DCL or RCCL?

[KiKi Mouse]

DH and I are in the process of booking our first cruise. A 7 day Eastern Caribbean.

We are torn between DCL and Royal Caribbean.

RCCL would be cheaper and then we could put the money towards excursions. Seems like RCCL has quite a bit of stuff for the kids to do onboard.

If we go RCCL we miss out on "The Disney Experience". The more we look at all the options the more muddled this gets.

Any experience/advice is appreciated

 

[mjkacmom]

We've done DCL and NCL, and will continue with NCL. It's much less expensive, and I didn't like having an assigned dinner time with DCL. My older kids, 9 and 11 at the time, didn't like the kids clubs on DCL. There is also more food options on NCL, and I think RCCL is following their example, with anytime dining. As for excursions, I always book them independently to save $.

 

[KiKi Mouse]

we are VERY new to this so excuse all the questions.

How do you book excursions on your own?

 

[Disneycrazymom]

we have done both DCL and RCCL. We had 1 cruise with Disney and it was very nice but very very expensive! Our 2nd was with RCCL and so were our next 4! My kids (ages 10 and 17) prefer Royal. They have much better activities on board and my youngest liked the kids clubs better on Royal. For the same price we can have 2 rooms on Royal and as you said book more excursions. My favorite way to get my Disney fix and cruise with Royal is to spend a couple days at the parks before the cruise. Any questions ask away.

For excursion info try Cruise Critic. I personally prefer to pay the extra and go with the ships tours. I don't have to worry about missing the ship that way!

 

[Princess Nancy]

I sent you a PM

 

[DisneyAndRedSox]

I have gone on RCCL and doing my first DCL soon. If we didn't have a ton of Marriott points to use towards the DCL cruise, we would have never of booked it! My cruise on RCCL (Independence) was $300 more than my DCL cruise, but it was 8 days vs only 4! My DD (3 at sailing) loved the Independence and my parents are going on their 2nd Oasis cruise soon.

One thing that might make a difference, I think kids under 3 are much cheaper on DCL where there is no age discount on RCCL...you just pay the normal 3rd passenger amount.

 

[benolathe]

I highly recommend Royal Caribbean. We have taken our kids on two cruises on RCCL - one to the Eastern Caribbean and one to Alaska. They absolutely loved both cruises - loved the cruise experience, and really enjoyed the other kids they met on board and the activities that were available to them.

BTW, they were approx. 8 and 10 yo for the first one and 15 and 17 for the Alaska trip.

 

[DisneyNutMic]

I don't have DCL experience but I do have RCCL and I HIGHLY recommend it. My son isn't your typical "child eater". He doesn't do the chicken nuggets (he likes them but prefers much older tastes). He was allowed to order off of the adult menu and tried things like escargot and lobster. He wants to go back ASAP.

 

[Darcy03231]

We haven't done DCL, but have done multiple RCCL cruises and liked each and every one. While it isn't a big deal for some people, keep in mind that DCL doesn't have a casino. That's a deal breaker for DH.

 

[dthogue]

I don't have DCL experience but I do have RCCL and I HIGHLY recommend it. My son isn't your typical "child eater". He doesn't do the chicken nuggets (he likes them but prefers much older tastes). He was allowed to order off of the adult menu and tried things like escargot and lobster. He wants to go back ASAP.

Kids can order off the adult menu on DCL as well - they aren't limited to the kids menu. Just like adults can order off the children's menu if they want!!

Tammy

 

[dthogue]

We have done Mariner of the Seas w/ RCl and several Disney cruises - we will stick with Disney. They might be more expensive depending on when you travel, but the Disney customer service experinece is worth it to us. My girls all enjoyed the kids clubs and the shows on Disney were far more family appropriate than the shows on RCL (with the exception of the ice skating show). Disney offers alot more activities for families to do together all day long. This was important to us - on RCL there was nothing scheduled for families to do together. Guess we are just big Disney fans at heart. Disney also offers a free drink station, we as on RCl you have to pay for drinks outside of your meals. I didn't like the casion or smoking policy on RCL and really didn't like the whole "mall" atmosphere in the Promenade.

The one problem with our RCL cruise was the weather, which wasn't the cruiseline's fault, but it rained the entire cruise with high winds, which closed ALL the outside activities, i.e rock climbing, mini golf, sports deck, pools, etc. - and there wasn't much else to do!!

