Disney vs. RCCL

[slk]

I forgot to ask this in my previous post.
One thing I was also wondering about was were there a lot of "extra
charges". My sister was on RC several years ago a mentioned they had
paid for pop. So I was wondering if they still do that and if there are
other things you paid for that Disney includes in their price. And, on that
same note, do they offer transfers to and from the airport to dock and
is insurance available or did you get that on your own? Just wondering
$$$ of those items. Thanks!

 

[NancyIL]

Thanks for your comparison. I have loved my Royal Caribbean cruises, although I've never been on a Freedom-class ship. I enjoyed my first Disney cruise in January, but not enough to pay a premium price - especially to cruise in the Caribbean.

 

[tchrmom]

I forgot to ask this in my previous post.
One thing I was also wondering about was were there a lot of "extra
charges". My sister was on RC several years ago a mentioned they had
paid for pop. So I was wondering if they still do that and if there are
other things you paid for that Disney includes in their price. And, on that
same note, do they offer transfers to and from the airport to dock and
is insurance available or did you get that on your own? Just wondering
$$$ of those items. Thanks!

Soda is not free, as it is on Disney.......we bought soda cards for the kids ($28.00, I think each). There is ice water EVERYWHERE......and iced tea, friut punch, coffee, hot chocolate lemonade,and milk are all available, and free. My husband and I ordered drinks from several bars and paid under 6.00 for drinks that we requested the bartender to use "top shelf" liquor on (gray goose...etc)
You do pay a "charge" to eat at Johnny rockets......$3.50, I think......but you can order as many hamburger/onion rings you can eat for that price. Ben & Jerry's was $2.50/3.50 for ice cream.....but we mainly used the soft serve dispensers by the family pool.

They scan your card when you take a towel out for the pool. If you do not return the towels by the end of the cruise, you are charged $20.00.......but that was not a problem for us, and we returned all our towels. If this bugs you....I saw several people with their own towels, but I like being able to trade in a wet towel for a dry one.

I think I read about there being transfers to and from the ship, but we didn't use them. We drove to Miami from Tampa on Friday afternoon. (DO NOT STAY AT THE PORT OF MIAMI HOLDIAY INN.........IT IS NOT NEWLY RENOVATED!!!!!!!!!)
We didn't get insurance for this trip......but we did add it to our 6/2009 cruise and was included in that 5100.00 price.
Other than that.......I didn't feel like they charged you for anything extra that Disney wouldn't charge you for.

 

[shasess]

Thanks for this post!!! DH and I went on a 7 night cruise to the caribbean on RCCL Mariner of the Seas for our Honeymoon (we also spent a week in Disney World). We were thinking about doing a family cruise on DCL next May and we were wondering what the difference would be. Our trip next year will be more geared towards my daughter so I'm sure that we will enjoy the Disney cruise just as much as the RC.

 

[Pluto 2]

thanks for the honest review i got 2 disney cruises booked and 2 rccl cruises booked. i will be on the 15 night repo in aug. than a 12 night rccl cruise in jan09 a very short 3 night wonder cruise aug 09 than a short 7 night rccl fos in 2010. so i liked the honest review. in summer 2010 if disney goes to europe i will defintely be on it. what made me go to rccl was the differnt ports not the cost.

 

[kingdomkeeper]

Thanks for this info , we too have toyed with the idea of another cruise line instead of Disney but have not done anything about it yet. My sons are 14 and 15 and are so not interested in the characters any more so the florider and rock wall sounds great for them one of my concerns though is are there many teens on board ? I would hate for us to go and find perhaps only 10 or so kids their age on our sailing ,with Disney you can pretty much gaurantee wall to wall kids of all ages.
Also is the dress code much stricter and more formal than Disney.
Thanks

 

[tchrmom]

one of my concerns though is are there many teens on board ? I would hate for us to go and find perhaps only 10 or so kids their age on our sailing ,with Disney you can pretty much gaurantee wall to wall kids of all ages.
Also is the dress code much stricter and more formal than Disney.
Thanks

There are probably more teens on RCCL.....at least the cruise WE were on. I asked my son, who is 16 and he said "OH yeah!"

