Is Disney worth $1600 extra versus Carnival

[RoadTripFanatic]

I'm going to say no. I've been on both cruise lines and I think I could have a lot of fun with that extra $1400. In my opinion the food, service, etc on Disney is the same quality as on Carnival. The only difference is the Disney WOW factor. Disney is everywhere. The characters are everywhere. The shows, movies and everything are all Disney. It's a lot of fun but I wouldn't pay an extra $1400 to cruise on Disney. Plus the advantage with Carnival is you get two cabins. On Disney you are crammed into one.

[halos]

It is, yes.

REALLY????? :confused:

[IrishCowboy]

It wouldn't be for me because I've heard that many of the fun "character" events cost extra. But the biggest downer for me would be no casino.

 

Not sure what you are referring to, but we've cruised DCL many times and never had to pay extra for any character event. Character breakfast is FREE ;)

 

You may want to price out 2 rooms on Disney Wonder instead of going with Cat 4. Cat 4 has bed that pulls down from wall and not much added space.

 

And if you are concerned about bathroom space, all DCL ships in Cat 1-10 have 2 bathrooms.

[IrishCowboy]

From our perspective, the best part of DCL cruise is Castaway Cay. Hard to justify the DCL 'premium' when you don't get to go to CC

[Mrs. Chernabog]

check out the cruise section on http://www.disboards.com

[Nunu]

REALLY????? :confused:

 

Sorry I meant no, it isn't. :p

[halos]

Sorry I meant no, it isn't. :p

make up your mind :p

[gogetter]

No not worth it.

 

1600 more, that would be your sail and sign account for the week on Carnival.

[Nunu]

make up your mind :p

 

Either one means nothing right?

[halos]

Either one means nothing right?

 

 

....I just wanted to know what made DCL worth that much extra and thought you could enlighten me.

[Nunu]

....I just wanted to know what made DCL worth that much extra and thought you could enlighten me.

 

Do I have to have cruised with them? :confused:

[halos]

Do I have to have cruised with them? :confused:

 

No, Silly. Just make something up :D

[AQW]

Having sailed both, I wouldn't pay $1600 extra on DCL unless it was the itinerary of a lifetime, with at least two stops at Castaway Cay. ;)

 

We sailed DCL when my kids were 6yo and 3yo and the whole family loved it. I figured the kids were spoiled forever until I took them on a Carnival cruise and they loved that just as much. They've now sailed Carinval three more times and say they prefer it over Disney, although I think that's partially explained by the fact that DCL was almost two years ago and Carnival is fresh in their minds.

 

I said I'd never pay the DCL premium again since my kids enjoy Carnival. But, with the KSF promotion, we're paying less than $400pp for a 7-night MexRiv. Sold. Yes, I could probably find Carnival a mite cheaper, but I'm willing to pay a few extra bucks for one more go 'round on DCL. Not $1600 though, especially with no Castaway Cay.

[dreaminofsun]

I have been on both Disney and Carnival and had a great time on both. My kids much preferred the Disney kids club. They got to make flubber, learn to be a pirate from Captain hook, become detectives and many more fun organized activities. My son loved the fact that they had lots of wii's and other game consoles in the lab which he was free to use when he wanted (which actually wasn't that often since there were so many fun engaging activities going on)

On Carnival it didn't seem that there were a lot of organized activities, it was just more of a big playroom with crafts,, etc set up. My son was not impressed by the fact that the gaming stations were behind a gate and kids had to be selected to use them. Whenever I was there dropping off or picking up none of the kids were useing the systems, they were all locked up. Also on Carvival we had to pay extra for the kids to be in the club at night where as on Disney they could be there untill 1 or 2am. They also could stay through meals and eat with the club.

Disney is more money but they also don' seem to nickel and dime you as much as Carnival. Kids club free at night, free pop and you can BYOB. For us we do the shorter 4 day Disney cruise to make it more affordable and saved the longer cruise for Carnival.

Hope you have a great cruise, no matter what you choose.

[Mjasp]

It is definitely worth the extra money. I've sailed other lines and my kids now 18 and 14 only want to sail Disney.

 

So I booked the Disney Dream for my Daughters sweet 16 next year. I tried to tell her lets do Carnival for 7 nights vs. 5 nights on the Dream and she can even bring more friends (to see her reaction) and it was just what I expected, I'd rather take one friend and go for 5 nights on Disney.

 

BTW, on our 11/2008 Disney Cruise we met about 6 couples with NO kids and who love the Disney cruise, so it isn't just for those with kids.

If you've never done a Disney cruise, DO IT and see for yourself. I personally am not crazy for Disney's shows, I like the Vegas style shows better but still love the Disney cruise.

 

Good Luck deciding

[md10074]

I think it's something you should do at least once if you have kids. We might have done that this year if the kids weren't all "Disneyed out" from 2 trips to WDW in one year a couple of years ago. They wanted to do something different this time. However, like others said, it would have been a better deal if it included Castaway Cay

[Bronxgirl23]

We did the Disney cruise 4 years ago when my girls were 8 and 15. I consider it one of my best family vacations ever. You definitely have to do it once. The shows at night are amazing. The family dance club at night is great for the kids. I will never forget Cinderella on the dance floor with all the kids. Every night on the way to dinner, my 8 year old would have her autograph book and we would stop in the main lobby to get autographs and take pictures with the characters - it was great to see how much fun she had.

