only sailed on Carnival..will i like Disney?

[cruisekimmy]

Hi...ok i have only sailed on Carnival..and that is a wonderful cruiseline!!but when we where on the Carnival Elaiton (july18-25) in Cozumel the Magic docked next to us!!After the horn blew(when you wish apoun a star)And when my daughter(4yrs)said "MOMMY,THERE IS MICKEY!!LETS GO SEE HIM!"I thought to myself that we need to try out a disney cruise..and let my 4yr.old see mickey!But my 14.yr old daughter LOVES carnival and she doesnot want to go on another cruise line!!she is our cruisejunkie!but she just LOVES Carnival..so will we like it??Is it actually worth the Extra $$$..and what can my 14 yr. old do?!?

Thanks!


Photos
http://community.webshots.com/user/wards03

[cruisekimmy]

Anyone there?

[awatt]

Try posting the same question on the Carnival board. There may be people there who have done both and would have some helpful info for you.

[cruisekimmy]

Well its not a carnival question!!
Thanks though!

[cruisekimmy]

Hey cruisekimmy!!! I think I saw your boat leave. Did it go out of galveston? I was down there for a wedding and stayed at a condo 7/18-7/21 and on 7/18 I got out the binocs and watched the Rhapsody and Elation leave town....made me wish I was cruisin!!!

As for your original question, I HIGHLY recommend you check out disboards.com. It is a totally disney message board, but also has a disney cruise line forum and most of those people have cruised carnival and various other lines. I, for one, have learned soooo much from disboards.

I've been on 1 carnival (eons ago), 1 RC last year, and as you can see below, I've got another RC planned....and YES A DISNEY ONE TOO!!! I think I got a pretty good deal from my TA (which is the sponsor of the DCL message board on disboards) We got a secret porthole cabin (SPR) for $1447.50 total for our family of 4 (4 day disney wonder next 9/05). SPR cabins have obstructed porthole views but you are paying the price of an inside. Check out castawayclub.com and dcltribute.com for other cabin selection tips. Also, a good website to see general prices for all types of cabins during different times of the year is allseastravel.com

I haven't taken my kids on a cruise yet (4 and 2), so Disney will be their first, but I think it will be soooo worth it.

Good Luck & happy hunting!
Hey vossjemi!YES THAT WAS US!!hehe!!had a BLAST!!I am soooo hooked to cruising!!!!Thanks for the info about that website!I will have to go there!!Also...do u recommend Royal Caribbean??Alot of people like it but you know i dont no about my girls!!I no my big one will not!!she is soooo pickey!!she is a carnival cruise junkie!!Notice Carnival!!hehe!

Thanks again for the info!!
See our pictures!!
http://community.webshots.com/user/wards03 (http://community.webshots.com/user/wards03)

:p
http://community.webshots.com/img/clear.gif

[Chloe Girl]

cruisekimmy:

Although we have not sailed on Carnival, we have sailed on the Wonder with dear friends who have sailed both Disney and Carnival...according to them, there really is no comparison.

They prefer DCL, just for the little Disney touches, but we have to confess we are all disney fans so we may be a little biased!

We were even visiting with them today and were talking of another Disney cruise in the future!

We loved the Wonder; it is a great ship...the Animator's Palate dining room is amazing!

V&M

[vossjemi]

cruisekimmy,

I actually liked my RC cruise MUCH MUCH better than the Carnival one I took. But, I was on a very old carnival ship, the Festivale, don't know if they even use it any more. I think it was an old mail ship converted to a cruise ship, so many passageways, it was like a maze and easily got lost. No comparison with the Navigator (the 2nd biggest ship) which was laid out wonderfully and easy to find everything. I don't know, our Carnival cruise was in 95 and RC in 04, so 9 years apart. It seems like the whole industry has had an overhaul since then. The people at disboards certainly seem to think Disney is the BEST regardless of cost. I can't really compare the kids clubs because we didn't take our kids on RC. But, they'll be old enough in the future so we'll always be taking them from now on. I guess we'll see what they like best. But, the kids on our RC trip did seem to like the ice skating rink, rock climbing wall, video arcade, basketball court, miniature golf, pools, and all the programs offered. So, I would think your kids would like it just fine.

