DCL vs Royal Caribbean, Opinion after traveling on both

[eskimoinparadise]

thank you for the review, we will be going on our first rcl next year.
when you say' most everything is included, not like having to pay for many things on rcl' what were you referring to? I keep reading that but when I investigated all I saw was the pop that had to be paid for. what else is there? I want to make sure I know what i'm getting into.

The only thing that's "included" on Disney that is an extra cost on RCL is the soda package (~$8/day).

 

[perditax]

You do realize that you chose the most expensive cruise on any cruise line - New Years Eve cruises on any line should never be used to make price comparisons.

Yes, I "do" realize it's an expensive time of year. But the point is not how expensive they are, the point is that for the same amount of money you get a lot more product from DCL on a very similar 7-day Caribbean sailing on the same date.

I've made it clear elsewhere in the thread that I know it's more of an exception than the rule. It doesn't make it not interesting, and it's very relevant for someone who is shopping a cruise for that time frame.

 

[ldo]

We are usually cruise shopping during the Christmas/NYE frame--for the price for one week 2015 cruises just in an OV for 4 person, we decided to buy DVC instead! The cruise price for RCCL was 50% of our (resale) purchase price for 160 points and the price for DCL was closer to 70%.

 

[perditax]

I'm pretty new to the cruise game, but it sounds like travel spending and cruise spending is WAY up lately, I guess because of the improved economy, and the lines that aren't jacking up base costs are playing all sorts of shenanigans with things like specialty dining (lowering the quality of buffet and MDR food to get you into the specialty restaurants, which also now cost a lot more), increased auto-gratuities, extra room service costs (a la carte pricing and significant 'convenience fees'), big alcoholic drink price increase across the board on RCCL, etc. NCL seems to be the worst of the offenders, in the sense that people who already paid for a cruise are losing things that should have been included. For example, if you booked a cruise before NCL added their $8 room service charge, you're still going to pay that charge even though it didn't exist when you first booked.

Short version: I feel like I picked the wrong year to get into this hobby.

 

[ldo]

Well, it can still be a good value, IMHO. I really can't take a comparable week-long land trip in the Carib with 2 teens for $3K over Easter, when you consider lodging, food, entertainment. And, even a trip to WDW, staying onsite with food and park tickets is easily at least $3K for the same week. I just did the math for staying in an (almost free) timeshare, and when I add flights to the Carib vs. to Fla, food, rental car, etc. I am at the same or higher price, plus my teens can have free roam of the ship and we have nightly shows/activities. Even with the extras, for a family of 4, I think it is less than it was 5-10 years ago. But, we aren't going to pay $15 for a drink or order a lot of room service and we will eat at the MDR for at least 1/2 the nights. NCL just ran a promo that specialty dining was free for all nights of the cruise. An OV for 4 (3rd and 4th were "free") for a 7 day W.Carib. spring break 2017 was $2200 for 4. That would be a very tight squeeze. But, there is no way I would have gotten that rate for a week-long cruise 5 years ago.

 

[eskimoinparadise]

Yes, I "do" realize it's an expensive time of year. But the point is not how expensive they are, the point is that for the same amount of money you get a lot more product from DCL on a very similar 7-day Caribbean sailing on the same date.

I've made it clear elsewhere in the thread that I know it's more of an exception than the rule. It doesn't make it not interesting, and it's very relevant for someone who is shopping a cruise for that time frame.

Taking your logic, I did a comparison of Oasis and Fantasy for 3/5/16 (since all of the cabin categories on both lines were still available and are not in "price escalation" mode, and this is a spring break week, and a cat 5a (best non-family balcony cabin) on DCL is $1900 ($4921) more than a cat D2 ($3066) (best non-family balcony cabin) on Oasis.

