TwinPrincessMermaids

I agree, the scrambled eggs on the buffet were so good, we actually went up to deck and brought them TO the dining room. They were DELISH. Also, I ate two of the asparagus soups from EG (on Fantasy and Dream), and enjoyed all the seafood like the scallops and escargot. Also there was a goat cheese salad, always a favorite.

Lots of favorites. I enjoyed the dining a lot and hoping to again in a week!

I actually enjoyed the strawmarket. We had limited time and cash and a lady swooped right in, helped us find what we wanted (dolphins and Ariel on bags) and then we bought some stuff from her. We were out of there in 20 min and happy. It is what it is, but you can get some good deals. I like handmade stuff. Castaway Cay only has typical resort stock stuff and none of it is made there. Twinkie got a great wooden carved mug and some souvenirs. We would go back.

Speaking of going back, we loved the sea lions so much we booked it again this year! DCL really wowed us with Blue Lagoon, but we did do a snorkel catamaran off of shoreexcursionsgroup.com and it was a great morning, the first time we were in Nassau.

There is so much to do on Nassau as long as you have a plan.

My two cents, Disney hands down if you can afford 25% more and don't need a casino. Best cruises ever on D.

What THIS GUY says!

(You can help that 25% with their rewards cards...one month, two cards, $104 in rewards...Happy EPCOT Italy Anniversary dinner to me! :D )

OH MY! Will you look at that countdown!!!

Is the ships waste ok to drink? We are fine with it on Disney. Tastes fine.

 

 

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:eek: Indeed. No wonder DCL gets a bad name on this board! LOL

To me, the 'casino' style cruises (CCL, categories lower than Oasis on RCI) are basically like eating at your typical chain restaurant. Its nice, its food, you can probably find some things you like and its a fair value. But sometimes you want more than 'alright', sometimes you want 'special', and that is why you will go downtown to a really nice or highly reviewed restaurant, even though it may cost more (or, the equivalent of several of the chain restaurant meals, maybe it costs the same for one meal versus 3 or 4 at the cheaper places). Can you go there all the time? No, but it IS a wonderful experience for special times. Disney Cruising is special. You can't really compare it with "you get more days on a bargain line" because it's like eating more often at the chain restaurant, but that doesn't make it a better value than the special restaurant. More sea days does NOT equal better ship experience. I would take my 3 day Disney in a heart beat over a 7 day casino style cruise any. single. day. of. the. week. I had only ever done 7 days prior, and never thought that anything less would be a good value. But that was just how that year went (it was impromptu with family after the disappointing CCL with friends) and boy did it change my mind. Thankfully our rewards card paid for half of our upcoming cruise and gives us 6 months free anyone on Disney vacations, so there is no reason so far to go on RCI...

Disney cruise with a few days at Disney. Even a 4 day is awesome. And I don't even have kids, but I do like the parks and we did our first DCL last year after CCl and I don't think I can go back on a CCL. Disney was wonderful, absolutely family upscale vacation at its best. We don't pay much more than we did for CCL, even though we might 'sacrifice' a sea day (on CCL which would be bingo and trivia). We are cruising a 4 day for $600 (including taxes, port fees AND prepaid gratuity!) for two of us next month thanks to a 10% off voucher, our Disney rewards cards (over $800+ in rewards and incentives in a year) and booking ahead of time. We are tacking on a few days in the parks.

Gonna be an unbelievable trip. I will qualify that I avoid all vacations during holiday times. I love thanksgiving time because we take the camper out to the woods and ride four wheelers and dune buggies all week. We went to WDW the week of Thanksgiving once and we agreed we would NEVER EVER do it again. You can see the lights anytime in late November/entire month of December and it doesn't have to be right on the holiday week. In fact, early December is a good time for WDW.