[momofmeg]

Tell your 14 year old that my 20 year old is as excited as probally your 4 year old. We will be on the wonder on Sept.19.

One thing you can do is Disney will send you a sample dvd which shows things about their cruises. Go to their site and order it. Plus the travel channel runs a show every so often about Disney ships. I do know there is a teen club that goes up to age 18-so my daughter is too old for it but still too young for the under 21 lounge rule after 10p.m. She still feels she will have a great time though and her being the "in between age" really is true no matter what line we go on.

This is our first Disney cruise but she always liked the teen club disco things on all the other lines.

[cruisekimmy]

Thanks!!

My 14yr.old actually LOVES the Travel Channel!!She watches it Every day!!lol..But not today and not for along time..today was her first day back at school!!She is in HIGH SCHOOL!!!9th grade.
I think i almost have her talked out about the disney cruise!!But she said that if she see's another carnival ship she will cry!!I said.."Ohh come on your grown up!!"Teen girls!

[TheWog]

Both your daughters will love DCL. there is so much to do and the little touches are very nice. Your older daughter needs to just give it a chance. There is a special teens only hangout and activities on Castaway Cay for them. She will make friends and have a great time. I say try it and see what happens. At least then she will have an argument to take Carnival again, but she may love it as well and want to go back.

[momofmeg]

Thanks!!

My 14yr.old actually LOVES the Travel Channel!!She watches it Every day!!lol..But not today and not for along time..today was her first day back at school!!She is in HIGH SCHOOL!!!9th grade.
I think i almost have her talked out about the disney cruise!!But she said that if she see's another carnival ship she will cry!!I said.."Ohh come on your grown up!!"Teen girls!
My daughter always loved the teen disco things. The dvd showed they have that. Tell your daughter I am ALWAYS that way- feeling the grass is always greener opn the other side. We were on Sovereign back in 99 and was docked next to Disney Wonder-I watched the wonder from the lido that night before we left. I could see many people running here and there-many on their balconies and I could also hear some great music and people on the lido dancing to the music plus another group on the lido playing basketball-everyone seemed so happy I wanted to be with them-even though everyone was happy on our ship too.

Last year in Costa Maya I was on Carnival Inspiration-docked next to us was Voyager of the Seas and Voyager really drawfed our ship. From our window in our cabin I watched others on their balconies and I wanted a balcony. Up on the Lido I could see people sitting in a dinningroom eating-probally their windjammer as it was one of the higher decks-they seemed to be having such a good time I wished I was with them and hey I was having a great time right where I was.

Hey tell your daughter if she does not love Disney next time you will go Carnival again. I personally myself love trying new things and don't always want the sameo- sameo. I like going on different lines. We have cruised twice on Carnival this pass year so I was READY to do another line.

Anyway next month -5 years later we are going on the Wonder. Next fall in 2005 we are doing Mariner a voyager class ship so in time I get to do the things I want. Bye the way I got my balcony as we have a veranda on Wonder.

[deborahjo]

We just returned from the Disney Wonder on sunday the 15th. I was shocked at the size of the bathrooms on Disney. I sailed on the Carnival Paradise in November and loved it.
The bathrooms on the Paradise was hugh. On the Wonder you could barely turn around without hitting yourself with the door. The same for the shower room.
The one thing I loved on the Wonder was changing dining rooms everynight and your waitstaff going with you. Daniel and Fortune (our wait staff) were awesome. we wanted for nothing. We ask and it was there everynight. Ali was our head waiter he was also awesome. Here is where Disney shined.
Also the entertainment was better in some areas. I loved the shows on both ships but loved the Dueling Pianos on the Wonder.
I will not consider the Wonder again because it is meant for children and I want a little more quiet time on my cruise to Alaska and for this reason will be sailing with Carnival then.
Disney is great for families just not for adults. I also do not believe it is worth the additional cost for sailing Disney. Most ships cannot do certain songs and shows due to royalities. Disney takes full advantage of this. They use their music and shows to the hilt.
Please go and enjoy Disney alot of people do enjoy it. It is just not for me.
Hello Carnival.

