Deciding Between DCL or other Cruise Lines?

[Edd]

I have stated many times DCL is a great cruise for the small kids and the family. When the kids are big enough to break away from the family there are so many more things to do on the bigger ships.

My basis for preferring the bigger ships is because of the activities available being so much more than the DCL. I really don't care about customer service, bigger rooms, friendlier employees, two bathrooms or pagers. Just give me the ship and the activities I can participate in.

 

[lovethedream]

I have stated many times DCL is a great cruise for the small kids and the family. When the kids are big enough to break away from the family there are so many more things to do on the bigger ships.

My basis for preferring the bigger ships is because of the activities available being so much more than the DCL. I really don't care about customer service, bigger rooms, friendlier employees, two bathrooms or pagers. Just give me the ship and the activities I can participate in.

And there are those of us out there on the other side of the fence. I love the customer service on DCL, the bigger rooms, friendlier employees, two bathrooms and the pagers came in very handy for us. I personally had a better time and more fun on DCL than I had on RCCL. I enjoyed the food more, the dining rooms more. I could go on.

I also see many posts from adults that sail without kids that have a great time on DCL and have gone multiple times, same for families with older kids.

 

[dursin]

And there are those of us out there on the other side of the fence. I love the customer service on DCL, the bigger rooms, friendlier employees, two bathrooms and the pagers came in very handy for us. I personally had a better time and more fun on DCL than I had on RCCL. I enjoyed the food more, the dining rooms more. I could go on.

I also see many posts from adults that sail without kids that have a great time on DCL and have gone multiple times, same for families with older kids.

My kids are 9, 13 and 17 and they still prefer DCL. Guess climbing a rock wall and waiting in a long line for a turn at 'fake surfing' really doesn't do all that much for them.

 

[NancyIL]

My basis for preferring the bigger ships is because of the activities available being so much more than the DCL. I really don't care about customer service, bigger rooms, friendlier employees, two bathrooms or pagers. Just give me the ship and the activities I can participate in.

I do care about customer service and friendly employees. A larger cabin is always preferable to a smaller one, although my Feb. Dream cruise will be in a cat. 11 inside cabin @ 169 sq. ft., and with a bed that doesn't split into 2 twins.

And there are those of us out there on the other side of the fence. I love the customer service on DCL, the bigger rooms, friendlier employees, two bathrooms and the pagers came in very handy for us. I personally had a better time and more fun on DCL than I had on RCCL. I enjoyed the food more, the dining rooms more. I could go on.

I hope you won't regret your decision to do another cruise on Freedom of the Seas!

 

[lovethedream]

I do care about customer service and friendly employees. A larger cabin is always preferable to a smaller one, although my Feb. Dream cruise will be in a cat. 11 inside cabin @ 169 sq. ft., and with a bed that doesn't split into 2 twins.

I hope you won't regret your decision to do another cruise on Freedom of the Seas!

Thanks. Since we are sailing with friends, Freedom was the compromise. At one time I swore never to step foot on her again, but like you and others have said, any cruise is better than no cruise. So I will set my expectations accordingly and give her another try. We have other friends that are DCL fans and we are working with them on getting something set up for the Dream.

 

[Mickeyhugger]

And there are those of us out there on the other side of the fence. I love the customer service on DCL, the bigger rooms, friendlier employees, two bathrooms and the pagers came in very handy for us. I personally had a better time and more fun on DCL than I had on RCCL. I enjoyed the food more, the dining rooms more. I could go on.

I also see many posts from adults that sail without kids that have a great time on DCL and have gone multiple times, same for families with older kids.

I am right there with you on this one

Rob

 

[justmestace]

There's a small group of us here.....Edd, dursin, Nancy, me & a few others....and we really just need to learn to "agree to disagree". For our own sanity and for everyone else who is forced to read our words.

 

[woody73]

. . . All in all, we couldn’t have been happier with our cruise on the Disney Magic. Hope this helps anyone trying to decide.

To the OP: I enjoyed reading your comparison, thanks.

We have sailed on Disney, Holland America, Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, Princess and Norwegian. Each cruise line has its strengths. We have yet to try a cruise line that we would not return to.

For us, Disney excels in the areas of service and entertainment. But we also have enjoyed sailing on other cruise lines, often at less than half the cost of Disney.

