First Carnival cruise after Disney cruises

[Silent Penguin]

Dh and I are taking our first Carnival cruise (on the Pride) after taking several Disney cruises (sometimes with our children but also without them). We love DCL, but right now, if we want to go on a cruise, it's going to have to be with a much less expensive cruiseline than DCL and preferably one that has a ship leaving from a port within easy driving distance. Carnival fits the bill since, if we time it right, we can go from sitting on our porch at home to sitting on the balcony of our stateroom on the Pride in a little over two hours.

Who of you have sailed with DCL and can tell me about the differences you experienced and about the adjustments we should make to our expectations. We'll be on the Pride. I've read that it is a medium-sized ship and older but recently refurbished. Can you tell me how the balcony staterooms compare to the Magic or Wonder? How about the buffet experience? Is it cafeteria-like or is it a nice dining room?

I expect we'll eat dinner in the main dining room mostly. We have a fixed dining time. Even so, should we expect a considerable wait before being seated? Is the serving staff attentive or indifferent? Do you get grief from your waiter if you ask, for example, for two appetizers or to have steamed vegetables instead of those cooked in buttery sauce if that's what the menu describes?

What are port days like? We're going to the Carribean. Is it like a mad house trying to get off the ship? How does the procedure differ from DCL's? Tender days weren't so bad on DCL, but other ports involved a very crowded and tense wait depending on what time you tried to leave the ship.

I want to have realistic expectations. Reading this forum has been educational, but I think the perspective of a DCL passenger would be very helpful.

[firefly333]

I dont think you can reasonably expect to order foods cooked differently as the dinners are preplated. You can order steamed veggies on the side and just not eat what comes with dinner. You can order as many things as you want. No limit.

 

Buffet is open for meals as well.

 

Dinner service they let you in at the set time. Service to me seems a little slow as your waiter will have multiple tables to wait on.

[mrpayroll]

Think of it this way. You are used to going to the " Worlds Fair ". You will be going to a " local weekend carnival " in a small town. Been on both Disney and Carnival. BIG difference. :)

[DvsDave]

Disney beats Carnival, no questions.

 

The shows are better

The rooms are bigger with better bathrooms.

There are more eating options.

There are only PG rated activities with Carnival there are adult shows.

The thing that I found out doing Disney first is you have to pay for soda on Carnival.

 

That being said, we love Carnival. The activities don't end at 10pm. The food is good. They have casinos.

 

Please, please, please don't expect Disney quality, you will be disappointed. You are paying less but it's still a great vacation value.

 

We have been on 1 Royal Carribbean, 2 Disney and 5 Carnival and knock on wood, they have all been wonderful.

 

Funny thing, we live in Baltimore and haven't done the Pride cruise yet!

[serene56]

 

Please, please, please don't expect Disney quality, you will be disappointed. You are paying less but it's still a great vacation value.

 

Funny thing, we live in Baltimore and haven't done the Pride cruise yet!

 

 

I agree-- if going in comparing the disney to the Pride-- you will be VERY disappointed. Go in as if its your first cruise.

 

I loved the pride out of Baltimore-- dont know if its because it was a cheap cruise and we did not have to fly so we saved MUCH $$ ON THE pRIDE.

 

had one of the huge bowling alley balconiees.. yes. it was a huge favorite of ours

[Disneycruisers]

I could write a book on DCL vs. CCL, as they're my favorite cruiselines (I favor DCL a bit more:D).

 

However, I notice this is your first post, and I'll wait until you become more active on this thread. Interesting name.

[jpurdy]

Been on Disney Magic & Dream (Dream this past summer). Been on 15+ Carnival Cruises too. Disney has really priced itself out of our comfort zone as we usually pay for our whole family (adult kids & grandsons). The ships are beautiful and the free soda is nice, the kid clubs are unbelievable. But for the 2 of us, we are quite happy with Carnival and what it offers. We know what food we like and what to avoid. We don't eat in dining room as we want to relax and not get dressed up. We like the lido deck food-of course we don't like everything, but that's ok. We are happy to sit on deck all afternoon with a few drinks and some music. The one thing that you will miss is Castaway Cay unless you are going to HMC. We wll be on the Pride next month and we know what to expect and it's not that we lower our expectations for Carnival, we just know they are a different product. We don't think it's trashy or sub-par. We take the time to talk to the staff and most are just lovely and so hard working. We enjoy casino time that Disney does not have. And since we are Platinum, we really enjoy the free entry into the slot competition and the free laundry and 1st on and 1st off benefits. Hope this helps!