[momofmeg]

The Disney DVD shows the cabins and gives you a good idea of their size. We actually have a bath tub. The only other line that I had a bathtub was HAL.

We were on Carnival Miracle back in April-we had an extended balcony on empress deck-the room was great and bigger then the cabins on Inspiration and Fascianation-we had inside on Fascniation upper deck and outside on Inspiration empres deck-except for the layout and ofcourse the window the rooms were the same size with nice sized bathrooms on these fanasty class ships. Whereas on Miracle we had a dinky bathroom-about the size of the bathroom we had on Sovereign-inside cabin. My point not all Carnival ships have nice bathrooms.

Anyway order that DVD-it took about 2 weeks for us to receive it.

[cruisekimmy]

Yes momofmeg..We ordered that DVD and it came in yesterday..we also have had the VHS for a year..Well we are still trying to plain!

[hydster]

We've done them both and our kids were bored on Disney surprisingly! On our May 1 sailing on the Disney Magic there were 977 kids on board (almost 1/2 the ship) and you KNEW IT! The clubs were full, the pools were standing room only and if your kids don't like the clubs (ours hated them) there wasn't much else to do! Also the nightlife on DCL is lacking! They have great shows for kids but after that YAWN! We also hated the food on DCL in the buffet restaurant and in the main dining rooms! They supposedly show first run movies in their theatre but they were showing movies already owned by us that had been out forever such as Pirates of the Caribbean (I could watch Johnny Depp forever but my kids got a little tired of it) or Finding Nemo! They have the 2 pools for the kids but the Mickey pool with the slide was complete chaos and standing room only! When they had to close the goofy pool all of the families in there went to the Mickey pool and they could not move! I didn't think the rooms were THAT much bigger but then we had 2 connecting rooms so maybe that helped. The split bath was nice and the bathtub came in handy when one day all we had was blistering hot water coming out of the taps. We filled the bathtub up with the hot water and then added buckets of ice to cool it down. The characters were really fun for my kids (ages 10, 9 and 5) but some of the wait times to see them was ridiculous! The Princess autograph session people stood in line for 2 hours just to get their autographs. Who wants to spend 2 hours in line on a cruise? Not us! The one thing that was awesome about DCL is their private island! It truly is paradise but for the cost we payed to go it should have been! For our family of 5 we spent almost $6000.00 for 2 connecting rooms and that didn't include anything else. We could have gone on 2 Carnival cruises for that cost! It was ok but we will be sticking to Carnival or RCCL from now on!

[vossjemi]

The travel channel will have a special on the disney cruise experience tomorrow morning at 10:00 am EST, so check your local tv guide to be sure & set your vcrs.

[laxfrog13]

I say try Disney! Your 4 yr old is perfect. and when we went last yr on the 4 day wonder we noticed alot of pre teen and teen kids having a lot of fun. I have sailed 5 carnival cruises (with my son-ages 2,31/2) and decided to try Disney. While we had a great time always on carnival, we are going back on Disney this Nov. My son loved the kids club and I felt very safe leaving him there. It was nice that he could come to the shows and dinner and then we were able to enjoy some time during the day and evening to ourselves at during the day and at night. The look on his face whenever he saw the characters walking around or on the beach was well worth the extra money we spent. Don't get me wrong, Carnival was great and we will probably do another one soon(without my son) but for families Disney is the way to go!

[cruisekimmy]

well we are still trying to see when we can go!!

[momofmeg]

My daughter taped the travel channel show and I watched it again. I saw it about a year or so ago. It really did not give alot more information then the DVD did so if you missed it it won't matter much. The teen club and the beach thing did look nice so I bet your 14 year old will love it.

We will be on the Wonder Sept. 19-so we have less then a month now-and I am ready to go.

One thing I would like to ask you others who have cruised Disney. I plan on taking a really formal dress for Triton and Palo's. Will I be over dressed?

[Host Mick]

You won't be over-dressed. There will be a lot of other guests dressed well. I love formal nights so as far as I'm conderned, the rest are under-dressed.

[vossjemi]

Hmmm. I don't know. I've been lazy and haven't developed the film yet. I'll probably take it in tomorrow. I'll let you know if I did.

