Brief Comparison of RCCL Oasis of the Seas v. Disney Fantasy from Disney Loving Family

[JJsmama]

Thank you for sharing. This is one of the best comparisons I have read. DH and I have been debating giving RC a try. Our biggest fear is the ship being too big with too many people. That's one of the reasons we like DCL; it doesn't feel like a floating city. @ICEMANPAD did you ever feel the ship was too big?

This is my concern too. The ship sounds so cool, but i look at the pictures and i literally start feeling nervous. The decks look seriously high and there are so many places where the decks seem to be looking over into the great depths below. Does it feel like standing on a cliff on those high overlook decks? I priced it out today and it is tempting.

 

[ICEMANPAD]

This is my concern too. The ship sounds so cool, but i look at the pictures and i literally start feeling nervous. The decks look seriously high and there are so many places where the decks seem to be looking over into the great depths below. Does it feel like standing on a cliff on those high overlook decks? I priced it out today and it is tempting.

We spent time on deck 15 on the Oasis and it didn't feel higher than the Fantasy pool deck. My DS and DH did the on board zip line and weren't scared. There were guard rails and plexi glass around the entire ship.

 

[Lisa Lisa]

Thank you for sharing your experience! We are huge DCL fans as well (just became Gold CC members), but prices in the past year or so have us looking at other options. We considered both the Southern itinerary on the Magic and the Western on the Fantasy for spring break 2017, but ultimately the prices were just more than we're willing to pay. We are a family of 3 as well, and a category 9C ocean view room on deck 2 would have been about $5,800 for either of those itineraries. We're used to sailing in verandah rooms, but the prices for even a 7A were way too steep at around $7,000. We shopped around and ended up booking a junior suite on the Allure (Western) for $4,600 for the same week. We could have saved even more money by booking a standard oceanview balcony, but I think the extra space will be well worth the extra cost. As much as we love DCL, we just can't justify paying those prices when there are clearly other excellent options out there. Reading reviews like yours makes me feel even better about our choice!

 

[Bella29]

Thanks for sharing your experience, we have booked RCCL for 2017 after many years of cruising exclusively DCL to compare for ourselves. It feels a little sad to think our cruise on the Magic next month might be our last with Disney but when I read things like this I feel better!

 

[JJsmama]

I am really getting sucked in by this thread and another similar on the RCCL forum. I have Eastern Magic booked for May. Only vacation without our kids. Am thinking of switching to Freedom OTS for the same week (eastern) and either save $1400 and book the same verandah stateroom, or spend the same money and book Grand Suite on RCCL. Not having to fight for a pool chair is what excites me the most about the Suite level. And priority tendering. What do you think? If i stick with DCL, there wouldnt be tendering, but still crowded pools? Also , i wouldnt have to learn a new ship and it might be more relaxing ...??? Opinions

 

[cruisehopeful]

I am really getting sucked in by this thread and another similar on the RCCL forum. I have Eastern Magic booked for May. Only vacation without our kids. Am thinking of switching to Freedom OTS for the same week (eastern) and either save $1400 and book the same verandah stateroom, or spend the same money and book Grand Suite on RCCL. Not having to fight for a pool chair is what excites me the most about the Suite level. And priority tendering. What do you think? If i stick with DCL, there wouldnt be tendering, but still crowded pools? Also , i wouldnt have to learn a new ship and it might be more relaxing ...??? Opinions

The suite does sound nice. It really depends on what you like. My problem with other cruise lines is that when I look into them, I usually decide that I am not really interested in cruising on the whole, I am only interested in Disney cruises. If you would enjoy cruising in general, by all means, consider the suite.

I don't think the adult pool will be crowded all the time on DCL. It's the family pools that are always crowded and since you will be traveling without kids, I think you'll just avoid those anyway. Are there adult only areas on RCL? Some of the other lines I looked at didn't have adult only pools, but I never checked out RCL. I believe if I cruised without DCL, I'd choose Celebrity because they are supposed to be more of a luxury line/more adult centered. From what I've read, the service isn't as good as DCL, but you can get a concierge level room for the price of an ocean view on DCL.

 

[cgolf]

The suite does sound nice. It really depends on what you like. My problem with other cruise lines is that when I look into them, I usually decide that I am not really interested in cruising on the whole, I am only interested in Disney cruises. If you would enjoy cruising in general, by all means, consider the suite.

