CARNIVAL VS DCL: The discussion and comparison thread!

[mom2brooke76]

Guy’s did not have the breakfast option yet on the Liberty that we were just on. I made sure to check since I had heard about it.

 

[wombat_5606]

You'll most likely get to tender (unless they built the pier already?)

I was there on the 17th and they haven't started it yet. That's the one thing Disney did right with Castaway Cay.

Guy’s did not have the breakfast option yet on the Liberty that we were just on. I made sure to check since I had heard about it.

I will check and report back when I get home.

 

[belle032]

Guy’s did not have the breakfast option yet on the Liberty that we were just on. I made sure to check since I had heard about it.

Just doing a quick Google search shows it's definitely on the Sunrise but it doesn't mention any other ships at the moment. I'll check as well next week though!

 

[wombat_5606]

Enjoy the cruise and remember, just go in with an open mind, it’s not gonna be Disney. I really hope we haven’t all set too high of expectations for you. Personally, I just have way more fun on Carnival, but I will admit Disney is a much more refined experience.

Everyone has been fine and I understand they are excited about CCL. Even though I'm Platinum, I only have one Disney cruise out of the last 6 I've taken. I'm pretty much over DCL. I will never say never but I have no burning desire to book with them in the near future.

This cruise is mainly for the two 30 year old women that I am taking with me. My daughter's girlfriend hasn't been on a cruise since she was in high school, so I'm trying to maximize our time onboard with the things people enjoy the most, due to their experience and appreciation for Carnival. For example, the hint for breakfast in the MDR is something I wouldn't have done.

My first Carnival cruise was a free one, in 1999, from my husbands employer, traveling with large group of co-workers that had been responsible for implementing a gigantic project that was preparing to go live after 2 years of 20 hour days. We were the group that everyone hates on Carnival, especially since my husbands employer is in the beverage alcohol business. We were given quite a bit of private event space, so hopefully we didn't ruin anyone's vacation.

The second and last one, was myself and my 2 daughters on the Carnival Paradise in 2001. We had a fantastic time and shortly thereafter began cruising with DCL.

I've booked last minute. I'm presently at WDW and I am helping my daughter move into a new apartment before we embark in 2 weeks. I didn't have time to find things out on my own. I basically had some time yesterday because it was just too cold at WDW and this morning before I leave for the parks.

I thought I would go to the Carnival enthusiasts on here because they have the experience to compare and contrast Carnival with Disney. I'm grateful that everyone gave me what I was looking for and since everyone is pretty much saying the same thing, I think it's all good.

 

[mevelandry]

Everyone has been fine and I understand they are excited about CCL. Even though I'm Platinum, I only have one Disney cruise out of the last 6 I've taken. I'm pretty much over DCL. I will never say never but I have no burning desire to book with them in the near future.

This cruise is mainly for the two 30 year old women that I am taking with me. My daughter's girlfriend hasn't been on a cruise since she was in high school, so I'm trying to maximize our time onboard with the things people enjoy the most, due to their experience and appreciation for Carnival. For example, the hint for breakfast in the MDR is something I wouldn't have done.

My first Carnival cruise was a free one, in 1999, from my husbands employer, traveling with large group of co-workers that had been responsible for implementing a gigantic project that was preparing to go live after 2 years of 20 hour days. We were the group that everyone hates on Carnival, especially since my husbands employer is in the beverage alcohol business. We were given quite a bit of private event space, so hopefully we didn't ruin anyone's vacation.

The second and last one, was myself and my 2 daughters on the Carnival Paradise in 2001. We had a fantastic time and shortly thereafter began cruising with DCL.

I've booked last minute. I'm presently at WDW and I am helping my daughter move into a new apartment before we embark in 2 weeks. I didn't have time to find things out on my own. I basically had some time yesterday because it was just too cold at WDW and this morning before I leave for the parks.

I thought I would go to the Carnival enthusiasts on here because they have the experience to compare and contrast Carnival with Disney. I'm grateful that everyone gave me what I was looking for and since everyone is pretty much saying the same thing, I think it's all good.