[itdjbw]

We have been on both Disney and Carnival and are leaving on the Magic this coming Saturday but also have a Carnival booked for spring break next year with friends and Disney was too expensive for them so we settled on Carnival Glory. My kids love both, Disneys camp is way superior but you are paying extra for it, the camp does not close at mealtimes like carnival so we find we get to relax as we are not clock watching, the Disney pools are fresh water not sea water and are open more than the carnival pools, Disney has a whole deck for Adult entertainment and stick to there policy and do NOT let kids in to the adult pool or entertainment, they have a lot of teen entertainment as well, soda is free at certain locations, The shows were great, there are 3 restaurants each with a different Disney theme and you rotate to each, there is also Palo's an adult only restaurant which is fantastic, Everyone goes to a character breakfast. There is no casino on disney for us that saves us money.
The highlight for my kids was tea with Wendy from Peter Pan.
We enjoy both cruises, we also go on Princess yearly without the kids so have not had first hand experience with the kids and teen program.
Enjoy whichever you choose....
Julia

[momofmeg]

cruisekimmy I don't know if you saw my post on the RCCL board where several jerks blasted you for making the "unforgiven" mistake that you said you liked Carnival but if you didn't just let me repeat myself. These Disney folks are much nicer aren't they?

[momofmeg]

cruisekimmy I don't know if you saw my post on the RCCL board where several jerks blasted you for making the "unforgiven" mistake that you said you liked Carnival but if you didn't just let me repeat myself. These Disney folks are much nicer aren't they?


Kimmy I am still following the tread on "Carnival never again "on RCCL-it seems someone has figured out it is your daughter posting as she gave a link to pictures-go over and read that tread-she really made a few folks mad.

You know me, my hubby and my daughter,(she is the one who found this messageboard) all post here. You should let your daughter get her own ID so people won't be blasting you for things she says.

[momofmeg]

Kimmy that whole RCCL tread has been removed. I guess it got too offensive. I will say this your daughter's post wasn't nearly as terrible as some of the others-all she said was that she had had some bad experiences with RCCL and Carnival was better. Compared to the others hers was tame and I ASSUME these others were adults. Ofcourse if they let a 14 year old kid make them that mad they must not be too adult huh?

[Host Mick]

Kimmy that whole RCCL tread has been removed. I guess it got too offensive. I will say this your daughter's post wasn't nearly as terrible as some of the others-all she said was that she had had some bad experiences with RCCL and Carnival was better. Compared to the others hers was tame and I ASSUME these others were adults. Ofcourse if they let a 14 year old kid make them that mad they must not be too adult huh?
It's amazing what people will say inline that they would never dream of saying in-person. It's the security of not having to look into someone's eyes.
Folks are very defensive of "their" cruise line or ship so much that they feel the need to defend it whenever they feel that it is under attack. Here at Cruise Critic, we like a lively discussion about the pros and cons of various lines, ships, ports and even cruise directors and buffets, but not so when it spills-over into into personal criticisms of other posters. That just makes people feel bad and they drop out of the discussuin or off of the boards and we all lose another view. We encourage you to use the litle triangle "Report Bad Post" icon so that we can keep the discussion lively, informative and fun yet civil.

[kshabare]

My countdown is 166 days to my 5th Disney Cruise. We started with the 3 day land-4 day sea which at that time was The Magic. I fell in love with it. I stayed at WDW again in December 2003 and I prefer to just sail. The $$ is definately more on DCL but you're paying for certain things. The ship is gorgeous. I love the architecture in the Walt Disney Theatre. The woodwork is beautiful. I always see them painting or cleaning something. The shows are somewhat repeating year after year but I get a kick out of them. Plenty of adult sarcasm/humor that I adore. Kids should enjoy this ship. If they don't I would look to the child for a reason, not DCL. There are plenty of family activities but don't expect rock climbing and an indoor ice rink. I can do that back home. Staterooms are very roomy. We've stayed in the Secret Porthole Rooms 2/4 times so far and they are great. There are two seperate bathrooms so while someone is showering you can relieve yourself in the other. Just watch out - I heard someone got flushed once(joking!). Tips are not included so if you prefer to spread tips more appropriately, you can. We usually give more to our server and room steward. I think they're all great with kids and very personable.
Sailing DCL is a preference and one might say a state of mind. I am a complainer but I have to say if there ever was a problem I've brought it to someone's attention to rectify the situation. I cannot recall a specific problem that stays in my memory bank. They're all happy and fun memories. There was this meltdown my DS8 had one night but we put him to bed at 9:30 pm and we fell fast asleep behind him.

