I've done 3 DCL (no Fantasy yet) and 2 RCCL (Allure and Splendour). Splendour vs DCL was no comparison, hands down DCL wins that battle (it can barely be called a battle it's such a run away). The ship was fine (and I actually prefer the smaller DCL ships) but lack luster, and the service was mediocre at best, very slow, shows were amateurish and I felt like there was not a lot to do. They were friendly, but slow. The food had a wider range from good to fair than Disney (to me in MDR it's good to almost good on DCL). But the ports it took us to were great, but not nearly as organized as DCL and we felt we got bad info left and right and everyone had a different answer to things (like what deck do we get off the ship on?). Overall if that was my only RCCL I'd probably pass unless I got a great deal. Now, I've also done the Allure (one of the newer big ships) and really liked what it had to offer. SO many activities, and the service was comparable to DCL and the food very good. I will say I don't like my time dining either, I like the rotation of the DCL restaurants for variety but having my routine and serves with me
(for my time dining unless you had one of the rotations you would miss parts of the shows); but that is correctable with a fixed seating next time since they offer both. But, the thing I didn't like was that I felt nickel and dimed. I know there are a couple things on DCL you pay more for, but it seemed like probably half the things had an upcharge that you might have to keep track of (no upcharge at breakfast, but one at lunch or dinner; $5 to eat at the Sushi restaurant and then additionally ala cart pricing that really was kind of expensive sushi). You want a coke with dinner, that will cost you. It just really felt like you had to think about spending more money or not and I don't want that kind of pressure on a vacation, I'd rather pay a bit more up front (DCL) that have to decide if something is worth the upcharge or not. And I like to bring my alcohol and enjoy a happy hour drink in my room. We saw this upcharge a little on Splendour, but either I didn't notice it as much since that was my second RCCL OR because there were less options there were less things with a surcharge so it didn't come up as often. I would suggest researching the ship, and I suspect the bigger the ship the better the cruise (better staff, more activities, newer), but know that comes with somewhat of a price (just as DCL comes at a price). Would I do RCCL again, certainly. In your shoes I'd go with itinerary!
(for my time dining unless you had one of the rotations you would miss parts of the shows); but that is correctable with a fixed seating next time since they offer both. But, the thing I didn't like was that I felt nickel and dimed. I know there are a couple things on DCL you pay more for, but it seemed like probably half the things had an upcharge that you might have to keep track of (no upcharge at breakfast, but one at lunch or dinner; $5 to eat at the Sushi restaurant and then additionally ala cart pricing that really was kind of expensive sushi). You want a coke with dinner, that will cost you. It just really felt like you had to think about spending more money or not and I don't want that kind of pressure on a vacation, I'd rather pay a bit more up front (DCL) that have to decide if something is worth the upcharge or not. And I like to bring my alcohol and enjoy a happy hour drink in my room. We saw this upcharge a little on Splendour, but either I didn't notice it as much since that was my second RCCL OR because there were less options there were less things with a surcharge so it didn't come up as often. I would suggest researching the ship, and I suspect the bigger the ship the better the cruise (better staff, more activities, newer), but know that comes with somewhat of a price (just as DCL comes at a price). Would I do RCCL again, certainly. In your shoes I'd go with itinerary!
