Disney vs. RCCL

[tchrmom]

Like I mentioned in my original post........I thought it very magical that my waiter noticed that I ordered something chocolate every night for dessert. He noticed that one night I ate SEVERAL of these fudge-y dessert/tarts. Knowing that a "non-chocolate dessert night" was coming up, he got special permission for the chef to make these again for me on that night. I didn't realize what a big deal it was, until the head server came to tell me that 2 nights earlier, my server had come to him and asked the head server, to ask the chef to make these for me....so I would have chocolate every night of my cruise. That was pretty magical for me.

My son also became very friendly with a server in the promanade cafe.....he would start making my son a "sunburst" non-alchoholic drink, whenever he saw him heading that way......that is pretty impressive when you consider HOW many people The Liberty of The Seas holds.
Those are just 2 quick thoughts that came to my mind......

 

[PizzieDuster]

Magical moments on RCCL? Anybody?

Ummm, yeah! So glad you asked!

My DH, DD and I had a Junior Suite while our two teen sons had an inside room 4 doors down. They just happened to have a different room steward. These two room stewards were fabulous. Especially around dinner time. We'd be in our room and my boys would be walking down and I could hear them say "ah boys, your mammas looking for you!" and he'd wave them over to our room. On formal night, I'd peek my head out of the door and they knew I was looking for my boys. By the second night we had the same room steward which made everything so easy! The room stewards would open our door for us if they were close by.

We loved the way they treated our teens.

My son also became very friendly with a server in the promanade cafe.....he would start making my son a "sunburst" non-alchoholic drink, whenever he saw him heading that way......that is pretty impressive when you consider HOW many people The Liberty of The Seas holds.
Those are just 2 quick thoughts that came to my mind......

That happened to my teens too! Ordering coffee and especially at Johnnie Rockets! They'd always know how they ordered their fries! I loved walking the ship and going through Johnnie Rockets and seeing my teen boys in a booth overlooking the ocean. Their servers were always so nice, mentioning how they "got it down now" (their order).

The individual "babysitters" were awesome. My DD loved hers and asked for her every night. What's the ratio in the Club? Well, she was shy at first and had her very own "cast member" to be with her in the club, play mini golf, order room service, play in the arcade. I loved it when DD started talking with an Austrailian accent and would tell us all about Austrailia.

Our servers knew our DD would always fall asleep at dinner and always made her a bed A pillow and blanket of napkins and all. I loved that they would follow us to our room with our dinner left overs and her untouched dinner. Which led to the "babysitter" on excursion days.

I loved watching my sons on the Flowrider and having the crew teach them tricks while everyone cheered them on! I loved the nightime Flowrider sessions and them knowing my sons name and noting how far they have come and what trick they were going to do.

I loved swimming with DD in the lazy river ring in the H20Zone with "Red Red Wine" playing in the background.

I loved watching my DD walk in a parade down the middle of the Promenade and putting on a little show.


My favorite Magical Moment was in the casino. The dealers are very generous. They were buying the table drinks. I play roulette. If my chip was slightly on the line, they'd move it to straight up! You won't see that in Vegas. I won $1000! That's my favorite Magical Moment!

 

[calmpets]

Ummm, yeah! So glad you asked!

My DH, DD and I had a Junior Suite while our two teen sons had an inside room 4 doors down. They just happened to have a different room steward. These two room stewards were fabulous. Especially around dinner time. We'd be in our room and my boys would be walking down and I could hear them say "ah boys, your mammas looking for you!" and he'd wave them over to our room. On formal night, I'd peek my head out of the door and they knew I was looking for my boys. By the second night we had the same room steward which made everything so easy! The room stewards would open our door for us if they were close by.

We loved the way they treated our teens.



That happened to my teens too! Ordering coffee and especially at Johnnie Rockets! They'd always know how they ordered their fries! I loved walking the ship and going through Johnnie Rockets and seeing my teen boys in a booth overlooking the ocean. Their servers were always so nice, mentioning how they "got it down now" (their order).

