DCL vs RCCL megaship?

[tinkfan]

We have been on 3 previous Disney cruises with our children. The 3,4 and 7 day. We are currently booked on the 10 day Christmas 2004 cruise. My preteen daughter ( will be 13 by the time we cruise again) really wants to go on one of the RCCL megaships. The Voyager and Navigator offer 10 & 9 day cruises during the same time frame. Has anyone been on either of these ships? When looking at the price it seems like I would have to book a Junior suite to be compatable with our cat 6 verandah room and its almost $3.000 more. I am very happpy staying with DCL, but told her I would explore our options. She thinks with ice-skating, putt-putt etc onboard there will be soo much more to do. Are these things included in the cruise price? I also have a son who will be 11 and will be looking for activities. If anyone has any informtion I'd appreciate it. I have been searching other cruise boards and reading reviews, but I really want an opinion from someone who has maybe been on both Disney and RCCL and can compare. Thanks!

 

[Hopkins]

We went on the Adventure of the Seas (a Voyager Class ship, too) and the ice skating rink, in-line skating, rock wall, basket ball, mini-golf, ping-pong, board game room,... are all free. It has a Johnny Rockets on-board and the hamburgers are free with the exception of the shakes. Once you sit down, they serve you onion rings, fries and water. Then they take your order and bring you more fries and onion rings with your meal and drinks. The dance to the wacky music, too. Fun! Lots of activities to do on the mega RCCL ships.

We just love DCL, both the Wonder and the Magic, but the mega ships of RCCL and exceptional. I'd say,"go on RCCL for once".

Sorry, Disney, build a mega ship like RCCL, too. And this is advice is coming from a pro-Disney, DVC member, Mickey mouse wearing, dedicated Mickey Disney room in my home person. Just build a ship like RCCL, but with "Disney class".
Tina

 

[tinkfan]

We just love DCL, both the Wonder and the Magic, but the mega ships of RCCL and exceptional. I'd say,"go on RCCL for once".

Tina-
Thanks so much for the info. This is just what I was looking for.
We are huge Disney lovers, dvc members also. Btw, I am a Tina too!
How did you feel the cabin size and price compared?

 

[Hopkins]

You'll not be disappointed with the size of the cabins, they are comparable to Disney, but the theming and quality (in my opinion) is way off. Disney does an excellent job with their room decor, RCI just OK (modern). The public spaces on the other hand and the vastness of them and the ship in general amenities, RCI wins. I'm not saying that DCL's ship isn't nice, they are, but compared to the mega ships activities and public spaces.

The price of RCI is less for the same type of room. The shows are about the same. Some are better on one ship and some on the other. Depends which one. Velvet Rope and the Ice Show were outstanding! Can't stop the Rock was just OK. The variety show are funny. The comedy shows were on to late at night for us since we woke up very early (we missed those, sorry to say). That's a nice thing about Disney, the shows are basically before 10PM. The comedy show on RCI started at 11PM and since we woke at 6:30AM for morning activities, it was way too late. There definitely is a late crowd and and early crowd on RCI. On Disney it's about the same. I mean way late!

Tina

 

[Hopkins]

Even though the RCI ship is 3100 passengers, they move the crowds very efficiently, with the exception of debarkation. Prebook all shore excursions via your home computer, in-room tv or in-person at the shore excursion desk. The sooner the better. Home computer is the best! The idea is to wait in the least amount of lines. Fill out your embarkation forms before you arrive at the terminal on-line and you get to by-pass a lot of people who haven't at the terminal. At debarkation, you disembark by flight times. The earliest leaves first. So, if you are staying over in port, you will be the LAST off the ship. Book a shore excursion at that port and you will be the first off the ship (with your luggage). We made this mistake in San Juan. We waited 3 1/2 hrs to disembark, a nightmare! That really is the only complaint. Had we book a shore excursion, we would have been first off and gone to see something.

Tina, too

 

[TnRobin]

I know you say the room size is comparable, but that is not what I was told by the a RCCL sales agent. I had called to inquire about rooms for a Hawaiian Cruise. I was told I would have to get a Deluxe Outside Cabin with a veranda, if I wanted DS to have a sleeper sofa. If I get any cheaper cabin, his bed would fold out over mine and DH's bed.

This little fact changes my thoughts that RCCL is cheaper than Disney as I am not going to spend a cruise with my son sleeping in a bunk above my bed.

 

[Hopkins]

That's a good point. The sofa isn't a sleeper. The bunkbeds are over the main beds. A small difference, but a major sleeping arrangement problem. We don't have kids.

She's correct! We were in an inside cabin and our sofa wasn't a sleeper. There were two bunk beds over the main bed, but there still was a sofa with built-ins, refrigerator (stocked), coffee table. The room lay-out wasn't "that" different than DCL except were the beds came out of the ceiling.

