One Disney or two Carnivals?

[mevelandry]

It's an interesting thought, but casinos are non-smoking in Ontario and judging by the patronage at night I have to believe that they're making a profit. And I believe the World Series of Poker is a non-smoking event, and they probably do ok. So I'm not saying that those people are wrong, but I have seen what appears to be evidence to the contrary.

This reminds me of 2005 when they changed the laws to forbid smoking in public spaces in Quebec. People were going nuts, saying they would boycott restaurants and bars and complaining that restaurants and bars were going to go bankrupt (which is pretty ironic since they were threatening to boycott them)...

And guess what happened: nothing. People kept going to restaurants and bars.

 

[AlohaNow]

@ralphie - I'd probably go with the 14 nights on a boat. We've cruised non-DCL lines for the past two years and been happy with them. (RCL and MSC) We're hitting up DCL again later this year, but for half as many nights, and only half of my immediate family will go. And the only reason we can even afford that much is because I have a leftover Disney gift card that will pay for half of the total fare! We did not think we'd cruise DCL again, but are making it happen. I do consider it an elevated cruise experience, but other lines are just fine and we always had fun....because we were on a cruise!

 

[bobbiwoz]

It really would depend on the itinerary for me, however, it’s been many years since we’ve cruised Carnival. We had some great cruises on them, more than 15, but I do prefer DCL to Carnival.

 

[MickeyD]

It has pretty much all been covered here, but I wanted to concur with the poster that said take two smaller trips on two different lines and compare before booking two long vacations on one cruise line. I have cruised Carnival (several of their ships) and I have done 10 on DCL. I will say that overall, I prefer the atmosphere on DCL. I hate the casino and smoke areas on the Carnival ships, but those can be avoided, much like the kiddie areas can be avoided on DCL. We had a great time on both cruiselines, but they are two very different experiences; kind of like the difference between shopping at Walmart and shopping at Macy's. And I am not saying which is which, because there are good and bad points to both experiences.

 

[mom2brooke76]

I’m the one that did 13 DCL cruises and just came back from my first Carnival and LOVED it!! For us, I’d do two CCL, but it also depends on the ages of kids, etc.

 

[OKW Lover]

It seems many believe it is essential for the casinos to make a profit. Celebrity has moved away from the concept but others have not.

Interestingly enough (or not) Celebrity and Royal Caribbean are owned by the same company.

 

[cgolf]

Interestingly enough (or not) Celebrity and Royal Caribbean are owned by the same company.

Agreed, but the make up of the cruisers on each line is very different. Lots of kids on RCCL and a lot more retired people on Celebrity and very few kids. Ultimately I find us leaning towards Celebrity, but will see if our next RCCL cruise changes that. Both are a lot of fun, the food (especially GF) and service was incredible on Celebrity.

 

[traveled]

Serious question; not a snarky dig, I swear - why are you on this board? What appeal does it have for you?

I was not snarky. Am I snarky because I did not like our Disney cruise? The question asked what would you choose. I answered "CCL for sure. I have been on one Disney cruise and will never go again. Way too expensive for what you get. Choose a newer CCL ship." I am on this board because our family loves Disney. We go on at least 2 Disney vacations a year. I am on this board because I enjoy reading about people's experiences and learning to enhance my own experiences. I am a D23 member, DVC member, DIS stock holder. I love Disney. But not the cruise we went on. We sailed on the Disney Wonder on the west coast. Everyone should be entitled to an opinion without being bashed for it as long as they are polite.

 

[AJA55]

Like many have said before me: depends on the ship and the destination/s. But most likely the 2 Carnivals. And I hated my first Carnival. So much that I didn't cruise for many years after. Then I took a Disney. Turned me on to cruising! Then I started to diversify. Have been on Norwegian and Royal now. We now prefer Norwegian. Why? The aft accessible rooms. Every cruise has had some good and some bad. I could list meals from three lines that are in my Best meal I ever ate category and three in my Worst meals category. With that said, I have not been on Disney since 2011. Too many new ships to explore with other lines.

