Question for those who have done DCL and Carnival

[egospotter]

We are planning our vacation for next year and want to do a cruise and Disney World for our 5th Anniversary.

We cruised with Carnival on our honeymoon and had a great time, but we have never cruised with DCL. I keep going back and forth about which to go with this year.

I know we are all partial to Disney here so if cost wasn't an issue it would be DCL all the way - but it is about twice the price of Carnival and, as I said, we did have a good time on Carnival during our honeymoon.

It's also just us, no kids, but we are huge Disney fans so would love to see the Disney shows and do the pirates party and all that.

So here is the question, for those who have cruised with both DCL and Carnival, is it really worth the extra money?

I should also note that if we take Carnival we will get to do a 4 night cruise instead of 3 nights with Disney and also spend a couple extra days at Disney World for the trade-off - and it will still be a few hundred $ cheaper. What do you think?

[Tink1]

I have done both. I am not a fan of the Carnival Short cruises. They tend to use some of their older ships and are noted for being party cruises. I have no problem with Carnival as a whole. I have done many 7 night sailings that I truly enjoyed, as did my family.

For shorter cruises I tend to stick with DCL or RCCL. I just think their 3/4 night offerings are superior to what CCL offers. Nicer ships, better atmosphere.

Bottomline for me is I will not do a short CCL.

Nanc

[joonyer]

We are not gamblers or drinkers, nor do we like profane R or X rated comedy. That was the primary focus of the entertainment on our (3-night) Carnival cruise. We enjoyed the food, and our stateroom, and the musical performances, and the sailing (being out on the water). We did not take the kids with us. It was cheap, though, very inexpensive. However, we would not spend our money on another Carnival cruise like that.

We did a 4 night Disney Cruise this past Feb. (the Wonder) with our kids (got a kids sail free discount) and it was still quite a bit more $$ that the Carnival cruise, but it was well worth it. The food and service was much better (loved the different dining rooms each night). The entertainment was much, much better overall, and all family oriented and the recreation opportunities blew Carnival away. Pools and sports available on deck, the pirate party with fireworks at sea and not to mention fabulous Castaway Cay, all included. Our teenagers absolutely loved the teen club, it was their favorite part of the cruise. WE loved the room service included in the fare. DW and I enjoyed breakfast on our veranda every morning while the boys slept late (they were at the teen club 'til '2 am). No experience with the younger kids clubs, but I understand they are all great, also. DCL also offers movies and the musical shows were fabulous. No gambling on DCL (except bingo), but there are nightclubs for adults only, but they are not the primary focus of the entertainment.

For a family experience with kids, there is NO QUESTION that DCL is the better experience and well worth the extra money. For adults only cruising, I don't think you'll be disappointed at all, you'll get your money's worth for sure, unless you just have to have casinos.

[Kenny1113]

I say if you enjoyed carnival in the past, then do it again. I have not done carnival, but did RCCL after DCL. I did not like RCCL at all. I feel that DCL set the bar so high for us that I fear nothing will compare.

[princessjojo]

We've done Carnival and Royal Carribean and have really wanted to do a Disney cruise. Our time on Carnival was fine, we had a good time and enjoyed ourselves, but it was just DH and me. Royal Carribean was just the two of us as well. The price was somewhat comparable with RCCL being a little more, but was well worth it. Much nicer ships and "prettier" or "blingier" if you will. We've always said that if we went back, it would be on RCCL or Windjammer and wouldn't do CCL unless our schedules just would have nothing else.

Now, we've looked at DCL, but for the price, almost double the cost of the same RCCL vacation, we chose not to. We even looked at using our DVC points to offset the cost, but it was still a very expensive pill to swallow. Our kids are teenagers now, and logistics makes it difficult as well. They can't get into the same teen clubs because of age breaks. And we would have had to have 2 rooms if they would bring a friend and then the cost goes up way more. As nice as it would be, and I'm sure it would be wonderful, I'm just not sure it's worth the greatly elevated cost.