How does Carnival compare to Disney cruise?

[Suburban Drudgery]

Disney cruise was 2 to 3 times more money for the same cruise to the Caribbean and room. Why such a big difference in price? Both have the kids club and same room layout so I don't see why the double price per person? Plus they charge full price for all passenger's in the same room. A family of four with a baby pays 4 full price tickets even though the baby doesn't eat or do anything on the cruise but sleep and poop:eek:

[F5Loar]

It's called the "Mouse". Disney is a totally different cruise experience than any other ship out there. 3 main DR with different themes that you rotate in during your cruise. The kids area is triple that of any other ship at sea. And then you have the Disney charteracters who for a fee will tuck your little one in bed for the night. Disney has a real movie theater with first run movies(I wonder how they do that!!!!) And Disney has no casino , a plus in many family goers eyes. They have a totally separate area for adults only with their own pool, their own upscale resturant, a great spa, and a private area at Diseny's private pull up to the dock island beach. A Disney store on deck and IMO the best key lime pie at sea. Their rates do go down at the peak of hurricane season so that would be best time to try it to see if it's for you or not. Caution: If you don't like the Mouse and what it stands for best not go at all. They charge more because they can and it's not hurt the business. There are more families willing to cough up the dough for the Disney excitement. They have the best sail away party going too.

[enchantress13]

I have also been looking at the Disney Cruises (for my neice's B-day surprise) and they do have a discounted rate for 3rd 4th and 5th passengers. I don't remeber what ages but its even lower prices for the younger they are. My suggestion go to your local TA and get a Disney Cruise Book it will break down all the prices for you. I personally think the private island stop is great!!!! Only Disney stops there.

 

Stephie :p

[MrPete]

Yup. It's definately a different experience.

 

We did it once, and thought that was great, and was glad we did it. Somehow, then, we did it again. It's just a different experience from the Carnival experience.

 

Both times, it was as a land and sea package.

 

The service was leaps and bounds over Carnival, but the food was soooo sub par. Even the Lido buffet.

 

Loved the layout of the staterooms, especially with the dual bathrooms.

 

Not a gambler, but somehow missed the excitement of the gambling atmosphere.

 

There is NO camparison to their private island.

 

The shows were excellent, especially Disney Dreams. Even went to see it twice last time I sailed. It just wakes up the kid in you.

 

The ships themselves are elegant. Also liked the rotating dining.

 

Oh, and lots of kids!

[1tonysmom]

We did the Disney Cruise last November. I agree with the above posters' comments, it was great. Loved the rotational dining. Entertainment was great. Cabins were very good sized. Didn't miss the casino one bit. Castaway Cay was very relaxing. I must say, I thought the kids club counselors on Carnival were as good as Disney. My daughter really was not into going a whole lot. Maybe it is just her. Did like the fact that I could go in with her if I wanted to. With Carnival, parents are not allowed into the club with their kids at all. When you have a little one who is hesitant at first, it sometimes helps to hang around for a few minutes until they get comfortable. We definitely considered doing the Mouse again this fall. However, we can get two cabins on Carnival for the price of one inside cabin on Disney. If we all squish into one cabin, I will have $500-600 extra to spend on the cruise. Just unable to justify the extra cost. Recommend you try it now if you are going to, as the price continues to skyrocket. Every year it keeps going up.

 

Joanne

[serene56]

You will pay the 3rd person rate for a baby- even on Carnival.

But I was always under the impression that baby only pays port and governmenrt taxes on Disney. I dont know if looking online will give you a true price for all.

Does Disney allow 5 in a cabin or do they have family suites?

Coz I am sure the suites will cost more then doing a regular cabin.

[1tonysmom]

You will pay the 3rd person rate for a baby- even on Carnival.

But I was always under the impression that baby only pays port and governmenrt taxes on Disney. I dont know if looking online will give you a true price for all.

Does Disney allow 5 in a cabin or do they have family suites?

