winniedapooh
<font color=magenta>Busy and proud Mom of 5 Disney
- Joined
- Nov 17, 2001
So after much hemming and hawing, on my part, I changed our 9th cruise from DCL to RCCL. I was worried we would not like it, the service would not be there, the food, the kids clubs, the magic...my conclusion...(Traveling in 2 verandah staterooms on the Freedom of the Seas were DH, Myself, DD 8, DS 20, DGF 18, DD 18)
Food: We never went to a dining room one time. I was in shorts the entire 7 days and loved it. Even my pickiest eater begged to go back to the buffet. Honestly, I was so surprised that we loved it that much. The kids liked the pizza and the snacks from Starbucks. We tried Johnny Rockets and the service was horrid and the food was meh...NOT worth the upcharge at all!!
Room host: He stunk, but that was just him. We had room hosts around us that were friendly and knew our names. They would joke with us all week. I did not know my room hosts name and his cleaning skills were a lot to be desired...I took another one's name and will request him when we go next year.
Servers: We were at the buffets for breakfast, lunch, and dinner and after one day one of the servers remembered exactly what all six of us drank and how much. He was friendly, nice, and not at all overbearing. The other servers around us all seemed friendly as well.
Captain: My daughter and I came back early from Cozumel and the captain came up to eat. He sat behind us and was warm and welcoming to everyone that spoke to him or asked for a picture. He even made a point to comment about how much we looked alike when we left the dining room. It was this day that I realized just how snooty I feel like some people on DCL seem to be. Honestly, I felt so much like the clientele as well as the crew were very down to earth.
Alcohol and comment card pressure: There was NONE, zip...zero...none. My husband was the one who noticed this and he is my non-observant one in the crew. I had to ask at guest relations about whether or not there was a survey or not. Speaking of Guest Relations...I had a problem with one of our rooms. I had to go down for a few other questions and spoke to Melvin who was so nice and patient...Melvin from Guest Relations called me the next day to make sure it was resolved.
Kids Clubs: I have a special needs 8 yo. They were amazing with her. The put on a talent show the final day. ON RCCL they believe every kid deserves 1st prize! So we have 8 kids doing their talents...2 are clearly trained, 2 are special needs, and the other 4 are kids...it was amazing...they were all SO VERY PROUD and it was clear the Kid's Club staff loved their jobs. The only down side to this was trying to explain to a special needs 8 yo that on port days she could stay all day if she wanted, but on cruising days she could stay for certain times only.
Drink Packages: We got the $22 package for 4 of us, the $8 package for the 8 yo, and a specialty drink package for DH. I did this as soon as we boarded. It worked out well for us. Next time though we will change it up a bit...I do not drink soda or Starbucks so I will just get a water package. Cheaper in the long run.
We had a wonderful time...I did not miss DCL at all...we did as little or as much as we liked...felt at home...and have two cruises booked on RCCL. We are converts!
Food: We never went to a dining room one time. I was in shorts the entire 7 days and loved it. Even my pickiest eater begged to go back to the buffet. Honestly, I was so surprised that we loved it that much. The kids liked the pizza and the snacks from Starbucks. We tried Johnny Rockets and the service was horrid and the food was meh...NOT worth the upcharge at all!!
Room host: He stunk, but that was just him. We had room hosts around us that were friendly and knew our names. They would joke with us all week. I did not know my room hosts name and his cleaning skills were a lot to be desired...I took another one's name and will request him when we go next year.
Servers: We were at the buffets for breakfast, lunch, and dinner and after one day one of the servers remembered exactly what all six of us drank and how much. He was friendly, nice, and not at all overbearing. The other servers around us all seemed friendly as well.
Captain: My daughter and I came back early from Cozumel and the captain came up to eat. He sat behind us and was warm and welcoming to everyone that spoke to him or asked for a picture. He even made a point to comment about how much we looked alike when we left the dining room. It was this day that I realized just how snooty I feel like some people on DCL seem to be. Honestly, I felt so much like the clientele as well as the crew were very down to earth.
Alcohol and comment card pressure: There was NONE, zip...zero...none. My husband was the one who noticed this and he is my non-observant one in the crew. I had to ask at guest relations about whether or not there was a survey or not. Speaking of Guest Relations...I had a problem with one of our rooms. I had to go down for a few other questions and spoke to Melvin who was so nice and patient...Melvin from Guest Relations called me the next day to make sure it was resolved.
Kids Clubs: I have a special needs 8 yo. They were amazing with her. The put on a talent show the final day. ON RCCL they believe every kid deserves 1st prize! So we have 8 kids doing their talents...2 are clearly trained, 2 are special needs, and the other 4 are kids...it was amazing...they were all SO VERY PROUD and it was clear the Kid's Club staff loved their jobs. The only down side to this was trying to explain to a special needs 8 yo that on port days she could stay all day if she wanted, but on cruising days she could stay for certain times only.
Drink Packages: We got the $22 package for 4 of us, the $8 package for the 8 yo, and a specialty drink package for DH. I did this as soon as we boarded. It worked out well for us. Next time though we will change it up a bit...I do not drink soda or Starbucks so I will just get a water package. Cheaper in the long run.
We had a wonderful time...I did not miss DCL at all...we did as little or as much as we liked...felt at home...and have two cruises booked on RCCL. We are converts!
we don't have any cruises booked, but I would bet our next ones will be on royal again (we've been on Oasis and Freedom) as although our cruise on the Fantasy was fantastic, to us it wouldn't be worth the giant cost difference, especially as we can book Royal in Canadian dollars