Woody

 

[Mickeyhugger]

I have stated many times DCL is a great cruise for the small kids and the family. When the kids are big enough to break away from the family there are so many more things to do on the bigger ships.

My basis for preferring the bigger ships is because of the activities available being so much more than the DCL. I really don't care about customer service, bigger rooms, friendlier employees, two bathrooms or pagers. Just give me the ship and the activities I can participate in.

These two alone have stopped us from cruising on one cruise line in particular. Along with their poor food quality.

Rob

 

[justmestace]

It just sort of dawned on me that as long as I'm on a cruise to somewhere....anywhere...... I'll eat slop. I'll watch (or not watch) crummy shows. I'll ignore or try to "happy up" cranky CM's. I can handle just about anything, as long as I'm not making the beds, cooking the meals, cleaning the toilets......
IF the price is right.

 

[harry0]

We (my wife, grandson and myself) just got off the Wonder Sunday. We had a fabulous time and would book another Disney cruise with grandchildren from the age (5-10). Logan is 6 and loved it. Most of our fun was watching him have a great time.The cruise is perfect for this age group. We have sailed many other cruise lines but mostly Royal. Here are some observations keep in mind we never used childrens programs on other lines. This is our opinion.

Cabins-Verandas on Disney seemed much larger and the 2 sinks were great.

Food-I thought Royal edged out Disney-much more options. And food in MDR very good on Royal.

Service-We always had great service on Royal but slight edge to Disney.

Entertainment- Dreams and Toy Story 3 The Musical were the only shows I actually sat through and enjoyed after 30 plus cruises. The Character appearences were great. New movies being played in the theatres-And great movies on the tube too.

Kids Programs-though I never expeienced other cruise lines programs I must say Disney clubs are amazing-my grandson went back and forth from the club to the lab for an average of 3 hours a day-which made for a great alone time with my wife.

Cost -Disney is higher but worth it (if traveling with kids) for the better cabin and overall entertainment.

We are looking foward to cruising on Disney again with our grandkids. We will stick with Royal when cruising with friends.

 

[lovethedream]

It just sort of dawned on me that as long as I'm on a cruise to somewhere....anywhere...... I'll eat slop. I'll watch (or not watch) crummy shows. I'll ignore or try to "happy up" cranky CM's. I can handle just about anything, as long as I'm not making the beds, cooking the meals, cleaning the toilets......
IF the price is right.

Your post reminded me. There used to be a commercial for a cruise line, I can't remember which one, where they were struggling on land with every day items and talking about how they used to be treated like royality and where somebody took care of all of those things for them. Of course, it was while they were on the ship that they were treated like royalty. It was a fun commercial to watch.

 

[lovethedream]

We (my wife, grandson and myself) just got off the Wonder Sunday. We had a fabulous time and would book another Disney cruise with grandchildren from the age (5-10). Logan is 6 and loved it. Most of our fun was watching him have a great time.The cruise is perfect for this age group. We have sailed many other cruise lines but mostly Royal. Here are some observations keep in mind we never used childrens programs on other lines. This is our opinion.

Cabins-Verandas on Disney seemed much larger and the 2 sinks were great.

Food-I thought Royal edged out Disney-much more options. And food in MDR very good on Royal.

Service-We always had great service on Royal but slight edge to Disney.

Entertainment- Dreams and Toy Story 3 The Musical were the only shows I actually sat through and enjoyed after 30 plus cruises. The Character appearences were great. New movies being played in the theatres-And great movies on the tube too.

Kids Programs-though I never expeienced other cruise lines programs I must say Disney clubs are amazing-my grandson went back and forth from the club to the lab for an average of 3 hours a day-which made for a great alone time with my wife.

Cost -Disney is higher but worth it (if traveling with kids) for the better cabin and overall entertainment.

We are looking foward to cruising on Disney again with our grandkids. We will stick with Royal when cruising with friends.

Thanks for your post. If you do not mind me asking, what other cruise lines have you been on?

 

[cruisinmama06]

WOW a whole lot of misinformation going on. Let's try to clear this up.

RCI HAS DECT PHONES AND PAGERS! It depends what class of ship you are sitting on. The newer ships have dect phones. They call you when they need you (heavens knows with my youngest I have been called). With the older ships they PAGE you. And YES, you can request a pager/phone, no matter the age group -- I did on Grandeur in September although my daughter was in the older group, I wanted her to have a way to reach me.

