Cruise? Disney? Carnival!

Luckystar2

This weather has me dreaming about our winter vacation next year so I'm trying to start planning! We were thinking of maybe a cruise. I was looking at disney cruises, which seem amazing but pricey! Anyone gone? Worth it?

When I saw the price I started looking at other lines thinking maybe w could do a regular cheaper cruise and go down a couple days early and do a day or 2 at disney world. Based on our dates and the port we would need, didn't love the options at Royal Carribbean or Princess (both we cruised before) but Carnival seems to have a really great itinerary. It's half the cost of disney cruise (and we would go to more islands) so we could put more $ towards excursions and actually going to disney world. But I've always gotten the impression Carnival isn't that great. Anyone gone and like it? The ship I was looking at looked fun with water slides, etc. but obviously not as many kid stuff as disney.

egpitt22

We did a carnival cruise to the Bahamas years ago (right before we got married); and while we enjoyed it, I'm not sure that we would take the kids....but that could be my own misconception of it because we didn't have kids at that time, you know what I mean?  so thinking back, I can't remember anything that seemed geared toward kids, but I also wasn't looking for it. 

That being said, we are planning on booking a disney cruise in 2016, I'm anxiously waiting for the fall itineraries to be released for that year and hopefully there will be something that works for us!  I've been begging Brian to do a disney cruise pretty much since we returned from disney world last year....he wasn't a huge fan of our carnival cruise, but has since talked to enough other people who had nothing but rave reviews for the disney cruises that he finally agreed  

Luckystar2

Yeah somebody else just said the same thing about carnival. I forgot that royal Caribbean has 1 that could work in March (had been looking at Feb) so that's still a possibility.

That's fun that you are looking at Disney cruise in 2016 too! Do you know who you will book through? I've been reading that you should use a travel agent since most offer on board credits and have seen some recs for online places but not sure who to use yet. I would normally book on my own but would love on board credit of we decide on disney

Luckystar2

I'm sure Brian would like the water slide! That's what I'm using to convince my dh! This is on the ship we are looking at and it looks so cool!

egpitt22

I also read about them having different mixology courses that were pretty inexpensive; that's one thing that got Brian's interest, too!!  Lisa (lishe) did a disney cruise last summer, hopefully she will chime in! 

we will most likely book with a TA for the reasons you mentioned, not sure who yet.

MrsAmers

We took a Carnival cruise three years ago, and we are going on the same cruise this year for spring break. We didn’t necessarily plan on taking the same cruise, but we wanted to sail out of Baltimore to avoid having to fly anywhere, and it just so happened that the same itinerary is sailing during the kids’ week off. The boat has been upgraded since our last trip, so it will be fun to see what changes they’ve made.

We had a lot of fun three years ago. In a way it is a great way to vacation with kids because you don’t have to worry about finding food for them to eat, or finding ways to entertain them, or dealing with traffic and crowds and unknown places. After a day on the ship, you get into a groove, and just walking around the different decks in entertaining. We liked the beaches at the ports we stopped at and on ship days you don’t have to carry everything with you all the time because you can always go back to your room as needed. We also sent them to the kids club a few times and plan to do it more this time since we will be traveling with fewer other family members.

I haven’t cruised with another company, so I can’t compare directly. But my impression is that Carnival is more economical because it isn’t as luxurious as some of the other cruise lines. They have entertainment, but no broadway quality shows. They have good food, but not amazing food. They have things to entertain kids, but it is not Disney caliber. KWIM?

I’m not trying to be down on Carnival at all. It was a great vacation and I’m looking forward to the next one. That said, if it was just DH and me, I would probably want to pay more for higher quality entertainment and a more luxurious experience. Traveling with 8-12 people, including one’s MIL, is a different animal than a romantic getaway. :-) I’d like to do a Disney cruise at some point, too, but I’d rather do it when we can afford to take more than a week off.

Luckystar2

Thanks for the input Amy! That's good to hear! Yeah I don't really need amazing food or Broadway shows! Did you think it was kid friendly enough ie lots of kids on board or more adult? My one friend said it was more of a "party" cruise.

I'm thinking if we did a cheaper line we could put the extra money towards a couple days at disney world and that the shows/characters there would make up for them not on the ship.

MrsAmers

There were plenty of kids on board and lots of families. Kids menu in the restaurant and cheesy but pleasant kids activities.

It worked well - the party people in our group could be at the dance clubs until 3 or 4 am, and we could rise early, drop the kids off at the kids club and hang out at the adult only deck or get a massage. :-)

sarahandtim

For as into Disney as I am, I just can't bring myself to pay for a Disney cruise. To put it into perspective, for what we spent on a 7 day southern Caribbean cruise on royal Caribbean in an ocean view balcony, I could have done a 3 days Bahamas cruise on Disney in an inside cabin. Ouch.

After being in the industry, I can't bring myself to sail carnival either just due to the quality.

I guess what I'm saying is that I'm loyal to royal caribbean since I'm generally cheap but still want quality. Lol!

lishie

We did two mixology courses on the Disney cruise we took in August. They were $15 each and definitely worth the cost. We got 5 drinks, and Steve and I each went up to do a demonstration and got an extra one.