These are just my suggestions. I hate to sound negative, but I used to get so excited for cruises, but there was absolutely no magic stepping on the CCL Dream last year and I was happy to debark and go back to the parks. There just really isn't anything 'special' or 'magical' about Carnival. It takes you to some beautiful islands though! But the Disney cruises and vacations REALLY ARE special, and my 3 day Disney cruise has kept me sunny and living vicariously through those memories for a year.

Thankfully my next 4 day is coming VERY VERY CLOSE!

I agree perfectly with OP. It wasn't PERFECT sushi, but it was sushi!!!! My husband got me a plate every day while I was getting ready for dinner, or I would go up and enjoy wasabi until I cried.

Then on the Dream last year (Feb 2013) they didn't have sushi, they had the Taste bar. The times we went they were serving some pork something or other. I don't eat pork. I was SO disappointed. Bring the sushi back!

We've been to Nassau quite a few times but the last time this past September wasn't all the great. Since the straw market was rebuilt, we found the people to be very rude and some of the stores not even worth walking in to. While we are accustomed to shopping and walking around the different ports and getting acquainted with the culture, we have found this particular port to be less than average. Forget going to Atlantis unless you plan on putting a second mortgage on your home especially if you're traveling with kids or a group of people. To me, Nassau has the potential to be a beautiful place with great people but sadly that's just not the case. Anyone else have any opinions, ideas, suggestions, please feel free to share.

 

We go to the Blue Lagoon. Its secure, gorgeous, and the only unfriendly people we encountered were chair hogs (guess they aren't just onboard.)

And the sea lions are so delightful, we are going back to do the encounter again. Their conch fritters were fresh and wonderful and there were hammocks every where. We enjoyed Blue Lagoon so much that we specifically picked our next May itinerary just to go back to Nassau! :) Be seeing you babies in 3 weeks! Woohoo!

My second choice is the catamaran snorkel we got. Both of these ferries pick you right up at the cruise pier and drop you off less than a 10 min walk back to the cruise building.

Of all my complaints about my 2013 sailing of the Dream, the entertainment staff were all top notch. karaoke was a blast, both superstar and regular (altho can someone please get the guy a laptop? I can't believe they were still using a rolling case of CD books! For one of my songs, I didn't have any words or cues show up.) The Legends Auditions were literally one of the funniest nights of my life. You would have had to be there. I think we laughed so hard, we were sore all the next day. The FunForce dancers are always breaking and popping and locking. I kinda felt like the whole week was sailing with America's Got Talent with black and neon style shows. Did enjoy Dancin in the Streets. Had fun being Britney again in Legends, my honey was Ricky Martin, my friend was Aretha. (Her and I had done it before but it is sooooooo nerve wracking the first time. The second time, I had way more fun.)

Anyway that was a year ago when Jamie D was still on and out of Port Canaveral. It might have changed since then. The comedians are always funny but we didn't have as many as previous sailings. Hard working entertainment crew, very fun. Dining and service bombed in comparison.

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My 3 day on Disney Dream made Carnival Dream look like a wasted week of sea days with trivia and bingo. (I was on both about a month apart, talk about a contrast.) There is no possible way 4 days on Disney (which is what we are doing in 3 weeks woohoo!!) Comes close to the value of 7 day Carnival. Kinda like saying eating a regular restaurant chain us better than eating at a really highly reviewed higher end restaurant, after all, you can eat there many more times for the same money. But its not the same thing.

We don't have any kids, but we were amazed by the high end talent on the (admittedly more juvenile but VERY technical) stage shows. (OK by me, I love Disney Music and Broadway which is how this felt.) We loved the dining room shows having interactive animated characters having a chat and playing games, not waiters dancing in samba ruffle sleeves. Our service was like back in the 90s style cruising, crumb cleaners cleaning the tables, never having to ask for something more than once. The private island is the perfect blend of water fun, natural beauty, convenience, food icecream and drinks. I like a fluffy saucy pizza and was totally disappointed by the CCL Dream's thin, next to topping less pizza, so much happier.