Let us know if you have any other last minute questions.

 

[wanderlust7]

It's a 5 nights cruise with 2 days (an overnight) in Bermuda.

I'm very interested the the specialty dining option but it will depend on the prices.

Do you have the perks with your booking? Usually they give at least 3 perks (you can choose which ones), unless it's a Sail Away rate. I thought you were deciding whether to take the perk (and just pay gratuity on the package), but sounds like it's whether to buy the package?

You can see the package prices online. For the prix fixe restaurants, you can also see that price online without the package, but most of them are a la carte. I think it's totally worth it as a perk. But if you have to pay out of pocket...probably not.

 

[mevelandry]

Do you have the perks with your booking? Usually they give at least 3 perks (you can choose which ones), unless it's a Sail Away rate. I thought you were deciding whether to take the perk (and just pay gratuity on the package), but sounds like it's whether to buy the package?

You can see the package prices online. For the prix fixe restaurants, you can also see that price online without the package, but most of them are a la carte. I think it's totally worth it as a perk. But if you have to pay out of pocket...probably not.

On this promotion, we were only getting 1 perk (but it could change). We can pick a credit on excursions, the drink package (we just pay the tips), the specialty dining package, the wifi or... something else I forgot.

Unless there's a better promotion, I think we'll pay the restaurants OOP. My husband's heart is set on the drink package. LOL

 

[pezgirlroy]

Hi all. We are debating between taking the Carnival Glory out of New Orleans this summer and the Majesty of the Seas (Royal Caribbean) out of New Orleans. It will just be adults. Any insight at all? Thank you so much.

 

[hdrolfe]

Hi all. We are debating between taking the Carnival Glory out of New Orleans this summer and the Majesty of the Seas (Royal Caribbean) out of New Orleans. It will just be adults. Any insight at all? Thank you so much.

I've been on Majesty and on Liberty (which I believe is sister ship to Glory) and I'd choose Glory. Majesty is a small ship with TINY cabins. We had an outside and it was the smallest we've ever had (and we had an inside on Liberty). Unless you are getting suite or something like that. Glory will also have things like Guys and Blue Iguana, Majesty doesn't really have much in the way of extra food venues, even the ice cream on deck only had one pair (trust me, when travelling with a kid this is important stuff!) However, we did have fun on both ships. But Majesty was only a 4-night, Liberty was 7. Glory would also have the adult only area which is quite nice. I'm assuming the itineraries are similar?

 

[trvlgirlmq]

So many great reviews and great trip reports.

After looking at our budget and shuffling things we decided to go to 1 cabin on our BI cruise. I know we were all really looking forward to the 2 bathrooms and more space but we need to watch our pence too! We were very lucky that we got cabin 6232! It's one of only 3 with the "bowling alley" balcony. I am so excited and hope we get decent enough weather that we can hang out there in the evening.

 

[we"reofftoneverland]

HMC is possibly my favorite place on earth. If you like the deserted island feel you will love it.
Our favorite things to do on ccl:

1) sea day brunch (steak and eggs here too)
2) movies on deck with popcorn
3) comedy shows- lol
4) cappuccino/lattes— get a coffee card day 1
5) library— love to end up reading something I never would have considered reading
6) free continental breakfast in our cabin— breakfast buffet is a zoo for some reason
7) cakes in buffet at lunch— OMG
8) tea time on seadays
9) hairy chest contest— teen loves laughing at this
10) pizza el capitano/ pirate— real flour from italy
11) deli (finally stood in the line for this on the last cruise— Awesome.)
12) guy’s burgers of course!
13) violinists, so talented
14) once you hit gold (I think it’s called gold— crazy i cannot remember) free cocktail on the last night! Sitting on deck drinking that cocktail that last night looking at the stars, feeling the wind... That’s one bittersweet cocktail!