Anyone having specific questions, please ask. I have links to two of my cruises on my personal site.
http://www.shabbyfam.us/EasternCarribean2002/sailaway.html
http://www.shabbyfam.us/WesternCarribeanFeb2003/DayoneWestern03.html

Thanks for letting me give my opinon,

Kim ºOº

[hilltopfamily]

Hi Cruisekimmy~~~We've been on a couple of the same ships as you! We did our DCL Magic cruise first, then did the 2 on Carnival that you've also been on. Don't you just love the Elation?? Really just a wonderful ship! Anyway, I'm in agreement with a lot of what Hydster said (Hi there hydster, I remember posting over on disboards and reading your replies/threads over there!).

My kids were 6, 9, and 12 when we were on the Magic. They all liked it a lot and especially enjoyed the movie theater. I'm sure your youngest would have a great time. My 2 oldest didn't care much about the disney shows or the characters, but my 6 year old did. Freshwater pools on DCL are great, but the disney ones were really small & way more crowded all the time vs. on CCL. Tradeoff though is that it is all saltwater on CCL. My "middle" kid (our only boy) continues to think the Magic was our best cruise--mostly because he loved the movie theater and better videogame availability in the kids club on the Magic. My other 2 have had equally as good times on our CCL cruises, and they ESPECIALLY loved the karoke NIGHTLY on CCL vs. only a couple short times on Disney (which was so crowded w/kids in Studio Sea that they almost didn't get to do a single song), so the "nod" would probably go to CCL for them. As adults, my DH & I enjoyed our Carnival cruises a bit more than our Disney cruise, but we truly had a great time on all 3. We just found "more" to do for our age on CCL. And we really thought the food was much, much better on CCL vs. Disney. Dining room was beautiful and food was outstanding in the dining room. Buffet on both were equal, meaning decent & edible but nothing fantastic. Palo is DCL's reservation-only adult dining area (costs extra $$) and is a great experience---Elation had no adult-only dining venue. Disney does have the private island, which appeals to many, but to me lacks the "culture" and appeal of visiting a real port of call. Castaway Cay is beautiful, but is commercialized Disney at its' best.

So, to summarize all my rambling thoughts: both cruiselines in general have their good & not-so-good points when comparing one to the other, and you'll have a great time with either one, but I'd have to say the significantly higher cost to cruise DCL just wasn't worth it in my family's opinion. We've had great times on CCL for less than 50% of what we paid Disney for a very similar experience. I would easily sail with disney again, but I don't feel it is worth paying a premium for the experience. I'm sure if you do go with DCL you'll have a lovely time, but you may just spend a bit more for it.

[zeke11]

We just returned from the Disney Wonder. Paying so much extra, I expected some pretty great customer service so I was very disappointed that it was less than shining.


Now I'm looking into another cruise just to make it up to my family. Definitely disappointed with our Disney experience and I am a diehard Disney fanatic.

Kris

[MrPete]

Go for it.

I always tell people to try Disney once. It's just a different experience. There are some things that are better and some that are worse when you compare the two, but you would expect that.

Then book your next Carnival cruise.

[momofmeg]

Well Kimmie we are back from our cruise and my Meg loved Disney. There is plenty of entertainment for everyone. Now Meg is too old for the teen club but she was never bored.

One thing too ws how nice the wonder is compared to Carnival ships. It was much nicer construction and decoarated great. It was every bit as nice as the HAL Statendam was-that was a beautiful ship but I found HAl too sedate for us. wonder had plenty going on besides being beautiful.