We wanted to do a wine tasting one too, but took too long to sign up and it was full.

I've done cruises on Royal, Princess, Celebrity and Carnival, all before kids, and I liked all but Carnival. I just didn't feel it compared to the other lines.

I absolutely loved our Disney cruise, and the kids club on there was amazing. Neither of the boys wanted to leave the kids club. They even asked to stay on the ship when we were getting off because they wanted to continue the activities there.

One of my good friends has done Royal with kids, and said they also have first rate kids clubs, so if you're looking for a non-Disney option, I think they're your best bet. They have a deal with Dreamworks, so they have some of the same types of character options that Disney does.

4EvR&4AlWz

I cruised with my family on Royal Caribbean and another cruise line (Royal Majesty??) back in hgih school.  My husband and I cruised with Carnival right out of college...while we were there, we were both like "hmm, now I know why this cruise was so cheap."  There was nothing wow about it and even I remember how awesome our RC one was.  We won't do Carnival. After all the issues with their ships, I don't feel like they care about quality.

However, I do want to do Disney Cruise in February 2016 (there's one that leaves out of Miami on the smaller ships...Magic/Wonder that's much cheaper and not as jaw-droppingly expensive!).  I want to do the 5 night.  I feel like the 3 and 4 day are way too short and the Dream and Fantasy are way too expensive for my likes.  I agree with Sarah...I'd rather do 7 days on Royal Caribbean than 3 days on the more expensive Disney ships.  I'm practically giddy with excitement at the thought of doing a 5 night out of Miami...we'll spend 2 days before and a day after the cruise in Miami too!

My parents did a cruise out of Baltimore in October and didn't care for it...they felt like it was too cold to do anything worthwhile then they had 2 nice days by the time they got to the Bahamas.

If you decide Disney Cruise, I can't recommend our agent enough...she just does Disney (she also does Disney cruises and other cruise line booking too....she has cruised on other lines and can give recommendations too).  Her name is Vicky and her email is vicky@magicofmickey.com  A few folks here have used her but I found her through a Disney Planning Board.

Luckystar2

4EvR&4AlWz said:

I cruised with my family on Royal Caribbean and another cruise line (Royal Majesty??) back in hgih school.  My husband and I cruised with Carnival right out of college...while we were there, we were both like "hmm, now I know why this cruise was so cheap."  There was nothing wow about it and even I remember how awesome our RC one was.  We won't do Carnival. After all the issues with their ships, I don't feel like they care about quality.

However, I do want to do Disney Cruise in February 2016 (there's one that leaves out of Miami on the smaller ships...Magic/Wonder that's much cheaper and not as jaw-droppingly expensive!).  I want to do the 5 night.  I feel like the 3 and 4 day are way too short and the Dream and Fantasy are way too expensive for my likes.  I agree with Sarah...I'd rather do 7 days on Royal Caribbean than 3 days on the more expensive Disney ships.  I'm practically giddy with excitement at the thought of doing a 5 night out of Miami...we'll spend 2 days before and a day after the cruise in Miami too!

My parents did a cruise out of Baltimore in October and didn't care for it...they felt like it was too cold to do anything worthwhile then they had 2 nice days by the time they got to the Bahamas.

If you decide Disney Cruise, I can't recommend our agent enough...she just does Disney (she also does Disney cruises and other cruise line booking too....she has cruised on other lines and can give recommendations too).  Her name is Vicky and her email is vicky@magicofmickey.com  A few folks here have used her but I found her through a Disney Planning Board.

Thanks! I'm actually looking for somebody. The person who we used for disney last time isn't really doing it anymore.

I did see the Miami ones but I was thinking of trying to do port Canaveral so we could tack on a few days of disney world. I don't know! I just can't decide exactly what I want to do. I'm starting to think of maybe doing just disney world again. I really wanted some beach time but I would like to get back to disney 1 more time before dd stops "believing". So I feel like we only have a couple more years left. I can always do a cruise or beach vacation when she is a little older. Although the combo of the 2 would be perfect. I'm looking a little at a short disney cruise and the rest of the time at disney world. The cruise is still pricey but I think we could do cruise and rest of time at disney for what a 7 day disney cruise would cost. I need the rates for next year to be up for resorts though! I'm only seeing until the end of 2015.

sarahandtim

Next year's room rates typically come out in July.

Luckystar2

sarahandtim said:

Next year's room rates typically come out in July.

Ugh! July!! I want to start planning now while it's cold and I'm desperate to go on vacation ;-P

Thanks for the info! I guess I need to figure out if we are doing next winter or sooner. If it's next winter I guess I am waiting a while. Annoying though cause cruises are out and I kinda wanted to see resort rates with cruise rates.

4EvR&4AlWz

We just got back Saturday from 10 days at Disney. Love it! Feel free to ask questions. DD2 was only 2 so too young for Dis kids club on a cruise....hence our repeat trip.


There's also a great FB Disney moms group I'm in. Let me know if you'd like to be added.

Sarah....you should go back as just a Dis travel agent!

sarahandtim

Kristin, I did flirt with the idea a bit, but it's such a stressful and demanding industry that I don't want to add the negative back in my life. It actual made me start to dislike Disney planning (gasp!) for a while - I'm coming around again.