We recently booked our first
ABD trip, so I've been reading over on that section of the Disboards. They have a great thread called Other Options where posters discuss alternatives to ABD. It's over 70 pages long and has been going on for several years. I haven't read all of it, but have scanned it a bit. What I have read is great information. It's filled with like minded vacationers sharing options and ideas and making comparisons to ABD. I'm sure there have been some exceptions in all of those posts, but from what I have read no one gets offended, and no one goes to rediculous extremes to defend Disney. It's just a good discussion of vacation ideas and options.
It would really be nice if we could have something like that on the cruise boards where people
who had actually sailed on other lines could share their experiences. I know when we first ventured away from Disney, it was helpful reading things from the perspective of other Disney cruisers who tried something else. There is always Cruise Critic, and while it's a great tool, I think (as someone mentioned on here a few days ago) that folks often take the "critic" part to the extreme on there. If you took even half of what people post on that site seriously, you'd never cruise again!
Unfortunately whenever these threads pop up on here, they usually end up in arguments and the mods have no choice but to shut them down. It's a shame. There is great information to be shared. A lot of families love DCL, but simply cannot afford it. Others are bored with it, or their children have outgrown it and they are looking for options. Having a place to share
actual post
Disney cruise information would really be helpful.
Edited to add:
@mevelandry has done a great job keeping the Carnival thread alive, though she often has to get past the usual suspects trying to derail it and get it closed. I just wish we also had a general thread where folks could share info about all kinds of cruise lines.