After 15 Disney cruises I tried Royal and I liked it:)

[Weedy]

We have been long time Disney cruisers but now that our kids are older (18 & 20) we thought we would try something a little different. We sailed on the Oasis of the Seas out of Port Canaveral.

Booking the cruise: We used a travel agent for the first time. Royal suggests this. It was fine, we got a little on board credit. We were able to make any reservations for shows or dinner through the website ourselves.

Booking the shows: You can/should book reservations for the shows. You can do this precruise online. All the shows run more than one night. Booking took us a little bit of time to figure out. We finally wrote out a little grid to see what night each show was on. For example Cats was on Tuesday and Thursday and the Dive show was on Monday and Thursday I had to book Cats on Tuesday so I could do the Dive show on Thursday.

Boarding: We live in Orlando so always drive and park at the port. The luggage drop off was easy. You pull in under the garage (we had to wait 5-10 minutes) and then are directed to a place to pull in and they take your bags from you. With Royal you print your own luggage tags. No Mickey Mail.
The parking garage was very empty (we arrived around 11:00am). We parked on the second floor and got a nice close spot.
Going through security was very quick and easy. The have about 15 x-ray machines. Although when my husband grabbed a bin to put his stuff in it the guy had a fit "no bins!! no bins!!" even though there was a big stack of them. LOL.
There were lots and lots of check in lines. Everyone walked right up to a person. Our check in took a little longer than most. Our person was new and struggled a bit but was very nice. We all had to have our pictures taken for the ship ID. My husband and son wear glasses and he took their pictures with their glasses on so when they boarded the ship they wanted no glasses pictures so they redid the pictures. No big deal but I think they need to train a little better.

My Time Dining: On the Oasis they have one main dining room that is on 3 different decks. Depending on what type of dining you pick is the floor that you will go to. You can pick early or late dining or make a reservation for a exact time each night or just show up. You do this online before the cruise.
We did a different time each night depending on what show we had that night or the days activities.

Dining Room: We were always able to walk up check in and be seated right away. For the people who did not reserve a time there was always a line, I'm not sure how long the wait was. But it's probably like any busy restaurant if you show up at 7:00 there's going to be a wait.
I felt the way the dining room worked with people showing up a different times made it so much less hectic. The servers weren't rushing around and it was much more quiet. I felt the food in the Main Dining rooms was equal in taste to Disney (it can only be so good when feeding 1000 people at a time). But the food was hot when it came out and it didn't taste like it had sat very long before being served. Also dinner was just under an hour each night.
We also changed our plans during the cruise and were able to make the change without any issues. We had the same servers each night except one when we changed. The service was great

more to come.....

 

[Anchors Away 2016]

Thanks for sharing. Looking forward to more. Always nice to hear how it is on other lines!

 

[CamColt]

Thanks for the review! My DSs are now 20 and almost 17 and while we are booked on DCL for this summer, I have been considering jumping ship for 2018 (cruising in the summer is just getting to be too much $$$). It was nice to hear a review from someone in a similar situation.

 

[cgolf]

Looking forward to hear more, we are doing our first RCCL cruise this year after 12 trips on DCL.

Curious how the staff on the ship were and how they treated you? That is our biggest concern, the ship itself, Freedom, looks like it will be a winner.

 

[Weedy]

Cabins/cost: We typically book an inside cabin for the kids and a veranda for ourselves. We booked this cruise a little late so the ocean view verandas were expensive. We booked two "Central Park" verandas next to each other. The verandas face the inside of the ship but are open to the outside. You can see the sky and get natural light. The veranda was a bit larger than on a regular Disney ship and it has a full size table. The veranda dividers do open to the next door cabin.
The cabin was a bit smaller than a Disney veranda sized cabin but it didn't matter with 2 people in the cabin. I think 3 people would fit ok but 4 would be tight.
The beds split into twin beds. My kids were thrilled. No need for one of them to sleep on the pull out couch.
One cabin had the bed closer to the door the other closer to the sliding glass veranda doors. We had the cabin with the bed closer to the door. It was a bit of a pain ( I have the bruises to prove it) to walk around the bed. Next time I will make the kids have that cabin. Lol.
The closet was big enough and had shelves to store things.
The bathroom was not a split bath. Again with just two of us it was OK.
The desk had a device that you could easily plug 3 things into. But no plugs by the bed.
Our room Steward was wonderful. The service was just as good as Disney.
The beds are hard but I like a hard bed.
The pillows were terrible. Thin, flat. So sad. The worst I've ever had at any resort ever!!
There was just a shower. No tub. It looked like the tube from Star Trek and not much bigger. It was about the size of an old time phone booth.

Ok cost$$. We sailed on the 4 day Magic out of Miami last year Christmas week one inside and one veranda. This year 8 day also Christmas week two Central Park verandas for $1000 less.