Coz I am sure the suites will cost more then doing a regular cabin.

 

The suites that sleep 5 are mega expensive. Would probably be better off getting 2 connecting cabins. You are right that kids pay different prices depending on their age.

 

Joanne

[caprcorn28]

It's the magic of Disney.

 

I have never done a Disney cruise, but know many people that have. So my comments are from what I have heard from friends. I would LOVE to do a Disney cruise myself...but I have three children, and that is WAY out of my budget. I could take 2 1/2 cruises for what I was quoted for one of theirs.

 

The suites that sleep 5 are mega expensive. Would probably be better off getting 2 connecting cabins.

Exactly right!!!

 

Comparing the stories of friends cruises and all of my Carnival cruises (one friend of mine has done handfuls of each cruiseline) - Disney is over the top! You can't even compare the two. It's Disney's magic. The service and atmosphere sounds wonderful. The only things that I know one friend said that she didn't like...the activities were constant. There was no down time. She never was able to relax. The kids were exhausted. She wanted her kids to have milk with dinner, but the kids wanted juice or pop or whatever, the servers heard this interaction and brought the kids the pop. "Whatever the Princess wants." She felt this was disrespectful - in the name of the kids. It's allll about the kids. There were apparently some 'really' important activities that were just starting at 10p...starting! It was just never ending for her...

 

I told her to try another cruise line that 'wasn't all about kids' to see if she would enjoy cruising more. She has the impression that cruising is as far from relaxing that you can get. I said that with other lines, although they are designed with families in mind, and they love/cater to kids...it isn't "all about them," and kids' activities are over by 10p. (as far as 'organized' activities go - and of course some things go later when the kids are older)

 

You're paying Disney prices for the Disney experience and magic. If that is what you're looking for, I say go for it. If you are just looking for a cruise experiene to various Caribbean islands, Carnival is fine.

[gfsmith]

Ok this is my opinion...

 

 

We prefered Carnival over Disney, heres why....

 

Much more adult participation in the games and such which we love to attend

 

not near as many kids any time of year.

 

More things to do

 

rooms bigger and better

 

entertainment and service were great on both

 

kids program, well Disney wins hands down in my book because of the hours of operation, but Carnival has always had a wonderful staff and great program when open.

 

No casino on Disney :(

 

Our first cruise was with Disney, It was a great cruise but i have to say if we would have sailed with Carnival before Disney we wouldn't have enjoyed Disney nearly as much. We enjoy meeting people and on Disney everyone seems more geared on a "Family" vacation. I say if you want the whole mouse thing you should go for it at least once if your willing to dish out the dough. As for us, we have a been there done that attitude and are sticking with Carnival.

 

Have a great time whatever you decide.

[Happy ks]

You can get a room to sleep 5 on a Disney ship that is not a suite. I have been pricing out Disney cruises for next year for a group of "girls only", including grandaughters. There is a third/fourth/fifth person price, about half the adult rate. I was checking for two ages of kids, one 6 and one 17, the 6 year old was about $100 less than the teen. I did not price out infant prices.

 

Interestingly, I priced out a Disneyworld stay, then a 3 day cruise on a Carnival ship and the price was higher than the Disney package. The Disney package included ground transportation and was about $400 less than the book it yourself hotel/tickets/cruise. To be fair with my comparison, it was for a Disney deluxe accomodation and veranda cabin on Sensation, approximately the same as booking Cat 7 or higher on Disney.

 

I also got quotes from a couple of online TA's and the price was identical to the Disney online price, so no real savings there. The way to save with a Disney sty/cruise is to book at off times of the year.

 

I've been on Disney Magic before and would go again on either of their ships in a heartbeat. We've also been on the Queen Mary 2 and would put the luxury level at about the same place, albeit QM2 did not have any children when we cruised on her. We've been on several different cruise lines and I think Disney is at the top of the heap as far as family entertainment goes. The food, eh, but that's the way I feel about almost all cruise food, so it's not on my priority list for choosing a cruise line.