Things we stay away from on CCL:
1) sail away party- just not for us, we are lame lol
2) breakfast buffet (ok, already said that lol)
3) FTTF— with five of us making it almost $500, would rather spend that money on something else, just a personal preference— but we also do not rush to get on the ship.
4) pool on seadays. Too crowded for us, again just personal preference. We usually hit the water slide on port days after we get back on the ship.
5) guest services right after muster. Whatever you need, that line is not worth it. Lol.
6) most shows. What can I say, it’s just not the golden Mickeys lol

We are going on our first princess cruise in a few weeks and even though I keep trying to talk up the discovery kids program (mythbusters, etc) to the kids, they are not convinced. “Does it have Guy’s Burgers?” Um, no. “I think I’ll skip it then.” Lol. So, we’ll see how this goes.

 

[mom2brooke76]

HMC is possibly my favorite place on earth. If you like the deserted island feel you will love it.
Our favorite things to do on ccl:

1) sea day brunch (steak and eggs here too)
2) movies on deck with popcorn
3) comedy shows- lol
4) cappuccino/lattes— get a coffee card day 1
5) library— love to end up reading something I never would have considered reading
6) free continental breakfast in our cabin— breakfast buffet is a zoo for some reason
7) cakes in buffet at lunch— OMG
8) tea time on seadays
9) hairy chest contest— teen loves laughing at this
10) pizza el capitano/ pirate— real flour from italy
11) deli (finally stood in the line for this on the last cruise— Awesome.)
12) guy’s burgers of course!
13) violinists, so talented
14) once you hit gold (I think it’s called gold— crazy i cannot remember) free cocktail on the last night! Sitting on deck drinking that cocktail that last night looking at the stars, feeling the wind... That’s one bittersweet cocktail!

Things we stay away from on CCL:
1) sail away party- just not for us, we are lame lol
2) breakfast buffet (ok, already said that lol)
3) FTTF— with five of us making it almost $500, would rather spend that money on something else, just a personal preference— but we also do not rush to get on the ship.
4) pool on seadays. Too crowded for us, again just personal preference. We usually hit the water slide on port days after we get back on the ship.
5) guest services right after muster. Whatever you need, that line is not worth it. Lol.
6) most shows. What can I say, it’s just not the golden Mickeys lol

Totally agree with you about the buffet cakes! They’re absolutely beautiful and delicious! We enjoyed the stage shows, but I think it was because we’ve seen the Golden Mickey’s 13 times I personally didn’t eat at the breakfast buffet, but my daughter and hubby did and liked it. I definitely recommend the Blue Iguana Cantina’s breakfast burrito. It’s fantastic! We did do FTTF. I’m not sure if the $500 total comes from traveling with a lot of cabins, but the cost is per cabin, not per person. Whenever we went to guest services it was a nightmare and we were thankful for the FTTF line then lol

 

[we"reofftoneverland]

Totally agree with you about the buffet cakes! They’re absolutely beautiful and delicious! We enjoyed the stage shows, but I think it was because we’ve seen the Golden Mickey’s 13 times I personally didn’t eat at the breakfast buffet, but my daughter and hubby did and liked it. I definitely recommend the Blue Iguana Cantina’s breakfast burrito. It’s fantastic! We did do FTTF. I’m not sure if the $500 total comes from traveling with a lot of cabins, but the cost is per cabin, not per person. Whenever we went to guest services it was a nightmare and we were thankful for the FTTF line then lol

Oh, wow, shows you how little I looked into it! I just saw the price of FTTF and assumed it was per person and thought no way. Much more reasonable per cabin!

 

[we"reofftoneverland]

So many great reviews and great trip reports.

After looking at our budget and shuffling things we decided to go to 1 cabin on our BI cruise. I know we were all really looking forward to the 2 bathrooms and more space but we need to watch our pence too! We were very lucky that we got cabin 6232! It's one of only 3 with the "bowling alley" balcony. I am so excited and hope we get decent enough weather that we can hang out there in the evening.

Those balconies look great.

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

So many great reviews and great trip reports.