[MrPete]

Dh and I are taking our first Carnival cruise (on the Pride) after taking several Disney cruises (sometimes with our children but also without them). We love DCL, but right now, if we want to go on a cruise, it's going to have to be with a much less expensive cruiseline than DCL and preferably one that has a ship leaving from a port within easy driving distance. Carnival fits the bill since, if we time it right, we can go from sitting on our porch at home to sitting on the balcony of our stateroom on the Pride in a little over two hours.

Who of you have sailed with DCL and can tell me about the differences you experienced and about the adjustments we should make to our expectations. We'll be on the Pride. I've read that it is a medium-sized ship and older but recently refurbished. Can you tell me how the balcony staterooms compare to the Magic or Wonder? How about the buffet experience? Is it cafeteria-like or is it a nice dining room?

I expect we'll eat dinner in the main dining room mostly. We have a fixed dining time. Even so, should we expect a considerable wait before being seated? Is the serving staff attentive or indifferent? Do you get grief from your waiter if you ask, for example, for two appetizers or to have steamed vegetables instead of those cooked in buttery sauce if that's what the menu describes?

What are port days like? We're going to the Carribean. Is it like a mad house trying to get off the ship? How does the procedure differ from DCL's? Tender days weren't so bad on DCL, but other ports involved a very crowded and tense wait depending on what time you tried to leave the ship.

I want to have realistic expectations. Reading this forum has been educational, but I think the perspective of a DCL passenger would be very helpful.

 

When we first sailed DCL, we found it was like a Carnival cruise with a layer of Disney laid on top, with a sleeker ship, bigger staterooms, the split bath thingies, and no casino.

 

At the time, we thought the food was better on CCL.

 

Taking DD on one of each, when asked about her 3rd, there really wasn't a difference to her.

[RuthlessBoss]

You absolutely can't go if your goal is to compare. Carnival cruises are what you make it. I love them. The menues are different, the decor is different, it's not demur. DCL ships are new. CCL does not have Mickey on every inch of the ship (yay). Once you get the "hang" of CCL, you'll love them, and the value pricing.

[mumofsons]

Don't forget that if you are going on the Pride in the next few months it won't be as pleasant on your balcony the first day or two - since Disney leaves from Florida.

We have done both Disney and Carnival - Disney got us hooked on cruising but Carnival keeps us going. Our kids never liked the kids clubs but DS now at 16 decided to try again on the Liberty last spring break and had a blast. They didn't like the kids clubs on the Disney Magic nor Royal Caribbean's Mariner of the seas.

[readytotravel44]

Been on Disney Magic & Dream (Dream this past summer). Been on 15+ Carnival Cruises too. Disney has really priced itself out of our comfort zone as we usually pay for our whole family (adult kids & grandsons). The ships are beautiful and the free soda is nice, the kid clubs are unbelievable. But for the 2 of us, we are quite happy with Carnival and what it offers. We know what food we like and what to avoid. We don't eat in dining room as we want to relax and not get dressed up. We like the lido deck food-of course we don't like everything, but that's ok. We are happy to sit on deck all afternoon with a few drinks and some music. The one thing that you will miss is Castaway Cay unless you are going to HMC. We wll be on the Pride next month and we know what to expect and it's not that we lower our expectations for Carnival, we just know they are a different product. We don't think it's trashy or sub-par. We take the time to talk to the staff and most are just lovely and so hard working. We enjoy casino time that Disney does not have. And since we are Platinum, we really enjoy the free entry into the slot competition and the free laundry and 1st on and 1st off benefits. Hope this helps!

 

Agree!

