We chose the dark side - Carnival VS Disney

[mevelandry]

Interesting debate here. We did two RCL cruises (Oasis and Freedom) before booking a VGT sailing on Fantasy last year, mainly due to all I have learned and read on Dis. We LOVED our vacation on the Fantasy, we really did, but honestly we equally LOVED our trips on RCL...even with the VGT rate, that week was closing in on twice as much as our Royal vacations- did we have an amazing vacation- YES! Do we see twice the value- simply- no. We loved many things- shows, FE, Disney touches but weren't wow'ed by dining room service, pools, food itself.
We have a vacation budget, just like I'm sure everyone else on here- we have decided that while we won't say we will never cruise Disney again, that we are going to check out other cruise lines and save the Disney part for parks. We are the type that would rather have 2 weeks of vacation rather than 1, or 3 rather than 2 etc. Def checking out NCL and even...Carnival!

I get it. At some point I realized that what I liked the most about the DCL cruise was the cruise part itself... While I can appreciate the Disney fix that I get during the Disney cruise, I think I could be just as satisfied doing WDW and cruising separately. It would most likely end up being cheaper for us.

 

[daisyx3]

Interesting debate here. We did two RCL cruises (Oasis and Freedom) before booking a VGT sailing on Fantasy last year, mainly due to all I have learned and read on Dis. We LOVED our vacation on the Fantasy, we really did, but honestly we equally LOVED our trips on RCL...even with the VGT rate, that week was closing in on twice as much as our Royal vacations- did we have an amazing vacation- YES! Do we see twice the value- simply- no. We loved many things- shows, FE, Disney touches but weren't wow'ed by dining room service, pools, food itself.
We have a vacation budget, just like I'm sure everyone else on here- we have decided that while we won't say we will never cruise Disney again, that we are going to check out other cruise lines and save the Disney part for parks. We are the type that would rather have 2 weeks of vacation rather than 1, or 3 rather than 2 etc. Def checking out NCL and even...Carnival!

Me too....hate to say it but the more I look at other lines the less I see the value in going back on the DCL cruise, although I loved it. I am looking at 4 lines right now--one ship on each--Celeb. Reflection western, NCL Getaway western, Regal Princess western....and Carnival Dream eastern. I like the itinerary best on Carnival and it is killing me because I see so many bad things, but 7 nights in the eastern caribbean is a little less than 4 nights in the Bahamas (where I've already been) on Dream!

 

[PrincessShmoo]

I agree about the food. Loved Carnival's other free options like Guy's Burgers and tacos. The oceanview room we had on the Glory was the largest I've ever been in. Your reviews, btw, are awesome and nonbiased -- just a good point of view. Thanks.

We found the food in the dining room to be not so good. They had just switched to the American Table menu on our cruise, and maybe they were still adjusting to it, but anything that had any sort of sauce/gravy on it, the sauce was extremely watered down and tasteless. I also didn't care for having to choose the options to be plated with my entree. I prefer a meal that the chef has prepared based on what he wants paired. That said, we found the buffet on Carnival much better than the dining room.

And the best hamburgers I've had on ANY cruise (line) were on our Carnival cruise. And that was before Guy's burgers started being on the ships.

 

[mcd2745]

Interesting debate here. We did two RCL cruises (Oasis and Freedom) before booking a VGT sailing on Fantasy last year, mainly due to all I have learned and read on Dis. We LOVED our vacation on the Fantasy, we really did, but honestly we equally LOVED our trips on RCL...even with the VGT rate, that week was closing in on twice as much as our Royal vacations- did we have an amazing vacation- YES! Do we see twice the value- simply- no. We loved many things- shows, FE, Disney touches but weren't wow'ed by dining room service, pools, food itself.
We have a vacation budget, just like I'm sure everyone else on here- we have decided that while we won't say we will never cruise Disney again, that we are going to check out other cruise lines and save the Disney part for parks. We are the type that would rather have 2 weeks of vacation rather than 1, or 3 rather than 2 etc. Def checking out NCL and even...Carnival!

Exactly how we feel as well.

 

[tidefan]

Exactly how we feel as well.

I'd like to feel this way, but we tried RCCL a couple of years ago on the Serenade of the Seas out of New Orleans and a lot of factors just left us under impressed with RCCL. That being said, it could be just the ship we were on. I think that some of the newer/larger ships would have more to do, and hopefully would have some kind of food outlet open from 2pm to 6pm (when the Windjammer was closed). There was no poolside grill as on every other ship I've ever been on (don't get me started on "Park Cafe" on this ship, it wasn't much more than a snack bar). Also, the rock climbing wall was only open 1 out of the 7 days, and even then, there was just 1 person working it...

Anyway, a lot of the comments we saw prior (which I think were mainly about the Oasis/Freedom class) didn't add up to our experience.

Now we went on Carnival Sunshine actually expecting the worst, and had a great time...

 

[Love2Cruz]

As for the wine questions...I'm not a big wine drinker but I have poured wine in my cabin and brought my glass to the dining room. (Room service supplies you with ice bucket and 2 water glasses) I normally wouldn't drink more than one glass of wine (or sangria) with dinner. The one bottle I bring will last me the whole cruise so hard for me to relate....Once I'm done with my wine, I switch to ice water. I'd rather enjoy my sangria on the balcony at night then at dinner...but that's just me.

