Other/Cheaper Cruises...?

[Happy99]

We did a Baltic cruise on Royal in a full suite (not junior suite) for less than a verandah room on DCL. DH and I are platinum on DCL to give you an idea of where we are coming from. The Royal Caribbean cruise was 12 nights, DCL was 10nts. The itinerary visited a couple of ports DCL didn't and were on my bucket list. The suite on DCL was 3x the price, I had looked for comparison sake. It does all come down to itinerary, time of year, etc.

 

[rg35]

I've been on several cruise lines - Princess (1x), Carnival (1x), NCL (3x) and DCL (1x).

My wife and I agree that Carnival is our least favorite line. Their cruises definitely cost less than other lines, and tends to attract a different crowd - mostly younger people looking to party and travel cheaply.

I have done 3 cruises from NYC to Bermuda on NCL. For 5 people in an oceanview room in 2018, it came to around $6800 (before gratuities). This did include the ultimate beverage package and two nights at specialty restaurants. This is a 7 day sunday-sunday cruise.

I just today booked a 4 night cruise on DCL from Port Canaveral with two stops at Castaway Cay and Nassau in-between. This is a July 2020 cruise and it's almost sold out. This cruise is about $8400. It's a verandah room (so better than an NCL oceanview) but it's fewer nights. DCL cruises book pretty quickly, so if you want a cheaper oceanview room (for a group of 5 people), you really need to book pretty quickly after these go on sale. That aspect alone is a a deterrent because it's a pain in the butt to think about things THAT far in advance - even more in advance than booking our DVC room stays. When you add in the cost of flights from NYC, it just becomes WAY more money for DCL.

The previous DCL cruise we did was on the Magic, a summer cruise from NYC to Port Canaveral (with 1 day park tickets) and the Eastern Caribbean. Unfortunately DCL only brings ships to NYC in the fall now, and we don't take our kids out of school to go on vacations so that pretty much rules out NYC departures for us.

For next year's cruise, since it's a weds-sunday cruise, we are driving down to WDW (like we normally do) and will stay using our DVC points before the cruise, and then again for the week following the cruise. In this case, the timing worked out well for us so we booked it. I booked it through Costco travel, so after the cruise we will get a $710 costco cash card, in addition to earning 3% in rewards on our costco visa. Factoring that in, the price winds up being comparable to the NCL cruise we took last year (but for a shorter cruise).

 

[KashasMom]

I haven't been with Disney yet, but I'm also really interested in Celebrity. And it prices similarly. I'm rather surpised to see people post here that their kids have "outgrown" princesses. Seems odd (and judgey) for a Disney focused forum.

I am one who said it. And seriously? Judgey? Because my daughter outgrew princesses? It was part of a conversation of WHY we started looking outside of DCL within a thread discussing "other cheaper cruises".

 

[MonaMN]

I am one who said it. And seriously? Judgey? Because my daughter outgrew princesses? It was part of a conversation of WHY we started looking outside of DCL within a thread discussing "other cheaper cruises".

I don’t find that judgey - my Disney girl (now 10) outgrew princesses a couple years ago and is now into villains and Star Wars.

We are taking a 7 night cruise next year with a SWDAS, but after that, we may try other cruise lines. Alaska just is so much more expensive on Disney, and my kid will probably be 12/13 for the next cruise - so might enjoy some of the other activities on the other lines.

 

[bumbershoot]

UGH. didn't see the age of this post. I was on mobile and still getting used to how weird it looks on my cell (I don't find the new Dis to be better on mobile than the old one), and I didn't see that there was more than one page, nor did I see the date.

they basically blamed us for going to an 18+ comedy show, and we should’ve known.

They aren’t wrong.

I went alone to see a comedian on Royal. I figured out very quickly that he was the heckling type, so even though I wasn’t enjoying it, I stayed put. Some comedians are like that. Some aren’t.

I am NOT interested in shopping while on vacation so the floating shopping mall does nothing for me.

So I assume you don’t shop at the fancy dcl mall either?

But my wife is looking forward to reading in the larger porthole seat in our room (she thinks it will be big enough,

We were in one of those staterooms. The porthole barely fit my then 10 year old's butt. I was in a size 4 (old navy “boyfriend” jean) at the time and only half of my rear fit on it.