 

We too are experienced Disney (3)/ Carnival (6) cruisers. Disney wins hands-down for us. Disney just seems to be a class above Carnival. With that being said and all of the specifics others have noted above, we have been booking Carnival lately. Frankly, we can do nearly 2 Carnival cruises to one Disney cruise. Since our cruises lately have been very itinerary focused, Carnival supplies our needs for less money.

 

I do like the Disney shows better, but Carnival's are not bad. Some are really great, like the Beetles show on the Freedom. I agree that they are definitely PG rated with VERY tiny costumes and some questionable moves. Nothing beats the Disney Dreams show in my book.

 

An advantage of Carnival, which my husband is quick to point out, is the casino. Unless things have been changed since our last Disney cruise, they did not have a casino.

 

Food is great on both in our opinion, but we loved switching restaurants every night, something you don't do on Carnival.

 

One thing I really noticed was that the children's program at Carnival had many, many interruptions. We were not the type to leave our child in the kid's program all day, but it seemed like the activities had a lot of breaks. I also remember the late evening programs cost extra on Carnival. Our daughter is 15 now, but when she was little she LOVED the Disney program. We honestly couldn't get her out, "Please Mommy, can I stay? Captain Hook is coming!" The Carnival program did not ever elicit the same response. She would select an activity or two, but didn't want to stay for any length of time.

 

At 15, she loathes the programs at Carnival. They have been disorganized and seemed to promote too much freedom with very little adult leadership or facilitation. Frankly, pretty wild. On our last cruise, a security guard was posted outside of the teen club. One parent told me her son left the club with a huge hickey on the side of his neck from a girl sitting beside him. The activities she wanted to do like games or contests, were often cancelled. She met a few nice friends, but spent very little time in the club. A friend of mine with a teen the same age reported that their last Disney cruise was (in their son's words) "The best week of his life." as he enjoyed the organized, supervised, structured, activities in the teen area of Disney.

[kicia]

We've done 28 Carnival cruises and only one Disney cruise. We really prefer the Carnival cruises. Something that people bring up all the time is that the pop is free on Disney. Well since you're paying twice as much for the cruise the pop isn't really free. You can buy a soda card for a lot less than the difference in the cruise price.

 

There are a couple of things that most people really like that we really did not like at all. The first is the split bath on Disney (and now on some oceanview cabins on Carnival Dream class ships). We hated them. We're not large people by any means and we found them very tight. You can't close the door to the bathroom if you're on the toilet without hitting your knees. Personal preference but not for us. The second is the rotational dining on Disney. Again this is something that we really disliked. We like to dress for dinner and I guess if we were in the formal dining room on formal night on Disney that would have been OK but we were in the Caribbean themed room and it was just so out of place. We would have liked to stay in the formal dining room all the time. We did like that the Caribbean themed room on Disney was open for lunch on embarkation day instead of just the buffet.

 

The balcony rooms on both are very much the same except the bed on Disney is closer to the door and on Carnival it is closer to the balcony. We did like that Disney had sliding doors to the balcony.

 

The food on Carnival is better than on Disney. It is also available for longer hours. We were surprised that the buffet was closed for longer periods of time. On Carnival there is always something open. The other thing we did not like about Disney is that the breakfast time is tied to the dinner time. If you have early dinner then you have early breakfast. We had late seating and even then breakfast was over way too early for us. We were on Disney 4 years ago and maybe this has changed.

 

Castaway Cay is very nice and is just like Carnival's Half Moon Cay. The good thing about Castaway Cay is that the ship actually docks so you don't have to take a tender.

 

Carnival does have a casino but that is not that big of a deal for us. The staff and crew on both were very nice and friendly and we received great service.

 

We don't see rowdy behavior and drunk people on any of our cruises. The most risque thing that ever happend was what we heard from our table mates at dinner. This was a young couple that was in the hot tub. The lady left and the guy was in the tub with an older couple. The lady dropped her top and asked the young guy how she liked her "new pair that her husband just bought for her". They also said they were swingers and asked the young guy if he and his wife would like to join them for a "party". The young couple avoided them all cruise. This was on the Disney cruise so you can't say one is more "lively" than the other because it all depends on the passengers that change every cruise.

