Tips for rci

[mkulp98]

My family of 4 ds(9), dd(10) only cruised once with Disney this past February and loved it. We would love to go again but because of costs we are looking at a royal carribean cruise for February 2014. I'm so lost. Dis boards was so helpful in planning our cruise. Any advise on what Rci ships, cruises that are the best??
Can anyone give me first hand comparisons to cruise lines?? I know it won't be disney but wanting to have a heads up??? Thanks

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

I sailed on the Independence of the seas, it's class has three ships.


http://rciindependenceoftheseasaugust2011.blogspot.co.uk/

I found the ship nice, good pools, good layout good shopping mall.


Food hit snd miss they can't do desserts well, entertainment was also hit and miss not co rod instead like dais day.

Staterooms nice, poor service in places, poor cruise director.

Concierge was better than magic and wonder but equal to fantasy.

They nickel and dime you, soda package for family, upgrade for coffee regular stuff is awful, upgrade for steak, upgrade cost for org singe juice outside breakfast. Smoothie cost.

Pool entertainment of fat man belly flop into pool etc dragged the feel of the cruise down.

But it has good ice shows and the waver runner as well.
Your more of a wallet to them not a cruiser.

 

[Lauriejl2]

I'd look at cruise critic and read all you can on the forums there for RCCL you will find it helpful

 

[NancyIL]

Royal Caribbean forum at Cruise Critic: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=83

 

[Bonniec]

We took a royal carribean when Disney cancelled our cruise. I can't compare it because it was our first cruise. We had a great time. There were pros and cons Pros: 1. My 7 year old loved the kids club. I thought it looked lame, especially compared to what I saw when researching our disney trip. But he absolutely loved it. This fact alone now has us looking at future rccl cruises (we put a deposit down) because dcl is so much more. Had disney not canceled me I likely would have never sailed anyone else. We were supposed to get a free 5 night cruise but my cat is not available so I'm bumped down to a 3 night. So I am not very disney positive right now. It better be freaking phenomenal in April or I'm sticking with rccl. 2. The MDR was the best restaurant I've ever eaten at. The upgraded steak was lovely as well. 3. The employees were all superb enough for us to tip well over the standard. I was surprised by this. 4. The ship (enchantment of the seas) was surprisingly beautiful. I guess I expected it to be a dump for half the cost of Disney. 5. The entertainment crew was very funny Cons: 1. No shampoo or conditioner in stateroom which cost me $15 for a small bottle oh crappy head shoulders (all they had). That ticked me off lol 2. Not enough family activities. Pool was great. Kids club was not always open and in the down time I found a lack of family activities verses adult-club type stuff. 3. The buffet wasn't very good and room service was gross. I'll stick with the mdr next time.

 

[Bonniec]

Sorry, my iPhone lumped that into one long reply. Not sure why

 

[sweetpee_1993]

Going on Allure of the Seas for Thanksgiving week. This will be my first non-Disney cruise. I'll be honest, it's been hard for any of my family to really get excited. I know its the biggest cruise ship, etc. etc. I think we're thrown because we know it won't be Disney. Kinda dumb, I know. If it weren't for the inlaws I don't think we'd be going. They don't want to sail Disney. Already not enjoying the online per planning. Haven't been able to get the upcharge dining reservations to work. We've had to call for that. Already feel the nickel & diming having already paid an additional $75 for my teens to have sodas. When you book upcharge dining you have to prepay that too so there's another $400 I've already been out. And, if we don't cancel the dining before we sail the refunds go to the shipboard account. If you don't spend the funds during your cruise they become an onboard credit for the next cruise. Believe me, I'm not impressed.

 

[dpswift]

DH and I traveled on the Enchantment of the Seas and then took our kids on the Independence of the Seas. The Independence (Freedom class) was much more family friendly. Bigger kids clubs, more family activities.

The MDR service on both cruises was far better than the MDR service on Disney.

 

[JoyB-UK]

I have been on 3 royal caribbean ships, all different sizes. We have found that the bigger it is the better it is. We sailed disney first so was disappointed when we went on Vision (although so much cheaper we had a grand suite). Next up was Adventure where we saw a vast improvement in food quality, then finally we we went on Independence which was great all around. I always choose a cruise based on the itinerary above all else and whilst I love Disney it is rather limited in destinations visited. Try other cruise lines because if it is not as good it will give you a greater appreciation of DCL and their inflated prices but you never know you might really like the alternative.
I would say that RCI (freedom/oasis class) are probably a better option for teenagers than DCL.

 

[NancyIL]

Going on Allure of the Seas for Thanksgiving week. This will be my first non-Disney cruise. I'll be honest, it's been hard for any of my family to really get excited. I know its the biggest cruise ship, etc. etc. I think we're thrown because we know it won't be Disney. Kinda dumb, I know. If it weren't for the inlaws I don't think we'd be going. They don't want to sail Disney. Already not enjoying the online per planning. Haven't been able to get the upcharge dining reservations to work. We've had to call for that. Already feel the nickel & diming having already paid an additional $75 for my teens to have sodas. When you book upcharge dining you have to prepay that too so there's another $400 I've already been out. And, if we don't cancel the dining before we sail the refunds go to the shipboard account. If you don't spend the funds during your cruise they become an onboard credit for the next cruise. Believe me, I'm not impressed.

I rarely book the specialty restaurants on other cruise lines, but when I have - it's always been onboard. Yes, if you book excursions and dining in advance, you will have to pay for it then. However, some people like to pay for things ahead of time so they won't have as much to pay after the trip ends.

