First cruise - Disney Wish or Royal Carribean? Need advice

[Isabelle12345]

Hi DCL experts!
We are currently looking into booking our first cruise during our spring break which falls the last week of February (Feb 24-March 2)
I am hoping to sail out of Port Carnaveral on the Monday Feb 26 since I would love to do the Princess half marathon in Orlando on the sunday.
We have two kids, who will be 6 (DD) and 9 (DS) at the time of the trip.
We have never cruised before, and I am prone to motion sickness but everyone tells me I will be fine on a large ship…. DD6 also has motion sickness

We priced out the cruises that week : 4 night cruise to the Bahamas with Disney (Wish) and Royal Carribean (Allure of the seas). For a verandah room, we are talking around 5000$USD for Disney and 2500$USD for Royal.
I love the Disney magic and my kids are at the age where characters and Disney IP is big, so I was leaning toward Disney. However, if we realize we don’t like cruising or are seasick, I feel like it’s a huge up charge for just 4 days… I am also concerned about the weather being too cold to enjoy the pools and Castaway Cay…
The price difference won’t make it or break it for us but I am wondering if I should put my toe in the water with a cheaper cruise, and then upgrade to Disney if we like it? But then my kids may not be as much in the magical ages as they are now… tough call!

Any thoughts?
Thanks!

 

[unrequited23]

We've been on CC in the beginning of February and were able to swim. Granted we are from Ohio and our schools were closed due to cold temps at the time, so ymmv.

What if you dropped down to an ocean view room on the Wish? It looks like that would save $800.

We've only cruised DCL and I like that it's just so easy. All of the pricing is on the website without having to enter contact info, there aren't tons of drink packages/dining upgrades to consider, rotational dining plans where we're eating dinner, soft drinks are included for my coke zero obsessed DH. Plus you could add on DCL transport from WDW to the port and not have to coordinate transportation yourself.

I would pack motion sickness medicine for the family just in case. Since having kids, I need to take bonine to enjoy theme parks and I was fine but DS10 needed dramamine.

 

[Marc D]

We have often sailed during that week since it’s our school break week (coming from QC maybe ?). The water temperatures at CC are variable, but we have always been able to go swimming, maybe with a small yelp at first. Sometimes, the water is perfect from the get-go. The pools on the ship are heated and will be enjoyable the entire cruise.

For kids that age, DCL will make a huge difference over RC since everything is geared toward them. The rooms are bigger and better thought out, the activities onboard are more appropriate, and the dining service will take into account their age. If they were teens, Allure would maybe be a better choice, especially if they are on the active side.

Concerning sea sickness, better be prepared than sorry. A quick stop at a drug store in Florida to get Bonine or Dramamine - not sold in Canada btw - could help you enjoy your entire cruise IF someone gets sick. They can also provide something at the medical center onboard. Only 10 % of cruisers have a problem under normal conditions, and unless your on-land affliction is severe (like getting sick any time you ride a train or car), there is little correlation between that and sea sickness. You never know unless you try it.

 

[Marthasor]

I have never sailed on RCCL, so I can't comment on Allure, however, I honestly would not recommend the Wish for a first cruise, particularly over spring break. I've been on every DCL ship (except Wonder) and just sailed on the Wish in October and, while I enjoyed the cruise, it was packed and really chaotic (we were in concierge, so could avoid the crowds quite a bit). I don't know if I would want to spend 100% more on an experience which may not be enjoyable.

 

[Isabelle12345]

Thanks for your replies... interesting to hear other people's thoughts!
We are indeed coming from Quebec - so the Canadian exchange rate makes it even harder to justify the price difference...
We are leaning towards a verandah because we would like to go outside to have a drink when the kids are asleep.
I will keep thinking about it - I would like to hold a reservation with the current pricing though... I am having a hard time understanding the cancellation policy with DCL... is the deposit refundable?

 

[Garyjames220]

Thanks for your replies... interesting to hear other people's thoughts!
We are indeed coming from Quebec - so the Canadian exchange rate makes it even harder to justify the price difference...
We are leaning towards a verandah because we would like to go outside to have a drink when the kids are asleep.
I will keep thinking about it - I would like to hold a reservation with the current pricing though... I am having a hard time understanding the cancellation policy with DCL... is the deposit refundable?

It’s fully refundable as long as you cancel before your pay in full date

 

[Isabelle12345]

It’s fully refundable as long as you cancel before your pay in full date

Oh wow that’s good to hear! Even the deposit?

 

[Garyjames220]

Oh wow that’s good to hear! Even the deposit?

Yes including the deposit, I have cancelled before a few times and received every penny back

 

[NEGeekymama]

The only time I've ever really had an issue with getting seasick on a cruise was when the captain had the ship speed up to go through/around a bad storm. It was pretty miserable.

That said, just stock up on meds and/or SeaBands to help.

As for which line? We've done Disney, Royal, and Carnival. I'd say that it really comes down to what you all want to get out of it.

Disney is obviously going to be more for the kids; their kids clubs win hands down.

Royal (depending on the ship) is a good mix of things for adults and things for kids.

Carnival is going to be the most affordable, hands down. We get two balcony rooms on Carnival for the cost of one balcony room on Disney or Royal. But unless you're on one of their brand new ships, there's very little to do but drink.

One of the biggest (in my opinion) advantages of Disney over all other cruise lines (aside from it being Disney) is that soda is FREE. You can even bring your own bottle/mug/cup to get free refills at the drink stations on the pool deck. They also have the most lax alcohol policy of all cruise lines that I've seen; with other lines if you buy alcohol while in port it gets turned in as you board and you don't get it back again until the last night of the cruise. With Disney, so long as it's within their guidelines (2 bottles of wine per adult OR 6 bottles of beer per adult) you can keep it!