I don't think they are stricter with the dress code.......but more people were wearing long dresses and tuxes. That being said, on the 2 formal nights......my husband wore a suit, and I wore "nicer" dresses. But, also....the couple at the table next to us came to dinner in shorts and jeans on 2 of the casual nights. I always wore capris or a casual skirt on those nights. DH usually wore a "Tommy Bahama" type shirt and Khakis.

 

[Weegl]

We too have done multiple Disney and multiple RCL cruises and your comparison was spot on. They are each great experiences, but for the price and the stage that my kids are in (active 10 & 9 year olds), RCL is winning our business.

 

[barbmouse]

Thanks so much for this review!! I have been searching and researching for just this type of info. We have sailed Disney and loved it but next summer we are cruising RCCL Freedom of the Seas. Our kids are also older. We'll have a teen and a tween next summer when we go. Thanks for your great review of the Flowrider and h2o zone! Our kids are really looking forward to experiencing them! Anyway we will be in a balcony room and are so excited about that...it will be our first. I looked into Disney pricing and it was just more than we could do so we chose Freedom. We only go in the summer as I am also a tchrmom!! Again, your review was so helpful and informative and has me feeling even more that we made a good choice for our family! Thanks for taking time to post this review.

 

[Lizziemom]

I have to say, we have also cruised both RCCL and Disney and I could have written your review. The things you mentioned are the things that are important to us.

From the buffet flow to the private island comparison to the Seattle's Best Coffee, you were right on.

We cruised Disney more when the kids were younger. We then cruised RCCL alot. Last year we cruised Disney with our daughter and granddaughter. I love both for different reasons as you described. We cruised Princess this year. I liked it, and liked the change, but my husband, my brother and his wife won't do Princess again.

Lizzie

 

[Coll0610]

Thank you for the excellent comparison!

 

[LadyZolt]

My question - does RCCL offer anytime dining? That was one of our favorite things about Princess.

For our upcoming RCCL on Radiance of the Seas, they did send me an email offering anytime dining in addition to their usual main and late dinner seatings, so I think they are trying it out and seeing how it goes. I know that other RCCL ships have also tested it. We signed up for it and I'll see how I like it because it sounds great and if it works as well as it sounds, we'd love it. But, as with anything, sometimes the execution of a good idea leaves a bit to be desired. So, we'll see!

-Dorothy (LadyZolt)

 

[tchrmom]

Thanks so much for this review!! I have been searching and researching for just this type of info. We have sailed Disney and loved it but next summer we are cruising RCCL Freedom of the Seas. Our kids are also older. We'll have a teen and a tween next summer when we go. Thanks for your great review of the Flowrider and h2o zone! Our kids are really looking forward to experiencing them! Anyway we will be in a balcony room and are so excited about that...it will be our first. I looked into Disney pricing and it was just more than we could do so we chose Freedom. We only go in the summer as I am also a tchrmom!! Again, your review was so helpful and informative and has me feeling even more that we made a good choice for our family! Thanks for taking time to post this review.

barbmouse, I'm so happy I was able to help you feel better! I was SO stressed about switching cruise lines too. I just KNEW that I would never be happy on a ship if it didn't belong to Disney. You will just have to experience it for yourself......and I think you will also find, for a family like yours......Freedom class ships will serve you well. My children were 13 and 16 for this cruise. We're trying Freedom of the Seas next June.....and I don't regret that decision at all. We are not wealthy people, and sadly, Disney has out priced themselves for us. I will always love a Disney cruise.....and would jump at one, if someone wanted to pay for it. But....for now, until my "scratch and win" card at the Florida Lotto pays off......RCCL is our new cruise line. (And.......maybe if I start saving now, I can afford to try the new ships in 20012!)