 

[Dug720]

Thanks for the review! Interesting they "recommend" using a TA. They have had zero issues with me booking on my own.

 

[mevelandry]

Ok cost$$. We sailed on the 4 day Magic out of Miami last year Christmas week one inside one veranda. This year 8 day two Central Park verandas for $1000 less.

So for 1000$ less you got a 8 days cruise instead of a 4 nights cruise? That's a great deal!!!

 

[m1ckeym0use1]

We're doing the same in January 2018. After 10 Disney cruises, we're going to try Oasis out of Port Canaveral. Getting a 7 day Eastern Caribbean cruise on RCL for slightly less than the cost of a 4 day Bahama cruise on DCL.

 

[OKW Lover]

Thanks for the review! Val & I recently (12/4/16) sailed on the Oasis as part of the Podcast Cruise and really enjoyed ourselves. Once you get over the fact that its not DCL you then find that RCL is actually pretty good. We never ate in the MDR so I can't comment about the food there as compared to DCL.

The cost of an RCL cruise is pretty good as compared to DCL. While on board I booked a "placeholder" cruise for September 2017 doing a 7-night eastern Caribbean sailing in a veranda room. Back home I compared the price of an almost identical cruise on the Fantasy in a similar cabin. The price on DCL was almost exactly twice the cost of the RCL cruise.

Along a similar vein, we had friends on the Oasis sailing that typically sail DCL. They told their TA to just book them in what every category that would cost about the same as their normal DCL veranda sailing. They wound up in a Grand Loft Suite, which gives some very nice concierge perks on RCL including access to Coastal Kitchen for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

 

[Neptune's Fork]

We're doing the same in January 2018. After 10 Disney cruises, we're going to try Oasis out of Port Canaveral. Getting a 7 day Eastern Caribbean cruise on RCL for slightly less than the cost of a 4 day Bahama cruise on DCL.

Are you doing that 'Super Bowl' cruise? I just read about that. Sounds interesting.

 

[Weedy]

Pool Deck and other areas: The pool deck wins hands down over Disney. There are multiple pools, hot tubs, a rock climbing wall, a zip line and two surf simulators (one stand up one boogie board). The adult pool area is at the front of the ship with a restaurant and bar. Because the adult area is in the front of the ship there is no cut through of kids. But there were still kids. Just like Disney I feel the age restriction wasn't enforced until someone complained.
Surf Simulators: my daughter really enjoyed the surf simulators. She felt the stand up one was easier than the boogie board . Watching both the boogie board seemed the easiest for kids about 12 years old. I guess they are the perfect size. The lines were never terribly long (20-25 minutes) even on sea days.
One of the things I really like about the ship was that there were two other deck areas to hang out in. The Boardwalk was an open area with shops, restaurants and a carousel!! There was also a little play area that has two small boats that young kids could climb on. Central Park is also open air and has restaurants and bars. It's a fun place to hang out at night.
On the Oasis they do close things on Port Days. So the simulators were open for 2 hours in the morning than not again until 4 in the afternoon.

The Wipeout Cafe is the one small restaurant on/near the pool deck. The hours were limited. This was the one place that was not very clean. The area were the dishes were collected (outside table) was always a mess with food on the floor under the table. It looked like a high school cafeteria. The food was good. They had pizza, burgers, french fries and sandwiches.

The soft serve ice cream was available here and at another small window by the pools. Royal did not keep up with the ice cream and many times it ran out. The flavors were vanilla, chocolate and strawberry.

more later...

 

[tallygirl]

How were the smoking areas? Were they easily avoided?

 

[Weedy]

How were the smoking areas? Were they easily avoided?

The only real bad area was the casino. It was avoidable. A few times we took the wrong elevator and had to walk through the casino to get to the theater. As soon as the elevator doors opened the cigarette smell was very strong.
A few times when we were in the Boardwalk area we would get a whiff of smoke. I could never tell where it was coming from. It wasn't terrible and I really don't like the smell of smoke.
In the pool area the (port?) side was smoking. It was easy to avoid this area. But the smoke was heavy if you walked on that side of the ship.

 

[OKW Lover]

Agree with @Weedy above, the casino was a problem. Even on the non-smoking side you still smelled it as you walked in and out. Didn't find it a problem in other areas.

 

[shh]

The only real bad area was the casino. It was avoidable. A few times we took the wrong elevator and had to walk through the casino to get to the theater. As soon as the elevator doors opened the cigarette smell was very strong.
A few times when we were in the Boardwalk area we would get a whiff is smoke. I could never tell where it was coming from. It wasn't terrible and I really don't like the smellwas smoking.
In the pool area the port? side was smoking. It was easy to avoid this area. But the smoke was heavy if you walked on that side of the ship.

