About Royal Caribbean

[NodSquad]

Can someone explain to me what makes Royal Caribbean different from others !!

 

[ZerasPride]

I love the Oasis class ships although I admit I'm a DCL girl at heart. What I don't love about DCL is the pricing! We can get a nice suite with all the perks that come with for the same price as a balcony cabin on Disney. That alone makes Royal Caribbean the winner in my book. The staff has been for the most part just as pleasant and accommodating as DCL staff have been to us and as I said the Oasis class ships with their multitude of entertainment options are just great! Everything from rock climbing to ice skating, flow riding, specialty restaurants, bionic bars and the wonderful Solarium for 16 and over. Also, I am so excited to experience the Perfect Day at Coco Cay in a few weeks. Already have my cabana on Chill Island booked. Going to spend a day much as we would on Serenity Bay - relaxing by the water, enjoying a few adult beverages and great food. Hope this helps. I'm sure others will be along to comment shortly. If you have any specific questions just ask away!

 

[NodSquad]

Nothing specific tho,
I just love fun so much that I don’t visit places without knowing there is something fun for me.
Bachelors need fun too right !!
But thanks,you just killed .. sounds like fun

 

[NodSquad]

I love the Oasis class ships although I admit I'm a DCL girl at heart. What I don't love about DCL is the pricing! We can get a nice suite with all the perks that come with for the same price as a balcony cabin on Disney. That alone makes Royal Caribbean the winner in my book. The staff has been for the most part just as pleasant and accommodating as DCL staff have been to us and as I said the Oasis class ships with their multitude of entertainment options are just great! Everything from rock climbing to ice skating, flow riding, specialty restaurants, bionic bars and the wonderful Solarium for 16 and over. Also, I am so excited to experience the Perfect Day at Coco Cay in a few weeks. Already have my cabana on Chill Island booked. Going to spend a day much as we would on Serenity Bay - relaxing by the water, enjoying a few adult beverages and great food. Hope this helps. I'm sure others will be along to comment shortly. If you have any specific questions just ask away!

Nothing specific tho,
I just love fun so much that I don’t visit places without knowing there is something fun for me.
Bachelors need fun too right !!
But thanks,you just killed .. sounds like fun

 

[Denise W]

Not sure why you joined the DIS to ask about Royal Caribbean. Why not check out Cruise Critic? They cover every cruise line.
Denise

 

[NodSquad]

Not sure why you joined the DIS to ask about Royal Caribbean. Why not check out Cruise Critic? They cover every cruise line.
Denise

Thanks

 

[piccolopat]

Not sure why you joined the DIS to ask about Royal Caribbean. Why not check out Cruise Critic? They cover every cruise line.
Denise

As someone who has never taken a cruise (yet), I would guess they are looking into what makes RCL stand out (or not) over other lines, including DCL. You wouldn't necessarily get the same perspective on a site like Cruise Critic as you would here with so many people in love with DCL.

 

[NodSquad]

As someone who has never taken a cruise (yet), I would guess they are looking into what makes RCL stand out (or not) over other lines, including DCL. You wouldn't necessarily get the same perspective on a site like Cruise Critic as you would here with so many people in love with DCL.

@denise sounded like he doesn’t want me on Royal Caribbean.i believe he doesn’t understand what I want , thanks for understanding @piccolopat .

 

[Denise W]

@denise sounded like he doesn’t want me on Royal Caribbean.i believe he doesn’t understand what I want , thanks for understanding @piccolopat .

Actually, I am female. You are welcome to read this forum, but I am not sure why you came to a Disney board and are only asking about Royal cruises. Did you pose your question on the Disney Cruise line forum as well? As I said, to get an objective opinion on any cruise, a forum like Cruise Critic would be your best starting place. I have cruised on Disney, Royal, NCL, Celebrity, and Carnival.
Denise

 

[NodSquad]

Alright ma’am

 

[mevelandry]

Not sure why you joined the DIS to ask about Royal Caribbean. Why not check out Cruise Critic? They cover every cruise line.
Denise

Why not, since there's a whole category about it?

