Disney vs. RCCL

[joksten2000]

We were excited to book a cruise going to Bahamas on NCL and was half way thru booking when wife said to ask about no smoking policy. Well there isn't any. You can smoke anywhere you want, including your stateroom. Well we cancelled the reservation. They can keep there freestyle cruising.

 

[cruisinmama06]

We were excited to book a cruise going to Bahamas on NCL and was half way thru booking when wife said to ask about no smoking policy. Well there isn't any. You can smoke anywhere you want, including your stateroom. Well we cancelled the reservation. They can keep there freestyle cruising.

Yes, NCL, Carnival, Princess, Holland America, Cunard (and others) allows smoking in the cabins. On the rest of the ships, they do have smoking/non smoking areas.

On RCCL and Disney, no smoking in cabin but can smoke on balcony.

On Celebrity and Azamara, no smoking in cabin OR on balcony.

The complete smoking/non smoking list is here...

http://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=225

 

[RJAYL]

Obsess the weekend? I have been obsessing about this ship since JANUARY.

That's when I started asking about it. But back then it was called Genesis. I STILL kind of like the name Genesis better.

Hey TinksDH, check out this review about Liberty (with teens) on CC. It was the funniest review I have read in a long time. And I thought you might like to see it from a parent of teens perspective.
http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=862476

Im on a Liberty cruise in April Have a suite that will accomadate my whole family!

I have the same suite booked on the Oasis for April 2010 the price is double!!!!!!

I think I am going to cancel & wait a while for the other ship to come out & prices to go down!

 

[disneylove69]

When I was on RCCL a few months back your selection for dinner was: assigned dinner, specialty restaraunt (similar to Palo's), regular buffet, and free dinner reservations on the other side of the buffet for those who do not want to dress.

 

[brucechase]

check out this review about Liberty (with teens) on CC. It was the funniest review I have read in a long time. And I thought you might like to see it from a parent of teens perspective.
http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=862476

Since my 3 day on the Wonder was expensive and that was my one and only cruise in my life, I have been following this thread with some anticipation. I was actually concerned about the about review that you posted. Since I am not a member over there and everyone seems knowledgable, I thought I would ask the questions here.

Some of what I read that I am concerned with I need some help in understanding if I am over-reacting or if I need to lighten up?

I would be very concerned about sending a 12 YO out for a hottie picture contest.

Private island where people grabbing you trying to get you to buy things? Is this normal. I wouldn't like strangers grabbing my 9 or 11 YO.

People on the island asking kids to take food for them? That would make me uncomfortable.

Do you have to pay $15 to do anything in the water or is that just the waterpark?

Standing up and eating breakfast. Is that normal?

Being bitten by a racoon? Wow, I thought sea lice were bad. I know they did this on their own, but was it similar to the ship's excursion?

It seems like most of what I've read on that thread and others that most of what there is to do on the ship concerns alcohol. Is there really a lot to do to keep you busy if you are not a drinker?

Just looking to make decisions on if we can cruise again and on which line we will cruise on.

 

[DMMarla07860]

not my videos, but these videos made me think about going on RCCL, looks like a great time
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqkgenDE1DQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qWKqXFSuic

 

[cruisinmama06]

Since my 3 day on the Wonder was expensive and that was my one and only cruise in my life, I have been following this thread with some anticipation. I was actually concerned about the about review that you posted. Since I am not a member over there and everyone seems knowledgable, I thought I would ask the questions here.

Some of what I read that I am concerned with I need some help in understanding if I am over-reacting or if I need to lighten up?

I would be very concerned about sending a 12 YO out for a hottie picture contest.

Private island where people grabbing you trying to get you to buy things? Is this normal. I wouldn't like strangers grabbing my 9 or 11 YO.

People on the island asking kids to take food for them? That would make me uncomfortable.

Do you have to pay $15 to do anything in the water or is that just the waterpark?

Standing up and eating breakfast. Is that normal?

Being bitten by a racoon? Wow, I thought sea lice were bad. I know they did this on their own, but was it similar to the ship's excursion?

It seems like most of what I've read on that thread and others that most of what there is to do on the ship concerns alcohol. Is there really a lot to do to keep you busy if you are not a drinker?

Just looking to make decisions on if we can cruise again and on which line we will cruise on.

OK let me see if I can address some of these. First of all, I have to say that the poster wrote the review from his point of view and he wanted it to be funny. (like when he kept going to the bar every night). I have to say that I never even stepped foot into a bar on Freedom cause I don't drink. So those parts of his review would be nothing like mine.