I don't think the adult pool will be crowded all the time on DCL. It's the family pools that are always crowded and since you will be traveling without kids, I think you'll just avoid those anyway. Are there adult only areas on RCL? Some of the other lines I looked at didn't have adult only pools, but I never checked out RCL. I believe if I cruised without DCL, I'd choose Celebrity because they are supposed to be more of a luxury line/more adult centered. From what I've read, the service isn't as good as DCL, but you can get a concierge level room for the price of an ocean view on DCL.

We have found the adult pools to be pretty crowded during the day when the weather was great, especially on the Dream class, their pools seem to smaller than the classics.

 

[tinkerone]

I am really getting sucked in by this thread and another similar on the RCCL forum. I have Eastern Magic booked for May. Only vacation without our kids. Am thinking of switching to Freedom OTS for the same week (eastern) and either save $1400 and book the same verandah stateroom, or spend the same money and book Grand Suite on RCCL. Not having to fight for a pool chair is what excites me the most about the Suite level. And priority tendering. What do you think? If i stick with DCL, there wouldnt be tendering, but still crowded pools? Also , i wouldnt have to learn a new ship and it might be more relaxing ...??? Opinions

i think it will be nice to learn a new ship. with dcl i am at a very comfortable level however that quickly becomes our world and we don't see what else there is on offer. i'm excited to have a new adventure and that means exploring a new ship and maybe making that the place where we become very comfortable.
i do find that the adult areas on dcl can get crowded. we do not travel with children so it is the place we tend to hang out in and while its not the chaotic mess the family area is, its still busy busy busy and you sometimes have to wait for a chair if you want sun.
if it was my choice (its not) i would save the $1400 and see how it works out with a regular cabin, but the grand suite is very tempting. i would for sure try the new ship. jmo and not meant to try and sway you or anyone.

 

[tinkerone]

We have found the adult pools to be pretty crowded during the day when the weather was great, especially on the Dream class, their pools seem to smaller than the classics.

you got this posted before mine did. we to find the adult pools get crowded and quite busy. totally agree with you.

 

[Joel0917]

Not to get into the whole price comparison war, but I do have one question. How did you FIND a 7 for $8500 on the Fantasy? I just tried during the prime season, and couldn't drive it more than $7000.


Again, how are you getting these? I am on the site RIGHT NOW, and Fantasy 7 night April, 2017 for a Verandah 3 people
April 1 - $6,000
April 8 - $7,000
April 15 - $6,500
April 22 - $5000

Granted, it's still a far cry more than the $3500. I just can't figure out where these prices come from.

In any case, glad you enjoyed your cruise on the Oasis. She is a beautiful ship.

I just looked for april 15..same cruise..2 ad and 2 children:
Inside: 7108; oceanview 7248 and Vernadah - 8172

 

[Joel0917]

i'm not 100% sure and i would think joel9017 will report back but it could be that they are comparing rates in canadian funds. when you book on rcl, we canadians can book it at a canadian rate so no exchange involved. when we book with dcl, it is booked in u.s. dollars so we need to add almost 40% on to the price. that means the $6000 cruise you mentioned becomes $8400 canadian. the rcl would stay at $4200 as it was booked in canadian dollars to begin with. HUGE difference!

this was US dollar.

 

[texas disney mom]

The one time we wanted to sit in a lounge chair by the adult pool on our dcl cruise last week, there were no chairs. We ended up going to the top deck and watching funnel vision from loungers up there(not an adult area).

 

[squirk]

The reality is that the competition is catching up in terms of shows, overall customer service, food quality and even in the area of characters (Oasis has the Madagascar characters). We really hope that the folks at Disney start taking notice that their pricing has become an issue for many of its most loyal customers.

Thanks for the review. While I have yet to sail on any line other than DCL, I think your quote above sums up why I am looking at RCCL and NCL.

While I think the Madagascar characters are nothing compared to Disney's stable (I seriously wonder why RCCL even bothers), I don't think the Disney characters are necessarily worth the current price premium if all other things are equal, and it sounds like with the Oasis- and Quantum-class ships, all other things are approaching equal. Maybe not the kids clubs yet, but still.