OP...make a list of what you like about a cruise. Cabin? Itinerary? Food? Entertainment? Then do some research.

Even the bad Carnival I look back fondly on. And wellllll it was in the stone age. I'm thinking of trying them again. A new ship of course. That is one key factor for me when sailing.

 

[John VN]

..................... OP...make a list of what you like about a cruise. Cabin? Itinerary? Food? Entertainment? Then do some research.

Even the bad Carnival I look back fondly on. And wellllll it was in the stone age. I'm thinking of trying them again. A new ship of course. That is one key factor for me when sailing.

Just like food shopping, a BOGO can be very appealing. 2 CCL at the price of 1 DCL sounds good to me.

 

[squirk]

I was not snarky. Am I snarky because I did not like our Disney cruise? The question asked what would you choose. I answered "CCL for sure. I have been on one Disney cruise and will never go again. Way too expensive for what you get. Choose a newer CCL ship." I am on this board because our family loves Disney. We go on at least 2 Disney vacations a year. I am on this board because I enjoy reading about people's experiences and learning to enhance my own experiences. I am a D23 member, DVC member, DIS stock holder. I love Disney. But not the cruise we went on. We sailed on the Disney Wonder on the west coast. Everyone should be entitled to an opinion without being bashed for it as long as they are polite.

You misinterpreted my post. I wasn’t bashing you.

When I said “Serious question, not a snarky dig,” I meant that the question I was about to ask wasn’t some passive-aggressive slam on you for not liking DCL.

It was a genuine question as to why you were frequenting a message board dedicated to a cruise line that you clearly dislike and will never sail on again.

What do you hope to get out of it? What experience(s) do you hope to enhance?

 

[DietCokeMommy]

I would personally go for Disney. But it really depends on a lot of things. How many people are cruising? Are you cruising with kids, if so, how old? Do you cruise for the ship or the itinerary?

I liked Disney because I have two small kids. Their room configurations work for us. Some carnival ships literally have the kids sleeping over you, which I could not deal with. I like the lack of smoke and lack of casino, I like the restaurants and characters. For us it’s a good fit. We just got off the Wonder a couple days ago and it was amazing and worth the money for us. But everyone is different.

 

[traveled]

You misinterpreted my post. I wasn’t bashing you.

When I said “Serious question, not a snarky dig,” I meant that the question I was about to ask wasn’t some passive-aggressive slam on you for not liking DCL.

It was a genuine question as to why you were frequenting a message board dedicated to a cruise line that you clearly dislike and will never sail on again.

What do you hope to get out of it? What experience(s) do you hope to enhance?

I get an DISboard email every day that lists news and also lists boards that are active or new. I read what interests me or relates to what I know and what I want to learn about. I look at the boards to read other points of view and discover what's new or improved. I did not go on the Disney cruise board to bash. I saw the question and gave my 2 cents on my experience. I try to find news on the new Disney ships. The board is open to everyone. The "appeal" and what I "get out of it" is to learn and educate and for enjoyment. The "experience I hope to enhance" is my life experiences now and in the future and interaction with all the people I meet and talk with regarding travel and all things Disney. I am interested, therefore, I read peoples experiences and occasionally make a comment. Everybody's life experience is different and how we view things is seen through the eyes of culture, belief, feelings, past experiences and a hundred other things that color our view. I try to open myself to what others see and do and not just what I am interested in. I have found new paths and interests by looking around. I was just making a comment. I was just talking to the DVC rep on our last vacation and we talked quite a while about Disney cruises. He said he has heard the same complaints from many people about the Disney Wonder. It is the only west coast ship and we live in Idaho so we tried the closest one. I have been on 15 different cruises on 6 different cruise lines so I know a little about cruise experiences and the one we had on the Wonder was not good. The DVC rep said it is too small and they let kids go in adult only areas (hard to keep them out), and the only places for the character meets are in the hallways so it is extremely hard to get around because of the ship's size and all the kids in the hallways. He encouraged us to try again on another bigger ship... preferably one of the new ones. I will keep reading the boards to see what I can find out.