Considering a RCCL cruise, advice please

[uandmfan]

Hi all

We are just back from our 2nd DCL cruise on 2 years. This time on the Fantasy. We had a great time but felt it was repetitive from last time and that we aren't really ready to do another one.

So for next year, we are thinking of RCCL. Specifically we are thinking of the Freedom, Adventure or Harmony. We are scared of the huge ships as we thought the smaller DCL ship was a bit better so we can't imagine being on the huge mega ships.

Has anybody been on the ships we are thinking about with young kids? Ours will be 5 and 8 at the time. Our main concern is that the kids are entertained. This year our little guy loved the kids club and leaving dinner early to go play. Our daughter spent less time in the clubs but loved the water slide and the mid ship detective agency. If the kids aren't happy we will be miserable.

People keep saying it's not disney. What does that mean?

We didn't find the food to be amazing this time. And while I liked our dining team it's ok if we don't always have the same waiters.

I'm also confused about how dining works on RCCL. Are there sit down restaurants that are included? I think there is always a buffet available, right? What drinks are included? I know no pop, but is there free juice, coffee and milk? I can't seem to figure all this stuff out easily.

Thanks

 

[Spunky946]

So for someone who doesn’t want the bigger ships, you are looking at all big ships. We’ve never been on dcl, but we’ve done 4 Holland and 1 RCCL cruise and going on our second RCCL for Christmas this year.

We’ve been on the navigator, which is the sister to the adventure which has about 3,400 people on it. My kids are older, they were 14 and 10 on the last cruise. Lots of stuff to do. Pools, flowrider, mini golf, rock wall, kids club, etc. both of my kids loved trivia and the shows and game shows.

As for dining, there is the buffet, which is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Free drinks include, juices, milk, coffee, lemonade, iced tea, water

For dinner included is the main dining room or mdr. There is early seating which is between 5:30 and 6, late seating between 8 and 8:30 and you’d have the same one and same table the whole cruise. There is also my time d8ning that is open seating from 5:15-9 I think. You can make reservations for a specific time or just walk up, it you may have to wait if you just walk up.

There are also specialty restaurants depending on the ship that you pay for.

 

[moericus]

Specifically we are thinking of the Freedom, Adventure or Harmony.

Has anybody been on the ships we are thinking about with young kids?

People keep saying it's not disney. What does that mean?

I'm also confused about how dining works on RCCL. Are there sit down restaurants that are included? I think there is always a buffet available, right? What drinks are included? I know no pop, but is there free juice, coffee and milk? I can't seem to figure all this stuff out easily.
Thanks

Freedom and Adventure might be more for you. They have the large promenade down the center. It's like a huge mall inside the ship. It gives everyone space but keeps navigating the ship much easier (and keeping track of kids).

We've taken kids about that age (and twice since). Go on ships with the new splash parks and slides. They are awesome. Kids also loved bumper cars on Anthem. My understanding is the RCCL kids' clubs are more structured then DCL. Meaning, they run through scheduled games/activities and encourage all the kids to participate. My kids love that style.

I assume as DCL expands they are losing the cost-effective battles for the little things that worked on a small scale and hooked everyone early on. As they grow, things change.

Every ship has an included Windjammer Cafe (buffet) open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Every ship has an included large formal dining room (usually 3 levels, split in different rooms on Anthem) serving casual lunch and 3-course dinners. And you have pizza, sandwiches, and small deserts on the promenade. For a surcharge you can go to the specialty restaurants like Johnny Rockets, Chops, etc.. (we've never bothered except Johnny R's, dining room is fine for us). Eating a ton of food for free is status-quo while on board RCCL.

 

[uandmfan]

Thanks. These are both helpful.

Those aren't big ships though, they are roughly the same size as the Fantasy. We don't want the Oasis class as the size worries us.

I have looked at the smaller ships and they seem less family friendly. But please correct me if I'm wrong.

I think my kids will prefer the more structured clubs too. It was easier to get them to go for something specific rather than just because.

The price for disney is nuts. We booked onboard last year for a cruise one year later. The prices now are so high I can't justify it. And we stay on lower decks so in cheap cabins.