 

[dreadpiraterose]

How does the dining work on the Oasis exactly? There's a standard included dining room, and then specialty restaurants that require a reservation and an extra fee? How far advance do you have to make those reservations? I take it you can't just go, "oh, I'd like Japanese tonight" and walk in to the Japanese restaurant?

 

[iambrink]

I keep wanting to try other cruise lines and have priced out same dates multiple times...i really should be a travel agent! It must be coincidence, but the similar size cabin and exact dates on RCCL is either more than or same price as what i book for Disney...i could try a smaller cabin, but i ham so hesitant to try another cruise line, i keep chickening out! We are paying $5500 for category 4a for 2a2c and the closest size cabin on the Oasis (which is the class ship i also wanted to try) is a junior suite and that would be $6432...I obviously could save money by trying a different cabin, but i could do that on Disney too. But i love reading about others' experiences. You really can't go wrong. after all, we are on vacation! The Canadian exchange would be a HUGE factor for me if I were still in Canada!

I forgot to add that the Disney cruise price does include the 10% off bounceback...

 

[tinkerone]

I keep wanting to try other cruise lines and have priced out same dates multiple times...i really should be a travel agent! It must be coincidence, but the similar size cabin and exact dates on RCCL is either more than or same price as what i book for Disney...i could try a smaller cabin, but i ham so hesitant to try another cruise line, i keep chickening out! We are paying $5500 for category 4a for 2a2c and the closest size cabin on the Oasis (which is the class ship i also wanted to try) is a junior suite and that would be $6432...I obviously could save money by trying a different cabin, but i could do that on Disney too. But i love reading about others' experiences. You really can't go wrong. after all, we are on vacation! The Canadian exchange would be a HUGE factor for me if I were still in Canada!

i understand what your saying, just keep in mind there is a major difference between a 4A and a junior suite. the 4A is 299 sq ft which includes the veranda. the jr suite is 287 PLUS the veranda of 80 sq ft. the cost for the jr suite is going to be more as your getting so much more cabin space. you get almost 40 extra sq ft. if that is the category you want to go with it will probably always be cheaper to sail with dcl. not a bad thing.
but i'm with you. i would go with dcl if it saved me money, it only makes sense. unfortunately for us it is usually more expensive to go with dcl.

 

[iambrink]

i understand what your saying, just keep in mind there is a major difference between a 4A and a junior suite. the 4A is 299 sq ft which includes the veranda. the jr suite is 287 PLUS the veranda of 80 sq ft. the cost for the jr suite is going to be more as your getting so much more cabin space. you get almost 40 extra sq ft. if that is the category you want to go with it will probably always be cheaper to sail with dcl. not a bad thing.
but i'm with you. i would go with dcl if it saved me money, it only makes sense. unfortunately for us it is usually more expensive to go with dcl.

It is dilemma! The next category down was 182 sq ft, so it was hard to be able to compare apples to apples, but either would be good! especially now that we just received our first snow. Boy, do I hate cold winters!

 

[ICEMANPAD]

How does the dining work on the Oasis exactly? There's a standard included dining room, and then specialty restaurants that require a reservation and an extra fee? How far advance do you have to make those reservations? I take it you can't just go, "oh, I'd like Japanese tonight" and walk in to the Japanese restaurant?

The main dining room has two options either traditional early or late or my time. The specialty restaurants can be booked on line before the cruise or on the cruise. We booked three nights in advance and 3 nights on board. We were able to modify times on board the same say as our reservations due to schedule changes.

 

[CesD]

Thank you for the comparison. I also (nervously) cancelled our DCL placeholder and put a deposit for a fall sailing with Royal because of the huge ( almost half) price difference. Good feedback of Royal is easing my nerves

 

[tinkerone]

The main dining room has two options either traditional early or late or my time. The specialty restaurants can be booked on line before the cruise or on the cruise. We booked three nights in advance and 3 nights on board. We were able to modify times on board the same say as our reservations due to schedule changes.

i had forgot about this! we booked 'my time' dinning which means we will not be locked into a specific time for seating like on dcl. we can show up when we show up. no rushing. plus, it will be when we are hungry, not when dcl thinks we will be hungry. as gorgeous as the dinning rooms are on dcl, as wonderful as their dining shows are, my time dining is something they don't have. i think we are going to enjoy that.