have to seriously consider, though, whether I will comment in the future about my other cruiseline experiences.
Thank you to all posters here. I appreciate Hydsters supportive comments and I also have enjoyed reading about many others cruising experiences whether on DCL, CCL, or other cruise lines. I guess I just like to cruise!
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