Please help - first time RC cruisers and loyal to Disney

Hi everyone,

Thanks in advance for your responses and really looking forward to learning. Anyway we have been loyal to Disney Cruiseline and did Carnival once (will not do it again). We are getting ready to book a trip for April of 2016 and the difference here is the entire family is going (grandparents, uncles, cousins, etc.) so there will be around 25-30 of us. Most of them have never cruised before. I have so many questions and hoping our disboards friends can help us out:

1) Ship is adventure of the seas. It's older and how will it compare in quality and size to the dream?
2) Southern caribbean in April how are the seas? Most of the group is very worried about being seasick?
3) With this size group how do we coordinate dining?
4) What exactly is included and not included? I know we pay for souveniers, drinks but what food and beverage besides liquor do we need to pay for?
5) As far as dining do we really need to try and do reservations or does RC do old style seating in their dining rooms?

Anything else you could share would be very helpful! Thanks!

The only thing constructively that I can add to this question is that seas in the southern caribbean in April aren't likely to be a problem. However, if anybody is worried about being seasick, there are lots of perfectly good remedies like dramamine. My wife is prone to motion sickness and regularly takes that when we cruise. It doesn't interfere with her having a great cruise.

We went on our first RC cruise last July to Bermuda. We were on the Grandur of the Seas and it was a older ship. There was only 8 of us and we made sure our cabins were connected so we could all sit together for dinner. So that I would suggest to you. We ate at the early dining which was 6:30pm. Our server was great and he knew our likes and dislikes! We ate between the main dining room and the Windjammer cafe (included) and were very satisfied. We bought a drink package only for soda and juices. If we wanted a beer or other drink, we would just add it to our room. You get a cup and can fill it every so often, thinks it's 15 minutes. My husband and I shared one and we bought another for our son. There was plenty to do on the ship and we all enjoyed it and are looking forward to our trip in March 2016 on the new Anthem of the Seas. Enjoy your trip!

Does anyone know how the service is compared to DCL?

I don't know how the service is on DCL, but can tell you our server we had was EXCELLANT! He knew our likes and dislikes, he knew our names after the first night, he knew our drinks! He was a pleasure and couldn't ask for better service from him! We often think about him and which ship he is on and if we would ever have him again!

DougandBeth said:

Hi everyone,

Thanks in advance for your responses and really looking forward to learning. Anyway we have been loyal to Disney Cruiseline and did Carnival once (will not do it again). We are getting ready to book a trip for April of 2016 and the difference here is the entire family is going (grandparents, uncles, cousins, etc.) so there will be around 25-30 of us. Most of them have never cruised before. I have so many questions and hoping our disboards friends can help us out:

1) Ship is adventure of the seas. It's older and how will it compare in quality and size to the dream?
2) Southern caribbean in April how are the seas? Most of the group is very worried about being seasick?
3) With this size group how do we coordinate dining?
4) What exactly is included and not included? I know we pay for souveniers, drinks but what food and beverage besides liquor do we need to pay for?
5) As far as dining do we really need to try and do reservations or does RC do old style seating in their dining rooms?

Anything else you could share would be very helpful! Thanks!

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I can answer some of your questions too. We are getting ready to go on our 3rd RCCL cruise this summer. I thought service was pretty comparable to DCL. The kids clubs on RCCL are great. A lot more for adults to do on RCCL (at least that was my opinion). I would DEFINITELY recommed a travel agent with that many rooms/people. All the ressies will need to be "linked" so you can sit together at dinner (we use dreams unlimited, Tracey H). No charge for main dining room. Only upcharges for speciality resturants (think Palo's) if you choose to dine there (the costs are listed on the RCCL site). I don't know this for a fact but I think they are pretty comparable in size. And I have found that RCCL keeps their cruise ships in good shape, so quality shouldn't be a issue. Cruise Critic has a lot of great info too.

Hi, we have only done Disney cruises and will be trying our first RCI cruise this October on the Independence of the Seas. While I am a little nervous, I am sure we will have a great time.

We also have a cruise on the Adventure in April of 2016, April 2nd - 9th and you should get on the roll call at cruise critic...a lot of information there. I believe water, coffee (regular), tea, and lemonade is included in the fare. On this cruise we will be traveling with two other couples and will most likely get a drink package. You are allowed to bring on two bottles of wine per stateroom so we will most likely order orange juice from room service (not fresh squeezed) or get it from the windjammer and make mimosas with out own champagne. We are scheduled for late dining because that is what one of our party prefers. Because we had never booked RCI we used a TA (thing large automotive company) for both cruises, and I know on the October cruise we will be getting On board credit and a bottle of wine as a perk. Hope to see you on the Roll Call and Happy Cruising!!!