 

[starvenger]

People keep saying it's not disney. What does that mean?

From what I gather for people that say this, it's that they're on a different cruise line, and there are a lot of things similar, but it doesn't feel like Disney. You don't get that immersive Disney experience - which makes sense, of course - and well. they kind of miss it.

On the whole, we're creatures of habit, and if we're used to one thing - DCL ships for example - it's hard to adapt to something that's similar yet foreign. Sort of like driving around in a city you've never been to before. In a general sense, nothing is really different, but when you get more granular, a lot of things are different enough.

 

[moericus]

Those aren't big ships though, they are roughly the same size as the Fantasy. We don't want the Oasis class as the size worries us.

I have looked at the smaller ships and they seem less family friendly. But please correct me if I'm wrong.

Voyager and Freedom class ships are awesome. They are huge but at the same time the deckplan is so simple that you really can't get lost.

The smaller ships are not getting renovated as quickly as Voyager+. They keep to the older style cruise ships. Disney really pushed RCCL to start improving their ships for kids and kids at heart. The difference between the "guts" of the first Oasis class ship and the last one is fairly amazing. And almost every Voyager/Freedom has ship has been revamped in that time.

 

[bbel]

Those aren't big ships though, they are roughly the same size as the Fantasy. We don't want the Oasis class as the size worries us.

You said freedom, adventure and harmony right?
Harmony is oasis class. Bigger than the fantasy.

 

[uandmfan]

Oops. I misread the stats. I'll stick to the freedom and adventure then. Thanks for the correction.

The other Voyager and freedom ships don't have itineraries that work for us next winter unfortunately.

 

[Frozen2014]

Oops. I misread the stats. I'll stick to the freedom and adventure then. Thanks for the correction.

The other Voyager and freedom ships don't have itineraries that work for us next winter unfortunately.

I would have suggested Independence otherwise (Freedom class) as I think it does longer itineraries and has a great kids splash/pool area. Mariner and Navigator are great too (yet to try newly amped Navigator) but they only do 3 and 4 night cruises.
Either way, don't think you can go wrong with either Adventure or Freedom. If slides are important, then guess Adventure (unless going after Freedom's dry dock)

 

[uandmfan]

I think the Freedom's dry dock is set to be done in February 2020? We are looking at a March 15 cruise. So I think that will be just after.

This is so much more confusing than Disney!!

I don't think slides are the make or break factors but I really want the ship to be great for the kids. If they are bored we are in trouble!!

 

[starvenger]

More ships = more options = more confusion.

 

[hdrolfe]

My son and I have been on Freedom twice (he was 7 & 8 for those trips). We enjoyed it but they did not have water slides. I believe Adventure would be a better fit because of that. However, we did still have fun on both trips.

I will comment on the kids club, they have set times and list a group of activities, the kids will do some of those, but you won't really know which. My son hates that so he refuses to go. He actually prefers the club on Carnival (and the water slides & ropes courses on the ships we've been on, he says it is more fun) as they do have a set time for a set activity.

For dining, on RCL you can choose a set time, and get a table with a the same servers every night. Or you can do My Time Dining and either choose to make reservations that work for you or just go when hungry and line up. That can mean a bit of a wait. I have done both, and even when we made reservations we were actually seated at the same table with the same servers each night. There are also paid places you can eat, but to be honest if it's your first time on RCL I would just do the included and maybe save that for next time once you are familiar with the menus (and know the nights you could miss). We ate at the Mexican place on Freedom and decided that day, I was able to get a reservation easily.

There are also a number of drink packages, from just pop/soda to an all inclusive adult version I haven't gotten them but the non-alcoholic one that includes all the fancy virgin drink looks fun for kiddo as he likes those drinks. We normally just pay as you go (he doesn't like pop/soda).

 

[Fuzzywuzzy]

We did 5 DCL cruises in a row. We tried RCCL mostly out of curiosity figuring it would be just OK and go back to DCL. We now are booking 2 more RCCL cruises because it was far, far more than just OK and at the price disparity it looks like we can cruise every year instead of every 3 or so. Your results may vary.