The individual "babysitters" were awesome. My DD loved hers and asked for her every night. What's the ratio in the Club? Well, she was shy at first and had her very own "cast member" to be with her in the club, play mini golf, order room service, play in the arcade. I loved it when DD started talking with an Austrailian accent and would tell us all about Austrailia.

Our servers knew our DD would always fall asleep at dinner and always made her a bed A pillow and blanket of napkins and all. I loved that they would follow us to our room with our dinner left overs and her untouched dinner. Which led to the "babysitter" on excursion days.

I loved watching my sons on the Flowrider and having the crew teach them tricks while everyone cheered them on! I loved the nightime Flowrider sessions and them knowing my sons name and noting how far they have come and what trick they were going to do.

I loved swimming with DD in the lazy river ring in the H20Zone with "Red Red Wine" playing in the background.

I loved watching my DD walk in a parade down the middle of the Promenade and putting on a little show.

My favorite Magical Moment was in the casino. The dealers are very generous. They were buying the table drinks. I play roulette. If my chip was slightly on the line, they'd move it to straight up! You won't see that in Vegas. I won $1000! That's my favorite Magical Moment!

That's EXACTLY what I was talking about - thanks for the info!

 

[tchrmom]

I loved watching my sons on the Flowrider and having the crew teach them tricks while everyone cheered them on! I loved the nightime Flowrider sessions and them knowing my sons name and noting how far they have come and what trick they were going to do.

Forget the kids! I LOVED it when they kept cheering ME on......knowing how far I had come!!!!!!

Ryan.......the guy who helps me stand, was soooooooo sure I could do this. He kept saying...."you're gonna do it!"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85n7dgsTR_8

 

[DisneyDmbNut]

yes...my sister liked that Flowrider WAY too much!

 

[woody73]

. . . There are positives to both cruise lines. RCCL could learn a few things from Disney, as could Disney from RCCL.

Fran, we have been on over a dozen cruises with Disney and three with RCCL. You did a fine job with your comparison.

Woody

 

[tchrmom]

yes...my sister liked that Flowrider WAY too much!

OK.........I'll admit it...............Ryan and Sven were easy on the eyes!

Dave knows!

 

[tchrmom]

Fran, we have been on over a dozen cruises with Disney and three with RCCL. You did a fine job with your comparison.

Woody

Thanks, Woody..........I tried to be fair.......

 

[triplefigs]

We are seriously considering the Freedom for June 2010 on an Eastern for the kids' 10th b'day. Would you book with a TA or directly thru RCI? Thanks for all the great comparisons.

 

[aznaphrodite]

We are seriously considering the Freedom for June 2010 on an Eastern for the kids' 10th b'day. Would you book with a TA or directly thru RCI? Thanks for all the great comparisons.

Definitely through a TA. Just like Disney cruises, you get perks through a TA like onboard credit. We're cruising with RCI in Nov and got $100 onboard credit, a free spa treatment, and free gratuities from our TA. I joined a few cruise mailing lists to get notified of deals.

 

[barbmouse]

tchrmom I have so enjoyed this thread!!

Our family just returned from a 7 night cruise aboard RCCL's Freedom of the Seas and it was wonderful and magical!! The ship is awesome!! My kids dd15 and ds12) both preferred this cruise over DCL. There was so much more for them to do!!

I love DCL but really enjoyed FOS as well. When I saw the Wonder at port my kids asked if I was disappointed and did I wish I was going on her. I said no because I was excited to check out Freedom. The ship is so impressive when you see it!! I had no regrets after my cruise! RCCL is the better choice for our family at this point in our lives.

 

[woody73]

We are seriously considering the Freedom for June 2010 on an Eastern for the kids' 10th b'day. Would you book with a TA or directly thru RCI? Thanks for all the great comparisons.

I would book with a TA, with one caveat: book with a reputable TA that has a solid track record.

On our RCI cruise last January (from Port Canaveral around South America to Los Angeles), we heard horror stories about some agencies who collected the payments but did not forward them to the cruise line. There was another agency which collected deposits, and later filed for bankruptcy.