I am glad we did it when we did. Girls are now 12 and 19 and have no interest on going on the disney cruise anymore - glad we did it when we did.

[WIFamily]

We chose Disney on our first cruise, December of 07. A 7 night Eastern Caribbean cruise. We booked a Cat 6 Balcony and an Interior Cat 10 or maybe 11, across the hall. Kids were 2, 6, 10, and 14 at the time. My parents came with, and the 8 of us packed into the two rooms.

 

For us, it was worth every penny. The kids had a ball, we had no complaints about the entertainment, crew, other cruisers, food, etc. For us it was a once in a lifetime type of deal. We've booked two Spa Balcony rooms for a 7 night Western on the Dream in December, for less money than we paid for the balcony room on Disney. That's for 7 people. I'm a tiny bit apprehensive that DW will constantly compare and contrast the two cruise lines.

 

With that said, it's up to you, and your family. If I could get two balcony rooms for only $1600 more than what I'm paying now for our upcoming cruise on the Dream, I'd jump at it. Or even better, I'd wait for the new Disney ships at that price, I expect them to be heads and tails above the competition for some time to come.

[2thesea]

DCL is amazing, we have sailed on both the Magic and the Wonder several times and DCL is our family fav. My youngest is 20 and she STILL LOVES DCL :D Disney pays more attention to details IMHO, their cabins are larger and I love their split bath. The ship itself is amazing, "old world" style. The entertainment is the best I have seen, and of course there are the 1st run movies that are shown on the ship free of charge.

 

Their deck partys are wonderful...with the Pirate Party being among our favorite. When the ship sails to Nassau they do Fireworks off the ship that night, not sure if they will offer that extra treat on your sailing.

 

Make sure you check out DISboards there is an amazing amount of info there.

 

I would pay the extra and I would actually sail with out my kids on DCL.

 

IF you go make sure you book Paolo for brunch and or dinner it is a wonderful experience!

[keishashadow]

Howdy,

 

My wife and I just received an email from a friend about the Disney cruise sale where kids sail free to the mexican riviera so we priced it out for our family of 5 for January 23 2011. We would be getting a 5 person family balcony room, (disney cat 4a?) for about $3900.

 

This seemed like a good deal considering that to cruise with disney if we had to pay for kids would be around $6k. Our only experience with cruising has been with Carnival and we love Carnival, although not a fan of the conquest class ships a topic for another thread. Anywho, we call our PVP to get a quote for Carnivals 7 night mex riviera cruise departign 1/23/11 on the splendor, due to family size we would go with a connecting oceanview cabin like we just had on our conquest cruise and the quote was $2325.

 

Is Disney worth the extra $1600, we go to Disneyland all the time since its a 6 hour drive away, but is the Disney Cruise THAT much better? My gut says no, what say you......

 

$1,600+ is a lot more to be paying for the 'disney difference';), especially when not visiting CC.

 

this promotion (KFMR) is available to general public & many TAs would jump to give u OBC of $100 - $200, i'd shop it around before booking with anyone.

 

believe this would be on the Wonder & you have 5 in your family?

 

we enjoy DCL but i just cannot justify the expense of a balcony (unless we'd only be happy w/one DCL cruise a year:eek:). we've done OV & inside & thought them swell. Interestingly, on the new ship Dream, the inside cabins r selling out 1st due to the animated porthole feature lol.

 

have you explored booking 2 connecting inside cabins...there's so much going on you'll rarely be in your cabin to enjoy that balcony & 2 cabins would give you so much space & 2 bathrooms:D.

 

the DP would be larger & im not sure if DCL would allow each cabin to have an adult+1 or 2 children 'free'...why not call DCL direct & ask?

[Mjasp]

If you booked two inside cabins then you would lose 2 of your kids being free since 2 of them would be considered 2 adults because the first 2 in a cabin are adults

[DGP1111]

To the original question I say Yes.

[chachi]

No. I would put that $1600 towards another cruise.

[dmdiver]

I've not cruised DCL, but I have talked to someone who has. He thinks it's the greatest & well worth the money. I had priced them out before, but the particular timeframe I was looking at was more than double the cost of CCL. I've heard many positive things about DCL - I think it boils down to what you want in a cruise & how much you're willing to pay for it. I would probably enjoy a DCL cruise more than anyone else in my family, because I enjoy living in a fantasy world.

[laumicmah]

We did a Disney cruise for our first cruise and LOVED it. It is definately worth more money, but not sure if it's worth $1600 more. The food is very yummy (way better than CCL), the staff are awesome, sodas are included, the kid rooms (clubs) are phenominal, the cabins are really nice and I never felt like I was on a boat like I did on CCL. If you have the extra $$, go for it.

Also, the lines at the buffet aren't that bad and the buffet is open more time than on CCL.