DCL vs RCI a point by point comparison

[NHdisneylover]

The players:
The Disney Magic
The Royal Caribbean Liberty of the Seas

We sailed the very last Disney Med cruise this year (leaving 25 August) and literally walked from it to the Liberty of the seas to take ITS 7 day Med cruise right afterwards (leaving 3 September).

In both cases we had booked inside staterooms and the price difference was less than $75 per stateroom between the lines.

Both cruises visited: Villefranche, Civitavechia and Naples. Both visited a gateway to Pisa/FLorence port (Disney visits La Spezia and RCI Livorno). DCL also visited Palma and RCI Touloun.

So, we are talking about virtually identical itineraries, for virtually the same price at virtually the same time of year--I thought it would be a good way to make some comparisons.

Overall I will say that we truly enjoyed both cruises. They were pretty different experiences, but both very good in their own ways. We had had a terrible RCI experience (our first time on the line) over Easter. I am happy to say that we did not experience any of the same problems this time around and that cruise seems to have truly been a fluke.

I will try to compare a variety of categories. If there is something I do not think to put in that you would like to see, just ask.

 

[NHdisneylover]

The Disney Magic is a lovely ship built in that classic ocean liner vein. I love her and I always will. She combines a feeling of elegance and whimsy in just the right balance. I think the Magic looks beautiful floating out at sea when you are in port and I love the feeling of being AT sea that you get when you are onboard. As always, every thing was in great condition and super clean.

The Liberty of the Seas has a lot more flash and less elegance. From the outside she looks like a giant floating warehouse However, once you get past the shock of being on a ship designed to feel like a mall and not a ship, there are some pretty cool looking spaces. The one place to find old world ship's elegance is the one place Disney does not do that--the main dining room. The three story room with it's impressive chandelier and large windows looking out to sea on each level does have that old time elegance feel and is just lovely. Everything was also clean and well kept on this ship.

There is no winner or loser in this category--just differences

 

[NHdisneylover]

The inside rooms on DCL are MUCH MUCH MUCH roomier than those on RCI.

We have managed with 4 in an inside room on DCL, but generally have 2 rooms of 2.

I would never NEVER cruise with more than 2 people in an interior RCI room. They are beyond tiny. Things are not set up quite right either. You canNOT turn on the bathroom light from inside the bathroom. The switch is not just outside the door, but on the other side from the hinged door so that you cannot simply reach out and get it. You have to exit. close the door behind you (or squeeze between the open door and closet) flip the switch then go back around and in. The Mariner had the same set up (and is not even the same class of ship!) so this must be fairly common on RCI). This sounds like a little thing, but it is one of those little things that drive you batty after a few days.

Other little things which drive you batty in an RCI interior room:
1.closet doors open out. If a closet door is open and someone tries to open the exterior door or bathroom door they will bang into each other.
2. The little bit of "aisle" space on either side of the bed is blocked from being entered by teh sofa on one side and desk on the other. So you have to crawl over the corner of the bed in order to get to where yo ucan walk along side of it (if beds are pushed together--we almost split ours just to avoid this annoyance). This is mostly an issue when the phone rings and really the only good way to get to it is to belly flop onto the bed

We also missed the split baths from DCL (we were cat 10s) but DID find the RCI showers (with DOORS instead of DCL's horrible attack curtains) to be the best we have encountered at sea (though there is no "edge" for a lady to raise a foot up on when shaving).


For decor, DCL has that nautical theming going that I so love. RCI just feels like a really tiny standard hotel room.

Little Details:
I love all of DCL's little details. Nightly towel animals, chocolates that I never eat on my pillow and GOOD quality and plentiful tolietries make htings feel nice.
I miss the chocolates and really miss the tolietries (there is bar soap and a "all in one" thing in a dispenser in the shower--feels like being at the Y not a luxury ) on RCI. Towel animals are every other night (fleetwide we are told).
RCI DOES have much nicer, fluffier towels though

Overall DCL wins this category hands down

 

[NHdisneylover]

Disney: As per their reputation, we had outstanding service in almost all areas on Disney. A great stateroom host (Jonathon), a great server (Agus) and an assistant server who really went above and beyond anything we have ever experienced even on Disney (Garon), etc. The vast majority of crew you encountered ANYwhere on board was super friendly and professional and the Cruise Staff (especially James) cannot be beat for energy and enthusiasm. The only blemish, and it was a BIG one was the rebooking agent Russle who is quite possibly the worst employee we have ever encountered at Disney and certainly the worst with the cruise line

RCI: Unlike our previous Easter experience, we encountered mostly excellent service here as well In fact, we had the best stateroom host we have EVER had (Collin) on this cruise. Most everyone was nice and very professional. There were a few more rough edges though with the big problem areas being one member of the cruise staff (JP) and the entire staff at Johnny Rockets (super slow, seemed bored and not interested, never sang or danced in our visit or our friends' two visits and that is supposed to be there "thing" etc).