I almost gave up cruising altogether after our last Carnival, with each year declining more and more. I felt so guilty for being on vacation and trying to smile and appreciate all the hard working staff, but they just either ignored us, scowled at us, or fought at and with each other. It was the unfriendliness ship I have ever been on. night and day on Disney, we could talk with the staff until 2 am! They called us Princesses wherever we went and really treated us like royalty. The food was much more interesting and artistically presented, at least for my tastes, which I know it's subjective.

And no one does crows control like Disney, which I wish CCL Dream could have figured out, because I have never waited so long on any ship, CCL or otherwise. Even for beverages and cups or soft serve in the buffet. I can't imagine the crowds on the Sunshine.

Mind you, I never pay peak price for Disney (or any line) and our Disney Rewards Visa allows us 6 months free financing and our rewards this year literally paid for half of our upcoming cruise. That means we get the DCL experience at the CCL price.

4 day DCL vs 7 day on CCL?

That is NO contest to me. Here is a suggestion: look up the Navigator for the Disney Cruise and the FunTimes for the Carnival. See which one offers more to you personally. That will help you see if your sea days (all you are getting extra for days sailed) are worth giving up Disney for. (For us, no casino is a big plus, for others, its a minus.) I think a 3 or 4 day is a perfect way to see if it is right for you. Also DCL has an open BYOWhatever policy. No drink packages needed, for soda OR adult beverages.

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After a ton of conversations, I have finally convinced my other half to go on a disney cruise! We were originally booked on a carnival cruise in september but I kept reading Disney trip reports (Idk if Gambee will read this, but that trip report was the cherry on top) and threads on here about "Disney Vs Carnival" and I just couldnt resist. We are first time cruisers and cant wait. The best part is we kind of crunched the numbers just to see the price difference and the Disney cruise was only about $150 more per person! Which to me, seeing Castaway Cay, for a little bit extra is worth it. Anyways, I just wanted to share my excitement. Thanks for reading :)

Absolutely the right choice! You will be spoiled for ever more. :D

3 nights is way too short. Keep looking for off season bargains an do the cruise when you can do at least 4 nights.

I like ya, but this where you and I diverge. I've only done a 3 day and it blew my mind and restored my love of cruising. If 3 is all you can do OP, hit a park day or two and take it- its AWESOME. It made a 7 day on a Carnival look like a boring week of trivia. If we hadn't gone on our 3 day, we wouldn't have been on any Disney cruises, and now we are hooked. We are booked for a 4 day because we want a sea day, but I wouldn't take back that 3 day for anything. It was magical in every where. I grew up on RCCL but they haven't done anything to interest me in a decade, whereas our whole family cannot WAIT to get on Disney (and we are all couples with no kids) and I couldn't even remember what the last Royal ship I was on was called. Disney was SOO memorable, even for a 3 day.

Cruise the maximum you can, and if it's 3, do 3! if its 4, do 4! If you can do a week, go for it, and I"m jealous! :D

I love to see a fellow mermaid after my own heart. :) We love Ariel so much (well actually, if you see my office, my lunch bag, my phone cover and my 'snorkel' gear, its actually bordering on obsession I suppose :D)

We LOVED our Disney cruise and we don't even have kids, but we love the Disney brand and parks and cruising. After my last CCL, I had decided to give up cruising but the parents had other plans and now we are all HOOKED on Disney cruising. Our next one is in less than a month! Woohoo!

As for Castaway Cay, it is AWESOME. So much value there with the included food, drink and icecream, fruit, characters, snorkeling (long swim out but TONS of fish), and water slides, volleyball, funny hermit crab races, and we never even made it to the adult beach. This time, we are going to run the 5k, take our mermaid tails to the family beach (we will have at least 3 mermaids, maybe 4, this time) and then relax on a catamaran snorkel on the reef.

I have been to Labadee and CoCoCay (its been some years), and I still LOVE LOVE Castaway Cay for comfort and convenience and amenities.

