DCL vs Royal Caribbean, Opinion after traveling on both

[Old Snipe]

We just returned from a 7 day cruise on the Royal Caribbean Freedom of the Seas. Last January, we did a 7 day cruise on the Fantasy. That gave us a good feel for both lines and I hope this will help someone who is trying to decide which line to sail on.

One of the most noticeable things was that RC doesn't have the same staff to passenger ratio that DCL does. That resulted in a noticeable lack of service in some areas, including keeping the tables clean in the buffet dining area and even vacuuming the dining room floors. Under our table, the crumbs kept piling up and a coffee stir stick was there for five days before someone picked it up.

Some areas were not kept clean, including the public restrooms. Walls in the dining room were poorly wiped down, leaving huge ugly streaks. The hallways in the stateroom areas were constantly clogged with the cleaning gear for the housekeeping staff. Carts and vacuum cleaners were left all over the place.

The staff for the most part was friendly, but quite a few were not. In the Windjammer buffet, one server refused to refill the empty cream cheese container when I asked him to, saying it was not his job.

Every port we stopped in on the Fantasy had the crew scrubbing and cleaning the ship, not once did the Freedom have any outside cleaning done, resulting in dirty windows on our balcony.

As to the RC quality of the food, it was all good, except for the soups. Good soup is not hard to make and the RC widely missed the mark on every soup, making them inedible.

The entertainment on RC was excellent, as good as anything we saw on the Fantasy. The RC cruise director was tremendous and made the activities lots of fun. The pools and hot tubs were all good and the families with kids seemed to have a great time swimming and using the climbing wall.

I don't want to make anyone think the RC ship was a ship of horrors, it was not, but it had some rough edges that could easily be corrected with a bit of elbow grease. The staff could definitely take some lessons from DCL on how to put on a happy face and enjoy interfacing with the passengers.

Overall, I'd give our time on the RC Freedom a B+. Would I cruise with them again? Yes for the right price. But I prefer DCL, definitely a bit more expensive cruise, but most everything is included, not like having to pay for many things on RC, even soda.

Putting my money where my mouth is, we're booked for another cruise January 2016 on...

The Disney Fantasy. Again, just my opinion, but I hope this helps gives an insight into both lines.

 

[tinkerone]

thank you for the review, we will be going on our first rcl next year.
when you say' most everything is included, not like having to pay for many things on rcl' what were you referring to? I keep reading that but when I investigated all I saw was the pop that had to be paid for. what else is there? I want to make sure I know what i'm getting into.

 

[perditax]

Interesting think I've noticed is that Oasis, for example, is starting to meet or exceed Disney Fantasy prices. For example, on Dec 26 right now a junior suite (which isn't really a suite) on Oasis is $10k. For the same date / cruise length, that same money gets you a full 1bdrm concierge suite on Fantasy. Things are changing a lot across the mass market lines right now, folks should continue to do the math and not assume.

 

[CampbellzSoup]

You pay for soda on DISNEY again it's in your cost...

Also outside of minor cleanliness issues it seemed like a good time

 

[mevelandry]

Did they have a card where you could write it down?

 

[tinkerone]

Interesting think I've noticed is that Oasis, for example, is starting to meet or exceed Disney Fantasy prices. For example, on Dec 26 right now a junior suite (which isn't really a suite) on Oasis is $10k. For the same date / cruise length, that same money gets you a full 1bdrm concierge suite on Fantasy. Things are changing a lot across the mass market lines right now, folks should continue to do the math and not assume.

where are you getting your numbers? i just checked because i thought that was an incredible deal and what I'm seeing is a cat t, which is the only cat available in concierge, for 2 is over $21,000. a plain veranda cabin is between $7500 and $8500. didn't check the oasis rates though.
i also just checked the sailing this year for november 7th and the difference is $2000 for a ocean view veranda, in favour of the oasis. you can buy a lot of pop for $2000. so far all i have seen you have to pay for extra is the drink package. i booked a sailing on oasis for 2016 and the difference there is also over $2000 compared to the fantasy. the big difference there is its a 8 night sailing for the oasis and only a 7 night for the fantasy. another advantage for us is we can book oasis in canadian funds which we can't for the fantasy. the rate today is about $1.25 canadian for 1 us dollar. thats big.
i love the fantasy and have sailed on her plenty however our sailing on the oasis may be a game changer for us. i'll have to wait and see.

ETA--just checked the royal site and you are right, they are pretty much the same in price, however the cost is $20K. probably just a slip of the fingers when you typed $10k? sorry i questioned it. i to wonder what the oasis is thinking. that is not a bargain. wonder if this will be a sign of the future.

 

[perditax]

Sorry, I go by cruisefish which gives prices per person.

 

[tinkerone]

Sorry, I go by cruisefish which gives prices per person.

well thanks for the heads up. i will for sure be comparing more closely and not just assume the price is better on the oasis. even thought the ones i have looked at are better you have made a great point and it opened my eyes.