 

The shows on both were good but we actually prefer the comedians on Carnival. The showrooms on both were equally cold.

 

Just go in with a good attitude and you will like whichever cruise you're on.

[pe4all]

One major difference in the balcony cabins for us in Disney v Carnival is that Disney had the "privacy curtain" to pull across separating our kids from us. As - until our last few cruises - we always had a quad balcony, this was a big thing. We had to become - um - "more creative" in our private times.:cool: And there was always the balcony!:eek: If traveling alone, no problem. But if your kids are joining you - expect a lot of family closeness while in the cabin at night! And if you liked the Dueling Piano bar on Disney - there is also a piano bar on each CCL ship - and it can get kinda rowdy later in the night. Also check out the Punchliner Comedy club - lots of fun. Disney is a totally different animal than CCL. Go with an open mind, and you should have a good time.

[Relayer]

Our very first two crusies were on Disney and now we are ten with Carnival. Disney delivers what you would expect...a remarkable Disney style cruise complete with great shows and tons of Disney characters. Nothing beats the DCL sailaway parties and the Pirates of the Caribbean night. We sailed without kids and had a blast just watching the interaction with children and the characters. Food was good though we really didn't care for the rotating dining rooms. Ships are nice. Cabins smaller than CCL generally. Disney is EXPENSIVE.

 

You won't have the theme park experience on CCL but you will have a really nice cruise. KIds will porbably miss all things Disney but I understand that Camp Carnival delivers as well.

[laumicmah]

Our 1st cruise was the Disney Magic in 2007. It was a really nice vacation. They definitely have better service than Carnival. The cabins are a little nicer/larger with the curtain to seperate you from kids and the 2 piece bathroom. The food is just a tad better on Disney and the waiters were more attentive on Disney especially if you do the your-time dining on Carnival (and you get free soda on Disney...pay on Carnival, but get free iced tea and fruit juice and coffee). Yes, you can ask for 2 apps and 2 main couses and 2 desserts...you can ask for how much ever you want and many people do. Also, Carnival is a little more casual in their dress code. But, Carnival has more night life and a casino and less little kids running around, screaming and barfing in the hallways (that happened on my Disney cruise...kid walking in front of me barfed and mom just yanked the kid along and did not clean it up or tell the steward nearby...I had to tell him). Carnival does have kids and when school is out you will see a lot of kids, but more various ages...and you will see more older couples on Carnival. So, I'd give Disney a 9 and Carnival a 7.5-8 (various scores on my 4 CCL cruises)...not a big enough difference to justify spending double-triple the money...no way! We cruise Carnival and are very pleased with it and love how inexpensive it is. We can get a balcony...would NEVER be able to do that on Disney and we can cruise twice for what it would cost to do one Disney cruise.

[Disneycruisers]

Does anyone here think Silent Penguin is a troll? It's usually the case when someone's first post is cruiseline comparison.

[serene56]

Does anyone here think Silent Penguin is a troll? It's usually the case when someone's first post is cruiseline comparison.

 

no, I don't/. I think we all have to start somewhere.

My first post compared Carnival to Royal.

[laumicmah]

Disney beats Carnival, no questions.

 

The shows are better

The rooms are bigger with better bathrooms.

There are more eating options.

There are only PG rated activities with Carnival there are adult shows.

The thing that I found out doing Disney first is you have to pay for soda on Carnival.

 

That being said, we love Carnival. The activities don't end at 10pm. The food is good. They have casinos.

 

Please, please, please don't expect Disney quality, you will be disappointed. You are paying less but it's still a great vacation value.

 

We have been on 1 Royal Carribbean, 2 Disney and 5 Carnival and knock on wood, they have all been wonderful.

 

Funny thing, we live in Baltimore and haven't done the Pride cruise yet!

This is how I feel too (though we haven't been on RC yet). I too live near Balt and have always cruised out of FL (until our last cruise which was out of NY...and I recommend that). About to go on the Pride in April and look forward to drving just 20-25 minutes to port:D.

[beary]

Does anyone here think Silent Penguin is a troll? It's usually the case when someone's first post is cruiseline comparison.