A two story Crown Loft suite on that cruise is $1800 less than a cat V on Disney

 

[perditax]

Taking your logic, I did a comparison of Oasis and Fantasy for 3/5/16 (since all of the cabin categories on both lines were still available and are not in "price escalation" mode, and this is a spring break week, and a cat 5a (best non-family balcony cabin) on DCL is $1900 ($4921) more than a cat D2 ($3066) (best non-family balcony cabin) on Oasis.

A two story Crown Loft suite on that cruise is $1800 less than a cat V on Disney

I'm sorry that my post about the interesting pricing of the original two cruises I mentioned has annoyed you so much, although to be fair I knew it would bug some people.

I'll reiterate my intent of sharing the info: People should always double-check and not assume one line is ALWAYS cheaper than the other.

 

[eskimoinparadise]

I'm sorry that my post about the interesting pricing of the original two cruises I mentioned has annoyed you so much, although to be fair I knew it would bug some people.

I'll reiterate my intent of sharing the info: People should always double-check and not assume one line is ALWAYS cheaper than the other.

I will simplify it for you. Your original post had little to do with interesting pricing, but was intended to validate your statement, "But the point is not how expensive they are, the point is that for the same amount of money you get a lot more product from DCL on a very similar 7-day Caribbean sailing on the same date."

I am simply pointing out that statement is not based on fact, but on a single, pre-selected cruise designed solely to support your contention.

 

[Kenny1113]

We have also sailed DCL 4X and RCCL 5X. We strongly prefer DCL, for big production show entertainment, free movie theater with 1st run movies, better food in MDR, better buffet, and that Disney feeling. But, RCCL is a good product. I have also had inefficient and "sorry about that" staff on RCCL, but usually find "we'll try our best to fix it" staff on DCL. When we say we are going on DCL, the kids (now young teens) are thrilled, when we say RCCL, they are "OK, but where does the ship go?" Also, the teen 12+ areas are not staff during the day, so there is no hang out place like on DCL. I also thought that they did not do a good job with the outdoor Movie screen--played sports/poker most days. We like a set schedule with some moves during the day/evening. The 2 movies show on a 5 day cruise were during dinner 1 night and at 10pm another night. But, there was a 3D movie in the production theater on a sea day.
I find there is a big difference in pricing for holidays, such as Christmas/Easter and in August in the Carib, when most other cruises are much less $$. Such as next Easter:
$3k for 8 day Carib with 4 port stops on RCCL bigger ship (not the newer ones) for family of 4 in OV cabin. The cabin will be smaller and offer no privacy (bunk beds over twin beds) and no split bath.
$3500 Wonder 5 days OV to CC and Cozumel. Better cabin layout, better bathroom.
$8K for Fantasy--balcony (all that is available), but when I priced it a while back, an OV for 4 was about $6K. That is a Starwars cruise, so I would add a premium to that if I had any big fans, and might have splurged for $6K (double the price of RCCL).
If we REALLY wanted DCL, would have considered the 5 day Wonder, but the kids voted that 4 port days trumped DCL, so it's RCCL for us, with somewhat lower expectations. We will really miss the movie theater and the fun dining experience. The "extras" for us will be at least 2-3 nights of specialty dining--adds $100 per night for a family of 4 and soda, if we wanted. We don't really have many other extras on board--maybe a few frozen drinks, souvenirs, Johnny Rockets for 1 lunch or dinner for the kids.
For those considering RCCL, I give it a solid B, with lack of Movie theater C, unstaffed teen areas during the day C, and meh food some nights in MDR B-, and lower quality buffet B-, outdoor screen B-, smaller room C, balanced against the A+ price, climbing wall A, skating rink/ice show A, flowrider A, burgers for lunch B (instead of buffet), Johnny Rockets A, some good entertainment shows A, more ports/more days A. If you have active kids/teens who would use a lot of the unique sports options and you were on a Voyager, Freedom or + ship, then I would say it's definitely a B+.

