CARNIVAL VS DCL: The discussion and comparison thread!

[belle032]

Carnival's new ship is the Celebration, sailing November 2022 from Miami

 

[hdrolfe]

Carnival's new ship is the Celebration, sailing November 2022 from Miami

I can't wait. I want to see those itineraries. Miami often has the 6/8 day splits with Southerns in there. Man I can't wait to cruise again.

 

[belle032]

I can't wait. I want to see those itineraries. Miami often has the 6/8 day splits with Southerns in there. Man I can't wait to cruise again.

We love the 8 day itineraries and have been wanting to do Southern. We were trying to get on the Horizon this year for an 8 day Southern itinerary but obviously that got put on hold!

 

[hdrolfe]

We love the 8 day itineraries and have been wanting to do Southern. We were trying to get on the Horizon this year for an 8 day Southern itinerary but obviously that got put on hold!

I'll be looking for early 2023 and hopefully a back to back, fingers crossed they have a good itinerary! And I still have a Dec 6-night booked on Horizon this year but I know we won't be able to go. Even if the border opens by then, we have to get a passport for kiddo and those offices are still closed, and I'm sure there will be a back log. Plus I'm not sure we want to go with all the restrictions.

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

We love the 8 day itineraries and have been wanting to do Southern. We were trying to get on the Horizon this year for an 8 day Southern itinerary but obviously that got put on hold!

I can't wait. I want to see those itineraries. Miami often has the 6/8 day splits with Southerns in there. Man I can't wait to cruise again.

The 8 day southern is such a great itinerary, I’d love to do it again, especially on one of the new ships. It really is amazing how much 1 extra day makes compared to a 7 day. We’ve done 2, 8 day cruises and they were by far our favorites.
And I totally agree, I want (need) to be on a ship again soon. We’re dying not having a cruise or Disneyland this year. We may be able to do a December cruise on Panorama if she is sailing by then, fingers crossed!

 

[mevelandry]

Hi, my son did the regular movie theater on the Cista. I left a review on cruise critics. Unsure if it will be blocked here, here's the link: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2502031-carnival-vista-review-my-review-jan-21st-2018-sailing/

Thanks....

I will read it with great pleasure.

 

[mevelandry]

I love IMAX on Vista but am pretty happy they changed it to a trampoline park on panorama, I love trampolines. Thanks for the review, I absolutely love Vista!

I hope adults can go to the trampoline park because my husbands wants to try it. LOL

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

I was just on the Carnival Panorama page which shows her in the Pacific Ocean heading to Panama right now. Hopefully she’ll be heading up to Long Beach at some point to go home. It started me thinking, I really want my first cruise after COVID to be on a Carnival ship! It’s going to be one heck of a good time on board. We always have a great time in DCL because of the great service and refinement of it all, but we have so much FUN on Carnival because it’s just such a fun atmosphere and environment. Come on Carnival, don’t let me down, Daddy needs to cruise in December!! Have a great weekend everyone and I’ll leave you with a pic of Carnival Vista docked at Grand Turk!

 

[mevelandry]

We’ve experienced ... a little adventure with Carnival last night.

Context: My husband and I always pay our cruises in full ASAP. My MIL & FIL only pay the deposit and then pay in full a few days before the PIF date. I manage both bookings. That’s how we’ve always done it.

So...

When I looked into my SPAM last night, I noticed a letter saying they were cancelling my FIL&MIL’s cruise because the deposit amount was not sufficient.

*Holy Guacamole!*

Turns out that I originally booked under a 2 for 1 deposit promo (150$) and when I noticed a better price this week, I asked them to apply the price protection guarantee. Not only it did not work for some reason, but the amount of full deposit for the cruise was changed back to 300$, creating the cancellation of their reservation.

Thankfully, the person I talked to on the phone has been a superstar and managed to re-create the exact same booking (same room, same price) and apply their money to that new reservation. The only impact will be a new confirmation number. Phew!

In conclusion, here is a few unsollicited advices:

1) If you booked Early Saver and you are going to ask them to apply the price protection: do it by phone to avoid bad surprises... like an insufficient deposit.

2) Always check your junk box.

3) If you receive something, verify the information right away. I almost disregarded that letter and thought it was fake until I logged into my Carnival account and noticed that the reservation had disappeared.

 

[mevelandry]

I was just on the Carnival Panorama page which shows her in the Pacific Ocean heading to Panama right now. Hopefully she’ll be heading up to Long Beach at some point to go home. It started me thinking, I really want my first cruise after COVID to be on a Carnival ship! It’s going to be one heck of a good time on board. We always have a great time in DCL because of the great service and refinement of it all, but we have so much FUN on Carnival because it’s just such a fun atmosphere and environment. Come on Carnival, don’t let me down, Daddy needs to cruise in December!! Have a great weekend everyone and I’ll leave you with a pic of Carnival Vista docked at Grand Turk!View attachment 520854

You deserve it!!!

 

[trvlgirlmq]

We broke down and rented a condo for Fall Break in Panama City Beach. Although we enjoy cruising we don't really like beach vacations. The one time we did it everyone was thoroughly bored! We picked PCB because there is a state park and a conservation area with walking/hiking available. There are also lots of amusements for the teens. We splurged on a condo with a fabulous balcony (all that money I have saved with cancelled trips!). I'm totally burned out with work and just need a getaway. We will drive, cook our own meals and distance with all of our outdoor activities. At least I finally have something tangible to get me through!

 

[lklgoodman]

We broke down and rented a condo for Fall Break in Panama City Beach. Although we enjoy cruising we don't really like beach vacations. The one time we did it everyone was thoroughly bored! We picked PCB because there is a state park and a conservation area with walking/hiking available. There are also lots of amusements for the teens. We splurged on a condo with a fabulous balcony (all that money I have saved with cancelled trips!). I'm totally burned out with work and just need a getaway. We will drive, cook our own meals and distance with all of our outdoor activities. At least I finally have something tangible to get me through!