 

[starvenger]

Can someone explain to me what makes Royal Caribbean different from others !!

The livery.

Your question itself is rather vague, to be honest. If you asked a similar question in the DCL forum the answer is probably "the Disney Experience," which as always is the most specific, the most vague, and the most correct answer one could give. All in 3 words.

Royal and other cruise lines are a bit more difficult to explain, since there's no built-in, 3 word differentiator between the other cruise lines. I'd say that in terms of niche they're targeting families and trying to specialize in megaship cruising. That is, trying to live up to the idea of being a true floating resort.

In terms of pricing for said cruisers, it's probably mid to upper-mid range. In terms of innovations They do try to innovate in terms of activities on the ship. They have ice rinks, rock walls and Broadway-style shows. They use celebrity chefs like broke Jamie Oliver. They charge an arm or a leg to eat at Johnny Rockets. They've got a purple slide.

Is there anything that would make me say that you absolutely have to cruise with Royal? No. I think you should try more than one cruise line, and determine which one suits you best. But if you have more specific questions, please post! We're more than willing to help you out.

 

[John VN]

Can someone explain to me what makes Royal Caribbean different from others !!

Here's 7 of 10 as one answer when compared to others ----

....... https://www.marineinsight.com/know-more/top-10-largest-cruise-ships-2017/

 

[Magical2017]

For us, we were looking for a mass market line since we are traveling with kids who will be 14 and 11 at the time of sailing. I would not pay for a deluxe cruise line with them for their first cruise because I feel like there would not be as much to do on the ships, and for that kind of money would rather just DH and I go. For a family trip, we chose Royal over Disney because of itinerary and price. There is no specific reason for choosing Royal over NCL, MSC, and Carnival. I have sailed Royal, Carnival and NCL in the past. I don't "count" my previous Royal sailing because I was a kid and it was 40 years ago (it was also fabulous). My Carnival and NCL sailings were also many years ago (over a decade). I just read reviews and perused boards before booking and felt like Allure would be a great ship for our family. I am open to trying other cruise lines in the future. Some of the Carnival itineraries look pretty good. I want to do a Southern Caribbean and Alaska cruise in the future. We are going on an eastern Caribbean for our January cruise.

 

[Magical2017]

As someone who has never taken a cruise (yet), I would guess they are looking into what makes RCL stand out (or not) over other lines, including DCL. You wouldn't necessarily get the same perspective on a site like Cruise Critic as you would here with so many people in love with DCL.

Also, reading Cruise Critic may make a person not want to cruise. The reviews are pretty negative. It seems like the people with problems are the ones that bother writing reviews, or at least that was how it appeared when I was reading them awhile back.

 

[Cynt]

I absolutely LOVE cruising. I book one or two or three every year. It's my "go to" vacation.

Now to answer your question. The mass market cruise lines, RCCL, Carnival, Princess, Celebrity, MSC, NCL, etc. or more alike than different. Think of it like department stores, JcPenney, Kohl's, Sears, Belks, Macy's, Dillards, Sak 5th Ave, Neimans, etc. Each dept store sells clothing, bedding, small appliances, luggage, etc. Depending on what you're looking for and when you're looking for it you may lean towards one store over the others. It's the exact same thing with cruising.
Every cruise line has that lil' something special that depending on when and what you want in a cruise one of the 10+ cruise lines will have it. I love options so cruising is always an option when I'm looking to vacation.

My fav cruise line is RCCL. My fav ship is RCCL Allure of the seas with the Anthem OTS a close 2nd. I like RCCL because it was my 1st. 20+ cruises later it's still my fav but I've been on RCCL, Princess, Carnival and Celebrity. Same product but each line has that thing that I love about them so when I'm shopping around I look for what I want to get out of the cruise - itinerary, ship, port, sea days and select accordingly.