This is us next spring break too! Except we have never taken RCCL as a family only DH and I (we'll give them a second chance) and wonder was $4k+ for the 4 of us. Like you we got the 8N RCCL for less than 3k. Hard to beat especially because I want to do eastern and have already done the W.carribean on the wonder 2 years in a row. I'm still nervous and not completely sold on the idea (especially after reading you and OP's opinions) but I really like the itinerary.
Food, service, and (now) things for kids to do are my concerns with RCCL.

 

[eskimoinparadise]

This is us next spring break too! Except we have never taken RCCL as a family only DH and I (we'll give them a second chance) and wonder was $4k+ for the 4 of us. Like you we got the 8N RCCL for less than 3k. Hard to beat especially because I want to do eastern and have already done the W.carribean on the wonder 2 years in a row. I'm still nervous and not completely sold on the idea (especially after reading you and OP's opinions) but I really like the itinerary.
Food, service, and (now) things for kids to do are my concerns with RCCL.

A lot depends on which ship you are on, what the ages of your children are, etc. We've done cruises on both lines with our grandsons, and by the time they were 12, they both preferred RCL over Disney. As for food and service, while both are highly subjective, we find the food in the dining rooms on RCL to be a bit better than DCL, the buffet's are comparable, but Disney wins hands down on the grab-n-go options. Service has been excellent on all of our cruises on both lines (10x Disney, and 25x on RCL), and we currently have 3 cruises booked on DCL and 4 on RCL through 2016, so we really don't have a preference, but choose based solely on itinerary when we want to travel.

 

[bumbershoot]

One of the most noticeable things was that RC doesn't have the same staff to passenger ratio that DCL does. That resulted in a noticeable lack of service in some areas, including keeping the tables clean in the buffet dining area and even vacuuming the dining room floors. Under our table, the crumbs kept piling up and a coffee stir stick was there for five days before someone picked it up.

Some areas were not kept clean, including the public restrooms. Walls in the dining room were poorly wiped down, leaving huge ugly streaks. The hallways in the stateroom areas were constantly clogged with the cleaning gear for the housekeeping staff. Carts and vacuum cleaners were left all over the place.

The staff for the most part was friendly, but quite a few were not. In the Windjammer buffet, one server refused to refill the empty cream cheese container when I asked him to, saying it was not his job.

Every port we stopped in on the Fantasy had the crew scrubbing and cleaning the ship, not once did the Freedom have any outside cleaning done, resulting in dirty windows on our balcony.

15 total nights on Disney Dream, and a 7 night on Freedom and 5 night on Vision (and a 7 night on Radiance 12 years ago but I barely remember it LOL), I have not encountered any differences like you did. No cleanliness differences, no helpfulness differences, except I tend to like the Royal staff more (apart from the no-longer-with-Disney Wensdae).

Windjammer...anyone who has had a job knows that there are responsibilities with each job. It's always better to let staff know that something needs *to be done*, rather than "YOU need to do it".

But I prefer DCL, definitely a bit more expensive cruise, but most everything is included, not like having to pay for many things on RC, even soda.

What did you pay for on Royal, other than soda, that you didn't pay for on Disney?



As for kid's clubs, my son likes royal better. It might not be as visually stunning, but the staff are excellent and are very personable. They have gotten to know my son by the second day in the club, and they happily greet him by name outside the club. On both Royal cruises they've mixed the 6-8s and 9-11s, but kept the kids age-appropriate and having FUN. And they don't talk down to the older kids, like DS tells me they do on Disney. I bet it happens on Disney because they have 3 through 12 year olds in the same room, and sometimes the little kids want to do activities and the CMs don't know how to turn off their "talking to little kid" voice when dealing with a pre-teen.

 

[ldo]

Although my post seemed a bit negative, I was trying to give a heads up for what to expect (not) on a RCCL cruise from the perspective a somewhat picky DCL lover. And, I still gave it a solid B/B+. Would I sail DCL 100% of the time if it was the same $ as others--yes. Would I recommend RCCL to a family wanting a cheaper alternative--yes, esp. the larger ships. Also, FWIW, my kids at ages 8-10 preferred RCCL kids clubs to DCL.