We are just back from a cruise aboard the Liberty of the Seas. As you know, certain drinks are included in the price of your cruise but soda and alcohol are not. As far as food, in addition to the meals in the main dining room and in the Windjammer buffet, our cruise had a sandwich/coffee shop on the promenade. The sandwiches, pastry (cheesecake on a stick was delicious!) and regular coffee were free. Specialty coffees were an upcharge. There was also a pizza place on the promenade that had free pizza and calzones and a few desserts. There were two specialty restaurants on our ship. One was Chops, a steakhouse, and the other was Portofino's. Chops was $30 per person and Portofino was $20 per person. We also had a Johnny Rockets ($5 per person), Ben & Jerry's (same price as B&J's on land) and a cupcake shop that charged for the cupcakes.

We requested the early seating for dinner and were given it. We also requested a four seat table for the four of us and they granted that request as well. We had a great table right by the windows with a great view. Our server was fantastic. He knew our names after the first night. He also made sure that my youngest had a lemonade waiting for her every night without asking and he always made sure my husband got a double serving of whatever meat he ordered (steak, lobster tail, chicken, whatever) because my husband ordered that way on the first night. We had no complaints about the service.

DougandBeth said:

We are getting ready to book a trip for April of 2016 and the difference here is the entire family is going (grandparents, uncles, cousins, etc.) so there will be around 25-30 of us. Most of them have never cruised before. I have so many questions and hoping our disboards friends can help us out:

1) Ship is adventure of the seas. It's older and how will it compare in quality and size to the dream?
2) Southern caribbean in April how are the seas? Most of the group is very worried about being seasick?
3) With this size group how do we coordinate dining?
4) What exactly is included and not included? I know we pay for souveniers, drinks but what food and beverage besides liquor do we need to pay for?
5) As far as dining do we really need to try and do reservations or does RC do old style seating in their dining rooms?

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1. Adventure: 1027 feet long, can carry 3835 passengers. Dream: 1115 feet, can carry 4000 guests. Pretty close, it seems! http://www.royalcaribbean.com/findacruise/ships/class/ship/home.do?shipCode=AD has info about Adventure. Lots to do!

2. It's nearly impossible to tell who will be seasick and who won't be. There are lots of remedies, though. Western drugs, bands you can put around your wrists that work with acupressure, ginger-based lozenges and candies...even just sliced green apples dipped in salt can help.

3. Have your rooms linked.

4. Main dining room food. Every place that's not listed as a specialty dining room. Plain brewed coffee. Simple tea (Liptons) and iced tea. Juices from concentrate in the machines in Windjammer and ordered at the dining rooms. Lemonade. "Tap" water.

Charges: specialty dining, drinks from the espresso stand onboard, alcohol, bottled water, sparkling water, Ben&Jerry's ice cream from the shop onboard, soda. There will be "upgrade" offers on the menus, but I just ignore those.

5. They still do old-style seating. They also do "my time" dining. That means you CAN make reservations before your cruise for each night, or you CAN make *some* reservations ahead of time, you CAN go to the dining room the first day onboard after embarkation and arrange for all or some nights, OR you can just show up and wait in line to be seated when you want to. Lots of options! You'll be assigned a dining room; on Royal that means a level of the main dining room. Go there.

weluvdisney5 said:

Does anyone know how the service is compared to DCL?

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Vision and Freedom of the Seas, the service has been *better* than on Disney Dream for us. And we've sailed concierge twice on Dream (and one inside cabin and one big-porthole cabin as well), but just normal rooms on Royal.

weluvdisney5 said:

Does anyone know how the service is compared to DCL?

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That is very subjective. We've had great service on RCCL and poor service on RCCL. Same goes with DCL. It just depends on the individual who is working with you. I've sailed Carnival, RCCL & DCL. Adventure is 10 years older than the Dream, so she will not have all the same bells and whistles. I've sailed Adventure and she is a great ship. We had 20 sailing with us and they set us up at 2 10-tops in a corner of the dining room.

With a group that size, hopefully you have a TA. The TA should be able to get you set up with tables next to each other at the same seating. If you don't have a TA, contact the cruise line and get started on this process.