After our 2 Disney cruises, my kids still prefer to go on Royal Caribbean ships. They don't need to drink "free 24 hour soda" -- heaven forbid

They NEED to drink free milk, lemonade, fruit punch and juice which is what they do when we are on RCI ships.

There is no more "free entertainment" on Castaway Cay than on CocoCay and Labadee. Both buffets are free. All kids club move over to the islands -- no charge. And I remember paying the same for my wave runner excursions -- so I am a bit confused about that comment. RCI does have a zipline, water slides and a wooden roller coaster that has a charge. We've chosen not to do -- it's all about choice.

Both cruise lines charge for their nurseries -- Flounders and Royal Tots/Babies.

Both cruise lines charge for their high end specialty restaurants.

The reason Wonder and Magic doesn't charge for the other things like Johnny Rockets and Ben & Jerry's is because they don't have one. The ships were built back in 1999. They don't have those ammenities. They don't have the options. The RCI and CCL ships have free ice cream available too. But they have the option of paid ice cream. The RCI ships and CCL ships have specialty coffee shops -- which Disney does not have. Its an option. Of course they have free coffees and lates onboard.

I am glad you enjoyed your cruise on DCL. And I like to see fair and balanced reviews. But inaccurate reviews are not fair to others who are trying to make decisions for their upcoming cruises.

 

[NancyIL]

The RCI ships and CCL ships have specialty coffee shops -- which Disney does not have. Its an option. Of course they have free coffees and lates onboard.

I am glad you enjoyed your cruise on DCL. And I like to see fair and balanced reviews. But inaccurate reviews are not fair to others who are trying to make decisions for their upcoming cruises.

Thanks for your comments. Although I am not a coffee drinker, I am pretty sure you can pay for specialty coffees on DCL in the Cove Cafe.

 

[cruisinmama06]

Thanks for your comments. Although I am not a coffee drinker, I am pretty sure you can pay for specialty coffees on DCL in the Cove Cafe.

Geesh and I thought everything was "free" on Disney.

Thanks Nancy. I must have missed the Cove Cafe.

 

[woody73]

Our favorite ship for free ice cream is the Celebrity Infinity.

They have eight flavors of hand made ice cream/gelato (on the galley tour, we watched them make it). All flavors changed daily, except vanilla and chocolate.

They also had free toppings of chocolate, caramel, M&Ms and nuts.

Woody

 

[NancyIL]

Our favorite ship for free ice cream is the Celebrity Infinity.

They have eight flavors of hand made ice cream/gelato (on the galley tour, we watched them make it). All flavors changed daily, except vanilla and chocolate.

They also had free toppings of chocolate, caramel, M&Ms and nuts.

Woody

The M&Ms are great!

 

[lovethedream]

WOW a whole lot of misinformation going on. Let's try to clear this up.

After our 2 Disney cruises, my kids still prefer to go on Royal Caribbean ships.

They don't need to drink "free 24 hour soda" -- heaven forbid

They NEED to drink free milk, lemonade, fruit punch and juice which is what they do when we are on RCI ships.

With all due respect, and I hope I am not taking this out of context as I did remove other parts of your post, but I fail to see how this is misinformation?

Some kids like DCL over RCCL, some like RCCL over DCL. Families need to cruise on the ship that they feel best fits them. If that happens to be RCCL, then more power to ya!

I do not mind the 24 hour sodas. When we started to look at sugar content of certain drinks at our local grocery store, I was surprised to find out that some of these fruit punch and juice's can have more sugar in them than the soft drinks.

 

[dursin]

With all due respect, and I hope I am not taking this out of context as I did remove other parts of your post, but I fail to see how this is misinformation?

Some kids like DCL over RCCL, some like RCCL over DCL. Families need to cruise on the ship that they feel best fits them. If that happens to be RCCL, then more power to ya!

I do not mind the 24 hour sodas. When we started to look at sugar content of certain drinks at our local grocery store, I was surprised to find out that some of these fruit punch and juice's can have more sugar in them than the soft drinks.

Other than a slight bit of confusion on the pagers, I don't see any misinformation in this thread either...well, except for the message that claims it's trying to clear up misinformation.