I loved Carnival Miracle and for the most part felt she was much nicer decorated then the other Carnival ships I have been on-but she did not hold a candle to the Wonder. On Miracle we had an extended balcony which was nice but noises and ciegerette smoke carried there. Every time someone opened their balcony door we heard it as the sound of the suction breaking was loud. wonder's doors were sliding doors that did not make a lot of noise when they were opened. the bathrooms on Miracle were dinky not as nice as the fanasty class ships. On wonder we had 2 bathrooms-both small-true- but one was a sink and toilet-the other a sink and BATHTUB not shower. Wonder also had a privacy curtain-so my daughter and hubby did not have to use the bathroom to dress in. We simply closed the privacy curtain so they could change clothes. So much nicer. Plus we had tons of drawers and closet space-more then enough room for 3 people-much, much better then ANY line we have been on.

One thing I found neat too was we saw a great Beatle's tribute show on the Miracle in their broadway style show. On the Wonder - the Route 66 lounge had a great Beatle's tribute show-we really enjoyed both of these as we are (hubby and I) of the age where we loved the Beatles growing up and STILL love all the old Beatle's songs.

[Pixie Dust II]

That is hard to say. There are things for children of all ages including teens. The teenages have their own private club called "The Stack" which looks neat to me. The best bet is to get on line and check it out. If I had a 4 year old and took cruise vacations, I surely would be doing a Disney Cruise. I have done 6 and number 7 and 8 are already booked. We have dined with parents who have said they have not seen their teenagers until bedtime and the children love it. I know teens and they all have different tastes, but don't let your little one miss out on this. It is just the best experience ever for the entire family.

[cruislovin]

We just returned from the Disney Wonder. Paying so much extra, I expected some pretty great customer service so I was very disappointed that it was less than shining.

Now I'm looking into another cruise just to make it up to my family. Definitely disappointed with our Disney experience and I am a diehard Disney fanatic. Kris
Kris,
Can you tell me more about the customer service on the Wonder? What types of problems did you have?

We love Royal Caribbean and my daughter, age 12, is concerned she will be bored on Disney. We are taking only a 3 night cruise so it should be fine for a few days. It doesn't look like there is much to do for 'tweens or teens on DCL if they do not participate in the organized clubs. Typically she does not do that. She loves the sports deck, rock climbing, mini golf, roller blading, ice skating, etc. on RCCL. She will not go to a pool that is crowded with little children. Do you know else will be available for her to do on Disney?

[momofmeg]

Kris,
Can you tell me more about the customer service on the Wonder? What types of problems did you have?

We love Royal Caribbean and my daughter, age 12, is concerned she will be bored on Disney. We are taking only a 3 night cruise so it should be fine for a few days. It doesn't look like there is much to do for 'tweens or teens on DCL if they do not participate in the organized clubs. Typically she does not do that. She loves the sports deck, rock climbing, mini golf, roller blading, ice skating, etc. on RCCL. She will not go to a pool that is crowded with little children. Do you know else will be available for her to do on Disney?

Read all of Zeke's posts in his profile. He was on one of the cruise that could not do Castaway Key and he was upset about that. In hurricane season that can happen on any cruise. On the RCCL board I read a post where someone was mad because Enchanment of the Seas did not go to Labadee and they thought because of this they should have a refund.

I have cruised hurricane season many times. I go knowing things may not work out well but I do it because the price is almost half the normal cost-it is worth it to me to take a chance and even if I just spend every day out at sea II am happy.

No there is no roller blading or iceskating shows on Disney. Also no rock climbing either. As far as I know only RCCL offers this and most of that is only on a voyager class ship-so maybe you should have cosen either Mariner or Sovereign.

One thing you have to understand cruiseloving is every cruiseline has their plus and minuses. I have been on 5 lines and I have never hated ANY cruise. Do I prefer one over another-yes to some extent-but even so I still do not want to go with the same line every time but I like the cruise fairly often and normally that is my choice of vacation. In the last 6 years we have cruised 9 times.

I will tell you this. I have been on Sovereign twice. She was a decent ship but SHE DID NOT HOLD A CANDLE TO THE WONDER. When it comes to Coco Cay-the island was nice but compared to Castaway Key they are not even in the same league. Coco Cay was a nice beach. Castaway Key was more like a private resort. So you could pick Sovereign and she could rock climb-(all the other stuff you mentioned is only on voyager class ships) or you can pick Disney. Or else do a 7 day cruise on Mariner.