 

[tinkerone]

Although my post seemed a bit negative, I was trying to give a heads up for what to expect (not) on a RCCL cruise from the perspective a somewhat picky DCL lover. And, I still gave it a solid B/B+. Would I sail DCL 100% of the time if it was the same $ as others--yes. Would I recommend RCCL to a family wanting a cheaper alternative--yes, esp. the larger ships. Also, FWIW, my kids at ages 8-10 preferred RCCL kids clubs to DCL.

i didn't think it was negative, i thought it was informative. since we will be going on our first rccl next year i'm very interested in what others have to say. also, as a dcl lover as well, i love when people compare the two. it always helps to know what we are getting into.
thank you for the post.

 

[ldo]

thanks, IMHO, RCCL is an excellent value for families--just different expectations. If I had outgoing, sports oriented teens, I might even rank RCCL above DCL.

 

[pillow]

Just want to add something here as I've priced out both RCCL (we almost booked for Alaska) and DCL in the past . . . There are various ways to "discount" a DCL cruise. For example, many purchase Disney gift cards at a discount, book with Costco, rebook onboard for 10% discount. When I priced out our Alaska trip, initially RCCL came in cheaper. However, after factoring in all of my gift card "discounts," DCL was less. It takes some work, but there are discounts to be had, which bring the price down considerably. Having said that, I would like try RCCL on of these days (Princess too). Happy cruising!

Jodie

 

[mcd2745]

Anytime I've compared prices for the two lines, it has never even been close. DCL is always much, much higher. This August, for example, we are doing a 7-nt on the Freedom of the Seas...2A, 2C (13 & 10 yrs old). It's just under $2,900 for a brand new "panoramic" oceanview room (floor to celing windows - pic below) just added in her recent dry dock. An ocenview on DCL's Fantasy the same week is over $7000 and Oasis of the Seas is about $5000. I've yet to come across a time where DCL wasn't at least $2000 more than RCCL.

 

[pillow]

Anytime I've compared prices for the two lines, it has never even been close. DCL is always much, much higher. This August, for example, we are doing a 7-nt on the Freedom of the Seas...2A, 2C (13 & 10 yrs old). It's just under $2,900 for a brand new "panoramic" oceanview room (floor to celing windows - pic below) just added in her recent dry dock. An ocenview on DCL's Fantasy the same week is over $7000 and Oasis of the Seas is about $5000. I've yet to come across a time where DCL wasn't at least $2000 more than RCCL.

Wow! Beautiful room. What category and room # is that? I want to go check it out. Thanks!

Jodie

 

[Crystal O_o]

I just booked an Alaskan cruise with RCCL because the difference for a balcony was 4k for a family of 4. RCCL is about 5500 where DCL is about 9500.00

 

[tinkerone]

Anytime I've compared prices for the two lines, it has never even been close. DCL is always much, much higher. This August, for example, we are doing a 7-nt on the Freedom of the Seas...2A, 2C (13 & 10 yrs old). It's just under $2,900 for a brand new "panoramic" oceanview room (floor to celing windows - pic below) just added in her recent dry dock. An ocenview on DCL's Fantasy the same week is over $7000 and Oasis of the Seas is about $5000. I've yet to come across a time where DCL wasn't at least $2000 more than RCCL.

NICE! i'll be looking into that. thats amazing!

 

[eskimoinparadise]

Wow! Beautiful room. What category and room # is that? I want to go check it out. Thanks!

Jodie

Under RCCL's naming conventions, it would be a POV category. On Voyager and Freedom class ships that have been through the latest dry dock - (I believe that would be Navigator, Explorer, and Freedom so far) they're on deck 12. On Vision class ships, they're on deck 7 and 8