One Disney or two Carnivals?



Only you can answer that question. I firmly believe that every cruise line has a target audience, based on activities, amenities, usual crowd composition, price and destinations.

Someone in another thread just posted they regretted spending so much money on 13 DCL cruises after having just returned from their first Carnival cruise. We did a NCL cruise in Haven and will not go back, preferring to sail in a normal DCL stateroom for the same price. One of our friends will only sail NCL after trying cruise lines we enjoy, notably Celebrity.
 
We have only been on Carnival Vista and liked it minus the non-heated pools. Traveled with my 12 yr old on transatlantic cruise and he enjoyed it as well. For us it would depend on ship and itinerary
 


2 carnivals! We usually do this. What ships? If you’ve never been on ccl I recommend you start with their newer ships. Our kids prefer ccl kids clubs and we are Disney nuts/dvc members. They have been on several dcl cruises as well.
 
Depending on the ship, I'm not familiar with Carnival, I would do the 2 7 day cruises. To me, all things being equal, I would much rather do 14 days than 6. I don't believe in quantity over quality however I have found that DCL isn't necessarily the only thing out there keeping me from horrible vacations. Once we discovered RCCL we were converts and I'm Platinum. We regretted listening to the masses and not trying something else earlier.
Have you tried either? If you've never done DCL your not going to go in comparing the two and I will bet you will wonder what DCL could possibly have that is better. If you have done DCL then this will help you stretch your wings and who knows, may become your new favorite.
Happy cruising what ever you decide.
 
2 weeks is a long time to experiment with a cruise line that, based on all the feedback I've seen, is very much "love it or hate it." If you try it and love it, you'll have a great time, but if you hate it, you'll have to repeat everything you didn't like.

Why not one week on carnival and something else added on, like a 3-day DCL cruise or a trip to some of the Orlando parks.
 
We enjoy both lines but it would depend on price, itinerary, and the ship. But I like the Carnival and WDW combo idea!
 
Hmmmm 7 days or 14 days (2 7day trips) easy choice for me CCL.

I really don't think I will ever be able to afford or justify the cost of DCL. I know bring on the purists who are going to roast me for that comment, but that is what I feel is MY situation not everybody else's.

My 2 cents
 
I really don't think I will ever be able to afford or justify the cost of DCL. I know bring on the purists who are going to roast me for that comment, but that is what I feel is MY situation not everybody else's.
Alright: roast, roast, roast. How dare you decide for yourself what you can afford and what you personally want? :rolleyes2

I've actually read these boards a long time, and have never seen anyone roast a fellow poster for saying something isn't right or worth it for them because of the cost.

What I have seen is some people criticizing DCL, and others defending DCL, which is just to be expected on a DCL forum. I've also seen some harsh & sometimes nasty criticism of people who choose to only sail DCL despite the price increases.

So no one is immune from criticism here. But no need to start it up by calling people who happen to prefer DCL "purists", and assuming that they would criticize you for choosing your own vacations.
 
After 4 DCL cruises we recently tried Royal to see if we liked it and could save some money. For us, we discovered that we need to stick with DCL for a while. I guess we are snobs but Royal was a terrible fit for our family. I'm sure there are other ships and lines out there somewhere we would enjoy but we are not going to risk the time and money to try and find them - at least not at this point in our lives.
 
After 4 DCL cruises we recently tried Royal to see if we liked it and could save some money. For us, we discovered that we need to stick with DCL for a while. I guess we are snobs but Royal was a terrible fit for our family. I'm sure there are other ships and lines out there somewhere we would enjoy but we are not going to risk the time and money to try and find them - at least not at this point in our lives.

As a veteran RCCL cruiser with a possible DCL in the near future, could you provide some more detail into why RCCL wasn't "a fit" over DCL? What does DCL have (or do) that brought you to your conclusion?
 
As you know cruising is a very communal type vacation. So the overall feel of the ship and the crowd really contributes or detracts from the experience. On a DCL cruise we feel euphoric nearly the whole time. On the RCCL cruise we were on a boat with a bunch of people. It was fun to people watch but it just didn't feel as cozy or friendly as a DCL - for us. Also I confess that the persistant and lingering smell of smoke REALLY bothered me more than I thought it would.. It just contributed something icky to the overall feel of the cruise. The ship didn't smell good to us in general and smell is an important and influential sense.

Anyway, I think for us the lack of Disney was a dealbreaker. The crew were lovely. The food was not so great and the ship wasn't *quite* as clean as we were used to but it was fine.

I think you will be totally fine on DCL unless you miss the casino. You might also be bummed with how much you paid! If I were you I'd go only if I really really wanted the Disney factor!
 

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