 

[MAJPLO]

Went on Oasis in May. Kids clubs not open all the time and there is an extra charge for some hours. Shows not as kid friendly but the water shows and ice shows were great for kids. Rock climbing wall and boardwalk activities for kids were very good. We spent a lot more in extras on this cruise than on our Disney cruise even though on Disney we did two excursions through the ship and RCCL we did through outside tour operators. It didn't seem like we did that many extras but somehow we still spent a lot more. Soda package for one, a few adult beverages (maybe eight the whole trip?) a couple of extra hours in the kids club, two upcharge restaurants (Johnny Rockets and Giovanni's) three photo prints, and our two third party excursions. Some souvenirs from the ports, and a couple of snacks/lunches in port. It was fun and I would go on oasis class again but I wouldn't fool myself that it would cost any less than Disney for oasis class. We could have spent less but we had saved the money so we wouldn't have to watch our pennies on the trip. We just didn't think we would actually spend that much extra! Still shocks me, actually. My kids were 6 and 4 and we were also traveling with a three year old. Everyone loved it.

 

[davidls]

My family of 4 ds(9), dd(10) only cruised once with Disney this past February and loved it. We would love to go again but because of costs we are looking at a royal carribean cruise for February 2014. I'm so lost. Dis boards was so helpful in planning our cruise. Any advise on what Rci ships, cruises that are the best??
Can anyone give me first hand comparisons to cruise lines?? I know it won't be disney but wanting to have a heads up??? Thanks

DW and I just got off the Oasis of the Seas 3 weeks ago. It was our first non-Disney cruise. We didn't have any kids with us this trip, so I can't comment on their kids clubs. We both went into the cruise feeling that it was going to be nice but, it just wasn't going to be Disney. Well, we were totally blown away. The ship is beautiful. Did not feel crowded at all. There are more people on board but the ship is so huge that you didn't notice. We felt like two kids again when we rode the carousel on Boardwalk. And, we were not the only adults riding the carousel. We had no lines to wait in at all. You had your choice of going to the main dining room each evening or try one of the specialty restaurants on board. The specialty restaurants do cost extra, but not all that much. All of the shows on board were excellent. As were our servers in the main dining room and our stateroom hostess, well she simply was the best. My advice, try RCCL once to see if you are going to like it. We are glad we did. Disney Cruise Line is our first love and always will be, but RCCL comes in a close second in our book.

 

[karmacats]

My family of 4 ds(9), dd(10) only cruised once with Disney this past February and loved it. We would love to go again but because of costs we are looking at a royal carribean cruise for February 2014. I'm so lost. Dis boards was so helpful in planning our cruise. Any advise on what Rci ships, cruises that are the best??
Can anyone give me first hand comparisons to cruise lines?? I know it won't be disney but wanting to have a heads up??? Thanks

there was a similar thread about this topic a couple of months ago. hopefully this link will work:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3182013

i'd definitely head over to cruise critic and look at the royal caribbean boards there. in a nutshell, oasis and allure of the seas are the largest royal ships and have the most options for dining, entertainment, room type, etc. if they are too big for you, the freedom class ships (freedom, liberty and independence) are close in size to disney dream and fantasy. liberty has been recently updated and would be my choice of those 3.

having just been on the disney dream last week, i can say that the stateroom was much bigger than a standard stateroom on royal (especially on oasis or allure, which have pretty small rooms), and royal doesn't have the split baths, so that's something to be aware of. we had a blast on dream and rebooked another short cruise for next summer, but i think royal will still be our go-to cruiseline - we thought the MDR food on royal was better, and though we enjoyed the disney shows, we thought they were a little cheesy for our taste (and we are huge disney fans) so liked royal's entertainment options better. as far as the private islands, we also thought castaway cay was pretty similar to royal's labadee.

 

[Bonniec]

Royal is Cococay isn't it? I never got the chance to go to CC but Cococay was lovely! Best part of the trip.: )

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

Royal is Cococay isn't it? I never got the chance to go to CC but Cococay was lovely! Best part of the trip.: )

That's a tender in port, I think only DCL at Castaway can dock at their own island.

 

[Bonniec]

I'm confused. But it was my first trip so what do I know? lol RCCL called it Cococay. What is Labadee? We did tender over to it (didn't care for that aspect at all. I about roasted waiting on the top of that thing)

 

[NancyIL]

Royal is Cococay isn't it? I never got the chance to go to CC but Cococay was lovely! Best part of the trip.: )

I'm confused. But it was my first trip so what do I know? lol RCCL called it Cococay. What is Labadee? We did tender over to it (didn't care for that aspect at all. I about roasted waiting on the top of that thing)

RCI uses CocoCay in the Bahamas and Labadee in Haiti.

 

[allidale]

We went on a Liberty of the Seas cruise last December. It's similar to Disney in that it has characters that you can meet and greet and breakfast with the characters also. My kids, who were 3 and 5 then, LOVED the kids zone, can't remember what they call it. We also enjoyed the ice show and even got to take the kids ice skating. I wasn't too impressed with the buffet but the rest of my family liked it. The main dining room was great and we had excellent service. We also took advantage of their kid dining program where the kids get their food right away in the main dining room and then someone from the kid zone comes and picks them up 30 minutes into the meal and they go play. It made dinner really relaxing. My kids still talk about that cruise all the time. I haven't been on Disney yet (sailing in 27 days) so I can't compare.