Enjoying your review! I'm considering RC oasis class for a future cruise - although we're in South Fla, so would be allure or harmony. The casino smoke is exactly the same thing we found on Princess. It was a cloud every time you walked anywhere near the entrance - even way down the hall.

I'm a diehard WDW fan, but have never sailed on Disney because of cost - just too expensive for me personally. We don't have kids - just the two of us. We're doing our 3rd cruise on Celebrity in April. They have one of the strictest no smoking policies of all the mass market lines, but still make sure smokers feel at home as well. They have designated smoking areas in one outside bar, one section by the pool and I think 1-2 other deck areas. Smoke free casinos. They prohibit balcony smoking as well, but I always seem to end up near the idiot who must smoke on their balcony and ignore the rules.

 

[Bree]

I'm glad to hear you enjoyed RCCL. I have been sailing on them since 2002 and have always had a great time! I always recommend them to family and friends over DCL due to cost. Their ships are beautiful in their own way and service has always been terrific. Some of those ships are huge, but there is so much to do that the crowds are dispersed. The only near crummy cruise I had was a 5 night spring break on the Independence. A travel agency bought up a ton of leftover rooms and sold them cheap cheap cheap with a beverage package to college kids. We just avoided the pool area during the day. Once they were all passed out in their rooms by dinner it wasn't so bad LOL!!!

 

[Mama Lisa 911]

We are die hard Disney fans, and have only cruised Disney. I plan to book another cruise for this October and checked the pricing for the same exact itinerary (minus Castaway Cay of course) on Royal (Allure). The 7 nite Western Caribbean on Disney for our family (kids are now 21yoa and 18yoa) in one verandah room is $5900/Interior Deluxe $5100. We can get 2 ocean view balcony rooms on Royal for a total of $3500. I have to admit that the Allure looks like a lot of fun but I'm worried we'll get on board and regret it. Disney's customer service and cleanliness are top notch and I worry Royal will disappoint. I know for my adult kids there will be a lot more to do on the Allure than on Disney. Has anyone been on the Allure? What was your impression of it?

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

Thanks for the review, we recently branched out from DCL and tried the new Carnival Vista and loved her. We have 2 more cruises booked on her this year and are planning on her sister when she launches in 2018.

We want to try Harmony of the Seas or Oasis IV in 2019, also looking at Celebrity though. There really is a lot of possibilities out there for cruises, glad we tried something different.

 

[tinkerone]

Love the review Weedy and totally agree with most everything you said. We wear glasses and did not have to take them off for our photo so I wonder what that is all about. I loved the check in, so quick with all the x-ray machines they have. With DCL it takes some time to just get in the door past there machine however with having so many it was fast on RCCL. I also loved that the check in lines go by deck, very easy.

We to were concerned that the Oasis would not live up to our DCL sailings but we needn't have. Loved the ship and will be back on for 2 weeks in October (less than the cost of one on the Fantasy) and may plan a sailing or two before that. I loved our Central Park balcony, just to sit on it in the evening and hear the music and crickets while having a glass of wine.....heaven. Also loved the room service menu offering pretty much a full breakfast menu. Sat out many a morning on the balcony eating, the full size table allowing us to do this. Its something to experience for sure!

And that solarium!! Kicks DCL's a** IMO. So big and offering so much including the Solarium Bistro for meals. We had no problem with kids, I don't think I saw one the whole week.

Again, enjoying your review and glad you had a good time.

 

[mevelandry]

We are die hard Disney fans, and have only cruised Disney. I plan to book another cruise for this October and checked the pricing for the same exact itinerary (minus Castaway Cay of course) on Royal (Allure). The 7 nite Western Caribbean on Disney for our family (kids are now 21yoa and 18yoa) in one verandah room is $5900/Interior Deluxe $5100. We can get 2 ocean view balcony rooms on Royal for a total of $3500. I have to admit that the Allure looks like a lot of fun but I'm worried we'll get on board and regret it. Disney's customer service and cleanliness are top notch and I worry Royal will disappoint. I know for my adult kids there will be a lot more to do on the Allure than on Disney. Has anyone been on the Allure? What was your impression of it?

I did not sail on the Allure but I did the Carnival Victory after two cruises on the Dream. What I would recommend is taking a pen and paper and thinking of your Disney cruise and then "strip the Disney theme off"... What did you like during that cruise? Did you enjoy the good food/fine dining? Did you enjoy the view of the sea? Did you enjoy alcohol tasting? Did you enjoy the nice adult section? The spa? The staff? If you did, you can be optimistic because you will most likely find it on another cruise line. You can be confident that you will reconnect with many things you like.

Change is scary... But if you keep your heart open to a different experience, life can bring you wonderful surprises.