I think if your family loves Disney as much as your photos show, you should at least give it a try once. I only did a 3 day and it amazed us. We are doing Epcot, Hollywood, 4 days on the Magic with the Sea Lion encounter on Blue Lagoon in Nassau, the snorkel catamaran and 5k on Castaway, a fancy brunch on sea day, and Sea World after debarkation. Land and Sea is a wonderful vacation. I used to only cruise 7 days or more, but I have learned that Disney can make other's 7 days look like a boring waste of time and money. If you can cruise a week, than definitely do that! But if you can't, cruise a few days less.

My favorite is no more than 2 days of parks prior to cruise, and a day or two after to chase away the cruise blues! If there was a decision to make on EITHER before or after, it's all good, but we prefer the excitement of wearing ourselves out at the parks under the fireworks first and THEN boarding the Magic and getting some down time and excitement...but its all good!

That's what I would...and am doing! :D

Ps, we had our photos take with Ariel (she had legs fyi) and told her that we snorkled as mermaids on Castaway that day and without missing a beat, she asked "oh, what color mermaids were you?" So its more than just photos, they actually interact and chat with you. We LOVED it...and we are in our 30s!

As far as the infant, no one does family cruising better than Disney. And the character photos with the babies are SOOOO cute. Talk about memories that will last forever!

Another vote over here for wonderful Chankanaab! I have been several times, and I like it so much, and the people friendly fish to snorkel with, that I wouldn't even consider another destination for Cozumel. It is perfection for me.

Thank you SO much for this reply! It's exactly what I was looking for. It seems like Disney in general offers less (in most cases, and certainly for 'budget' deal cruises for them) less exciting itineraries because their ships and activities are like the destination (minus the new Baltic and Norwegian itineraries that just came out). Sounds like the Dawn is more like a good way to get to a great itinerary. The fact that are you are booked again on the Wonder makes me think the Wonder for these reasons:

I have already done both itineraries before, but I know DCL has the ship activities that we love.

I can actually cruise Disney for less (even if it is 2 less days.)

We shall see what the husband has to say! :D

Thanks again!

Hi, new to this board. Haven't personally experienced NCL (we aren't fans of anytime/your time/no fixed dining) but our friends mentioned that they might be going the last week of Feb on the Dawn to Roatan. We have been before (to Roatan) and we LOVE it. It's an itinerary I've already done, but on CCL. Kinda seriously over CCL, in fact, I thought I was over cruising altogether, but then a last minute family DCL 3 day reunion has renewed our obsession. Our time to board the 'new re-imagined' DCL Magic is only a month away! We can't wait!

So what does this have to do with NCL, you might ask? Well, I have been re-shopping my 'next' 2015 cruise in order to rebook a DCL while on board and get the 10% on board booking savings etc. I thought I had found it! My 3rd DCL, a 5 day Wonder, it's the cheapest DC listed for 2015 and goes to G Cayman & Castaway Cay (which is WONDERFUL). It's a 5 day and will be my longest DCL yet. And it happens to be 2 days before the above mentioned NCL Dawn our friends talked about... So we can't have it both ways. :(

I have a friend who has cruised CCL with me (also no longer interested in CCL) and cruises DCL (is on this next one too!) and she just got off of NCL POA in January and she really liked her NCL. I think she would definitely do an NCL over another CCL. The question is which of the late Feb cruises to book...

Believe it or not, we can actually cruise on the DCL Wonder for cheaper. (And because we have a Disney Visa that all the points go towards Disney including vacations - saving us over $800+ on this upcoming vacation in a year! :) ) it could actually be even CHEAPER cheaper than the NCL. From a cost perspective, we are looking interior and can get interior on the Wonder 5 Day for $517pp (assuming it doesn't change rates between now and when we get on board) and the 7 day NCL starts at $529pp or more. So from a cost perspective, they are pretty close. Just wanted to say that upfront before I get a lot of responses regarding DCL costing so much more.

DAWN

Pros I can see?:

7 Days

Leaves out of NOLA which is a 9 hr drive for us and very convenient.

Goes to Roatan

Minuses I can see?