Overall, DCL wins but it is actually pretty close

 

[eeyorefanuk]

Thanks for doing this, our first cruise was disney this year, and I am not sure if I have got the cruising bug or just the disney magic bug Look forward to hearing more

 

[PrincessYessenia]

Interesting review. Thanks for sharing...Any more?

 

[NHdisneylover]

Food on both lines was really quite good. I would say the quality of the meals was the same in both places.

Being a picky eater, I actually found more things I wanted to eat (and better salads) on RCI, but both had plenty for me and for the adventurous eaters in my family. RCI also had much better tasting desserts in teh opinions of my entire family.

DCL has the HUGE advantage of the dining rotation, which we really love.

Water, hot tea and coffee were the ONLY included beverages you could get on RCI unless you had bought a soda card. Even the lemonade, iced tea and flavoured waters available in the buffet cannot be ordered at dinner. I found that annoying and felt like I was being nickled and dimed.

On DCL dinner is a production. You just need to plan on a minimum of one and a half hours and more like 2 to eat. Expect multiple courses and a gazillion pieces of flatware to come out. Enjoy the shows. NOTE--some of the shows had been dropped this year from last (like, Beauty and the Beast did not visit Lumieres and the Princesses did not stop by in the Prince and Princess dinner--we were okay with that, but missed it some and the HEAVILY European passenger list was overall really out to see the ship and the characters and not the port and were clearly disappointed to miss out there. The shows we did get were well done and fun though).
RCI is less of a production. You can draw dinner out and take your time if you want to (though the couple of "shows" they did involved forcing the poor wait staff to stand on the stairs and try to sing and were really more sad than anything else--so there is no reason to stay for those) but you can also be in and out fast if you prefer. I am torn as to what is better. I love the long dinners, but it was nice to have a faster one once in a while too.

Overall, mostly due to the theming, Disney wins here but it is very close

 

[NHdisneylover]

I have never been in Topsiders when it is very easy to find a table. Nor have I been when the floor is not sticky and there is no line for food. Not that I have been in Topsiders all that often--because I find it such a hassle that I avoid it whenever possible I was there twice on this past cruise and my desire to avoid the only semi fresh food, crowds, lines and stickiness remains

RCI's buffet area (probably due to the larger ship size and newer ship design) is SO much better set up. There is never one long line because it is not set up as one long line. There are "pods" or sections and it is really easy to go up to just the section you want, wait in a short line (if there is any line at all) and grab something. So, you do not feel all crowded and jostled and you do not spend long in line AND you can easily get just a salad to start, go up later for an entree, go back for some more of whatever it is you loved and then go back again for dessert. I like this set up. The buffet food also seems much fresher than on DCL. Drink stations were easy to get to and there was ample seating available as well even on crowded breakfasts days in port.

RCI wins this one handsdown

 

[NHdisneylover]

Here seems like as good of a place as any for me to state, that while I know it is the industry standard, I HATE the stupid soda card thing and I applaud DCL for getting away from that and having the drink station on deck 9 (and soda in the buffet and at dinner). Go Disney Though we never actually wanted room service at 3:00 a.m., I also like that DCL has free room service 24 hours (RCI charges between--I think it was midnight and5:00 a.m.).

The food variety at quick service locations is much better on Disney--with a lot more "hot" options (pizza was the only warm item on RCI) and seeming more substantial overall. I was dissapointed that the chicken fingers (which I like but have never loved the way some do here) were changed and were not very good at all now(was the a Med thing? Last year in the med we had the old ones).
All of DCL's quick service food is around the pool. I actually do not like that. I am not fond of eating while in swimming attire, so there is no appeal for me there, and I do not care for having to carry my food on the open deck (where the breeze cools it quickly) and navigate around a bunch of running,wet kids while carrying it just to grab a bite to eat.
RCI has two quick service places. Both are inside down on the promenade deck and one is open 24 hours. I really like the one being open 24 hours, so that there is ONE place you know you can always get a bite to eat. Again though, pizza is the only hot item (and that is NOT open 24 hours).

Overall: Quick service food quality is about the same, selection is better on DCL and where it is and when it is open is better on RCI. Room service is better on DCL because it is always free and they have Mickey Bars

 

[NHdisneylover]

Okay, I am running low on time. I will be back in a few hours and still plan to compare:
main production shows
minor shows
live music
cruise staff activities
pool areas
other deck areas/activities
teen and tween activities (sorry no experiences with the younger ones to share)

is there anything else people want?

