CARNIVAL VS DCL: The discussion and comparison thread!

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How is Paradise Beach? Did you get there on your own? (I don't remember seeing it in the excursions section).

We took a taxi; $15 each way. There are no excursions. The beach is nice but it’s the pool that makes it! It’s huge and heated. It’s very relaxing today with only 2 ships in port.
 




(Reception spotty. Sorry if I post twice... I'm not that drunk LOL) On board the Sensation right now.

I love the ship more than I thought I would. I LOVE the layout!!!! This old lady is in great shape for its age. Very clean. Staff is sooo nice!!!

Oh and the halloween decorations are cute but not too overwhelming.

I haven't seen our cabin yet.

But so far, I'm very excited.
 
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Atrium when you walked in-bar on one side, glass elevators on the other. I could have done without those glass flower lighting fixtures, but everything else was pretty decor-wise!
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Main theater was done in pretty reds & golds. The little tables had different paintings on them. Two levels-we sat about everywhere and didn't find a bad seat.


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Towel animal invasion-very cute! It was done on the morning of Grand Turk. This was the Lido deck pool. Had 2 hot tubs, the pool and waterslide in the background. Didn't spend much time here. Mainly in the aft adults-only pool.
 
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Timothy Hill on St. Kitts. It's the highest point on the island and it's where the Atlantic Ocean (left) meets the Caribbean Sea (Right). Really pretty!

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Part of the Fort/Sea wall in San Juan. Directly behind me is a huge gate where ships would anchor. Sailors would walk through the gate then immediately continue up the hill to the huge Catholic Cathedral to give thanks they made it safely.

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The cutest street in all of old San Juan. Definitely a must see! The building at the far end is some sort of huge government building which was gated off.

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Not the best photo, but Grand Turk. You can immediately step off the pier and go the beach on the left hand side. Some chairs/umbrellas are free, others you can rent.
 
(Reception spotty. Sorry if I post twice... I'm not that drunk LOL) On board the Sensation right now.

I love the ship more than I thought I would. I LOVE the layout!!!! This old lady is in great shape for its age. Very clean. Staff is sooo nice!!!

Oh and the halloween decorations are cute but not too overwhelming.

I haven't seen our cabin yet.

But so far, I'm very excited.

She was my very first cruise ship! I'm glad she's still being taken care of! Have a GREAT time! :goodvibes
 
View attachment 358068

Timothy Hill on St. Kitts. It's the highest point on the island and it's where the Atlantic Ocean (left) meets the Caribbean Sea (Right). Really pretty!

View attachment 358069

Part of the Fort/Sea wall in San Juan. Directly behind me is a huge gate where ships would anchor. Sailors would walk through the gate then immediately continue up the hill to the huge Catholic Cathedral to give thanks they made it safely.

View attachment 358070
The cutest street in all of old San Juan. Definitely a must see! The building at the far end is some sort of huge government building which was gated off.

View attachment 358071

Not the best photo, but Grand Turk. You can immediately step off the pier and go the beach on the left hand side. Some chairs/umbrellas are free, others you can rent.
Wow, wow, wow!!
 
Just saw a thread on CC with a like to John Heald's blog about some passengers who missed the port in Belize. Can I post a link here? It struck a nerve because we barely made the Belieze tender back to the ship. We took a private excursion with cavetubing.bz and returned to port at 4:30! The excursion was supposed to be back at the port around 2pm. The excursion was good, but logistics awful. They were shuttling different groups around and consolidating them in buses. Our bus ended up waiting for quite a while for another group that went ziplining. We went tubing. The company is rated very highly on TripAdvisor-- I think we just got unlucky. My only comfort was that the bus was full of other Carnival Dream passengers, so we figured the ship might wait if we were late. It's the only time we have cut it close at a port.
 
The company is rated very highly on TripAdvisor-- I think we just got unlucky.

Yikes! Glad you made it back to the ship before it left port! :scared1:

Re: TripAdvisor (and full disclosure, I LOVE TA and use their forums a great deal for our annual Hawaii trips) Reviews: there have been a number of articles that many of TA's reviews are submitted falsely in order to rocket a company's ratings upward. And having traveled to Hawaii a lot, when I see how highly rated some places/activities are and I KNOW for a fact it is a pretty sketchy business, I personally give only a LITTLE credence to TA Reviews. If I see a business I liked the looks of, I will read the reviews on TA but I throw out the super glowing ones and the horrible ones and see what's left. AND I always, always go to the forums for that travel location and search for people's experiences with that same business. One can learn a LOT in the forums, and in my experience it is much more reliable than the reviews. Many businesses will give perks for a positive review. Caveat emptor......
 
Yikes! Glad you made it back to the ship before it left port! :scared1:

Re: TripAdvisor (and full disclosure, I LOVE TA and use their forums a great deal for our annual Hawaii trips) Reviews: there have been a number of articles that many of TA's reviews are submitted falsely in order to rocket a company's ratings upward. And having traveled to Hawaii a lot, when I see how highly rated some places/activities are and I KNOW for a fact it is a pretty sketchy business, I personally give only a LITTLE credence to TA Reviews. If I see a business I liked the looks of, I will read the reviews on TA but I throw out the super glowing ones and the horrible ones and see what's left. AND I always, always go to the forums for that travel location and search for people's experiences with that same business. One can learn a LOT in the forums, and in my experience it is much more reliable than the reviews. Many businesses will give perks for a positive review. Caveat emptor......

It is funny but at the time we were not worried. But reading that post today made me think we probably should have been and that we were lucky. About half the people on the bus we not saying much about it, but others were counting down the minutes and making comments. One woman in front of us was having a bit of a panic attack, repeatedly saying we will never make it, we've missed the ship. The guide kept trying to reassure people that even though they posted last tender at _____ (can,t remember exact time), there really was another after that for crew. I hear what you are saying about trip advisor. They used to be our go to but I recently read about what you mentioned... now I'm not so sure about them!
 
Just saw a thread on CC with a like to John Heald's blog about some passengers who missed the port in Belize. Can I post a link here? It struck a nerve because we barely made the Belieze tender back to the ship. We took a private excursion with cavetubing.bz and returned to port at 4:30! The excursion was supposed to be back at the port around 2pm. The excursion was good, but logistics awful. They were shuttling different groups around and consolidating them in buses. Our bus ended up waiting for quite a while for another group that went ziplining. We went tubing. The company is rated very highly on TripAdvisor-- I think we just got unlucky. My only comfort was that the bus was full of other Carnival Dream passengers, so we figured the ship might wait if we were late. It's the only time we have cut it close at a port.

I think I saw this too. Was it the couple that complained because the ship left at 4:30 and they got to the ship at like 5:10 only to watch it sail away? Then wanted to be reimbursed for literally everything because Carnival should have waited? God I can't stand people sometimes. :sad2:
 
I think I saw this too. Was it the couple that complained because the ship left at 4:30 and they got to the ship at like 5:10 only to watch it sail away? Then wanted to be reimbursed for literally everything because Carnival should have waited? God I can't stand people sometimes. :sad2:
Yes, I think the thread was called entitlement or something like that. Lol.
 
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