devores
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Feb 5, 2009
We just got off the 27 - 30 Dec 09 Sailing on the Wonder and I learned some things that might help others comparing cruise lines.
This was our second cruise, both on the wonder, so we had no way to compare it to other cruises. This was, however, the first Disney cruise for my kids.
It all started when we first borded and were in Beach Blanket for lunch. My oldest looked up and asked if she could have a soda with her lunch. I looked at her in amazment as I have never limited them to not drinking soda and said sure you can have one. She then explained that on thier other cruise, Royal Caribean, you had to pay for sodas. It was like $100 a person for a wristband that got you soda for the whole cruise. This was weird to me.
Fast forward to the first night. We were watching the Golden Mickeys and both my kids watched in amazment. When the show ended, they both exclaimed that the show was WAY better than any of the shows on the other cruise. They even said they opted to miss most of the shows on the RC cruise because they were so boring.
We then headed to SeaScapes for some family fun with the Who Wants To Be A Mousketeer. My oldest again looks at me and asks what time it was. I told her it was 9:30 and she says they have to go back to the room. I aksed why and she explains about a curfew they had on the RC. I guess on the last one, all kids, 17 and under, had to be in thier staterooms at 10:00pm. She even said that they would patrol the ship looking for curfew breakers.
After the second dinner in Tritons, we got to talking about how they liked the cruise. Both said that DCL was WAY WAY better than RC. The reasons are below.
First:
RC had no activities for kids. DCL had the teen club (where we lost them to for about 6 hours)
RC had a curfew for kids, DCL did not.
RC did not have a sail away party or pirate party, DCL had fun in mind when planning ship activities.
RC had one dinning room for the "free" dinning. They did have others, but you had to pay to eat there. DCL, all food was free.
RC did not have free sodas, DCL did.
RC shows were boring and not very entertaining. DCL shows were top notch.
RC had allot of areas kids could not go (casionos, bars, adult only areas). DCL was divided up into age appropriate areas.
RC had zero charcter interaction, it was more of a singles cruise than a family cruise. DCL had Mickey Mouse.
RC did not have room service. DCL had mickey bars sent to your room....nuff said.
The only down side to DCL for my kids was Nassau. They were scared half to death walking around, and this was during Jukanoo so there were not that many people out and about. We spent about 2 hours onshore then went back to the ship. We hit the Cove pool and they hit Aloft.
So, in my kids view, DCL wins out hands down. They are now spoiled and do not want to cruise another line. They are anxiously waiting for the dream to set sail so we can go again.
All in all, after this experience, DCL is definetly worth the extra cost and we will not sail another cruise line.
This was our second cruise, both on the wonder, so we had no way to compare it to other cruises. This was, however, the first Disney cruise for my kids.
It all started when we first borded and were in Beach Blanket for lunch. My oldest looked up and asked if she could have a soda with her lunch. I looked at her in amazment as I have never limited them to not drinking soda and said sure you can have one. She then explained that on thier other cruise, Royal Caribean, you had to pay for sodas. It was like $100 a person for a wristband that got you soda for the whole cruise. This was weird to me.
Fast forward to the first night. We were watching the Golden Mickeys and both my kids watched in amazment. When the show ended, they both exclaimed that the show was WAY better than any of the shows on the other cruise. They even said they opted to miss most of the shows on the RC cruise because they were so boring.
We then headed to SeaScapes for some family fun with the Who Wants To Be A Mousketeer. My oldest again looks at me and asks what time it was. I told her it was 9:30 and she says they have to go back to the room. I aksed why and she explains about a curfew they had on the RC. I guess on the last one, all kids, 17 and under, had to be in thier staterooms at 10:00pm. She even said that they would patrol the ship looking for curfew breakers.
After the second dinner in Tritons, we got to talking about how they liked the cruise. Both said that DCL was WAY WAY better than RC. The reasons are below.
First:
RC had no activities for kids. DCL had the teen club (where we lost them to for about 6 hours)
RC had a curfew for kids, DCL did not.
RC did not have a sail away party or pirate party, DCL had fun in mind when planning ship activities.
RC had one dinning room for the "free" dinning. They did have others, but you had to pay to eat there. DCL, all food was free.
RC did not have free sodas, DCL did.
RC shows were boring and not very entertaining. DCL shows were top notch.
RC had allot of areas kids could not go (casionos, bars, adult only areas). DCL was divided up into age appropriate areas.
RC had zero charcter interaction, it was more of a singles cruise than a family cruise. DCL had Mickey Mouse.
RC did not have room service. DCL had mickey bars sent to your room....nuff said.
The only down side to DCL for my kids was Nassau. They were scared half to death walking around, and this was during Jukanoo so there were not that many people out and about. We spent about 2 hours onshore then went back to the ship. We hit the Cove pool and they hit Aloft.
So, in my kids view, DCL wins out hands down. They are now spoiled and do not want to cruise another line. They are anxiously waiting for the dream to set sail so we can go again.
All in all, after this experience, DCL is definetly worth the extra cost and we will not sail another cruise line.