On the positive side, if someone wants to watch tv on the sofa and the others want to sleep, draw the curtains in the "sleeping area". It creates a sleeping area and a tv sitting area instead of two bedrooms. It's just like the discussion about people not liking the split bathroom. Never knowing were their things are.

Just a thought.

Tina

 

[Hopkins]

I believe this is true throughout the ship, the bath tub/shower combo that DCL has is replaced by a single shower in RCI mega-ship. No-split bath on RCI, either.

Just a thought.

Do what you feel is correct for you.

I love Disney's ships and I love the mega-ships of RCI (voyager class)!

Tina

 

[Mjasp]

All the cabins have the bunks over the main bed or is it just the inside cabins?

 

[mac_tlc]

TnRobin - Which Voyager-class ship is going to Hawaii? They re too wide to fit through the Panama Canal... Is it a Radiance-class ship you inquired about ?

In a thread a while back I posted a link to my comparison of the Disney ships to the Voyager-class vessels. E-mail me and I can give you the link..

I agree with Hopkins .. The Voyager-class ships are exceptional. We are also Disney-holics, DVC memebrs for 11 years, been to WDW over 30 times, yada, yada, yada.. The Voyager-class ships have much more for adults to do, many more activities .. The only thing they lack is a good-size movie theater and Disney Dreams !

Usually, for a comparable sailing date and category, RCCL is almost always several hundred cheaper than DCL..

mac_tlc

 

[TnRobin]

I don't remember the name exactly, but it alternates between Alaska and Hawaii so it doens't have to go through the canal.

We had actually checked into RCCL for the Carribean too. We wanted to do the South Carribean. This was prior to the 10day cruise. The cabins setup was similar for both the Hawaii and Carribean.

We have friends who have done RCCL and loved it, but both couples went without kids. If we decide to try RCCL, it will be either without DS or at a time we can afford a family stateroom.

 

[musicgirl]

I haven't been on RCCL to compare, but we just went through this situation as well. We thought with all the activities and it being cheaper that we would go with RCCL. We have not been on a 7-day anywhere. We've done the Wonder twice, so we know what to expect. It was a tough decision, but we decided to stick with Disney. In the end, RCCL was only about $100 cheaper. We discover this when we talked directly with agents from both lines. The quotes that I got on-line from various companies including RCCL own site were not accurate.

Obviously you've had the opportunity to experience DCL on 3 different trips. We would eventually like to explore the other lines on the mega ships as well. Good luck in your decision, I'm sure you'll have fun no matter what.

For those of you looking into cruises, make sure you know exactly what is included in the price quoted. What we found is that some on-line quotes do not include port charges, insurance and transfers. By the time all of these things are included, you may find that it is not as cheap as you might have thought.

 

[Mjasp]

I agree that DCL isn't as expensive as everyone thinks but when there is a BIG price difference is during the school breaks in the East. Presidents week, Easter Week and Christmas break.

 

[mac_tlc]

TnRobin -- It was not a Voyager-class vessel then, they only do the Caribbean. Could have been a Radiance-class (Radiance of the Seas), which does the Caribbean in the winter and Alaska in the summer, with a couple of Hawaii cruises on the way up the left coast.. or possibly the Vision of the Seas or Legend of the Seas which do the same ....

mac_tlc

 

[TnRobin]

I looked up my notes. The Hawaii trip was on Radiance of the Sea, built in 2001. The Carribbean trip was to be on Voyager of the Seas, built in 1999. On both options, the RCCL rep indicated that the rooms would be configured the same and I would have to get a more expensive room to ensure that DS had a bed which did not fold out over mine.

It was an accident that I even found out about the bed configuration. I only post this so that people with kids know what they are getting. Those in balconey staterooms will not have to worry, but those of us who try to cruise cheap, just need to be aware.

Other than that I would love to try RCCL, especially the mega ships.

 

[musicgirl]

The RCCL that we were quoted was for the new ship Mariner for 6-04. I do believe this is also a Voyager class.

 

[dbond]

The Mariner of the Seas is a new RCCL ship, launch date January 2004. She will sail the Caribbean out of Port Canaveral next year. We compared pricing for a 7-day March sailing on DCL and RCCL. We were able to get similar accommodations on RCCL $2000 less than DCL. The week we want to sail is the Eastern sailing on the Magic, we've done that itinerary before so RCCL, a different itinerary, the amenities of the Voyager class ships, a brand new ship and a $2K savings, there's not much to think about there!

 

[mac_tlc]

Good news for Voyager-class fans ... The inaugural lauch date for the Mariner of the Seas was recently advanced to November 16, 2003 .. One comment I have on the Mariner itineraries is that since they are sailing out of Port Canaveral, the Eastern itinerary does not stop at Labadee. The Western Caribbean iinerary does stop at Labadee... I would make an effort to do the Western to get that stop...

mac_tlc

 

[poopie]

RCCL July 4th cruise, while it was nice it is just NOT Disney.........