DCL vs. RCCL

[jjgarv]

We are considering doing a RCCL 4 day cruise on the Majesty of the SEAS. We have done a 4 day and a 7 day Eastern, both on the MAgic. How do the two compare? Is RCCL a top cruise line?

 

[Minnie's Guy]

We are Disney crazy, through and through (as you can
see from all our visits). We did the 3-day Wonder,
and the 7-day Magic. We love Disney cruises BUT this
summer we are returning to RCCL for something different.
I guess you could say we are getting a little tired of
the same shows and the same menus. BUT, we are
definitely returning to Disney cruises in 2004, hoping they
change their menus and shows.

 

[justcruisin]

We did a 4 night Disney and a 7 night Royal Caribbean on the Explorer. We loved both ships, found the food and people on Disney to be better. (I mean the people, the CM's, were nicer) ... more smiles, more hello's ......

The Explorer is a great BIG ship. We didn't feel as comfortable letting the DS13 on his own at night on RCL. More smoke and drunk people on RCL.

I believe the Majesty is a smaller ship, so you may not have some of the ammenities of DCL or a larger RCL ship. FYI ... our table mates looked into dcl v rcl .. dcl was almost twice as much for a 4 night as rcl for 7 nights ---- that would be a deciding factor for us!

We are looking to do a 7 night DCL next summer. I don't believe there is anything as a bad cruise.

DS3 used flounders reef on dcl and did spend some time in adventure ocean, I found both kids programs great!

Enjoy!

 

[Gillian]

RCCL looks to be a better deal. They have a lot of different ships, so it's worth taking the time to research them before booking. They vary quite a bit. Both cruise lines have good reputations for service, food & kids clubs. If you have an infant, Disney has an edge in offering babysitting starting at 12 weeks. RCCL doesn't start until 1 year.

 

[tstobb]

Remember that RCCL uses their smaller & older ships on the 3 & 4 day trips so that low fare is for a 119 sq ft room vs the Wonder cat 11 or 12 at 184 sq ft. Magesty's "Larger Oceanview Stateroom" rooms (Cat D) come in at 157 sq ft.
LARGE price difference if that's not important (Expedia shows early May 4 day Cat Q, P or O on the Majesty at $349 and Cat 12 on the Wonder is $569).
Would LOVE to cruise on one of RCCL's Voyager class ships!

 

[Tay N Evie's Mom]

I asked my TA if there were any other cruise lines that would compare to the quality of DCL. The only 2 ships she could come up with were RCCL Explorer and Voyager. She said we would probably not be happy with any of the older ships out there and most shorter sailings are on older ships.

 

[buzz&woody'smom]

with the DIS forum's help and Michelle at DU. My best friend and I wanted a quick "mommy's away" weekend to save our minds

Any ship that does the 3 or 4 days on RCCL is an older ship with much smaller cabins. We priced the 3 day Wonder vs the 3 day RCCL Sovereign of Seas (Category D larger oceanview stateroom which is still small) one of the largest cabins and it was over $300 cheaper to do the RCCL than the Wonder so we are taking the plunge and cruising the RCCL SOS because of price.

The MOS is a sister ship to the Sovereign of the Seas but the MOS leaves from Miami and the SOS leaves from Port Canaveral but they sail the same route.

When I get back in August I will post. I love DCL and personally do not think the experience can be surpassed by many other cruise lines except maybe the RCCL Voyager ships.

Another good option was the 5 day Carnival Sensation that leaves from Tampa and stops in Grand Cayman and Cozumel. I have heard good things from relatives that are not party animals about this cruise and priced it myself for August. For a oceanview room Category B it ran under $600 a person and the ports are great though!

The RCCL MOS & SOS from the reviews I have read are hit or miss, people love it or hate it. I would suggest contacting DU (Michelle helped me) they beat everyone else's price on my RCCL (and DCL) and also gave frank and honest opinions about the differences etc.

Good luck!

 

[Univfire]

It was the only cruise I had ever been on, so I don't have much to compare it to.

However, I can tell you about my experience. I thought the staterooms were VERY small. We had an inside stateroom and it was me and my 3 siblings who were all "adult" sized. I thought the food was out of this world, fantastic. Another note about food though was that after a certain time everynight you couldn't find anything on the ship to eat. IF, I stress the IF, I remember correctly you couldn't even get room service the whole night. We were on a 7 nighter to the western caribbean, and they had the midnight buffet one night. The service in the diningrooms and in our rooms was great as well. There didn't seem to be a lot "happening" though on the ship if you didn't go to the casino past oh, 9 oclock. The pool water is sea water and it was drained everynight around 10 I believe. Another note about the pool is they are all one depth, about 4 feet or 4.5 feet deep but along the outter edge there is about 2 feet or so of space that is only ankle deep. The children played in the water there, under close supervision, b/c they were right on the edge of the "deeper" water. I was 18 yo. when we cruised and my brothers were 17, 16 and sister was 13. They NEVER hung out in the kids area and always said there was nothing to do in there. They did however enjoy the cruise very much and still can't stop talking about the fun we all had.

My mother and others in our party had cruised before on Carnival. They were very hard on the MOS I think. This and that didn't meet their standards...carnival was so much better...yada yada yada. I just blocked it out (my mom was not one who kept going on about it, she just stated a few things she liked better on the other line). Like I said it was my only cruise and I loved it.

Would I cruise on that ship again? Probably not. If I was invited to go with some others, or the price was right, yeah, I may consider it. I don't highly recommend this ship, BUT I highly recommend a cruise. Go with an open mind and have fun!

 

[Bev J]

We have sailed many times on RCCL and just loved every one of them. Of course no cruise is perfect but it is really what you make of it and dont harp on the small stuff. We sailed on the Wonder and had a great time also and it was the first with our kids. To compare the two we just did not feel that DCL offered much for Adults and my hubby really missed the casino. Food comparison was in favor of RCCL. Our 6 year old had a blast in the clubs.
If you are looking for a 4 day you might want to look at the Nordic Empress also, just a beautiful ship, but you would have the extra cost of flying to San Juan
The Monarch of the Seas offeres some really nice iteneries in the western caribbean. For the price you save over DCL you can get a nicer cabin and go to nicer islands than Nassau and Freeport.
Try some of the internet cruise sites for great discounts.

 

[SuperDisneyDad]

We've cruised RCCL MANY times (I actually met my wife on RCCL in Alaska many years ago). We've enjoyed every cruise on RCCL. We were on the Majesty of the Seas in 1999 and found it to be a VERY nice ship. The Majesty is comparible in size to the DCL ships (880 ft. long vs. the Magic & Wonder 964 ft long) and is 11 decks high (same as DCL). We had a Cat. D stateroom which is an outside view (no verandah). The cabin was smaller than on DCL, larger than the industry standard, but storage space was not a problem at all. Food was always very good and service was excellent. I, too, feel that you get more smiles and "hello's" on DCL, but RCCL does a VERY nice job. Definitely our second choice of cruise lines.