[momofmeg]

Another great thing about Disney that no one has mentioned. DEBARKTATION. We were off the Wonder BEFORE 8 a.m. That has never happened to us on any other line. The earliest we have ever got off was 10 a.m. often is has been closer to noon.

I do know that for others who had to debark in Ft. Lauderdale (Sept.23 Wonder) and the evening before (Sept.18 Magic) because of Jeanne that that was not so nice for them-but I understand from reading posts at disboards.com that normally the debarktation is a breeze and so much better then other lines.

I imagine on other lines where hurricanes affected their arrival back in port and diff. ports etc. that their debarktation was worse then usual also.

[cruislovin]

[QUOTE=momofmeg]Another great thing about Disney that no one has mentioned. DEBARKTATION. We were off the Wonder BEFORE 8 a.m. That has never happened to us on any other line. The earliest we have ever got off was 10 a.m. often is has been closer to noon. [QUOTE]

I don't think debarking before 8:00 AM is an advantage. On RCCL we like to get up as late as we can, leave our cabin as late as possibl, go to the dininig room for breakfast, and then hang out on the ship as long as we can. Why get up in the middle of the night to rush to breakfast at an assigned time and hurry off the ship? To me this sounds like a VERY stressful end to a relaxing vacation.

This will definitely be a different cruise for my daughter and me on DCL. She wanted to try it so we decided to make a mother/daughter adventure. Because of that, I am really looking forward to going to have this special time for just her and me. My husband and son have no interest in the Disney Cruise Line at all... I am glad we are only going for 3 nights to give it a try. I will post my comparison when we return.

[Host Mick]

My husband and son have no interest in the Disney Cruise Line at all... I am glad we are only going for 3 nights to give it a try. I will post my comparison when we return.
Enjoy your cruise...and watch out for that Pixie dust! ;)

[cruislovin]

The Pixie dust will definitely do us in, I am sure!!! :rolleyes: :) :p

[OJulie67]

We haven't sailed Carnival yet. We are booked in May 2005. However, we did sail Disney in May. The kids club was OUTSTANDING...could not get my DD out of there. Shows were excellent Disney form. However, Disney does not offer enough for my DH and I in a form of nightlife. There is no casino, the shows are wonderful, but more "family oriented." The dance clubs were not good dance music. (If your kids are in the clubs you may be looking for more adult entertainment, comedy...etc) The food was not great...so it left us, a bit hungry and bored at night. That is just my honest opinion. If you are an early to bed couple who don't like gambling and drinking much...then go for it. If you live for the nightlife and love the casino, if you like adult comedy, a hip club and DJ, then stick with Carnival...or I am afraid you may be dissappointed and out extra $$$. As for us, we probably won't do Disney again. That is just OUR experience. I know that Disney is a wonderful line. The kids clubs again, are beyond wonderful!!!

[cruislovin]

OJulie67.

How did Disney and Royal Caribbean compare in your opinion?

[OJulie67]

cruislovin'~ We had a BALL on RCCL. The food was EXCELLENT. Everything we had was delicious. The Casino was alot of fun for us. The on board activites, comedians, shows and shops, seattle's best coffee shop, and Ben and Jerry's all lead to a really fun time.

The ship was smaller of course, the rooms were VERY small (however, we are comparing a verandah room on Disney to an inside cabin on RCCL) But overall...we had more fun on the 3 day RC than the 7 day land and sea with Disney. JMHO~

I'm 120 lbs drippin' wet, I eat healthy year round...BUT when I go on vacation, I'm all about the food and desserts. RCCL did not dissappoint! EVERYTHING was delicious and fresh! They get a bad rap for the food, and that...I just don't understand!
BIG thumbs up for RCCL.:p

[punknhead]

We did Disney in Sept. of 2001 and absolutley loved everything about the 7 day Magic (Eastern). My kids at the time were 3.5.and 8.5 and both had a great time. This was hubby and my first cruise as well, and decided that cruising was to be our family vacations. (we got the cruising bug, bad!)

Because I am a teacher we cannot sail off peak times, and Disney has been too expensive for our family.
Sooo...the next year we tried Holland America. Classy ships, food and accomodations, but not the kid-friendly atmosphere we had on Disney, of course.

