Disney vs. CCL

[crusinhokie91]

Hey everyone!

I am new to the Disney board and I haven't really looked through all of the threads. My husband to be and I absolutely love cruising and we have been strictly carnival cruisers. We would like to start taking his daughter on a cruise here and there and we are torn between Disney and Carnival with her. She will be 12 when she goes for the first time and we will allow her to bring a friend. Our plan is to get a balcony room for ourselves and allow them to stay in an interior directly across the hall. I've priced cruises for next spring break and its $3000 more on Disney vs. Carnival. Can you all please tell me anything about Disney that will make it worth that price increase? Thank you so much!

[meatloafsfan]

Not the response you're looking for but, personally I don't believe that a Disney cruise is worth $3000 more for 4 people than a Carnival cruise (but I too enjoy cruising on Carnival).

 

If you all moved into 1 cabin and could bring the price closer, I would say that for a couple of 12 year olds, Disney would provide a different experience as it has the free movie theatre, soda included, and kid appropriate shows.

[crusinhokie91]

Thank you, meatloafsfan!

[Tonka's Skipper]

DCL provides classic, well designed vessels, along the lines of the great liners found in the 30's, 40's and 50's with just enough Disney touch's to be noticed but not over powering. The entertainment/shows are in the Broadway style excellent, The CM's tops in the industry, always ready to help you with a question, the food (remember food is subjective) is good to great. Plenty of Adult activities and adult only areas. Add Fireworks at sea, Pirate night, Spa, amazing vessel horns with Disney tunes and Disney own Castaway Cay which is plain amazing, there is plenty to *Whao* you!

 

 

Most of the other line provide a good cruise, RCCl is our 2nd best choice(we wont sail Carnival again), but Disney is unique and special, with the Disney Magic, class and Pixie dust that no other line can provide or come close to.

 

The bottom line is that DCL is more expensive, less off season and more in the summer, but there is GT programs as well. You will not find another cruise like it on any other line.

 

AKK

Edited June 9, 2015 by Tonka's Skipper

[moki'smommy]

In our limited experience with other lines, nothing has compared to Disney. The family atmosphere is better than any other line--no casino, much less smoking, less alcohol consumption. Shows before 9 pm are all family appropriate. There are "adult only" shows in the nightclub area after 9, but kids are not permitted at these.

 

My second choice line would be Royal Caribbean when kids are involved.

 

All that said, I think DCL's prices for 2015 and 2016 are beyond belief and I can't justify their price being double that of other lines. DCL is great, but there are limits in my pocket book.

[SevenWonkas]

I have no experience with Carnival, but have cruised 9 times with Royal (vs 3 with Disney). While I do love Disney cruises, And think they are better overall, I don't think they're $3,000 better. When we've done DCL, we pick "lower" rooms in order to make it affordable. We do Jr. Suites on RCCL, but get veranda rooms with extended balcony on DCL. The DCL room is smaller and has a smaller tub, but at least the standard rooms have a tub (vs. the small showers in standard rooms on RCCL). Our son isn't in school yet, therefore we have flexibility in our travel schedule. I was aw to convince my husband to try the Fantasy next year because I showed him a veranda was pretty much the same price as a Jr. Suite on the Oasis/Allure. I anticipate that next year may be our last year on the Fantasy, because he starts school next fall and summer/holiday pricing on Fantasy is crazy!

 

Play with some numbers and see if you can make the DCL cruise a little more affordable. You'll have a great time regardless of what you cruise. Disney has that little bit of magic, but other cruise lines have awesome amenities as well.

[SevenWonkas]

Man. I made some major typos/autocorrects in that post and it's not letting me edit it via the cruise critic app. That's what I get for trying to respond to stuff in bed when I'm about to fall asleep!

[kurukthemal]

This falls into how much discretionary income do I have? No doubt whatsoever that Disney is the best for me. However, I view it like a treat that I would do every few years. Our family loves to cruise and we like to do it as often as possible. That means we need a cruise line that will do a decent job and get us out to sea. That is pretty much Carnival for us. However, the onboard booking program by Norwegian continues to suck me in. So, that's been a recent line for us.

 

All that being said, I am planning another Disney cruise, but just need to save up for it a bit longer.

[crusinhokie91]

I appreciate all of your replies! It's her first cruise and we want it to be special. I think we will probably end up trying Disney so it will be a new experience for all of us, but we definitely won't cruise Disney very often due to the large price difference and lack of your time dining.

[moki'smommy]

What is your dining issue? You can have dinner at Cabanas/Topsiders on DCL cruises at any time you choose (that they are open). It is cruise casual, sit down with a menu, no reservations needed, no up charge. We used it when we came back from an excursion hungry and didn't want to wait till our late seating. It is not open the first or last night of a cruise....so if you have a 3 night cruise, it will only be available one night. But on our 12 nighters, it was a great option.

 

Yes, if you dine up there, you will miss your serving team that night.