 

[DISNEYFAN3260]

thank you for the review, we will be going on our first rcl next year.
when you say' most everything is included, not like having to pay for many things on rcl' what were you referring to? I keep reading that but when I investigated all I saw was the pop that had to be paid for. what else is there? I want to make sure I know what i'm getting into.

I'm curious to know as well. I've seen lots of good information on the boards lately that is making me wonder how much I could really save on RCL v DCL. I can't imagine sailing on another line besides DCL at this point, but I'd be crazy to not consider it if the overall savings are tremendous.

 

[sarbah77]

I'm curious to know as well. I've seen lots of good information on the boards lately that is making me wonder how much I could really save on RCL v DCL. I can't imagine sailing on another line besides DCL at this point, but I'd be crazy to not consider it if the overall savings are tremendous.

I think it depends on when you travel. My sister-in-law asked me to look up pricing for a seven night Disney cruise and a seven night RCI cruise so that we could pick a family trip. When I looked, Disney was significantly higher - not twice! - but a lot more. $8900 for a family of four for an Eastern Caribbean cruise v. RCI's $5400 and this was Fantasy v. Freedom of the Seas, two similarly sized ships. That said, the pricing for January cruises tends to be a lot closer, which is why we'll do either, depending on who we're with or what we want to see (in this case, we wanted to see Star Wars at Sea, so it was worth the extra couple hundred bucks AND we got an aft balcony).

 

[tinkerone]

I'm curious to know as well. I've seen lots of good information on the boards lately that is making me wonder how much I could really save on RCL v DCL. I can't imagine sailing on another line besides DCL at this point, but I'd be crazy to not consider it if the overall savings are tremendous.

this was me to. not sail dcl?? ppfftt, doubtful. BUT once the oasis was announced sailing out of p.c. i rethought my strategy. the only thing i have found so far is you have to pay for your drink package if you want one. its $6.50 a day so on a 7 day cruise that is $91. i have yet to find anything else you have to pay for that you would not have to pay for on dcl. i keep hearing nickel and dimming so i'm waiting but nothing has come up.
my suggestion is to take a cruise you are thinking of and price it on both ships to get an idea of costs.

 

[DISNEYFAN3260]

this was me to. not sail dcl?? ppfftt, doubtful. BUT once the oasis was announced sailing out of p.c. i rethought my strategy. the only thing i have found so far is you have to pay for your drink package if you want one. its $6.50 a day so on a 7 day cruise that is $91. i have yet to find anything else you have to pay for that you would not have to pay for on dcl. i keep hearing nickel and dimming so i'm waiting but nothing has come up.
my suggestion is to take a cruise you are thinking of and price it on both ships to get an idea of costs.

I think I will start looking for next year, just to have information at least. From some of the savings people are talking about, it would take a LOT of nickels and dimes for RCL prices to catch up to DCL! But I still fear I would miss DCL too much....

 

[tinkerone]

I think I will start looking for next year, just to have information at least. From some of the savings people are talking about, it would take a LOT of nickels and dimes for RCL prices to catch up to DCL! But I still fear I would miss DCL too much....

me to but we will never know till we try. i'm booked for nov 2016, i'll know then.

 

[emilymad]

Recently RCL prices have been on the rise. Check out the cruise critic forum for lots of opinions on that. In January we sailed on the Fantasy for the first time since it was actual a little less than the Oasis was for the same dates. We are looking for next year and DCL is much higher since they added the Star Wars sailings. It will probably be back to RCL for us since it is a least $1,000 less. I think they are both great cruise lines and you really just have to do the math for each trip and not always assume one will be less than the other.

 

[perditax]

well thanks for the heads up. i will for sure be comparing more closely and not just assume the price is better on the oasis. even thought the ones i have looked at are better you have made a great point and it opened my eyes.

I know the situation I quoted (that post-Christmas sailing) would be TYPICALLY the exception, but I was still kind of shocked to see it, because the 1bdrm concierge on Fantasy so clearly exceeded the same amount of cruise dollars on Oasis. Even still I come up with a smaller-than-expected price differential when I'm poking around on a direct apples to apples (same square footage) comparison, at least on the 'new' RCCL ships. It usually annoys some people when I point this out, and obviously it's everyone's money to spend however they want. And my usual disclaimer: I've never cruised on either line. I do have a cruise booked on DCL, but it was during a very cheap time of year so I have no need to convince myself I got a good deal. And if I was going for money savings, I'd probably go NCL (even after all their recent shenanigans). The fact of the matter is, I've read too many reports like the OP's to be interested in RCCL. And yes I know there's a weird cruise thing where some people would like you to disregard all negative reviews, but that's not how I operate.

(I know I'm going to come back in a few hours to a zillion 'your post was quoted' alerts. Just giving my opinion.)

 

[Flossbolna]

Even still I come up with a smaller-than-expected price differential when I'm poking around on a direct apples to apples (same square footage) comparison, at least on the 'new' RCCL ships.

I think that one of the advantages of RCCL might be that it gives you different options. Staterooms might be smaller, but if they are also considereable cheaper, you might be able to book two smaller staterooms for not much more than one stateroom on a DCL ship. I think for some families that might be an advantage. And some couples might think that while the space in a DCL cabin is nice, they rather have a more economical cruise in a smaller RCCL cabin. I think since RCCL offers some types of apples that DCL just does not have, you can't have a clear apple to apple comparison anyway.