 

[ticketwm35]

So I’m glad I read this post was trying to figure out if I should do another Disney or try rc you guy all convince me to go for it.Disney is crazy priced anymore so we will try RCCL this time
Thanks

 

[LSUfan4444]

People keep saying it's not disney. What does that mean?

Thats it's half the price?

Seriously though...there is no shortage of things to do for kids on Royal. Ive been sailing with out 9 year old on Royal since 2016 (three sailings - Allure and Liberty twice) and DCL twice (Fantasy and Dream) and she prefers the flowrider, water slides, pool decks and water play areas on Royal more than DCL.

 

[CalDisneyMomof2]

Thats it's half the price?

Seriously though...there is no shortage of things to do for kids on Royal. Ive been sailing with out 9 year old on Royal since 2016 (three sailings - Allure and Liberty twice) and DCL twice (Fantasy and Dream) and she prefers the flowrider, water slides, pool decks and water play areas on Royal more than DCL.

We'll be trying Liberty/RCCL for the first time next year with my (will be) 12, 9 and 3 year old. How did your 9 year old like everything else? The clubs? Food/service? Shows?

We've done the Dream and Wonder. Kids loved our DCL cruises but they're not attached like I thought they'd be to Disney.

 

[ZerasPride]

We loved our DCL cruise on the Dream! I did not think any other cruise could compare. I was disappointed last year that to afford a suite we would have to cruise Royal. That is until I set foot on the ship. We had a blast on Oasis last year and I am so looking forward to our cruise on Harmony this year! Can't wait to relax in the evening on a bench in Central Park!

I did feel a little wistful when we docked next to the Fantasy at one port last year. I will be honest about that. But I went up to the suite deck (that I could not afford on Disney) and I was fine! LOL! Seriously I am delighted to sail on RCCL and the Oasis class ships are awesome. I am surprised to feel that if I never sail DCL again, I will be okay. And my pocketbook will be happy too!

 

[starvenger]

The truth is that you'll never know unless you try. It's a cruise - you'll probably enjoy it* regardless of whether you want to go back to DCL or not.

*Exception being if you take a cruise after a chartered cruise or with a lot of college-age kids.

 

[DrLolo]

From what I gather for people that say this, it's that they're on a different cruise line, and there are a lot of things similar, but it doesn't feel like Disney. You don't get that immersive Disney experience - which makes sense, of course - and well. they kind of miss it.

On the whole, we're creatures of habit, and if we're used to one thing - DCL ships for example - it's hard to adapt to something that's similar yet foreign. Sort of like driving around in a city you've never been to before. In a general sense, nothing is really different, but when you get more granular, a lot of things are different enough.

I’ve sailed RCCL several times pre-kids, and just got off our 1st family DCL voyage. We enjoy Disney but aren’t real Disney FANS. I was impressed with how thoughtfully DCL has designed for kids & families. My sense is that kids are truly priority #1 on DCL, while also providing lovely amenities for adults. While RCCL is very family friendly, it doesn’t have that Disney magic. That being said, we’ll definitely try RCCL again. DS 5 didn’t enjoy the Oceaneer clubs and may prefer the more structured RCCL approach for now. And we won’t need a defibrillator to recover from the DCL sticker shock, ouch!

 

[ForMyBoys]

The best advice I got was not to compare everything with Disney. RCCL is a different experience and yes I think you will have a great time, but it is different.

Our youngest was 6 when we sailed on the Oasis. They did have kids club activities but its wasn't like Disney where we just dropped him off anytime. They had schedule activities and sometimes it was odd arriving in the middle so we paid more attention to the schedules.

The Oasis (similar to the Harmony) felt like a floating building. They had a lot of shopping and some good deals so I enjoyed that more on RCCL. I also liked the food variety, Entertainment, and pools better on RCCL.

Disney wins on the room. Unless you get a suite on RCCL your room will likely be much smaller then DCL. I also like the rotating servers on DCL.

My kids enjoy both cruises but on RCCL we do see them more as the kids clubs aren't quite as robust. I think my youngest prefer DCL but I can see that changing as they get older