The pump bottles don't bother us, as long as Disney doesn't mind me filling up a 2-3oz container to bring home. About 2 weeks out from our last 2 cruises we start using it at home daily to help us get excited for the cruise.

Is it just the h2o product? You can buy that, you know.

Well.. You had to take a shot with DCL at some moment in the past, it's the same thing.

Exactly. At one point we all took a risk.


I’m going to move from mobile to my computer to snag the file I’ve kept on our pricing.


Editing again, to include the pricing of the cruises we've chosen to take. 3 people (one child) for each cruise.

2/2013 Disney Dream 3 night concierge cat V: 2160.66 (720.22/night)

10/2013 Disney Dream 4 night generic inside cabin: 2301.66 (575.415/night)

1/2014 Freedom of the Seas 7 night aft AWESOME balcony 1700: 3265.55 (466.507/night)

10/2014 Vision of the Seas 5 night (not-so-)panoramic 7584: 1622.49 (324.498/night)

10/2014 Disney Dream 4 night concierge cat V: 2758.66 (689.665/night)

1/2015 Disney Dream 4 night one porthole 6666: 1928.28 (482.07/night) (best room number EVER)

3/2016 Freedom of the Seas 7 night panoramic 1864: 3258.98 (465.568/night) (awesome room)

12/2016 Adventure of the Seas 7 night aft balcony 7688: 2833.61 (404.801/night)


So it's not necessarily the total to look at, but the per night cost, IMO.

 

[bumbershoot]

OK, well I'm in here now, so I might as well continue...


But before I do, someone mentioned how people say they'll never cruise Disney again. I have never seen anyone say that. I certainly haven't. But I don't like other lines being maligned by people who have never been on anything but Disney.

Those who have been priced out say they *can't* cruise Disney. And they are generally heartbroken. So it's really not fair to lump them in with a group who say they won't (especially since I've never seen such a person or post).

I will say that having cruised other lines I've never found that their activities really revolve around gambling or drinking

Can't say I've ever noticed that on Royal. Hmm.

With Disney, you just get so much more!

As others have said, soda? (referring to Disney vs Royal)

Food=about the same overall decent-ness on both
Drinks=I pay for them on both
Drip coffee=included on both
Espresso-based drinks=happy to pay for it on both from the espresso stands
Fancy ice cream=wasn't available on Disney last time I cruised, but since we have ingredient issues, my son didn't get ANY ice cream on Disney, and was ECSTATIC to pay for it on Royal.
Fancy extra meals=have done Palo three times on Dream and haven't done any fancy dining on Royal. Oh wait hubby and son did some sort of extra brunch on Royal; I didn't feel well and didn't go.
Characters=my son ignored all but Stitch (only available on concierge deck, so we definitely paid for that) and Jack Sparrow on Disney, but met a bunch when they had Dreamworks on Royal. Jack *is* awesome, though. I got my ONE and ONLY picture with a character on Royal.
Aesthetic of the ships=totally subjective. I like the clean lines of Royal and interior decor, and I think Princess looks snazzy at least from the outside. Disney is too busy and dark for me, and on the Halloween cruises we've been on they utterly destroyed anything attractive in the public spaces by putting those jack-o-lantern window clings everywhere.

Apart from the ice cream I just can't think of anything we paid for on Royal that we didn't buy (or an equivalent) on Disney. And frankly I'm not sure that the fancy ice cream on Disney has good ingredients, as I haven't seen an ingredient list.

And while Disney doesn't have the Invicta watches that my then-husband gravitated towards, they do have LOTS of shopping. But only the Tervises held my interest. I suppose the watches were more expensive than the cups, LOL.

ETA:

Water=I have paid for it on both. I cannot drink ship water, and I love spring water. Alas, now Disney (last I looked) is using Dasani. That's not spring water. That's extra filtered municipal water local to the bottling plant. Sigh. I don't drink that. So I'll have to do the massive PITA of buying and bringing-on water. Yes it'll be cheaper than buying Evian onboard. But it's not a process I enjoy. As far as I know Royal still has Evian. I'll continue to buy that, once the dust from the divorce has settled and my pre-pre-professional Ballet-school-attending son allows me to spirit him off on a cruise again.

