CARNIVAL VS DCL: The discussion and comparison thread!

[Ofinn]

When I priced out excursions on carnival my 12 year old was still getting child prices so that makes it cheaper.

 

[mevelandry]

Holy Guacamole!

Just coming back from our cruise on the Victory... I've got so much to say about it and it is mostly good/excellent comments.

First of all, I want to insist on one thing:

- Good service is not exclusive to Disney. We have encountered so many helpful/polite/nice people on the Carnival Victory! We are actually shocked that Carnival gets bad reviews.

-We have found the food in the dining room (with the exception of the beef that I did not care for) on the Victory so much better than the dining room food on the Disney Dream. Food from the Lido just as good as Cabanas with the exception of breakfast (DCL still nails breakfast)...

And the food from the counters --pizza, chinese food, sandwiches-- was outstanding!

I will post some pictures soon and plan on adding some details to my first post.

I will give you a realistic review which means I will give you examples of the wear and tear (I believe this is temporary because they are currently refurbishing the ship).

To be continued...

 

[Love2Cruz]

Holy Guacamole!

Just coming back from our cruise on the Victory... I've got so much to say about it and it is mostly good/excellent comments.

First of all, I want to insist on one thing:

- Good service is not exclusive to Disney. We have encountered so many helpful/polite/nice people on the Carnival Victory! We are actually shocked that Carnival gets bad reviews.

-We have found the food in the dining room (with the exception of the beef that I did not care for) on the Victory so much better than the dining room food on the Disney Dream. Food from the Lido just as good as Cabanas with the exception of breakfast (DCL still nails breakfast)...

And the food from the counters --pizza, chinese food, sandwiches-- was outstanding!

I will post some pictures soon and plan on adding some details to my first post.

I will give you a realistic review which means I will give you examples of the wear and tear (I believe this is temporary because they are currently refurbishing the ship).

To be continued...

I knew you would like it! I agree with everything you said. Now go try one of their newer ships!!

 

[mevelandry]

I knew you would like it! I agree with everything you said. Now go try one of their newer ships!!

I would love to.

Not gonna lie: My husband liked Carnival so much that he wants me to cancel our Key West-Cozumel with Royal Caribbean (we have never tried it) and do Key West-Cozumel with Carnival instead!

We'll see. It will depend on the ship we would be sailing on.

 

[mevelandry]

Here are a few pictures from the ship. Some parts of it need a bit of TLC... I will post some pictures later to show examples. But remember that the ship is under "beautification" process.

 

[Love2Cruz]

I would love to.

Not gonna lie: My husband liked Carnival so much that he wants me to cancel our Key West-Cozumel with Royal Caribbean (we have never tried it) and do Key West-Cozumel with Carnival instead!

We'll see. It will depend on the ship we would be sailing on.

I believe you said the Victory didn't have Guy's or the Blue Iguana's.....your next ship should definitely have those two, as well as the Red Frog pub!

 

[Love2Cruz]

I would go on the victory again, even though it's an older ship, it's one of my favorites. Not sure next drydock with get the above mentioned eateries, but if they do and she stays in South Florida, I would sail her again, even on a shorter itinerary.

 

[mevelandry]

 

[mevelandry]

 

[mevelandry]

P

 

[mevelandry]

On the last picture you can actually see that the floors on the different decks are not the same. The lower deck is made of wood and needs care. The higher decks had new floor and looked pretty good.

EDIT: The old floor have been replaced since.

 

[mevelandry]

G

Mini-Golf, Bingo, Chocolate Extravaganza event and amazing pizza from Pizza Pirate!

 

[mevelandry]

(I was obsessed with the chinese food from Chopsticks!!!)

 

[mevelandry]

Our stateroom was "old" (not renovated) but it's ongoing and I was told that they will be awesome!

I totally forgot to take pictures of the verandah. We thought the size of itit was excellent... Around 4 m2.





The bathroom are in serious need of TLC. Lots of rust. But there are in the process of being refurbished entirely and by 2017 it should be done.

EDIT: All rooms have been refurbished now and they are all blue and gold.

 

[mevelandry]

I believe you said the Victory didn't have Guy's or the Blue Iguana's.....your next ship should definitely have those two, as well as the Red Frog pub!

They don't have it yet but we have been able to try some bites from the Taste Bar (Blue Iguana and Cucina del capitano) + the Red Frog PYOB. We loved the bites and the beer. Looking forward to try a FUN 2.0 cruiseship!

 

[Love2Cruz]

Great pics..reminds me of my trip many years ago. I love their chocolate cake! I normally cruise in March for my Bday and my family always gets me one. They have it vanilla too but haven't tried it yet.\
Did you try their cakes in the coffee shop? Inexpensive, but their strawberry cheesecake is to die for! HUGE piece too, can share between 2-3 people. And my DD likes their black & white shakes..

 

[Love2Cruz]

BTW...if you try a Conquest class ship (a bit larger than the Victory) before the Dream class ships or the Vista....I have to recommend the Carnival Liberty...she's also one of my favorite "older" ships....though she probably has the 2.0 upgrades. Out of the Dream class, I have been on the Breeze and have Magic scheduled for next year...the Breeze is awesome too. Trying the Vista in a few months, I hear she will be similar to the Breeze so looking forward to it.

 

[mevelandry]

Great pics..reminds me of my trip many years ago. I love their chocolate cake! I normally cruise in March for my Bday and my family always gets me one. They have it vanilla too but haven't tried it yet.\
Did you try their cakes in the coffee shop? Inexpensive, but their strawberry cheesecake is to die for! HUGE piece too, can share between 2-3 people. And my DD likes their black & white shakes..

Unfortunately I did not have the time to try it... Nor their chocolate molten cake! (I know!) But that was because I was so addicted to their dessert cheese plate.

I told my husband that I wanted no more short cruises after our April 2017 cruise. 4 nights is now too short for me! XD

 

[mevelandry]

I will post more pictures once I get home and get full access to my wifi!

 

[mevelandry]

(Here are some of the other pictures of public spaces that I took...)

We loved the indian library room. They had the best board games!



And the dining room was beautiful...