I have to find the part in his review about the hottie contest. I can't find that in the 12-14 year old activities (posting those pages below). But I have seen that as an older teen activity (15-17)

Labadee has a marketplace where the locals sell things. I just never went to the market. It is just like any other port we have ever been to...the locals are agressive. It's not like Castaway Cay where you have to walk past the stores to get to the beach. The market is away from the beach. So you have to set out to go there. So I just choose not to. It is very easy to stay away from the market.

The $15 fee is for the waterpark. You don't need to spend $15 unless you want to add the waterpark. It's like an excursion. We just don't.

Standing up and eating at breakfast - nope never had to do that. I will agree that at certain times, the Windjammer buffet is VERY busy. So I choose to eat breakfast in the dining room...just like I do on all of our cruises. I did that on Wonder too....no use fighting the crowds to eat at a buffet.

Bitten by a racoon? He found a jeep excursion ON HIS OWN. This was his own doing, not the cruise line. He chose to take a private tour to explore the island on his own. So no, this was not a cruise excursion. This was a private tour company. And I have to question his choices to allow his teens to play with a racoon in a foreign country. Yeah a little bit of common sense would have gone a long way.

On Freedom, there was so much to do that I didn't even get a chance to do everything I wanted to do. I don't drink. So I never went to the bars. There is so much more to do, the parades, the ice shows, the regular shows. I played trivia. Went to comedy shows. There are family events like the family karaoke, dance parties, scavenger hunts, sports tourneys, cartoon theme song trivia (we won ).

I'll post the Freedom schedule for the 12-14 year olds....the Oasis will have more events than this....

 

[Mjasp]

Yeah, I have to agree with Cruisin' Mama...Would you ever let your kid or anyone touch a racoon? I mean, if my DH went to touch one, I'd say what are you a freakin' idiot, so to let your child sit with on on his lap is quite out of the ordinary.

Regarding the The 12 yr old, it seems the boy was older so he may have bumped his daughter up to the teen club to keep them together.

Have you ever been to Jamaica? That to me is the worse I've been to and seen so far but I haven't been to Haiti yet.

As far as the bars...I like my foo foo drinks at the pool, but you have to take it from where it is coming from...If you go to our cruise meet thread for the 11/29 Magic sailing, and were an outsider you wouldn't want to even post on there... All we talk about is alcohol, alcohol and alcohol and being in the adult only areas where there are NO kids!

So yeah...I would say lighten up and don't take any one persons trip report as gospel...Last night I went on Cruise critic to read Disney Magic trip reports since I haven't been on the Magic in 4 years and the ship is small and old...Well there were some trip reports just saying that...The ship was small and old and they can't believe Disney charges the prices they do with ships that are small and old.

I for one don't plan to sail DCL anymore after this cruise in November until their new ships come out and then it will have to WOW me for me to book, because I never liked Disney's entertainment and always think their ship gets real quiet at night, there is no central hot spot like the Promenade that is always hopping...I find the adult night club area spooky all the way foward and dark. I know you are saying why are you going then...Our real close friends are going and my DD is very close to their DD and it's all about the company you are with and not so much the ship

 

[cruisinmama06]

OK I went to re-read the review. He wouldn't have been able to put the 12 year old in the 15 year old's club. They don't allow that. But could they have combined events?

He said the "Hottie Hunt" was part of the Scavenger Hunt. They list the scavenger hunts in the 12-14 year old schedule but make NO mention of the hottie hunt. I would have to agree that I would have a HUGE issue with this for my girls.

I guess all I can say is I don't know.

For a 15-17 year old to be able to walk up to someone at the pool and ask to take a picture with them is one thing, for a 12 year old....yeah that is quite another.

I'll have to find out.

 

[Tinkermom3]

OK I went to re-read the review. He wouldn't have been able to put the 12 year old in the 15 year old's club. They don't allow that. But could they have combined events?

He said the "Hottie Hunt" was part of the Scavenger Hunt. They list the scavenger hunts in the 12-14 year old schedule but make NO mention of the hottie hunt. I would have to agree that I would have a HUGE issue with this for my girls.

I guess all I can say is I don't know.

For a 15-17 year old to be able to walk up to someone at the pool and ask to take a picture with them is one thing, for a 12 year old....yeah that is quite another.

I'll have to find out.

He says somewhere in the report that they combined all of the teen groups because it was "off-season". That explains why the 12 year old was with the older kids. Found it! Post #41 pg 3:
"As we were in the "off season" they combined the older teens and the "tweens". The two groups pretty much kept to their own. We periodicaly "peeked" through the windows on them, and both of my kids always seemed to be having a blast. Both stayed in the clubs until 1 am. (at no charge) and the rule was I or my wife would pick them up. On the 1 or 2 nights we just couldn't make it untill 1, (getting old sucks!) ...we just set an alarm"


This "hottie hunt" was something that I would NEVER allow either my daughter OR my boys to do. It is inappropriate. I will just have to let my boys know that if they offer something like this that they are not to participate. I am really surprised and disappointed that RCCL offers something like this.