 

Maybe, but it's still a good discussion.

 

We like family friendly cruises because the passengers in general are friendlier and in less of a hurry. Disney by far is the most family friendly cruise line, but of the many cruise lines we have sailed, CCL comes in second.

 

Kevin

[pe4all]

Does anyone here think Silent Penguin is a troll? It's usually the case when someone's first post is cruiseline comparison.

No, I don't think so. There was no bashing going on - just asking for help with comparisons.:)

[hoop4321]

Our Disney experience was great kids clubs, loved the food, staff was friendly. The shows were over rated to me. Very loud and very long. I was easily bored. Castaway cay was awesome :)

Like the carnival kids clubs on the longer cruises, the shorter ones seem to be hit or miss. Like the ports that carnival has. Hubby likes the casino. I love the comedy clubs. Although there are places on Disney to get a break from kids, the dining times seem to be loaded with kids that seem unhappy for some reason. We have always had excellent service on carnival. I would not say that Disney is the best. There seem to be no real winners among the 3 major family friendly lines. There are little differences that each excel at that are important to different families. For us as we live in Florida, we want a Caribbean vacation so we can scuba dive some of the best reefs in the world. Carnival fits us nicely. I hope that your vacation is wonderful. Please write a review when you return.

[RuthlessBoss]

Does anyone here think Silent Penguin is a troll? It's usually the case when someone's first post is cruiseline comparison.

We'll have to wait and see. It was posted last night, but see no activity since 11 last night. Yes I peeked under his name.

[Disneycruisers]

Maybe, but it's still a good discussion.

 

We like family friendly cruises because the passengers in general are friendlier and in less of a hurry. Disney by far is the most family friendly cruise line, but of the many cruise lines we have sailed, CCL comes in second.

 

Kevin

 

Agreed! (Good discussion.):)

 

Our family also tries very hard to do one Disney cruise and one Carnival cruise every year but it's not always possible (price-wise.) I

 

I'm very much a Carnival cheerleader on the DISboards when people ask about a less expensive but family-friendly cruise line.

[S.S.Oceanlover]

Dh and I are taking our first Carnival cruise (on the Pride) after taking several Disney cruises (sometimes with our children but also without them). We love DCL, but right now, if we want to go on a cruise, it's going to have to be with a much less expensive cruiseline than DCL and preferably one that has a ship leaving from a port within easy driving distance. Carnival fits the bill since, if we time it right, we can go from sitting on our porch at home to sitting on the balcony of our stateroom on the Pride in a little over two hours.

Who of you have sailed with DCL and can tell me about the differences you experienced and about the adjustments we should make to our expectations. We'll be on the Pride. I've read that it is a medium-sized ship and older but recently refurbished. Can you tell me how the balcony staterooms compare to the Magic or Wonder? How about the buffet experience? Is it cafeteria-like or is it a nice dining room?

I expect we'll eat dinner in the main dining room mostly. We have a fixed dining time. Even so, should we expect a considerable wait before being seated? Is the serving staff attentive or indifferent? Do you get grief from your waiter if you ask, for example, for two appetizers or to have steamed vegetables instead of those cooked in buttery sauce if that's what the menu describes?

What are port days like? We're going to the Carribean. Is it like a mad house trying to get off the ship? How does the procedure differ from DCL's? Tender days weren't so bad on DCL, but other ports involved a very crowded and tense wait depending on what time you tried to leave the ship.

I want to have realistic expectations. Reading this forum has been educational, but I think the perspective of a DCL passenger would be very helpful.

 

Just wanted to throw out the fact that while Pride is older it is still 3 years newer than the Magic and 2 years newer than the Wonder.

 

We've been on both don't expect it to be like a Disney experience and you'll be fine.

 

The staff are very accomodating.

 

Good value for the money spent.:)

 

Bill

[mamawsnest]

We've been on 3 DCL cruises and loved them! We've been on 1 Carnival and loved it!Our biggest difference was the sail-away. One ships horn plays a lovely tune and the other sounds like someone blowing their nose. But we're on a ship so it's alright.