2015 Cruise Critic Awards - DCL knocked off its perch by RCL

[SnowWhiteOz]

Interesting result at the 2015 Cruise Critic Awards today - RCL beat Disney for the best cruise for families category

http://www.news.com.au/travel/trave...to-cruise-critic/story-e6frfqf9-1227558536638

I wonder what DCL will do to earn back top spot?

 

[southerngirl528]

Interesting. RCL is the only other lines I have ever sailed besides DCL and though I found it quite nice, both DH and I feel that DCL is definitely superior in many respects. Cruise Critic Awards… I assume that is from that website/forums of the same name…?

 

[perditax]

Interesting. RCL is the only other lines I have ever sailed besides DCL and though I found it quite nice, both DH and I feel that DCL is definitely superior in many respects. Cruise Critic Awards… I assume that is from that website/forums of the same name…?

Yes, looks like editors' picks. I think they do a reader's choice poll too.

 

[Bree]

Those are the winners for the Editor's picks. http://www.cruisecritic.com/editors-picks/

I'm interested to see what the winners are for the 2015 cruisers' choice.

 

[Ofinn]

Maybe it has something to do with the price increases. When I review a product, hotel etc. a big factor in my opinion is what I paid. If I wasn't able to cruise in the offseason with GT rates and other discounts I wouldn't have as favorable opinion of DCL as I do.

 

[SnowWhiteOz]

Maybe it has something to do with the price increases. When I review a product, hotel etc. a big factor in my opinion is what I paid. If I wasn't able to cruise in the offseason with GT rates and other discounts I wouldn't have as favorable opinion of DCL as I do.

As someone who has never sailed before I looked into both DCL and RCL for my first cruise but there was just so many better reviews for DCL that I decided the extra money was worth it. I'm hoping my judgement was right!

 

[southerngirl528]

I don't mean to discount Cruise Critic in any way or their annual "awards" but doesn't Cruise Critic's website offer bookings on their site? I have learned some great info on the forums there but I suppose I put a bit more stock in readers' choice polls as Bree and Perditax mentioned. Travel & Leisure's readers just gave #1 slot to DCL for family cruises…. And SnowWhiteOz, you are smart to be here reading up on your first cruise. I am a big believer that in order to "get my money's worth" I should know all my options and the ins and outs. That way I can make informed decisions and not miss out on something just because I had not knowledge of it. Happy planning!

 

[Ofinn]

As someone who has never sailed before I looked into both DCL and RCL for my first cruise but there was just so many better reviews for DCL that I decided the extra money was worth it. I'm hoping my judgement was right!

It's all very subjective. There are a lot people on here that are just as happy with their RCI cruises as with their DCL cruises, and they usually pay a lot less for RCI. We homeschool, and we have done 11 DCL cruises in 4 years. We go when we see a good last minute discount. I have been very happy with DCL, but I have never paid the 8k-15k+ for a cruise that some people pay in the Summer. I'm not sure how I would rate DCL if I was paying those kind of prices. Just my opinion. If I ever have to cruise in the Summer I will be switching to RCI. If I was an editor ranking cruise lines I would have to consider price. It's very hard for the average middle class family to afford DCL especially if your restricted to school breaks.

 

[SnowWhiteOz]

It's all very subjective. There are a lot people on here that are just as happy with their RCI cruises as with their DCL cruises, and they usually pay a lot less for RCI. We homeschool, and we have done 11 DCL cruises in 4 years. We go when we see a good last minute discount. I have been very happy with DCL, but I have never paid the 8k-15k+ for a cruise that some people pay in the Summer. I'm not sure how I would rate DCL if I was paying those kind of prices. Just my opinion. If I ever have to cruise in the Summer I will be switching to RCI. If I was an editor ranking cruise lines I would have to consider price. It's very hard for the average middle class family to afford DCL especially if your restricted to school breaks.

I absolutely understand the subjectivity. I will be cruising in November doing a basic 3 night cruise on the Dream so although it is dearer than the equivalent RCL cruise it wasn't absurdly more ($1200 for a veranda room on DCL in comparison to around $800 for the porthole stateroom on RCL). The biggest selling point for me was that Castaway Cay is meant to be so much nicer than CocoCay

 

[Berger]

Wow, beat them at their own game. Sad but was with policy change ,it happens

 

[Ofinn]

I absolutely understand the subjectivity. I will be cruising in November doing a basic 3 night cruise on the Dream so although it is dearer than the equivalent RCL cruise it wasn't absurdly more ($1200 for a veranda room on DCL in comparison to around $800 for the porthole stateroom on RCL). The biggest selling point for me was that Castaway Cay is meant to be so much nicer than CocoCay

Enjoy your cruise, but be careful it's addicting. I can't even Imagine a vacation that didn't involve a cruise. Keep in mind this is coming from someone who is prone to motion sickness, but I still love it.