After looking at our budget and shuffling things we decided to go to 1 cabin on our BI cruise. I know we were all really looking forward to the 2 bathrooms and more space but we need to watch our pence too! We were very lucky that we got cabin 6232! It's one of only 3 with the "bowling alley" balcony. I am so excited and hope we get decent enough weather that we can hang out there in the evening.

Holy cow! That is an awesome cabin. I never knew those existed, what a great balcony that is.

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

We had to cancel our Mardi Gras cruise for New Years Eve because my restaurant sale didn’t go through. However, we booked a B2B on Mardi Gras for June 2021, 14 days straight on her! We normally book 2 connecting insides but I’m surprising everyone and booked 2 connecting extended balcony cabins, it’s my wife’s 50th birthday so why not, right? I’m pretty excited about it.

 

[we"reofftoneverland]

We had to cancel our Mardi Gras cruise for New Years Eve because my restaurant sale didn’t go through. However, we booked a B2B on Mardi Gras for June 2021, 14 days straight on her! We normally book 2 connecting insides but I’m surprising everyone and booked 2 connecting extended balcony cabins, it’s my wife’s 50th birthday so why not, right? I’m pretty excited about it.

Sounds like a blast. You guys won’t want to get off the ship!

 

[tidefan]

HMC is possibly my favorite place on earth. If you like the deserted island feel you will love it.
Our favorite things to do on ccl:

1) sea day brunch (steak and eggs here too)
2) movies on deck with popcorn
3) comedy shows- lol
4) cappuccino/lattes— get a coffee card day 1
5) library— love to end up reading something I never would have considered reading
6) free continental breakfast in our cabin— breakfast buffet is a zoo for some reason
7) cakes in buffet at lunch— OMG
8) tea time on seadays
9) hairy chest contest— teen loves laughing at this
10) pizza el capitano/ pirate— real flour from italy
11) deli (finally stood in the line for this on the last cruise— Awesome.)
12) guy’s burgers of course!
13) violinists, so talented
14) once you hit gold (I think it’s called gold— crazy i cannot remember) free cocktail on the last night! Sitting on deck drinking that cocktail that last night looking at the stars, feeling the wind... That’s one bittersweet cocktail!

Things we stay away from on CCL:
1) sail away party- just not for us, we are lame lol
2) breakfast buffet (ok, already said that lol)
3) FTTF— with five of us making it almost $500, would rather spend that money on something else, just a personal preference— but we also do not rush to get on the ship.
4) pool on seadays. Too crowded for us, again just personal preference. We usually hit the water slide on port days after we get back on the ship.
5) guest services right after muster. Whatever you need, that line is not worth it. Lol.
6) most shows. What can I say, it’s just not the golden Mickeys lol

We are going on our first princess cruise in a few weeks and even though I keep trying to talk up the discovery kids program (mythbusters, etc) to the kids, they are not convinced. “Does it have Guy’s Burgers?” Um, no. “I think I’ll skip it then.” Lol. So, we’ll see how this goes.

Does your Princess ship have an Alfredo's? This is my DD's favorite. It's not on the menu, but they make her a mozzarella and ricotta sub that she eats usually every day...

 

[trvlgirlmq]

We had to cancel our Mardi Gras cruise for New Years Eve because my restaurant sale didn’t go through. However, we booked a B2B on Mardi Gras for June 2021, 14 days straight on her! We normally book 2 connecting insides but I’m surprising everyone and booked 2 connecting extended balcony cabins, it’s my wife’s 50th birthday so why not, right? I’m pretty excited about it.

That is awesome! I can't wait to hear all about it.

 

[we"reofftoneverland]

Does your Princess ship have an Alfredo's? This is my DD's favorite. It's not on the menu, but they make her a mozzarella and ricotta sub that she eats usually every day...

we are on your ship! Regal. Thanks again for your review. I am sure the kids will have a great time. If not, then they are beyond spoiled and we need to do a serious reassessment of how we are raising them! It just blows me away how much they love carnival. Thanks for the sub recommendations. If you have any other don’t miss things let me know!