 

[HermanTriplets+1]

Great opportunity for us to see a real comparison- thanks!
Looking forward to the upcoming installments...

 

[eeyorefanuk]

Hi,

The soda card, how much did you have to pay for this per person for the week? So if you did not buy this beforehand all the soft drinks even at meals you had to pay for?

Could you also pre pay for alcohol?

Cannot wait for further updates, going to DH this tonight as we have just gone and got a RC brochure to look at

 

[NHdisneylover]

Thanks for the positive feedback so far

All of the Disney production shows are similar in that they are all in the main theatre, they are all typical"musicals" and all involve lots of Disney characters. There is a lot of really good singing and dancing and acting, instrumental music is allprerecorded. The plots (with the exception of Villains Tonight) are engaging and fun. Sets and costuming are complex, and eye pleasing and there is liberal use of special effects throughout. All are feel good shows which leave you with a Happily Ever After feeling.
Of note as these were European sailing (and in fact Americans were not the most represented nationality on board our sailing): all shows would be enjoyable if one did not speak the language due to their pageantry, but all would lose a lot then as well.
Disney had 4 main production shows on their week long MedCruise:
Twice Charmed
Villians Tonight
The Art of the Story
Disney Dreams

RCI shows were very different. One was a classic musical type show based on the movie Staying Alive. I thought it was VERY well done. Amazing dancing (better than on DCL), excellent acting and singing and instrumental music provided by a live orchestra. Sets were also quite well done. That said, it is a depressing plot that leaves you with a blah feeling that you really do not want on vacation--and it is probably too much for many children. Like the DCL shows,if you did not understand English this would lose a lot (probably more than the DCL shows where seeing a character is a thrill no matter what).
Another show was an aerial show also held in the main theatre. I expected to get bored quickly in this since Cirque type things do not usually interest me. I was pleasantly surprised that I enjoyed this show. They did enough very different things, with enough very different sets and different types of music to maintain my interest. Anyone speaking any language could enjoy this show.
The third show was RCI's trademark--an ice show. I have to say, we were impressed. Well choreographed, fun, great costumes, some very talented people (one pairs couple and the guest star in particular). We had a blast at this show (and again, no language barrier if that is an issue).

A related note is that DCL schedules things to make it VERY easy to see your show and dinner every night. RCI really does not. The ice show runs four times throughout the week because the theatre is so small. You prereserve a show time online (same for the other shows, but they only ran twice). The times do not coordiante all that well with fixed seating dining and we had to rush through dinner some to make it (but the staff can dothat for you better on RCIthan on DCL).

Overall, Disney wins this one, but it is MUCH closer than I would have expected. If RCI had a stage show with a more vacation and family friendly feel to it I would have a harder time making the call.

 

[NHdisneylover]

Hi,

The soda card, how much did you have to pay for this per person for the week? So if you did not buy this beforehand all the soft drinks even at meals you had to pay for?

Could you also pre pay for alcohol?

Cannot wait for further updates, going to DH this tonight as we have just gone and got a RC brochure to look at

The soda card was $6.95 per adult per day plus VAT and an automatic 15% gratuity (so it came to about $70 for the week). So, with the cost of soda cards, had we bought them for everyone RCI would have been slightly more expensive than DCL for us.
That is correct, NO soda whatsoever is included (even at meals) otherwise. At the buffet, iced tea, lemonade and two flavours of flavoured water were included (and juice at breakfast).

My understanding is that there are some all you can drink alcohol packages now--but that they were not offered on our cruise. I do not know what they would cost. Sorry.

 

[eeyorefanuk]

Really loving this comparison, thanks again, most admit was surprised that the two prices were very similar - look forward to more

 

[sleepydog25]

Thanks for the comparisons. Enjoying the read!

 

[NHdisneylover]

Something I forgot to mention under dining:

On the 7 night Med cruise DCL had one formal night and no semi formal nights

RCI had 2 formal nights (one designated "formal" black and white) and one semi formal night

Personally, we enjoy dressing up. So, we prefer the higher frequency f those nights on RCI. In both cases, we found the European cruisers, overall, more likely to dress for dinner and really loo nice--which made for an upscale feel in the evenings on those nights that we enjoyed.

 

[MagicMe]

Hadley - really loving the comparisons! Glad you enjoyed both cruises!!

 

[NancyIL]

Really great comparison so far - thanks!

 

[ash-n-brensmom]

Can't wait to read the rest!! Very informative!!