 

[perditax]

Maybe it has something to do with the price increases. When I review a product, hotel etc. a big factor in my opinion is what I paid. If I wasn't able to cruise in the offseason with GT rates and other discounts I wouldn't have as favorable opinion of DCL as I do.

This could be part of it. RCI is also going after the family market pretty hard. I believe even the "DIS Unplugged" podcast group's official cruises are on RCCL now, not Disney.

(FWIW RCCL is the one mass market line I've never been interested in, precisely because it IS going after a very specific segment of middle class families, and I'm not a "family" cruiser. (well, and because I can see Starbucks, Johnny Rockets and coach stores in the malls back on land.) But it seems to me DCL, through sheer demand, is squeezing out everyone but the wealthy and the people who are hardcore Disney enough to save up or go into debt. So I'm not surprised that "#2" is stepping it up.)

 

[SnowWhiteOz]

Enjoy your cruise, but be careful it's addicting. I can't even Imagine a vacation that didn't involve a cruise. Keep in mind this is coming from someone who is prone to motion sickness, but I still love it.

Everyone keeps saying how addictive cruising is! I'm hoping that because I'm having to travel such a long way (and save up so much) to even do one that I'll be able to enjoy it as a one-time thing.

 

[bumbershoot]

I don't mean to discount Cruise Critic in any way or their annual "awards" but doesn't Cruise Critic's website offer bookings on their site?

Not sure what you mean. Do they have the ability to link to a TA from the site? I think so. You do know that the Dis is owned and run by a TA? Dreamsunlimited? They own the Dis. You know this yes? (and they sell Royal cruises)

The biggest selling point for me was that Castaway Cay is meant to be so much nicer than CocoCay

Opinion. I like Coco better than Castaway. Castaway feels like one gigantic stretch of beach to me. Well, one gigantic one, one smaller one after you pass Pelican Plunge (or whatever it's called), then Serenity Bay (which apparently is now going to have a tween/teen beach on part of it).

Coco has little inlets, and you feel like you're just with the people in that little inlet, not one of thousands on the island. Freedom is bigger than Dream, and we felt like we were on the island with just hundreds of people vs the thousands we saw in one glance on Castaway. Plus, Coco has chickens and roosters (you could hear the roosters) and iguanas, which I thought was supercool.

Everyone keeps saying how addictive cruising is! I'm hoping that because I'm having to travel such a long way (and save up so much) to even do one that I'll be able to enjoy it as a one-time thing.

There are Royal cruises from/to Australia, FWIW.....

 

[TestingH2O]

Not sure what you mean. Do they have the ability to link to a TA from the site? I think so. You do know that the Dis is owned and run by a TA? Dreamsunlimited? They own the Dis. You know this yes? (and they sell Royal cruises)

On their forums at least you can't mention any TA's. I think You can purchase through them however.

 

[dclpluto]

When people want to talk about rccl they go to cruise critic. When people want to talk about DCL they come here. The majority. So yes rccl will get more votes from people on cruise critic.

 

[kaseyC]

On their forums at least you can't mention any TA's. I think You can purchase through them however.

Like Trip Advisor who also owns Cruise Critic, you book through 3rd party sites( Expedia and such) not directly through CC.


Just have to mention though, that I find it funny that the past few years when DCL was rated number 1 on the CC Editors' Picks Awards, it was considered a valid award. But, now it's no longer good enough.

 

[bumbershoot]

When people want to talk about rccl they go to cruise critic. When people want to talk about DCL they come here. The majority. So yes rccl will get more votes from people on cruise critic.

There is a DCL forum on CC. There is a Royal forum here!

Just have to mention though, that I find it funny that the past few years when DCL was rated number 1 on the CC Editors' Picks Awards, it was considered a valid award. But, now it's now longer good enough.

Heh heh. So true....

 

[JennLK]

Edited to add: This was meant to reply to someone who earlier questioned what the cruiser's picks were for 2015 - for some reason my quote didn't take and I can't add it after posting

Yep - that was this year's editors picks. The member picks based on ratings for 2015 has Disney shining in most categories
http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/cruiserschoice_index.cfm?Category=Overall&sort=large

 

[southerngirl528]

Not sure what you mean. Do they have the ability to link to a TA from the site? I think so. You do know that the Dis is owned and run by a TA? Dreamsunlimited? They own the Dis. You know this yes? (and they sell Royal cruises)

Yep, I do entirely understand that this website is owned and run by DU and that lots of folks book through them. My point is that when looking at ratings/awards I always consider the source. Just as I am a very frequent visitor to TA, I trust the review info found within threads more than I do the often skewed actual ratings/reviews seen there. IOW just speaking for myself, I consider a larger sampling of voters' results more valid than from a select group of editors from one website. For instance when a very large travel magazine has many thousands of voters and publish THOSE results. Regardless of whom they choose, Disney or not.