Wasn't crazy about Belize.

Sorry if this is obvious, but it's not Disney... :(

We would be traveling with a group and assigned dinner has always helped us coordinate at night when we sometimes missed each other all day. Not sure it would even be worth joining them on the cruise if odds are they could go eat whenever without us because there is no set time, and they are the kind of people that go when they are ready...

WONDER

Pros I can see?:

Love the Disney brand

Castaway Cay is a GREAT destination and you don't have to book anything if you don't want, which makes the trip cheaper.

G Cayman is secure and beautiful and we love Royal Palm on 7 Mile Beach which is also just a few bucks to get in.

Rotational set dining means we get a new dining room almost every night but it is at a set time with set waiters, and the group that we cruise with is guaranteed to dine with us every night.

Soft Drinks are included and you can BYOWhatever drinks in whatever quantity to use in your room. So a lot of savings on beverages, adult or soda. (My honey does buy cokes even when he has to pay for them.)

Cons I can see?

5 days vs 7 (but my 3 day taught me that DCL can REALLY make a few days feel like a week!)

Have to fly to Miami

Goes to less ports

Have I missed anything? I think they both have great entertainment. I should say that I really appreciate friendly service. I'm friendly and outgoing and I love to chat with everyone! On my last CCL, I feel like there was hatred from the CMs that you could wipe out of the air, it was so thick. On my first DCL, everyone was smiley and chatty and for once, I didn't feel so guilty for being on a vacation in the first place, while their lives are 'miserable'. The dinner service was like cruising in the 90s, absolute service perfection. The dinner service I had on my last CCL was SO bad that I am so glad to be home and making and serving my own food. Service is part of the experience to us, going out to a nice dinner every night. I feel like CCL is getting worse and worse and that their Dream was the most unfriendly ship I've been on. When debarkation day came, I was happy to pack and leave the ship, and I don't want to look forward to a vacation and invest my hard earned $$ and very sparing time off just to want to be home. I'm not picky, I just enjoy having coffee, tea or water filled while in the dining rooms, having some GF options presented, and getting dessert before several hours. Not being sarcastic, that is what I look forward to for service. And getting what I ordered in the first place.

I'm sort of scared to try NCL because I wonder if the service can compare to DCL. Has anyone been on the Dawn AND the Wonder?

That would really help!

Also I should qualify that we have no kids, but we enjoy the Disney parks and cruises, family style entertainment (have seen some stuff on the big screens at deck parties on Carnival that should never be shown before 10, and the thongs on the dancefloor annoy me), so that's why I enjoy Disney staged shows. They may be kiddie plots, but the talent is stellar and everyone is covered up and no suggestive content. We also DO NOT gamble or play bingo and never will. We do not like having to walk through smokey casinos to get from one side of the ship to the other, and I"m not sure if NCL has you do that, but CCL sure does. But I also don't want to make the mistake of thinking that NCL is just like CCL, because I'm sure it's not.

I'll need to figure out which ship to book in a month, so that is why I'm asking for opinions.

Thank you in advance!

Carnival was started in 1972 and Disney Cruise in 1995. I guess by that token, Disney copied Carnival by having a cruise line period...SMH. Yes, that's absurd.

I hope you find an outfit you like. For instance, if you are a lady, an oversized peasant shirt (available just about anywhere including consignment!) will do with a great wide belt. We actually found perfect lace up wide 'corset' style pirate belts at our mall in HotTopic this week. Cinch the waist with a wide belt (and for a wenchier version, you can pull one or both shoulders down and even take a safety pin and 'tack up' one side of a peasant style skirt.) Easy peasy! Fishnets if you are bold. Hoop earrings, head scarf or hat (I have a great one from my old renaissance faire days, those goodies can be re-used for pirate night).

If you are a dude, a good pirate shirt is probably your best best, but if you don't want to order a lace-up renaissance man style shirt, I heard of someone cutting felt into a vest for their man to wear. I bought a cheap costume for my honey and we shall see how it fits him...