[legalwife]

Absolutely loved Disney. Did short cruise with balcony and kids were younger then. No qualms at all about leaving them in young kids' club where there are some I have seen on some ships I would not consider leaving a young child in under any circumstance! (Now I just worry about leaving my teen sons at home when we go out of town - Ba-dum-bum)

 

Food was outstanding. Service just great. Top of the line. Huge shrimp on buffet when you boarded. Staff was exceptional. As always, sometimes you just have a great experience and sometimes you don't. This was almost perfect.

 

Much more expensive. If you can swing it, do it once while kids are young. Now, we prefer the other lines as a little Mickey goes a long way with us now, but so glad we did do Disney once.

[MikyMous]

We've been on both lines and loved them both! If you asked the kids they would say the Disney ship was the best even though it was only a 4 day cruise! The older kids loved the group excursions just for teens and the late night activities on Disney. We are a family of 5 and except for getting a suite on Disney we could not be booked into one room. We were lucky and had both sets of grandparents traveling with us so we just booked 1 kid into one of their rooms. We did book over a year in advance because I thought there were standard rooms for 5, but not many, but that wasn't the case. (Please don't yell, I'm sure if I would have called several times, I would have gotten a different answer, the answer I wanted, but it wasn't that big of a deal we had several cabins with room...) The rooms on Disney not as big as the Conquest, but we didn't spend much time there so it wasn't a problem!

 

We all loved the different dining rooms on Disney. Your servers follow you each night so that was great. We like the entertainment in both lines dining rooms. I guess since I don't have people serve me and then dance for me at home I kind of like it on the ship!

 

We would love to do a Disney 7 day, maybe 2007! Castaway Cay is awesome! We enjoyed the entertainment each night on both. All in all we are very easy to please and loved them both!

[MrPete]

If you asked the kids they would say the Disney ship was the best even though it was only a 4 day cruise!

 

This quote reminds me of when I asked my then 5 year old, who had been on one Disney and one Carnival cruise each, which one she liked better.

 

Her answer?

 

"BOTH!"

[fishoutofwater]

We have done both. We went on a seven day Disney several years ago. KIds were 9,13 and 16. We had been on 5 Carnival cruises at that time. It was fun but after 3 days we all had enough of Disney! Don't get me wrong it was a great cruise but after a few days it was enough. Nice ship, ok food ( the place that you had to pay extra for I think it was Palos?? was great! ) other than that food was just ok. Entertainment was good, adult comedy was the best. I guess it just depends what your looking for in a cruise. Disney- no casino, very little to do for adults. Carnival has much more for adults. After that we always gave our kids a choice and they would chose Carnival..

[VentureMan_2000]

Does Disney have an adults only pool and spa...?

 

Funny queston, eh...?

[fishoutofwater]

They did have a adult pool. Very strict about kids in that area, or they were when we cruised them several years ago..

[Scottohiocpa]

We took our kids two years ago on the Disney Wonder 4 day cruise. It was better than our Carnival Fantasy cruise, but I would only pay about $100 per day premium for Disney. Since Disney's price went up to $4200 (cheapest inside room) for 4 people for a 4 night cruise this April, we will be going on the Carnival Imagination next week for $1,600 (Empress deck outside room). For the $2,600 we save, I can pay for next year's Disney theme park vacation.

[richym1]

We have done several of both Disney and Carnival. We fell in love with cruising on Disney ships. Palo's, Castaway Cay (private island), the Rainforest (steam/ aroma therapy room) and friendly service stand out above the rest. You won't feel the same amount of pressure to spend money all the time. No bottle of $8.00 water on the desk in your room.The ships are very classy and you always feel special sailing on them. Sailaway parties when you leave each port is also very cool.

Then we tried the Carnival Pride and also had a wonderful time! It was a bit cheaper, and the kids are a little older now. Food is great. Shows were OK. the kids found plenty to do. We thought we would be spoiled by the Disney experience. We found we just really love cruising!