I also think how some of the other lines have held the line on age groups for kids clubs is a point in their favor versus Disney, who is allegedly "best for kids!"

So true. My son is now too old for club/lab, but even when he was young enough, he got SO tired of having to dodge bitties. He loves little kids, he now teaches ballet and Tap to little kids, but having to dodge them while trying to go from point A to B in the kid's club was tiring. When he was on Royal until our last cruise he was in the 9-11 age band. Alas the cruises had so few kids, they added them to the 6-8 club. But since there were active, INVOLVED counselors there to lead them in activities, they kept the chaos down.


Someone said something about the Royal cruise only playing gaga ball. They do play it. They also play many other games. It's possible the poster's child was only there during those times. Disney plays gaga ball, too. My son says they play it wrong LOL. It's some sort of not-quite-dodgeball played inside of a ring of sorts? He learned it at the YMCA. I'd never heard of it until our first Disney cruise and he said they played it wrong.

Whereas DCL has the incremental costs of kids clubs which are included in the price.

Other lines have kid clubs...

But when you strip all the characters and type of entertainment, and focus on the quality of food, other entertainment, amenities, cabins... Are they really reaching to an upscale experience? I don't think so.

Agreed.

Even concierge is pretty debatable.

Definitely agreed. To me, all it ended up being was an extra opportunity to tip, and a subpar cappuccino machine.

Been trying to think of something DCL does better for several weeks now, its been in the back of my mind almost since this thread started. EUREKA! DCL offers a laundry room. RCL does not.

True. And that's actually a bummer for me. Because I've read repeatedly that the Royal laundry service is HOT water and HIGH heat dryers. I don't use those at home apart from towels and socks. So I try to avoid the Royal laundry service. But on Royal I'm either in running clothes, swimsuit, or evening clothes, so that cuts down the need to do laundry LOL.

 

[bumbershoot]

I'll give Disney something.
My extroverted/joiner/enthusiastic son aged out of Royal kid clubs at 12 and into the Teen Club (that's when they switch). He's tall and his voice changed early, plus he hangs out with adults (homeschool) and older kids (dance) which gives him some extra maturity, so he generally reads older than he is. He was *extremely* uncomfortable at the Teen club, because it was the much older kids that gravitated towards him, but without his usual dance/YMCA environment. He would have much preferred the teen club on Disney. Alas the prices had already risen so much, and we prefer the LONG cruises, that we couldn't do it. He's 15 now and would be fine. He's more of a leader now, too, so he wouldn't be swept away by whatever older kids might want to do or talk about. So now I'm sure he'd like both.

I took the time to go through the RCL booking process and once you add in all the "extras" that are included in DCL, plus the taxes and fees, the prices were nearly the same.

OK so once you went through the *booking* process, it changed. That's not excursions or drinks packages etc (and if you're adding a drinks package then you're adding something disney doesn't have, which isn't a good comparison IMO unless you're going to add up all the beverages you'd get on Disney and pay full price for).

Yes! Add-ons are tangible and intangible and up to perspective.

Add-ons during the booking process aren't intangible.

I wish I would have thought to screenshot both of the totals

Same. But I also wish you could remember what add-ons there were during the booking process.

You mention add-on’s, but my comments there were directly related to a post that someone asked what could be different on DCL, so I listed some things.

But the question is based on ChicosWife's *booking* experience.

- DCL extends the Kid's clubs to their private island

My son went there. Once. And contacted us within the hour to ask us to get him. He's an extrovert, a joiner, and is easygoing. He likes little and older kids. And he HATED it. We were stunned. So, for us, the loss of kid's club on CocoCay wasn't a problem. He had a terrific time on the old Coco Cay.

- DCL does not charge for the kids clubs at a certain time of the evening ("cough" RCCL "cough")

Thankfully, the Royal kid clubs always exhausted my kid so much he was happy to leave and get to sleep. Disney was open longer, but didn't engage him as much, except for when he could find people to dance with on the cool dance floor.

We would get bored waiting for Disney clubs to let out on the nights he found kids to dance with, because there just wasn't much for us to do and we were sleepy.

Beg to differ but you don't get this on other lines.