Tammy

 

[KiKi Mouse]

I should have mentioned my kids will be 13, 4, and 1 when we cruise.
I'm worried about them not having enough to do on DCL. From what I have read RCCL has rock climbing, bowling, mini golf.

It's a big chunk of change for us to cruise so I am trying to seek as much opinion as I can so we don't regret going non Disney.

Right now DH is leaning towards RCCL.

 

[Psychodisney]

The 4 yo will have plenty to do. The 13 yo might have enough to do...is he/she outgoing and willing to participate in what's going on in the clubs? My boys(14 and 16 on our last Disney cruise) and my DD11 found plenty to do. That being said, we're going on Freedom of the Sease next year. The boys will be 15 and 17 so will love the flowrider, rock wall, etc.
Another thing to look at from a cost basis is booking two rooms for a family of five instead of one Cat 4. You might be able to find connecting rooms...and believe it or not it will be cheaper than the one room that sleeps five!
With a 4yo and a 1yo I would choose Disney....

 

[tammymacb]

My 13 YO DD does not like the kids clubs on DCL and requested that I not book DCL for our upcoming January cruise. I love DCL for the service, and the fact that there is no casino, ( my DH thinks he's James Bond and will blow his extra cash in a minute ) I also love the DCL dining rooms. But, I really like RCCL also, and DD loves RCCL so off on the Freedom of the Seas we go.

 

[Green Tea]

We've done both. I would say DCL is not worth the price. Royal Caribbean was great and the kid liked the activities a little better than DCL's. Service was better of RCI. Food about the same. Private Island about the same. Room about the same though I'd give the nod to RC because I hated the split bathroom. Disney had by far the most smoking of any of the ships, whcih surprised me tremendously! We've also sailed on Costa and Princess. You can't beat the price with Costa!

 

[Green Tea]

I never really understood all the Puritan hoopla against a casino on a ship. They have been on all the ship's except The Magic and I never felt like I was going to have to join GA or that my children were in any way harmed. Any town you live in is going to have a bar; and you walk or drive by. I don't really see much what's the difference. Either you want to go in or you don't. They aren't pushing you in.

I don't gamble. I don't feel defiled by being on a ship that has a casino. It isn't like DCL isn't pushing the alcohol......

 

[cathyce2]

We have done 3 DCL and 8 RCCL over the past 5 years. Of course they each have things they do better than the other, but I can only justify the cost of DCL if we get a great deal (like the kids sail free from last year, or a FL resident rate). I think your older child will enjoy the RCCL activiteis more. And my 6 yr old strongly prefers RCCL for reasons I don't quite understand.
Either way you can't go wrong with a cruise!

 

[zalansky]

We've done both DCL and RCCL. We much prefer DCL. In all fairness, our son was 13 months old when we sailed RCCL - for a family reunion cruise so I didn't get much input into cruise line choice. As someone already mentioned, RCCL charges full childs fare for an infant. DCL does not. That burned me to pay all that money for an infant who was not participating in any childs program. It might have changed but at the time we sailed RCCL there is no nursery, only in room babysitting which is costly and one on one behind closed doors. I felt much more comfortable leaving my infant with the nursery on DCL. We didn't see many young kids on board RCCL, I am sure it depends on the time of year, we sailed in Feb, but we were one of the few with a baby.

I don't like gambling so I prefer no casino. There was definitely more smoking on RCCL. The food on DCL is way better IMO. Again just my opinion.

Because of the ages of your two younger kids, I would definitely be booking DCL. Whatever you decide, have fun planning and have a great trip!

 

[mjkacmom]

we are VERY new to this so excuse all the questions.

How do you book excursions on your own?

Almost all excursions the ship offers can be booked independently, for usually much less $. Now, if it was one a great distance away from the ship, and I would worry about getting back in time, I'd book through the ship. However, on our next cruise, we will do both a beach day and the Space Center (divide up) on our own, renting cars. In the Bahamas, we will take a cab to a hotel for a daypass (it's offered through the cruise for a lot more money). Go to cruisecritic, to the destinations boards, and you can get a lot of information (taking a cruise without cruisecritic is like going to WDW without the DIS).

 

[jessandtwo]

Which Royal Caribbean ship would you be on and when would you be going? Different ships have different amenities and they are adding some new things to a couple of the ships that are more for kids in the next few months.

The ship is what would determine my decision between Royal Caribbean and Disney.