RCCL new mega ships are polished and refined works of art to me. Love the broadway shows, park cafe and hot dog stand, amphitheater should not be missed, the different neighborhoods keep the crowds light on a regular sea day, CoCo Cay hands down the best private island I have visited since the revitalization. I enjoy all the innovation and amenities RCCL offers. I always look at RCCL first when shopping for a cruise.

Carnival - Hubby loves Guys burgers and the Blue Iguana, the taco shop. We both usually like the comedians. Price - we can usually find Carnival cheaper out of our Galveston or NOLA home ports. We can purchase after final payment since we don't have to purchase airline tickets; we're single no kids so can cruise out of season and drive to the ports.

Princess - they do Alaska wonderfully. And when they were in TX they were at our home port of Galveston.

Celebrity reminded me of my regal and sophisticated aunties home. It was nice and lovely but I needed a tad bit more "fun" options. Do you have those relatives who come from money and you pulled names at Thanksgiving and everyone has a name to purchase a gift. You can always tell they spent more than the $25 limit because the gifts at Nieman's and Sak's start at $200. LOL!!! Celebrity is one of the cruise lines those relatives would cruise. Absolutely nothing wrong with Celebrity but it is a bit more refined.

FOOD - They are all your typical cafeteria food in the buffet lines and your banquet food in the main dining rooms. I don't care how you look at it, it is what it is. Is the food good across all the lines? YES! Will you go hungry? NO!! It blows my mind when people say the food was gross all week long. I just don't get it. Most ships have 3-6 venues open most of the time. So out of 6 restaurants you couldn't find anything to eat and everything was gross. SMH!!?!? I really want to know what these folks eat at home. Last week I made spaghetti and ate it for 3 days. LOL! I would have loved to have 6 options on Wednesday, when I was sick of spaghetti.

These are mass market ships not fine dining Michelin 5 star restaurants. If you're looking for fine dining book a Paul Gaugin cruise. Mass market = tacos, burgers, pizza and pasta, salad and chicken which you will find on all these cruise ships plus some.

O and if the food is so gross why does most people gain a few pounds after every cruise?!?!? OK getting off my cruise food soapbox.

Like other's have mentioned definitely check out cruise critic. You will learn more than you ever wanted to know about cruising. And remember the negative and positive reviews are a very small portion from a very small sample size of cruisers. Cruising is like Disney, you will fall in love with it and become addicted or you will hate it and a few who don't care either way.

Happy CRUISE shopping!!!

 

[SDJEL]

We have done Disney, Royal and Norwegian. I think Royal and Norwegian are closer to each other than to Disney. There are lots of small differences that you will see all over these boards, but for us, it all comes down to service. On Disney, it is always impeccable. On the other lines, although the service isn’t bad, it just isn’t up to the same level.

 

[tidefan]

I absolutely LOVE cruising. I book one or two or three every year. It's my "go to" vacation.

Now to answer your question. The mass market cruise lines, RCCL, Carnival, Princess, Celebrity, MSC, NCL, etc. or more alike than different. Think of it like department stores, JcPenney, Kohl's, Sears, Belks, Macy's, Dillards, Sak 5th Ave, Neimans, etc. Each dept store sells clothing, bedding, small appliances, luggage, etc. Depending on what you're looking for and when you're looking for it you may lean towards one store over the others. It's the exact same thing with cruising.
Every cruise line has that lil' something special that depending on when and what you want in a cruise one of the 10+ cruise lines will have it. I love options so cruising is always an option when I'm looking to vacation.

My fav cruise line is RCCL. My fav ship is RCCL Allure of the seas with the Anthem OTS a close 2nd. I like RCCL because it was my 1st. 20+ cruises later it's still my fav but I've been on RCCL, Princess, Carnival and Celebrity. Same product but each line has that thing that I love about them so when I'm shopping around I look for what I want to get out of the cruise - itinerary, ship, port, sea days and select accordingly.