[flyaway]

We've been on the 4-night on Wonder and loved it. We'd love to go on a longer Disney cruise and would have loved to do next year's Med itinerary, but it's *crazy* expensive! So, we'll wait until they're back in the Caribbean and try the Western Med, maybe in 2008.

 

At any rate, I second everything that has been about their shows. We love the themed dining rooms, and it was so nice to have adult venues to escape to. We thought the food was good, but maybe we're just not picky. :)

[Bramcruiser]

Carnival's no Mickey Mouse operation!

 

Sorry, someone had to say it. he he he

[big_duck]

It's the magic of Disney.

 

The magic of money disappearing from your wallet. ;)

[I&MsMom]

I'll say upfront that we've only sailed Carnival. So I'm not qualified on addressing the op's question, but I did want to weigh in here.

 

I get the Magic of Disney, since we took DS for the first time when he was 2.5. (Been back three more times since!) We were reluctant to go, but when friends found out we were going to be in the vicinity, they convinced us we "had" to take him. Well, I don't have to explain to all of you who have had the Disney experience what it's like. The absolute joy of watching your child/children...makes me misty just thinking about it!

 

That said, I just can't justify paying the price for a Disney cruise. I'm sure it's a great experience, but we have been perfectly well satisfied with Carnival. We took our first cruise with Carnival because they take 2 year olds in their regular camp program, and they change diapers there. I knew that where my (then) 5 year old went, my 2 year old would want to follow!

 

We just booked the Freedom 12-night eastern med. for next April. Disney will have a ship in the med. for 10 and 11 night cruises next year as well. Lowest advertised rate for Carnival was $949...Disney $2,399.

 

Now admittedly, the lowest Carnival rate was for the maiden voyage, and the cruise we booked a little later had higher (slightly) rates overall. Yet, we are still paying significantly less for a family of four in an oceanview cabin than we would have paid for 2 to sail at the lowest Disney rate.

 

So, our choice is to sail Carnival and bank the savings for a trip to Disney World! In our view (which we realize is not universal), it's the best of both worlds!

 

Hope whatever you all choose to sail, you enjoy it immensely!

[disneypinman]

We are just the opposite from most of the cruisers here as we have only sailed with Disney and are booked for our first Carnival Cruise on the Triumph East Caribbean sailing the last week in August.

 

We are hoping that the experience of sailing with Carnival will not be a "huge" let down from our outstanding experience with DCL.

 

We have already noticed a few things that are different:

 

1. Soft Drinks: Always free on Disney 24 hours a day. The drink card will add about $40+ pp to our cost of the cruise for the week unless we bring a case of both bottled water and diet soft drinks on board.

 

2. Excursion Choices: Carnival seems to have quite a few more excursion choices than Disney offered :) This is a welcome opportunity as we have visited St. Maartin and St. Thomas before.

 

3. Casino: My wife loves to play the slots and it will be a welcome change from Disney's Bingo Offering.

 

4. Dining: No dining room rotation on Carnival. Same time and same place may get boring.

 

Anyone else that would have experience comparisons please post.

[MusicMan]

I've never cruised Disney before, but am in the process of booking a Disney cruise for next year. Why? Our 4(soon to be 5) year old granddaughter. My wife and I have cruised Carnival and Holland America, and like both, but Disney is Disney, and for kids you just can't do much better. Our granddaughter will be just the right age to succumb to the Disney Magic. Our son and DIL are a young couple who can't begin to afford this sort of thing, so this one's on our dime. I suspect, with the Disney cost, this will be her last Disney Cruise.

[pppiglet]

I'm with Richym1.....Did Disney Magic first and then Carnival Pride. Loved Carnival Pride just as much as our Disney cruise. We have one more cruise on Disney next year for our 25th anniv. and then it will be Carnival after that. We just can't see paying all that extra money for Disney.