Disney more $ than RCC ?

[makaylee]

I have read quite a few threads in this board that say Disney is much more expensive than other cruise lines such as RCC. I figured it was worth a try to go on their web site and compare their price to Disneys for our chosen sail date. I never really thought I would leave Disney even if RCC proved to be cheaper since we had so much fun on our last sailing but, I was just curious. Well, Disney was about the same exact price once you took away the transfers and insurance Disney adds. I I do not believe RCC adds this, at least they didn't say they did. Any way it was the same price. What kind of deals have any of you out there gotten from RCC and where did you get them from. Do you think their website is that much more then a TA. I also noticed that they do charge you for the rock climbing, skating etc. Atleast they do on the Voyager of the seas. I remember someone on this board the other day said that it was free. Is this so on some of the other RCC ships maybe?

 

[wide awake]

I noticed the same thing on the prices. It could be that those are brochure prices that nobody actually pays, but I did a comparison for our 10/16 cruise and didn't see that I'd save any money. I am the cheapest person in the world, so if there is a bargain out there, someone let me know.

 

[Bev J]

Royal Caribbean is alot cheaper than DCL. We have just completed our 5 sail on RCI and had a great time. Now we had a great time on DCL also. But hubby likes the casino and for our family kids 8 and 17 RCI offered more to do. There is no charge for rock climbing, skating or mini golf. The voyager class ships are awsome!

We are booking the Mariner of the seas for next October and got one balcony cabin and an atrium cabin for the kids for $3100 total. Cruise, no airfare. The prices on the RCI site are pretty close to what you will get from a TA. Of course alot depends on the time you are traveling. We don't like to cruise when there are alot of kids so we avoid holidays and summer, the same for WDW we travel in the off season. Our kids have 1 week off in October so we take advantage of that week.

Now that the mariner is leaving from port canaveral we can sail RCI and still visit Mickey.

 

[DopeysGal]

Where did you see that there is a charge for the rock wall and ice skating? We were on Explorer of the Seas (a Voyager class ship) over Thanksgiving and there was no charge for those activities. Good thing too, as my DS13 spent most of his time up on the sports deck!

We had the Magic booked for Thanksgiving week, a SPH for $3150. I booked a balcony cabin on Explorer for $1966, both no transfers and no insurance. I did go through a TA, who saved me about $300 off the RCCL website price. My sister had a balcony and inside stateroom for her family, both for $3300. We love sailing on Disney but for the money, we had just as good a time on RCCL.

 

[makaylee]

The prices for rock climbing and skating were on RCC website. When I clicked on the Voyager of the Seas It was right there with the description of the ship. Maybe it has changed since they did the website I dont know but, it was there about an hour ago when I was on the site. Like I said RCCs price on the web was exactly the same as Disney for the date we are sailing and the same cabin, Ocean view. Disneys cabin is even a little bigger. Maybe their prices are cheaper dependidng on the date you sail.

 

[awatt]

I use a cruise broker,and the RCCL prices I pay are less than the website.
When I booked the DCL cruise,I compared prices for Explorer and Radiance to the Magic. For the same sailing date, and cabin type RCCL was about $250 less per person,or $1000 more for the 2 cabins.
We booked the Magic anyway because I want to try it.
But RCCL is less expensive,

 

[SeaSpray]

I'm wondering where it states that there's a charge for the rockclimbing wall and the inline skating, on RCI's web site. My family members all cruise RCI, all different ships, as recently as a couple of months ago, and were never charged for these activities. Unless they've changed this recently. That's why I'm wondering about this.

makaylee, can you please post a link to the page where it shows the charges? Thanks!

 

[prymsu]

we just went on the Soveriegn of the Seas at Christmas, and my son climbed the rock wall several times, and all at no charge...

 

[mac_tlc]

My experience is that typically DCL is more $$. Especially if you go with a verandah stateroom. DCL, in the past year or so, has even started charging a different price for the 3rd and 4th passengers in a verandah stateroom as opposed to an oceanview or inside.

The price differential is usually even greater during school vacation and holiday weeks.

Supply and demand would dictate that DCL should be more $$. Less ships, very attractive to families...