RCCL new mega ships are polished and refined works of art to me. Love the broadway shows, park cafe and hot dog stand, amphitheater should not be missed, the different neighborhoods keep the crowds light on a regular sea day, CoCo Cay hands down the best private island I have visited since the revitalization. I enjoy all the innovation and amenities RCCL offers. I always look at RCCL first when shopping for a cruise.

Carnival - Hubby loves Guys burgers and the Blue Iguana, the taco shop. We both usually like the comedians. Price - we can usually find Carnival cheaper out of our Galveston or NOLA home ports. We can purchase after final payment since we don't have to purchase airline tickets; we're single no kids so can cruise out of season and drive to the ports.

Princess - they do Alaska wonderfully. And when they were in TX they were at our home port of Galveston.

Celebrity reminded me of my regal and sophisticated aunties home. It was nice and lovely but I needed a tad bit more "fun" options. Do you have those relatives who come from money and you pulled names at Thanksgiving and everyone has a name to purchase a gift. You can always tell they spent more than the $25 limit because the gifts at Nieman's and Sak's start at $200. LOL!!! Celebrity is one of the cruise lines those relatives would cruise. Absolutely nothing wrong with Celebrity but it is a bit more refined.

FOOD - They are all your typical cafeteria food in the buffet lines and your banquet food in the main dining rooms. I don't care how you look at it, it is what it is. Is the food good across all the lines? YES! Will you go hungry? NO!! It blows my mind when people say the food was gross all week long. I just don't get it. Most ships have 3-6 venues open most of the time. So out of 6 restaurants you couldn't find anything to eat and everything was gross. SMH!!?!? I really want to know what these folks eat at home. Last week I made spaghetti and ate it for 3 days. LOL! I would have loved to have 6 options on Wednesday, when I was sick of spaghetti.

These are mass market ships not fine dining Michelin 5 star restaurants. If you're looking for fine dining book a Paul Gaugin cruise. Mass market = tacos, burgers, pizza and pasta, salad and chicken which you will find on all these cruise ships plus some.

O and if the food is so gross why does most people gain a few pounds after every cruise?!?!? OK getting off my cruise food soapbox.

Like other's have mentioned definitely check out cruise critic. You will learn more than you ever wanted to know about cruising. And remember the negative and positive reviews are a very small portion from a very small sample size of cruisers. Cruising is like Disney, you will fall in love with it and become addicted or you will hate it and a few who don't care either way.

Happy CRUISE shopping!!!

Excellent post!

One of the things that always comes to my mind is that different lines are like different types of music. They all just have a certain "vibe" to them. Kind of like this (NOTE: I am probably off, but this is what came to mind AND is a bit tongue-in-cheek...):

Disney: Take your pick of Disney Songs, let's say "Be Our Guest" is a good one...

Carnival: "Gangnam Style" by Psy

RCCL: Newer ships: "Jump" by Van Halen / Older ships: "Vacation" by the GoGo's

NCL: "Think" by Aretha Franklin

Princess: "Boat Drinks" by Jimmy Buffett (NOTE: It would be too easy to use "Love Boat" by Jack Jones, however, I do love that the horn plays the "Love Boat" theme)

Celebrity: "Summer Breeze" by Seals and Croft

MSC: "Con Te Partiro" by Andrea Bocelli

HAL: Anything by Lawrence Welk

 

[starvenger]

Interesting. I would have gone with "Song 2" (Blur) for the Royal megaships. Or perhaps the edited version of "Lust For Life", since that was used for the commercial. Or "Let Me Entertain You" (Robbie Williams)

Carnival strikes me more as "Con Calma" (Daddy Yankee and Snow) than "Gangnam Style"

Princess is probably more "Smooth" (Santana and Rob Thomas).

Virgin will be... well, it's gonna have to be Madonna, right?

If I'm giving DCL a Disney song, it's probably "A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes". Maybe "Magic" (The Cars) if you're going more pop.

(ETA: I'm assigning the DCL songs based on the general feelings of this board regarding DCL. I like it, but don't love it like some others. Still, I think the songs probably encapsulate how those who love DCL feel).