Do you happen to subscribe to Disney+? They're doing a limited time deal where the 3rd and 4th guest in a stateroom are FREE. Yes, FREE. There's a lot of blackout dates, but the dates you're looking at fall into the offer. The only difference is it's not good for any sailings on the Wish. We got a balcony (category 4E deluxe family ocean view with large verandah) for about $2500 less than the normal price.

https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/featured/disney-plus-offer/

 

[NAB]

The Wish has the cool slide for the kids to enter the kids club…lol .

Your right your kids are the right age for DLC. If they love the characters that’s a bonus because you will see a lot of them too.

We were on the Wish in Sept . With no kids. Mine are grown now but went on cruises with us. I hear you on the exchange rate we are from Ontario.

Would the other ship be a short cruise too? Wish is nice if you think you will be sea sick only 3-4 day on the Wish. See how it goes but it will feel short. We like the longer cruises. Maybe you can get the sea bands. My sister wore them and was ok.

 

[ldo]

I'd pick RCCL. We went on several RCCL before we went on DCL (from age 5-10) and they loved it. For DCL, my young teen liked the Edge a lot. But, I felt the RCCL kids club gave more personalized attention to my shy elementary age (5,9) kids than DCL. The younger ones didn't really even want to go back to the Club. When we got off the Dream, DD (10) asked to go back to DVC AKV community hall. They loved everything else--dining, movies, character meet/greets. I have no regrets picking RCCL (which was much less $$) for our first couple of family cruises. Our kids (college age) still love DCL--and always have a great time. We got the Disney+ deal. If you can get that and make the pricing similar, then I'd go with DCL. If not, then RCCL.

 

[Flying Fish]

That's a significant price difference when you don't know if you'll like it or not. Chances are you will love it, but there are some people who just hate cruises. On those shorter cruises to the Bahamas I hear very little about seasickness, but as others said just take some Bonine or Dramamine with you. On one of our last cruises my wife and kid both had to dip into it for a night. The pills helped and they were fine the next day and didn't need it again.

For kids that age, my suggestion would be Disney every time, especially if the kids are into Disney. There is nothing quite like this magical age for them when they see the characters and have their pictures taken with them.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

We started cruising when our kids were 4 & 7 (now 25 & 22.) Our first 3 cruises were on Carnival, with the 3rd one feeling more an obligation because it was planned with my brother & SIL and our parents. I knew they'd be mad if we just backed out since we chose the cruise/ship as a compromise based on each couple's certain requirements/requests.
Anyway, I would have gladly cancelled the 3rd one but didn't so by the time we were booking the next cruise, I was glad to pay more for DCL for a better experience and we were not disappointed. Since then we're now booked on DCL cruise #27 and also tried RCCL twice among the DCL cruises. Those were not bad but left me wishing I was back on a Disney ship.

So my advice is do the cheaper cruise. You won't miss what you never had. See how well everyone does and whether you want to cruise again. Then for future cruises, you can broaden your search that would include cheaper DCL cruises. Limiting yourself to the Wish/PC means you're paying a lot more for getting on the newest ship.

Personally, we love the older ships most and would gladly choose the Magic over any other.

ETA: When we took our kids on RCCL after several Disney cruises, one of our sons sighed, "Is this IT for dinner? We're just gonna come and sit here every night?" So it's not that DCL dining experience is worth several thousand extra dollars, but it's so many small details that add up to the overall cruise experience that we find makes it worthwhile. My brother and SIL still cruise Carnival and say there's an upcharge if you want filet mignon in the MDR. I prefer pay more for a great experience instead of being nickel and dimed the whole time. At this point in my life, I'd rather just go to work than waste precious vacation time on a Carnival cruise but we all have different preferences.

 

[jimmymc]

If your kids are really into Disney shows and character meets, then nothing on Royal is going to come close to the DCL entertainment, themed restaurants, and kids clubs. I think now is the perfect time to try Disney, and if you enjoy cruising then maybe look at Royal cruises in the future. Royal definitely has more things on board, but those may or may not matter to you.

That timing is actually earlier than most spring breaks, so I wouldn't expect the ships to be too crowded, but they are all back to sailing at full capacity.

The Wish is a very smooth ship, so probably your best case scenario for motion sickness. I don't think a bigger Royal ship would make a difference. Still bring some medicine and sea bands with you. Both are pretty cheap.

If the price difference between balcony and ocean view is $800, I would probably stick with the balcony. Having fresh air and a separate space is worth that much to me.

 

[Isabelle12345]

Thank you all for your replies.
I have done a lot of reading and watching YouTube videos (which I usually never do!) to compare Royal and Disney cruise line, specifically the wish (since it is the only one that would be good with our travel dates)

The more I think about it, the more I am leaning towards Disney - I fear I would have FOMO on a non Disney cruise line, and if I didn’t like it I would just rule out sailing completely…
I am also a HUGE Disney nerd, and my kids are at the perfect age where Disney characters are a big deal (and too young for many of the RCL activities) and the IP is right up their alley… so if we are going to cruise spring 2024 it looks like it will most likely be Disney!

Thanks for all the suggestions regarding sea bands and Dramamine - better be safe than sorry!
And I agree with the comment about starting with a shorter cruise at first - and then maybe a longer one in a few years if we like it!

I have put in a request for a quote with the Dis sponsor travel agency - I know nothing about cruising so probably a good idea to have an expert help me with the booking! (I usually like to do all my Disney world reservations myself, but this should help guide me through the process of planning a cruise!)

Thanks for all your comments and taking the time to respond - I am sure I will be back with many many questions in the next year