(ETA: I really am just talking in theories here as I have never been on a RCCL ship and have only looked into their offerings and prices out of curiosity and not with any intent of possibly booking a cruise with them, the line I would like to try out would be Princess)

 

[Frozen2014]

Interesting think I've noticed is that Oasis, for example, is starting to meet or exceed Disney Fantasy prices. For example, on Dec 26 right now a junior suite (which isn't really a suite) on Oasis is $10k. For the same date / cruise length, that same money gets you a full 1bdrm concierge suite on Fantasy. Things are changing a lot across the mass market lines right now, folks should continue to do the math and not assume.

Agree that junior suite prices on the Oasis class ships are crazy high, but compare apples to apples of standard interior or outside on Fantasy vs Oasis or Alure and the difference can be $2000 to $3000 difference. I do see other comments above saying otherwise so perhaps it depends when you are looking to travel. The difference is what I saw when we booked back in December 2014 for April 2016.

P.S. - this is the actual difference I saw since I'm in Canada so need to convert the U.S. price to CAD.


To OP, thanks for your comments. Did you travel with kids? If so, how did you find the activities compared (both kids club and things that the ship offered such as mini golf, characters, etc)

We did travel on Magic and it was amazing. We have Allure booked for next spring with our kids. Looks like it'll be amazing too.

 

[LemonNeko]

I've been on DCL - Magic and have an upcoming trip booked on RCL. I don't expect it to be as good as Disney because I paid less than half the cost as the same itinerary with almost identical dates. But definitely agree you need to make comparisons as at different times of year the prices are closer together. I'm okay with a smaller room if that means I can still afford to go. The two big savers for me were RCL bills in CAN and I could prepay my gratuities and buy an OBC at only 10% exchange rate. They also have seniors rates on some sailings which for us was a savings of an additional $300.

 

[eskimoinparadise]

Interesting think I've noticed is that Oasis, for example, is starting to meet or exceed Disney Fantasy prices. For example, on Dec 26 right now a junior suite (which isn't really a suite) on Oasis is $10k. For the same date / cruise length, that same money gets you a full 1bdrm concierge suite on Fantasy. Things are changing a lot across the mass market lines right now, folks should continue to do the math and not assume.

You do realize that you chose the most expensive cruise on any cruise line - New Years Eve cruises on any line should never be used to make price comparisons.

 

[ldo]

We have also sailed DCL 4X and RCCL 5X. We strongly prefer DCL, for big production show entertainment, free movie theater with 1st run movies, better food in MDR, better buffet, and that Disney feeling. But, RCCL is a good product. I have also had inefficient and "sorry about that" staff on RCCL, but usually find "we'll try our best to fix it" staff on DCL. When we say we are going on DCL, the kids (now young teens) are thrilled, when we say RCCL, they are "OK, but where does the ship go?" Also, the teen 12+ areas are not staff during the day, so there is no hang out place like on DCL. I also thought that they did not do a good job with the outdoor Movie screen--played sports/poker most days. We like a set schedule with some moves during the day/evening. The 2 movies show on a 5 day cruise were during dinner 1 night and at 10pm another night. But, there was a 3D movie in the production theater on a sea day.
I find there is a big difference in pricing for holidays, such as Christmas/Easter and in August in the Carib, when most other cruises are much less $$. Such as next Easter:
$3k for 8 day Carib with 4 port stops on RCCL bigger ship (not the newer ones) for family of 4 in OV cabin. The cabin will be smaller and offer no privacy (bunk beds over twin beds) and no split bath.
$3500 Wonder 5 days OV to CC and Cozumel. Better cabin layout, better bathroom.
$8K for Fantasy--balcony (all that is available), but when I priced it a while back, an OV for 4 was about $6K. That is a Starwars cruise, so I would add a premium to that if I had any big fans, and might have splurged for $6K (double the price of RCCL).
If we REALLY wanted DCL, would have considered the 5 day Wonder, but the kids voted that 4 port days trumped DCL, so it's RCCL for us, with somewhat lower expectations. We will really miss the movie theater and the fun dining experience. The "extras" for us will be at least 2-3 nights of specialty dining--adds $100 per night for a family of 4 and soda, if we wanted. We don't really have many other extras on board--maybe a few frozen drinks, souvenirs, Johnny Rockets for 1 lunch or dinner for the kids.
For those considering RCCL, I give it a solid B, with lack of Movie theater C, unstaffed teen areas during the day C, and meh food some nights in MDR B-, and lower quality buffet B-, outdoor screen B-, smaller room C, balanced against the A+ price, climbing wall A, skating rink/ice show A, flowrider A, burgers for lunch B (instead of buffet), Johnny Rockets A, some good entertainment shows A, more ports/more days A. If you have active kids/teens who would use a lot of the unique sports options and you were on a Voyager, Freedom or + ship, then I would say it's definitely a B+.