As for the quote above, Disney developed cruising not to copy CCL but because Walt LOVED the sea, had his honeymoon on a sea cruise, and had lots of Steamboat Willie and other cartoon segments, many of which featured ocean liners or pirates. This would have been going back before the 70s. I also was under the impression they might have been in cahoots with Big Red Boat way way back in the day, but I could be wrong about that.

If I end up on any more CCLs and I know that there is a pirate night, I will definitely be dressing up! And on May 7, I'm gonna rock our Magic Pirate Night! So I'll take advantage of any pirate night or theme night to dress up.

No one is poo-poo-ing the thread. They just are disappointed that CCL isn't able to market some original concepts of their own. Its just hard to imagine that CCL's could compare to live 'pirate actors' interacting with you and Captain Sparrow swooping down from the crows nest, live on deck...

Disney had a lot of pirates long before POTC came out...ahem Hook...ahem probably even further back than that...

It's true that they don't own pirates, but they DO feature an awesome Pirate event night on all their Non-Alaska sailings with great deck shows like Captain Jack Sparrow taking back the ship after the pirates 'commandeered' it and setting off a huge fireworks show.

For the previous poster that mentioned dressing up like pirate wenches, they be right! We loved it. We came prepared last year and now we have the guys ready to go this time.

It would still be fun to dress like a pirate on any ship, but the reason Disney comes to mind for so many of the posts is because that is classic Disney cruising and something they have been doing well for a very long time.

Yawn. CCL is late to the party...

Don't forget the rice in the ziplock baggie trick!

And I travel with a waterproof bag phonecase. It's a must have...

And no coolers!

About the coffee, my friend just got off NCL POA in Jan and she just took those green tea pills in the morning. The coffee wasn't drinkable at all. And this is coming from gals who have nightstands with coffeemakers. We literally don't get out of BED with a cup of coffee. But not even she was desperate enough to drink it.

Yegh. :eek:

I do notice the servers often forget to mention that (not surprising since that AM is often when the tip envelopes are passed out)

Our 3 Day Dream was our first DCL and we knew about the option to eat at the buffet debarkation day. We choose NOT to. But I think your wrong about the envelopes.

Nope, sorry that is wrong based on our Dream experience last April. Envelopes came out the night before, we brought them to dinner, we were VERY VERY happy to fill them as our service and experience was spectacular, and it made it even better for us knowing that we WOULD see them again in the morning (we made it a family reunion across 3 states, so that was our last family dinner and buffet wouldn't have worked to visit, so we did come back for our morning debarkation breakfast and one last time for perfect service). We tipped them the night BEFORE and gave them a hug good bye in the morning.

They do NOT leave the tip envelopes until the morning you leave. Sorry to be blunt, and you might sense a harumph, but on our experienced, this information is just plain wrong. Its left in your stateroom long before dinner on the last night.

Just on the Triumph last week. The MDR absolutely is open on Sea days for brunch and port days for regular breakfast. Never crowded as I don't think many folks could ever find the Paris dining room. 3rd deck aft.

Sheesh! That was me. The whole time, I never made it once to Tea. I couldn't find it!

I for one can say this is my 5th and last Carnival cruise after seeing the new Quantum class.

 

Bumber cars?

Sky Diving?

The outdoor viewing thingamajig?

 

Guess I was really just wondering how the rest of you felt.

 

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/findacruise/ships/class/ship/home.do?shipCode=QN

I'm pretty sure my last CCL (by choice anyway) was my 4th. However, bumper cars don't interest me. I cruise for the Sea! I'll probably look for a good deal on Oasis in a few years when I'm ready for a change.

I was thinking the same thing. I don't cruise for the food or shows, i like the ports and general downtime and relaxation factor. If OP likes shows, Carnival will disappoint.

 

I was thinking the same thing... Cruise CCL for beautiful ports and a cheap way to get there. My last cruise with them taught me not to cruise them for the ship experience. Sorry but true...