I admit that I did find some of the other information about Labadee a bit worrisome but since our cruise on the Oasis does not stop at Labadee I won't have to worry about that.

As far as crowds at Windjammers it cannot be any worse than Topsiders on DCL! We had many a day where we had a hard time finding a place to sit.

 

[cruisinmama06]

This "hottie hunt" was something that I would NEVER allow either my daughter OR my boys to do. It is inappropriate. I will just have to let my boys know that if they offer something like this that they are not to participate. I am really surprised and disappointed that RCCL offers something like this.

Me too! And I started a discussion about it on the RCCL board. Three hours and about 4 pages later...most of the parents are shocked.

I emailed RCCL to see if I can get a response. They really should reconsider this activity.

 

[brucechase]

I jsut read the 4 pages over there. Even though most people think that this is waaayyy inappropriate, the several that don't - including RCCL - has me concerned.

You almost had me convinced about RCCL being great, but for now I'm confused.

 

[cruisinmama06]

I jsut read the 4 pages over there. Even though most people think that this is waaayyy inappropriate, the several that don't - including RCCL - has me concerned.

You almost had me convinced about RCCL being great, but for now I'm confused.

Sorry, right now I have to second guess my OWN choices to do RCCL.

Believe me, some of the people on that thread argue for the sake of arguing...they do that on alot of threads.

I really think that RCCL should change this as an activity. And I had to really search to find it in the compasses....so this must be something that depends on the individual "counselors" (using that term lightly )

 

[Mjasp]

I jsut read the 4 pages over there. Even though most people think that this is waaayyy inappropriate, the several that don't - including RCCL - has me concerned.

You almost had me convinced about RCCL being great, but for now I'm confused.

I wouldn't not cruise on RCCL because of that. I loved RCI. Just don't let them participate in that activity.

 

[brucechase]

I wouldn't not cruise on RCCL because of that. I loved RCI. Just don't let them participate in that activity.

That's great if it is spelled out clearly. According to what cruisinmama06 posted, this is not on the list, just something they do????

If you don't know what the activities are exactly, how do you decide if your children should participate?

 

[cruisinmama06]

That's great if it is spelled out clearly. According to what cruisinmama06 posted, this is not on the list, just something they do????

If you don't know what the activities are exactly, how do you decide if your children should participate?

Yep that's exactly right. Some are saying that when their 12 year olds showed up the counselors handed them a camera and said "go with the teens"

Hopefully that is changed.

 

[Tinkermom3]

Wow Michelle! That is some thread you have going over there!

I cannot for the life of me understand why anyone would think this is an ok activity??? It is wrong on so many levels. There are LOTS of fun activities for tweens and teens that can be done on a cruise ship there is no need to put kids at risk for so-called "fun". How can people not also see it is degrading? I teach my kids to respect others - peers and adults, this "game" is NOT respectful.

I asked my almost 14 year old son about this. At first he thought I meant that it was just some kids who decided to do this on their own. He said that was kind of funny but that he would not do this as it would be embarassing for him. As we talked some more he asked "Are you saying this is a game with the counselers on the ship - like in the club?" I said "Yes!" He said and I quote "Oh my gosh! Are they insane??!! Why would you have kids do that?"

I told both of my boys who will be 13 and 15 that when we cruise if this is an activity on board they will not be participating. They both said not to worry as it was not something they would want to do.

 

[cruisinmama06]

Wow Michelle! That is some thread you have going over there!

I seem to have that effect.

Seriousy, though, I am glad everyone is talking it out. Then maybe RCCL will see the opinions and make a change. Either they will fully disclose it in the kids compass so parents can make an informed decision to allow their child to do it or not....or they will limit it to the older age group.

 

[DMMarla07860]

I went over and saw the thread on cruise critic and I have to say. People are right it migt not be good for 12-14 year olds, but 15-17 year olds I think it isn't that bad for. When I was in high school in every year of school for this one class I took we had two weeks to do a scavenger hunt and had to take pictures of different things or find someone with something and take a picture with them.

 

[lisaradz]

I jsut read the 4 pages over there. Even though most people think that this is waaayyy inappropriate, the several that don't - including RCCL - has me concerned.

You almost had me convinced about RCCL being great, but for now I'm confused.

Bruce or Cruisinmama would you please post the link to the RCCL board. I want to make sure I'm looking in the right place. Thanks in advance!