[RSLeesburg]

We have not sailed Disney yet, but the one thing I have noticed is the during peak travel times, the premium on Disney is much higher than some other lines. However, if you sail on Disney during non-peak times, they are a bit more but it is not as extreme. As an example, I priced out Disney vs. Royal (Freedom OTS) during a Thanksgiving week, and Disney was $5000 more for a suite than RCI in a suite. But when I priced the same cabins during non-peak times, Disney was only $900 more, which I think is more reasonable.

 

I am definitely of the opinion that you only live once, so if you can afford the cruise - go for it. But, I would also price out Oasis or Allure. They are supposed to be absolutely amazing. We are trying out Harmony next year over Thanksgiving. I am also looking to squeeze in a 3/4 night Disney cruise at end of next summer after we move to FL.

[iceman93]

This is coming from someone who has not cruised Carnival, so take that into account. Also, I fully admit the analogy I'm about to make is not perfect. Still...

 

Imagine you were just going to visit a city on vacation. You could book two rooms at the Comfort Inn. They will likely be clean, safe, and acceptable in every important way. You've stayed at many Comfort Inns before, and enjoyed the experience.

 

Or you could book two rooms at the Ritz-Carlton in the same city. They will be bigger and fancier, the staff will undoubtedly be better, heck even the shampoo in the bathroom will be better. But it's $3,000 more to stay at the Ritz instead of the Comfort Inn.

 

Is it worth it to you?

[crusinhokie91]

We like to be able to eat in the MDR whenever we want for dinner and also have the choice of specialty restaurants. We haven't had an issue getting the same dining team no matter what time we go in Carnival. Iceman, the analogy was pretty solid even for someone who has not cruised Carnival. We are pretty much stuck with peak times (Spring break/summer) because we do not want to take her out of school for a vacation. It hurts the wallet a little more, but we want her to know school is #1.

[moki'smommy]

We like to be able to eat in the MDR whenever we want for dinner and also have the choice of specialty restaurants. We haven't had an issue getting the same dining team no matter what time we go in Carnival.

 

You are right then--on DCL you cannot eat in the MDRs at any time you wish and have your dining team. You can eat when you wish and have a sit down dinner...but if you choose other than your scheduled time, you will not be in the scheduled dining room with your serving team. Sorry.

[BullDawg91]

We just cruised on the CCL Breeze after 2 DCL cruises. I admit that for the first day and a half, I was saying to myself and my family, this sure isn't Disney.

Nothing holds a candle to Disney's ships. They are beautiful. The staterooms are more like a hotel. The Breeze stateroom was very plain. The clientele on the Breeze was different, as snobby as that sounds. I suppose it was the much higher proportion of adults to kids, many adults who were determined to get their drink on. Maybe that crowd and I both settled down and that gap seemed to narrow after a few days.

 

That said, we really enjoyed ourselves and will cruise Carnival again! We found way more activities for adults on Carnival. My kids liked the ropes course and water park too. It seriously beats anything DCL has. They don't go to the kids clubs on any ship. Can't make them.

 

We found the food on Carnival just as good or better than Disney and we aren't counting any specialty restaurants. FYI, no kids in Disney specialty restaurants. We love the rotational dining on Disney even though the food was ho hum. It's that Disney magic that makes a difference.

 

We missed the Disney movie theater but enjoyed having non-Disney trivia and other entertainment.

 

Will I cruise Disney again? I sure hope so but it might have to be in the off season. I totally love the Disney magic/pixie dust and the Ritz Carlton vs Comfort Inn perks.

 

You will have to try it for yourself to see whether you think it's worth it. No one can really judge it for you.

[BullDawg91]

Another thing I like about Disney is there really aren't a lot of extras you can buy - no Faster To The Fun, no need for a Bottomless Bubbles (soda fountains on deck and available free in MDR), no $5 for chat app (it's free on DCL although not sure all ships have it yet), no need to pay for the luggage service to take your luggage straight to the airport, no need to worry about a mini bar in your room and two robes you might get charged for. Best of all, no worry about being charged for beach towels. They aren't as nice on DCL, but they are FREE. I didn't like having to keep an eye on towels all the time on Carnival.

 

I wish they would just up the price on Carnival and include some of those things.

 

The room service menu was better on DCL and also generally free.

 

Also, debarking was effortless on our DCL cruises. Walk off when you're ready (by a certain time of course). On Carnival, they want to phase you off which is a pain. We were herded into a theater to wait our turn.

 

I think that's it!

[CELTICGIRLCRUISER]

Having done both lines on numerous occasions, I won't sail Carnival again so for me Disney wins every time. I do agree though is is a lot of money especially if you have to pay for the friend?

[moki'smommy]

The choice is not Carnival or Disney. There are plenty of other lines out there that offer pricing closer to that of Carnival with services, entertainment, activities, etc. that come closer to Disney than Carnival does....and may offer more for active teens/tweens. I would seriously explore some of these other lines before deciding on what will be the best vacation for you.