 

[DnA2010]

I'd like to feel this way, but we tried RCCL a couple of years ago on the Serenade of the Seas out of New Orleans and a lot of factors just left us under impressed with RCCL. That being said, it could be just the ship we were on. I think that some of the newer/larger ships would have more to do, and hopefully would have some kind of food outlet open from 2pm to 6pm (when the Windjammer was closed). There was no poolside grill as on every other ship I've ever been on (don't get me started on "Park Cafe" on this ship, it wasn't much more than a snack bar). Also, the rock climbing wall was only open 1 out of the 7 days, and even then, there was just 1 person working it...

Anyway, a lot of the comments we saw prior (which I think were mainly about the Oasis/Freedom class) didn't add up to our experience.

Now we went on Carnival Sunshine actually expecting the worst, and had a great time...

Indeed we were on the larger ships. We found there was food everywhere! There was quick spot on the pool deck with the junk food like the fantasy, a coffee shop on the promenade that had salads and sandwiches and things, pizza place, and my personal favorite quick service of any ship I've been on (and I know you said wasn't good on Serenade) Park Cafe they had the best quick breakfast, amazing create your own salads, little paninis - yum!

 

[Love2Cruz]

Really Love2Cruz -- Really?!?!? Did you HAVE to post those food pictures -- so clear and beautiful and mouthwatering. UGH -- and all I'm having today is a PB&J for lunch.

I'll see if I have a pic of Guy's burger in here somewhere

 

[tidefan]

Indeed we were on the larger ships. We found there was food everywhere! There was quick spot on the pool deck with the junk food like the fantasy, a coffee shop on the promenade that had salads and sandwiches and things, pizza place, and my personal favorite quick service of any ship I've been on (and I know you said wasn't good on Serenade) Park Cafe they had the best quick breakfast, amazing create your own salads, little paninis - yum!

Yeah, at least on our cruise, the Serenade didn't have breakfast at Prk Cafe. It was either the Windjammer or the MDR...

 

[trvlgirlmq]

Question: We have ordered beers and a bottle of wine for the room but I was wondering: Are we allowed to drink it outside of the room (ex: Serenity) or is it forbidden?

Also, I know that with DCL we could bring it to the dining room but they were asking corking fees. What about Carnival?

If you open the bottle in your room and pour it into a glass (get them from your steward or any bar) then you can take it to dinner with no fee.

 

[trvlgirlmq]

Someone said Guy's Burger!

 

[tidefan]

Here's another!

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

Here's another!
View attachment 164646

And I get to experience one of these bad boys in 39 days

 

[kaseyC]

And I get to experience one of these bad boys in 39 days

Looks like we may be on the Vista cruise after yours because we board in about 46 days!!

 

[mevelandry]

Ok... We won't get Guy's burgers on the Victory and I'm jealous now.

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

Looks like we may be on the Vista cruise after yours because we board in about 46 days!!

I wanted to go on your cruise but couldn't talk my wife into that one.

I'm can hardly wait to start reading reviews of the Vista.

 

[kaseyC]

I wanted to go on your cruise but couldn't talk my wife into that one.

I'm can hardly wait to start reading reviews of the Vista.

It only had one sea day which my 3 DDs were not thrilled about. We now have two sea days since they dropped Izmir. I'm so looking forward to reading reviews from the inaugural. The ship looks amazing. The itineraries and prices can't be beat.

Are you doing some pre-cruise days in Barcelona?

 

[Ofinn]

Me too....hate to say it but the more I look at other lines the less I see the value in going back on the DCL cruise, although I loved it. I am looking at 4 lines right now--one ship on each--Celeb. Reflection western, NCL Getaway western, Regal Princess western....and Carnival Dream eastern. I like the itinerary best on Carnival and it is killing me because I see so many bad things, but 7 nights in the eastern caribbean is a little less than 4 nights in the Bahamas (where I've already been) on Dream!

As tired as I am of the Caribbean I will say Carnival does have some intriguing Caribbean itinerary's. I can actually find cruises with Caribbean ports I have not been to. I didn't know that was possible. I still find the value in DCL because my kids love it, and we sail offseason. Going forward I will be much more selective in what I choose to do on DCL. You will never see me plop down 14k for a Southern Caribbean cruise, but 4-5k for a 2 week TA I could definitely see the value in something like that.

 

[ahain]

We are Gold on DCL. It would make it MUCH easier for me to switch/check out another cruise line if they offered a deal where they would "transfer" my DCL status (give me credit for my DCL cruises) to the new cruise line's loyaty program so I didn't feel like I was starting from scratch. Don't get me wrong...I understand why they wouldn't do that (not fair to their other loyalty members, etc.) but I'm just saying that would make it much easier. Seems silly, but there you have it.

 

[Ofinn]

It only had one sea day which my 3 DDs were not thrilled about. We now have two sea days since they dropped Izmir. I'm so looking forward to reading reviews from the inaugural. The ship looks amazing. The itineraries and prices can't be beat.

Are you doing some pre-cruise days in Barcelona?

I would love to do that itinerary in Oct. Not sure it's going to happen this year since we have a big trip planned in June. I'm hoping they do something similar when the next new ship launches in 2018. My kids will be 14 and 15 in 2018.