I went on a short RCCL cruise off the west coast with a girlfriend, and was not impressed.

A pleasant surprise was a Carnival Glory cruise we took last Spring Break. Great food, good kid program, awesome itinerary (western) and a great price!

We did give up some elegance for some tacky glitz, and few other inconveniences, but not worth the $$ we would have to pay for a summer or holiday Disney cruise. We'd love to do Disney again, before the kids get older, but I am not sure that is in the cards.

As a side note, a friend just got off the Magic Saturday, and said the food on CCL was much better than on Disney (and they are foodies). I was disappointing to hear. Hope DCL is not falling below expected standards!


Punknhead

[cruislovin]

cruislovin'~ We had a BALL on RCCL. The food was EXCELLENT. Everything we had was delicious. The Casino was alot of fun for us. The on board activites, comedians, shows and shops, seattle's best coffee shop, and Ben and Jerry's all lead to a really fun time.

The ship was smaller of course, the rooms were VERY small (however, we are comparing a verandah room on Disney to an inside cabin on RCCL) But overall...we had more fun on the 3 day RC than the 7 day land and sea with Disney. JMHO~

I'm 120 lbs drippin' wet, I eat healthy year round...BUT when I go on vacation, I'm all about the food and desserts. RCCL did not dissappoint! EVERYTHING was delicious and fresh! They get a bad rap for the food, and that...I just don't understand!
BIG thumbs up for RCCL.:pI agree with you that RCCL takes a bad rap for the food. Occasionally I have had something in the dining room that I did not like but you can ALWAYS get something else if you ask. I don't understand why people constantly complain about the food on RCCL! I'm with you - when I am on vacation I EAT! Sure hope we are not disappointed with DCL, but it is only a 3-nite and my daughter and I really want to try it!;)

[momofmeg]

We haven't sailed Carnival yet. We are booked in May 2005. However, we did sail Disney in May. The kids club was OUTSTANDING...could not get my DD out of there. Shows were excellent Disney form. However, Disney does not offer enough for my DH and I in a form of nightlife. There is no casino, the shows are wonderful, but more "family oriented." The dance clubs were not good dance music. (If your kids are in the clubs you may be looking for more adult entertainment, comedy...etc) The food was not great...so it left us, a bit hungry and bored at night. That is just my honest opinion. If you are an early to bed couple who don't like gambling and drinking much...then go for it. If you live for the nightlife and love the casino, if you like adult comedy, a hip club and DJ, then stick with Carnival...or I am afraid you may be dissappointed and out extra $$$. As for us, we probably won't do Disney again. That is just OUR experience. I know that Disney is a wonderful line. The kids clubs again, are beyond wonderful!!!

Well I do not gamble. To me that is just a way to waste money and I have read many posts that that is why they like Disney. They say although Disney is more up front that after going to the casino they end up spending more on other lines.I can't help but think of that poor woman on voyager back in August who jumped ship and killed herself. she would have been better off on Disney for sure.

We loved both the piano bar-the Cadillac lounge and also Route 66 which had a great band and a super Beatle's tribute show. Both of these were adult only lounges and we thought the nightlife was just fine. So maybe there is no casino but there are great lounges for adults.

cruiselovin as I have said to you already-if you could just get over the fear that you will have a horrible time and be more open minded-you can have a good time. Disney has many plusses.

I never noticed RCCL food being that bad either-but then my experience both times was Sovereign. You do get a better quality of food on Princess, HAL and Disney though. I also noticed when on the Carnival Miracle that the food was MUCH better then other Carnival ships. I assumed this was because this being a brand new ship-Carnival had pulled out all the stops. There was much more choices of entertainment with all kinds of bands,piano players, a guitar player etc. in like 5 or 6 different lounges. We just made the rounds on her as there were so many choices.

I myself can have a good time on ANY ship. Although we are on the Marnier next fall-we are also considering doing a mini on Carnival Holiday in the spring. Now I know that is an old cr&*py ship but I know I can still have a good time on her. I just won't expect as much from her.

Now if you want to be on a ship with louzy nightlife-that is HAL. Her food and service was excellent. So were her shows -but after the shows if you did not gamble there was nothing.