We have booked all our cruises (DCL, RCI, and HAL) through the same TA for years.

Woody

 

[DMMarla07860]

Now if only I can get some other people to go on a cruise with me I can try RCCL, why doesn't everyone I know seemm to not want to go on vacations

 

[woody73]

Now if only I can get some other people to go on a cruise with me I can try RCCL, why doesn't everyone I know seemm to not want to go on vacations

These are tough economic times for many people.

Woody

 

[Kurby]

my friends and brothers are like that too - non of them seem to want to go with us to disney or camping or to quebec. they just never want to go anywhere.

my older brother does but he goes far away for his vacations - Japan, England, West cost of both Canada and the US

some people either don't like to travel or don't like to go where we do.

oh well

 

[DMMarla07860]

These are tough economic times for many people.

Woody

I don't mean this year, my friends don't like going on vacations, all my life it's been that way.

 

[woody73]

I don't mean this year, my friends don't like going on vacations, all my life it's been that way.

Choose your friends wisely.

Woody

 

[kasidak]

Ummm, yeah! So glad you asked!

My DH, DD and I had a Junior Suite while our two teen sons had an inside room 4 doors down. They just happened to have a different room steward. These two room stewards were fabulous. Especially around dinner time. We'd be in our room and my boys would be walking down and I could hear them say "ah boys, your mammas looking for you!" and he'd wave them over to our room. On formal night, I'd peek my head out of the door and they knew I was looking for my boys. By the second night we had the same room steward which made everything so easy! The room stewards would open our door for us if they were close by.

We loved the way they treated our teens.



That happened to my teens too! Ordering coffee and especially at Johnnie Rockets! They'd always know how they ordered their fries! I loved walking the ship and going through Johnnie Rockets and seeing my teen boys in a booth overlooking the ocean. Their servers were always so nice, mentioning how they "got it down now" (their order).

The individual "babysitters" were awesome. My DD loved hers and asked for her every night. What's the ratio in the Club? Well, she was shy at first and had her very own "cast member" to be with her in the club, play mini golf, order room service, play in the arcade. I loved it when DD started talking with an Austrailian accent and would tell us all about Austrailia.

Our servers knew our DD would always fall asleep at dinner and always made her a bed A pillow and blanket of napkins and all. I loved that they would follow us to our room with our dinner left overs and her untouched dinner. Which led to the "babysitter" on excursion days.

I loved watching my sons on the Flowrider and having the crew teach them tricks while everyone cheered them on! I loved the nightime Flowrider sessions and them knowing my sons name and noting how far they have come and what trick they were going to do.

I loved swimming with DD in the lazy river ring in the H20Zone with "Red Red Wine" playing in the background.

I loved watching my DD walk in a parade down the middle of the Promenade and putting on a little show.


My favorite Magical Moment was in the casino. The dealers are very generous. They were buying the table drinks. I play roulette. If my chip was slightly on the line, they'd move it to straight up! You won't see that in Vegas. I won $1000! That's my favorite Magical Moment!

This sounds awesome! Which ship was this?

 

[PizzieDuster]

This sounds awesome! Which ship was this?

Oh, so glad I checked this thread! It was Freedom of the Seas.

Our Liberty cruise was so much better since we knew what to expect.


It seems as though, for us, the long vacations are harder to work out now that we have one in college, one playing varsity football and a 10 year old in elementary school.

We are now enjoying a lot of short week end trips (beaches, Vegas, Big Bear, Disneyland parks, Napa, San Diego). But I am constantly scanning for cruise deals. I am almost ready to book the Oasis. I'm flip flopping on dates. I also received a quote on a 7 day DCL in August (kids sail free). But on those dates, my older sons can't sail, but it would cool to have a cruise with just DH, DD10 and I...........Can't make up my mind.

 

[NancyIL]

I don't mean this year, my friends don't like going on vacations, all my life it's been that way.

As I recall, you're a college student, right? If so, your friends probably have no money!