When the Voyager of the Seas first came out , they did charge for rock climbing and ice skating, but no longer. I am surprised the web site isn't up to date .. RCCL just did a major redesign of their site.

mac_tlc

 

[makaylee]

Here is the site that lists the price for RCCs activities
http://res.rccreservations.com/travel/cruise/ship.rvlx?ShipID=3 Someone posted earlier that they did used to charge for these activities and they do not now, I guess they just forgot to change their website. But like I've said earlier a feb 5 2005 sailing on rcc was the same price on Disney for a comparable state room. Disneys stateroom is actually about 40 sq ft bigger also. It must just be certain dates. Because last time we sailed in May rcc was about same price too. Maybe it has to do with Disney having a better early booking credit.

 

[makaylee]

Maybe the staterooms make a difference also. We get the oceanview, no verandah.

 

[Dean]

It will vary by time, ship, cabin, etc. For higher cabins or very in demand times, the price may be about the same. RCCL will discount far more than DCL especially for the 3rd/4th passengers. Use a site like icruise.com which is easy to look up and you can easily compare. You can take it through to the end which shows the taxes and all costs to compare.

 

[kajohn]

makaylee

The link you provided was not RCCL's website but a independent travel agent's website, with very dated information!

We sailed Voyager of the Seas (which is the first of the large Voyager class ships) in January of 2000 on the 10th or 11th sailing of the ship. When we sailed they were charging for Johnny Rockets food, ice skating, rock wall etc. After a few months of people complaining they removied the charges of all those extras, and haven't charged for them since.

The official RCCL website is www.rccl.com

We have found their prices to be much much cheaper than DCL. Most travel agents discount RCCL rates lower than RCCL's website. Another thing to consider, is most TA's will drop the prices if RCCL drops theirs, and RCCL does drop them frequently as the cruise gets closer. For my cruise in a couple of weeks we booked at $750 per person, then they dropped their rates so we got our priced lowered to $600 pp then I got a Crown and Anchor coupon in the mail (for repeat cruisers) for $125 off per cabin. The total for my husband and I ended up being $1050 for the week after booking for $1500!

 

[Dean]

deleted as I obviously misread kahohn's message.

 

[SeaSpray]

kajohn:

You beat me to it. I was about to say that the web site that makaylee posted is NOT Royal Caribbean's web site. There are MANY online travel agencies who deceitfully try to make their site look like the official RCI web site. There's a site, I don't even want to post it here, that slightly misspells one of the words in "Royal Caribbean" and totally tries to look like the official site. In my opinion, any company who tries that hard to look like another company's official web site, it not trustworthy at all.

In fact, the real RCI web site recently totally redid their web site and has all updated information

 

[llachance]

Just got back today from RCCL Sovereign of the Seas 4-day to Nassau. It was very pleasant, a little dated but it is going into dry-dock in November for refurbishing. There was no charge for the rock wall but typical charges for everything else. Most cruise ships nickel and dime you to death anymore. They had a soda card good for the length of the cruise. One price for the adults and one for the kids. There were kids clubs and from what I can tell the kids were having fun (They marched through the dining room one evening with their pirate costumes on). My wait staff in the dining room was as good as I had on disney, my room while smaller then on Disney was perfectly adequate for the amount of time spent in it. The shows were good, I don't gamble so can't tell you whether the slots were loose or not. All this for 500.00 for two of us in an ocean view room. I have been on two MAGICal cruises, the QE2 and the Big Red Boat. They all have their good points and bad points but I wouldn't hesitate to try other cruise lines.

 

[makaylee]

Kajohn, sorry for the wrong web site. I put in royal carribean.com and that is what it came up with. I didn't mean to offend anyboady.

 

[kajohn]

makaylee


Don't worry you didn't offend me at all, I just wanted you to have the right information, and some unscrupulous (sp?) travel agents try to pass of their sites as the official site and then have very very old data to boot!

 

[makaylee]

Kajohn, I guess so, if I ever do decide to stray from Disney I think I'm going to call a good TA. Not only should they have correct information but, everyone says that is the way to get the good RCC rates.

 

[Melrosgirl]

We are going on our 3rd RCL cruise in July. We booked through cruisequick.com. Excellet (FAST!) service and great prices for RCL and Princess.

We love Disney, but RCL and Princess offer more adult things (golf on board, simulated golf, mini golf, casinos, rock walls, ice skating). A bigger state room (a junior suite on RCL as opposed to category 5 on DCL).

Pricewise - still expensive - but cheaper than Disney.