Disney vs. Camp Carnival

[MISSSNOOPYGIRL]

For those of you who have cruised Disney and Carnival, is there really that big of a difference in kid's activities other than say, $500 or so? (Disney is about twice as much as Carnival!) I would like to cruise with my son and have him have a great time, but Disney seems to be out of my budget.

[viciouslysh]

My dd loves Carnival but Disney was so different. I think she would prefer Disney. It was totally geared towards kids. She had a great time in the kids program where as in Carnival, she will not go to the camp. She's 10 so that may be why. My 3 year old loved camp Carnival.

[CruisingFamily4]

Just got back from Disney - my kids are 4 & 5. There is no doubt the club is great. However, not convinced it is worth the extra money. It was great- but my guys loved Camp Carnival. So - I just booked my next cruise on Carnival!

[pe4all]

For whatever reason, my kids were not thrilled by Disney camps - they were 4 and 7 for their 1st cruise, and even as they got older, it was harder to get them to go. Yet they live for Disneyworld when we go there! Anyway, when we "switched" to Carnival, all was good in the world. Of course, dd's were older. Still, they refuse to go back on Disney, and truthfully, for the price difference, I'm thrilled. My dd loves club 02. My niece and nephew went with us on Valor in Aug., after going on Disney. They also refused to go to the Disney club - but jumped right in on Valor. Couldn't get them to leave. (ages 6 and 7) They are coming on Freedom with us in April - all they talk about is the camp. But there should be other reasons to switch to Carnival besides the camp. The experiences in dining are different (though your kids should love the dining room entertainment) in switching dining rooms every evening. The cabins are different (balcony cabin on CCL doesn't have a privacy curtain, where Disney does) Carnival has a piano bar, as Disney does, and has a casino, where Disney doesn't. Try to compare, and then make an educated decision.

[clancy123]

We have been on Disney Magic 6 times and a Carnival cruise once with our daughter. My daughter had a better time at Camp Carnival than Disney. Disney does have a lot of cool things going on but in between for the older kids they have storming the lab which is basically free play on your on and for the smaller kids a lot of movie watching. Don’t get me wrong, when my daughter was in the 4-5 year old club , it was priceless to see the expression on her face when Mickey taught her how to be a Mouseketeer and Caption Hook taught her how to be a pirate. I overheard a lot of parents on all our Disney Magic cruises comment about how much free play or movie watching occurs in the clubs. The Disney clubs closed between 12and 1 am nightly and there is no extra fee for use of the club after 10PM, but the balcony rooms on the Magic cost a bit more than double the rooms on Carnival. The kids on Disney can eat both lunch and dinner at the club and the club opens at 9 AM and does not shut down during the day like Camp Carnival

Last year my daughter was disappointed that we were not cruising the Disney Magic (just costing too much to cruise on a yearly basis) and was nervous about Camp Carnival. She enjoyed Camp Carnival a whole lot more than Disney for her age group (9-11) that we are sailing Carnival again in 21 days.

The shows on Disney are geared for kids and adults who love Disney charters, they were good, but I got tired watching the same shows year after year. I enjoy both cruise lines but if you have kids older than 7, I would recommend Carnival over Disney.

:p

[RatherBFishin]

For those of you who have cruised Disney and Carnival, is there really that big of a difference in kid's activities other than say, $500 or so? (Disney is about twice as much as Carnival!) I would like to cruise with my son and have him have a great time, but Disney seems to be out of my budget.

 

I think it depeds on your son's age.

 

No matter what which cruise line you pick, by a ceratin age (12+) the youth councellors only real goal is to get the kids to mix & mingle, and hopefully make a couple "cruise buddies" (or as my daughter refers to it a "BFF"). In fact, my tween daughter still IM's the friend she made on our cruise last summer.

 

So the thing is that the really young kids (toddlers) are so easily entertained that they'll have fun no matter what. And Tweens aren't going to ever think that glorified "Day Care" is cool. My opinion is that DCL is only worth the huge premium they charge in a very narrow age range of about 6-9. It's the same age range that is optimal for the Magic Kingdom.

 

One thing DCL apparently does very well though is stricter enforcement of the Adults Only areas. You might actually prefer Disney because it makes it easier for you get a break from other people's kids :)

[abolanowski]

You don't say how old your kiddo is, but the other posters are right on. The younger the kid, the more Disney stands out. Once they are 7 or so, all they want to do is play video games anyway, so it doesn't matter as much. The other thing to keep in mind is that you don't want to spend double the money and then have a little kiddo that just doesn't want to go to kid's club regardless of how wonderful (more personality/mood related than quality of the club) None of the clubs will force your little one to stay while having a meltdown, they will ask you to come pick them up. DD3 is used to daycare/sitters/etc but her desire to attend on our last cruise rarely lined up with my desire for free time:eek: so don't use that as your only decision point.

 

Moreover, if sparing the expense on the cabin allows you to fit in your budget, do better/more excursions, afford to vacation again next year instead of skipping a year, etc, then save the money.

 

However, there are other reasons to spend the extra money - I gotta say, I love the feel of the Disney ships (more class, less Vegas) don't like to have to walk through the smoky areas (casino, clubs) on CCL to get from one end of the ship to the other, like the bathtub with a little one (only suites on CCL) and LOVE Castaway Cay. In addition, on DCL you will NEVER see a kid in a designated adult area - they are rabid about this. No kids in the adults pool, hottub, cafe or beach, ever. So if you are looking to get away from all kids (including your own) for a few hours, they do a great job of accommodating that. CCL (and RCI for that matter) do not enforce this at all as far as I could tell.

 

Hope you have a great time whatever your choice!