 

[unionville]

Thank you for the dining update. We really enjoyed being able to eat when we were ready. There was only 2 of us (after dropping our son off in the club) so getting a table was never an issue and we always ate alone.

 

[tchrmom]

Thank you for the dining update. We really enjoyed being able to eat when we were ready. There was only 2 of us (after dropping our son off in the club) so getting a table was never an issue and we always ate alone.

I'm curious how tipping for your wait staff works with this program.......Would you mind sharing?

 

[lilo62]

This was an excellent post. Very diplomatic and honest.

My DH and I are branching out ourselves next year. After our 4th DC this past April, we had rebooked the Eastern with Tortola for next year with a Cat 6 which we always stay in (we have no kids). But when we got home and started to shop around, we found a Princess cruise that pretty much offers the same outline of the itinerary but with more islands. Seeing the major price diff, we couldn't justify doing another DC. I as well, with a heavy heart, cancelled our DC cruise for next May and booked with Princess instead. We got the same room type for $1,000 less. I also know the rooms are a tad bit smaller on Princess, but we are hardly ever in our room anyway. My only concern at this point is airfare as we have to fly to San Juan. But, we have a whole year and hopefully things wil change.

DCL will always be my first preference in cruising, but their pricing has gotten to be at least 30% higher than other major cruiselines. Like our poster who started this thread, I too have had some great experiences with DCL and some so-so. The only way to make a fair comparison is to branch out. After all, we just didn't ride on the Disney name when we took our first cruise and think everything was going to be perfect. I hope to go back to DCL perhaps in 2010 - time and cost will tell.

 

[Dizzyworld]

Next year it will be a mother/daughter cruise, since the guys are going to New Mexico, my DD wil be 14.

I know no place in our world is safe, but how did you feel about safety on the ship? My DD is so used to going to the club or pool with new ship friends, usually Disers, or with her brother. If I knew how to work this part out for both our sakes, I'd probably do RCCL. (We've cruised with them before kids, and had no issues at all.) At this age, many of the activities on RCCL are more her speed. She wanted to try the teen club at least one time on DCL which is why we are going again this year, but her brother will also be there.
Also, now that the staterroms are non-smoking, it looks even more attractive.

Thanks for the info.

 

[m&m's mom]

Thanks to the OP for posting this -- we loved our Disney cruises, but we wanted to cruise to other places than the ones Disney usually goes, so we booked the Radiance of the Seas for a 14-night trip in November that goes through the Panama Canal and then down to Chile in South America. This trip will accomplish both crossing the canal and "crossing the line" (Equator) that I want to do. We also want to take an Alaska cruise, and a European river cruise, and a trans-Atlantic cruise, and want to sail on an actual sailboat -- basically, we want to cruise a lot. LOL! While Disney is fabulous, Disney doesn't really offer a lot of itineraries, and when they do have a special one (like through the Panama Canal, or to Europe) they charge SO much more than other lines for the same itinerary that I can't justify paying it. Of course, now it's just DH and I since our youngest just turned 18, so we don't have little ones. I know if mine were still little, I'd choose Disney more and put off the other cruises until they were older, but now that I am older, I'm a'sailing other lines. LOL! Anyway, great thread!

-Dorothy (LadyZolt)

We took the Radiance of the Seas to Alaska a couple of years ago. LOVED IT!!! It is beautiful! The glass elevators that look over the ocean were so fun.

For those with smaller kids; My kids have been cruising on RCCL since they were 3 and they loved it too. They have a great kids program minus the characters.
The EB Pepo will be the 1st time my kids have cruised anything but RCCL.

 

[mkmommy]

I too like so many may look into a RCCL cruise, I think I have mastered the art of DCL pricing and OBC's, but what is it like for RCCL 's cruises? Do they offer discounts and do travel agents offer OBC's or is it more discount the cruise price.

TIA

Lisa

 

[drag n' fly]

Thanks op for the great informative review. We are doing DCL at Christmas nd RCCL spring /10 so having this info really makes knowing what to expect a lot easier!