View attachment 389044

You used to. One and ONLY character picture I've ever been in or plan to be in. I'm phobic of them. I'll watch Sparrow from a distance, and I'll be the photographer, but other than that, no... But Po made it so happy. But Royal and Dreamworks broke up, apparently.

I was thinking RCCL here. They make you check out towels. That is a big annoyance.

I've never found it to be an annoyance, but even if I felt annoyed by it I wouldn't want to pay more per night for it.

maybe Dis could create a general cruising board where other options could be discussed and this board could stick more exclusively to all things DCL? I for one would have nbenifitted from a board like this back in 2016.

How wonderful would that be?

We have tried and tried to get the mods to turn the Royal Caribbean sub forum into an "All Other Cruise Lines" sub forum, but they will not. The reason given is that Dreams doesn't book some of the other lines (maybe no other lines besides Disney and RCCL)...but since they allow that kind of discussion on here, it really doesn't make sense.

Maybe they'll relent someday. Early on in my tenure here I noticed a typo in a forum name. They said they *couldn't* change it; that it wasn't possible. And a couple years later they corrected it. So let's hope.

I'm rather surpised to see people post here that their kids have "outgrown" princesses. Seems odd (and judgey) for a Disney focused forum. Mine was never really into them as a full on thing.

Outgrowing doesn't mean judgment, IMO. Kids do that. They're into one thing then they aren't. My son outgrew most characters, though I bet he'd still pose with Sparrow. Which of course means DCL. Eh, if I can ever afford it again and if he's still on the cruises...

 

[starvenger]

I've been eager to give Princess and their Discovery kids program a shot. But that's not likely until 2021 at the earliest and my kids will be in the teen/tween groups by then.

Royal just changed Navigator's kids club to be a little more like Oceaneers, albeit while still keeping the 3-5s separate. Oasis will be doing the same thing. Lots of things to do on a Royal ship as well.

 

[ChicosWife]

As others have said, soda? (referring to Disney vs Royal)

Not just soda... quality, magic, experiences, customer service, cleanliness, attention to detail, etc.

 

[cedricandsophie]

For us its all about the Disney experience. We have an adult daughter with Down syndrome and we always bring her best friend who does not have downs but other cognitive disabilities Without the characters, the shows, the fantastic friendly and kind servers that follow us to all dining rooms and the overall knowledge that they are completely safe to wander on their own, we would never take them on any cruise other than Disney. While it sounds so elitist to say price doesn’t matter, it really doesn’t. And I know we are blessed to be able to have that attitude. We have done the Caribbean many times and rarely get off. We have done all of their European itineraries including the Baltic, Norway, Greece, several Ned, plus Alaska and the Mexican Rivera and transatlantic. We like a minimum of 9 or 10 days. In July we are doing Norway and Iceland with several ports we have been to and a few new ones. My husband and I have been to Iceland so instead of the typical excursions to see the countryside we booked an Icelandic horse ride (on my bucket list because of their size, and unusual gait) and puffin Cruise.

Next year we are looking at their new rendition of Greece, although we have been to many ports or the longest carribean we can find. We might also consider a Panama Canal although my husband and I hAve done that on another line.

I have looked at other cruise lines and yes the prices are much better. On the other hand we are drinkers and would probably buy a drink package. We would probably pay to eat in their exclusive restaurants. I’d need to worry about dinner reservations. I’d need to worry about getting to shied early enough to find a seat. And there would be little for our young women to do and in no way would I be comfortable to let them on their own. So for the foreseeable future, until we decide we can’t afford it, Disney will always be our first choice for a family trip.

For just my husband and I, we choose either crystal or silver sea for the all inclusive nature and the different interesting itineraries. The service is on par with Disney and the food is fantastic.

 

[ChicosWife]

Add-ons during the booking process aren't intangible.

OK so once you went through the *booking* process, it changed. That's not excursions or drinks packages etc (and if you're adding a drinks package then you're adding something disney doesn't have, which isn't a good comparison IMO unless you're going to add up all the beverages you'd get on Disney and pay full price for).

We will agree to disagree.

 

[ChicosWife]

But the question is based on ChicosWife's *booking* experience.

Yes, thank you for reiterating this.