DCL to RCCL - huge difference in clientele?

[bumbershoot]

Fwiw the older kids tend to make friends with each other the first couple days and then they are elsewhere.

 

[Coldflame]

The freedom and RCCL in general is great for the whole family. They have youth clubs just like DCL has, they have much more family-oriented activities than DCL has, IMO. Clientele is the same. It's just _real_ people as opposed to the fakey, high brow attitude many DCL passengers have. I'm a 7 x DCL Gold CC Member and can tell you RCCL is fantastic so long as you're not expecting DCL Pollyanna pixie dust. Just an awesome ship, awesome experience. Way more affordable than DCL as well.

Hello there, strongly considering RCCL. Have done one Disney Cruise and like it, 2 adults, 2 young girls 8 and 6 yo, and 2 grandparents.

One thing loved about Disney is that most of the offering were appropriate for the whole family above. Considering Freedom of the Seas, however seeing things on YouTube like Hairy Chest/ Belly Flop contest in the main pool, alot of bars/nightclubs, casino etc really kind make me hesitant ... seemed like WAYYY too much of a "spring break" type crowd, and/or Las Vegas mentality/vibe for my liking

For those that have sailed Freedom, do you find it be family friendly similar to Disney .. or more younger adult oriented? We can save a few bucks with Freedom over DCL, but I dont want to feel like Im in the middle of some College Spring Break.

Would love to hear your thoughts ..

 

[woody73]

. . . We can save a few bucks with Freedom over DCL, but I dont want to feel like Im in the middle of some College Spring Break.

For a few bucks more, you should stick with DCL.

Woody

 

[bumbershoot]

For a few bucks more, you should stick with DCL.

Woody

But that makes no sense. There are several of us here saying that it did NOT feel like that. So why not try it out?

 

[woody73]

But that makes no sense. . .

Maybe not to you.

. . . There are several of us here saying that it did NOT feel like that. So why not try it out?

The OP is traveling with three generations. According to the OP, the price difference is inconsequential, as they would "save a few bucks."

The OP is looking for a G-Rated family-cruise experience. DCL delivers exactly that. On DCL's first Panama Canal cruise, Bob Saget (from Full House) was a guest entertainer. We though his comedy routine was fine, but some guests complained that his jokes were inappropriate for kids. He has not been back since.

By contrast, RCI is less conservative. (Can you say F bomb?)

All I'm saying is for "a few bucks more" the OP should stick with DCL.

Woody

 

[Patience]

I guess it depends upon how one defines "a few bucks more". For my family of four, we could take two cruises on RCCL for the price of one DCL cruise. On our recent RC cruise, we never encountered one show or activity that we felt was inappropriate for our 7 year old child. There were people drinking alcohol but I think that happens on DCL as well. Even the comedian was very clean and family friendly. We did stick to early seating in the dining room and went to the early shows because we have a 7 year old who needed to be in bed at a decent hour. The Dreamworks characters were fun. I'm not saying RC is better than DCL. I've never been on a Disney cruise. I am saying, however, that RCCL was great for our family and we are quite conservative and family oriented. We felt it was a good value for our money.

 

[Coldflame]

For a few bucks more, you should stick with DCL.

Woody

Except, you know, it's not just "a few bucks". In most itineraries I've priced it's actually a few thousand dollars.

 

[Coldflame]

Don't worry, that's unfortunately a prevalent attitude in DCL board. I'm guessing the snobbish disregard of thousands of dollars is to rationalize the wide price difference between the two. I say this as a 7 x DCL traveler, were it not for being FL residents and special, last minute VGT prices, DCL would be completely our of our justifiable price range. I'd say with the exception of Carnival and their "value" oriented ilk, most other cruise lines are just as good, if not better, in some senses than DCL.

I guess it depends upon how one defines "a few bucks more". For my family of four, we could take two cruises on RCCL for the price of one DCL cruise. On our recent RC cruise, we never encountered one show or activity that we felt was inappropriate for our 7 year old child. There were people drinking alcohol but I think that happens on DCL as well. Even the comedian was very clean and family friendly. We did stick to early seating in the dining room and went to the early shows because we have a 7 year old who needed to be in bed at a decent hour. The Dreamworks characters were fun. I'm not saying RC is better than DCL. I've never been on a Disney cruise. I am saying, however, that RCCL was great for our family and we are quite conservative and family oriented. We felt it was a good value for our money.

 

[Frozen2014]

Except, you know, it's not just "a few bucks". In most itineraries I've priced it's actually a few thousand dollars.

I suppose it depends on what you're comparing but we found the same...Comparing Disney Fantasy inside cabin to RCL Allure inside cabin...both Eastern Caribbean, and it was a $2000 difference at the time. With today's dollar, DCL is $2700 more. And the difference would be more if you compare to one of RCL's smaller or older ships.

 

[nikkistevej]

We are planning on doing a RCCL Harmony of the Seas(the ship will be done next year), or Allure of the Seas in summer 2017, just plugging in the 2016 summer dates, same week, same itinerary, DCL(inside cabin)RCCL(outside cabin and including tips)), it is $3100.00 more to do DCL. I just can't justify paying that much personally. I LOVE DCL and anything Disney(I am Gold CC member, also own DVC), but not gonna do it. However, with the money I am saving, I m going to do the RCCL cruise, then spend a week at Disney after.

 

[amym2]

We just returned from a 7nt Eastern Caribbean cruise on the Freedom and loved it! Our kids are 13 and 11, and didn't use the kids' club (they didn't on our Disney cruise when they were 7 and 5 either) but there was plenty to do. The clientele was very similar to Disney, and we didn't run into any inappropriate issues. There were lots of people of all ages on the ship. Our kids especially loved the comedians, and they did family friendly as well as adult shows. One of the things we did miss about DCL was the separated sleeping areas- our kids were on bunks that came down over our bed. And of course having separate bathroom areas on DCL is a benefit as well. For the price, though, RCCL suited our needs (wants) just fine. It was a DreamWorks cruise, so there were meet and greets with Shrek and various other characters. Our kids didn't care about that, but they did enjoy the DreamWorks shows on TV (How to Train Your Dragon, etc).