Sounds like it will be a lot of fun. I'm like you. I enjoy cruising, but not really a beach person. I don't mind a few hours at the beach, but anymore and I get bored. My dd likes the beach, so whenever we do a beach excursion it's more for her. I'd rather go to a museum. I'm trying to think about somewhere else we could go incase our March 2021 cruise gets canceled. If it's not canceled we still won't go unless there's a vaccine and without a lot of restrictions on the ship. Our cruise is on the Magic, suppose to go to Nassau, Key West, and CC. I've thought we could maybe do a land trip to Key West. We haven't been there before. My SIL and her family have a trip to Grand Cayman planned for the same week(Spring Break for all our kids). We've thought about joining them there for a land trip. I haven't kept up with the regulations different countries have for tourists. I'm thinking staying in the US would be easier. We've never been to any beach areas in the US, so I don't really even know where would be a good place to go. Dd is doing online only school, starting next week, so we will REALLY need to go somewhere.

 

[trvlgirlmq]

Sounds like it will be a lot of fun. I'm like you. I enjoy cruising, but not really a beach person. I don't mind a few hours at the beach, but anymore and I get bored. My dd likes the beach, so whenever we do a beach excursion it's more for her. I'd rather go to a museum. I'm trying to think about somewhere else we could go incase our March 2021 cruise gets canceled. If it's not canceled we still won't go unless there's a vaccine and without a lot of restrictions on the ship. Our cruise is on the Magic, suppose to go to Nassau, Key West, and CC. I've thought we could maybe do a land trip to Key West. We haven't been there before. My SIL and her family have a trip to Grand Cayman planned for the same week(Spring Break for all our kids). We've thought about joining them there for a land trip. I haven't kept up with the regulations different countries have for tourists. I'm thinking staying in the US would be easier. We've never been to any beach areas in the US, so I don't really even know where would be a good place to go. Dd is doing online only school, starting next week, so we will REALLY need to go somewhere.

I will say the 2 beach vacations I loved were to Hawaii (we were supposed to go again for 10 days in June)! Unfortunately that is a no go. The one we did on the mainland was Tybee Island, GA. My favorite days were when we went in to Savannah and did historical stuff. I'm like you and 3 hours at the beach is about all I can take. I'm happy to be able to get away for a week at all.

 

[mevelandry]

We broke down and rented a condo for Fall Break in Panama City Beach. Although we enjoy cruising we don't really like beach vacations. The one time we did it everyone was thoroughly bored! We picked PCB because there is a state park and a conservation area with walking/hiking available. There are also lots of amusements for the teens. We splurged on a condo with a fabulous balcony (all that money I have saved with cancelled trips!). I'm totally burned out with work and just need a getaway. We will drive, cook our own meals and distance with all of our outdoor activities. At least I finally have something tangible to get me through!

I had to google PCB and ... Woahhhh. I definitely need to visit more parts of the USA once we can travel again. It’s absolutely beautiful.

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

We broke down and rented a condo for Fall Break in Panama City Beach. Although we enjoy cruising we don't really like beach vacations. The one time we did it everyone was thoroughly bored! We picked PCB because there is a state park and a conservation area with walking/hiking available. There are also lots of amusements for the teens. We splurged on a condo with a fabulous balcony (all that money I have saved with cancelled trips!). I'm totally burned out with work and just need a getaway. We will drive, cook our own meals and distance with all of our outdoor activities. At least I finally have something tangible to get me through!

Wow! That looks pretty amazing there, have a great time. Our kids are both in college as of this year so they don’t get a fall break, we’ve rented an airBNB up in the northern Arizona pines and are going to go up there for a week during my wife’s fall break. It will be nice to get out of the heat and I’m really looking forward to some great cycling while we’re up there. Flagstaff is a great mountain town so we’re definitely looking forward to it.

 

[trvlgirlmq]

Wow! That looks pretty amazing there, have a great time. Our kids are both in college as of this year so they don’t get a fall break, we’ve rented an airBNB up in the northern Arizona pines and are going to go up there for a week during my wife’s fall break. It will be nice to get out of the heat and I’m really looking forward to some great cycling while we’re up there. Flagstaff is a great mountain town so we’re definitely looking forward to it.

That sounds really nice too. I like Flagstaff, it kind of reminds me of my hometown, South Lake Tahoe. I lived in Las Vegas for 8 years so did N. Arizona trips a few times.

 

[Camilo]

I love IMAX on Vista but am pretty happy they changed it to a trampoline park on panorama, I love trampolines. Thanks for the review, I absolutely love Vista!

I didn't know that, I have to look it up. I'm wondering if it was due to the extra cost for the IMAX. I love how Disney doesn't charge extra for pops or the 3-D movie theater (well, it was free when I went, in 2013, hopefully it hasn't changed).

 

[trvlgirlmq]

I am so sad!!! Matt is leaving Carnival. He is by far the best CD out there.

 

[mevelandry]

I am so sad!!! Matt is leaving Carnival. He is by far the best CD out there.

I just heard that. The guy was a superstar. Pretty sure he's going to be on tv or something.

 

[belle032]

I am so sad!!! Matt is leaving Carnival. He is by far the best CD out there.

We never sailed with him, but his name always came up when people talked about CDs. Good luck to him! I honestly always thought it was a little crazy that people planned their cruises around who the CD was, but then when we sailed DCL I realized that having a super fun and involved CD is a big positive and DCL lacks that. Our fave CCL CD was Dr. E on the Magic. He was fantastic! We knew he would be good when he did the Muster Drill in a ton of different accents and voices.