First RCCL cruise...after 7 Disney cruises

[kajohn]

PiperG,

Yes, RCCL has formalwear rental. My husband rented one for our Voyager cruise. He opted for a dark suit on the Radiance. I believe RCCL uses cruiseline formalwear, which does many different cruiselines. My husband is very hard to fit, and his tux fit fine.

staylor,

I'm seriously considering sailing on Celebrity when my husband and I take our next cruise without the kids in 2006. We are in our late 30's, will we fit in with the crowd on the ship? We don't drink heavily but do enjoy the casino and shows on our trips. I've heard the service is excellent, do they really escort you to your cabin when you get on the ship? That sounds really cool! How are the cabins? Any info would be appreciated!

 

[ducklite]

I'm also interested in hearing more about Celebrity, and also Radisson if anyone has cruised them.

Do either of them have good activites for young adults 18-20?

Anne

 

[staylor]

kajohn,
DH and are also in mid 30's. Again I would say, as far as awesome service and fantastic food goes, Celebrity is our favorite. We did not have children with us when we went. We met a family, that we are still close with, who brought along their children 12 & 18. Their DD 12 enjoyed the kids she met on the cruise and enjoyed being with the kids program. This was in the summer. Of course I really wasn't paying much attention to the children's group. Although, you're not taking your kids so it doesn't matter. You will fit in with the crowd perfectly. We always eat at the late seating, it seems all of the families and senior's tend to eat at the early ones. We don't gamble much while cruising, except for bingo. But the casino on the ship always had people in it. The shows were good, as much as I can remember. We wore formal wear on formal nights. I have to say, Disney is the first cruise I've been on and not worn formal attire. The pool atmosphere was a blast on day's at sea. We always left the ship in port so I cannot comment on port days. We did Karoke one night and the club was always hopping at night. The spa was marvelous. The only thing that bothers me about spa's on cruise ships is the hard sell they give you to buy the products. But I've learned and now I just say no. I find on the cruise lines that have European staff you get a more "pampered" atmosphere. CCL has mostly an american staff and you don't usually get "pampered" that much. All in all Celebrity was a wonderful, relaxing vacation that we enjoyed so much and cannot wait to go back.

ducklite, I have not cruised on Radisson so cannot help you too much there. Our friends with the 18 year old had a great time.

A website for great cruise deals is www.vacationstogo.com
check it out!
I hope this helps!

 

[noseybuddy]

I am cruising on Mariner of th Seas this December. I have been reading the post here and it's my understanding that at all meals including the diningroom, you have to pay for soda. If you purchase the drink program that they have does that mean you don't have to pay for soda at your meals including the meals in the diningroom? Also, does anyone know what kind of movies are shown on board, new, old, etc?

 

[Twoears]

We are booked on RCCL Sovereign of the Seas in January for our anniversary. Our first cruise was with DCL with our whole family in 2001. We loved it. DH and I wanted to try something else and thought that we would feel a little guilty going on the DCL without the kids. My problem so far with RCCL is finding information about that particular ship. The DIS is by far the best site that I have found.

 

[Melrosgirl]

Twoears, is your RCCL cruise on the Sov. a 3 or 4 night cruise? If so, it's one of RCCL's older ships. You may be slightly disappointed compared to Disney or one of the new ships. I know one of the ships that does the 3 or 4 nights out of Port Canaveral starts with an S and it could be the Sov. Many people don't like it compared to newer ships. (RCCL uses their older ships for the shorter cruises.) Go to www.cruisecritic.com for boards specifically for RCCL.

I've been on two RCCL cruises and both have been very enjoyable. I've also been on Disney and Princess. Each line has its good and bad points (yes, Disney had some bad points, but we still enjoyed it.) We just feel that RCCL and Princess have more activities for adults, so we are choosing one of the megaships from RCCL next year for our next cruise.

 

[NCRedding]

Noseybuddy: If you pruchase the soda card your sodas are included at all meals. We only had to show our soda card the first night, and our waiter remembered it for the rest of the trip, once we were finally situated at a table--due to a mix-up at RCCL, our table for 8 had 12 people assigned to it--it wasn't discovered until the 2nd night, because we were all east-coasters and several at the table skipped dinner 1st night, due to jet lag--we ended up with 3 different wait teams.

As to the movies: We sailed 7/03 and had these movies on board: Changing Lanes;Iron Will; I-spy; The Tuxedo; The Time Machine; Tuck Everlasting; Evelyn, Snow Dogs; Far From Heaven; Analyze That; Signs; Vertical Limit; The Scorpion King; The Lord of The Rings; Lara Croft, Tomb Raider; Down With Love; Bend It Like Beckham and Insomnia. There were also in-room movies including: Die Another Day; Oceans 11; Whales; Mr. Deeds; Crocodile Hunter; Harry Potter; Indiana Jones; Banger Sisters. Also offered in room were very recent pay per view movies.

 

[noseybuddy]

NCRedding

Thanks for the info.

 

[nicurnc]

We are just back from the 10/18 Magic. It's funny to see this thread since my husband and I made comparisons to our Princess cruise last Oct.

We always have a good time on our vacations. I'm a firm believer in making your own good time, we saw way too many stressed out people on our cruise and our week at AKL...but I digress


Although we had an awesome week on the Magic, Princess came out on top in overall comparison.

Embarkation- Disney wins, hands down for the terminal. It is beautiful. But both lines got us on the ship quickly and efficiently. They announce your family when you board the Magic, but Princess had people greeting you personally and escorting you to your room.

Ships- both built by Fincantieri in Italy (we were on the Grand Princess) Both understated and classy. Many more lounges on the Grand and Skywalkers beats any thing on the Magic. The new areas on the Magic are nice, Cove Cafe and Diversions really nice additions. But even with new carpet in the public areas parts of the ship are looking a bit tired. We heard on board a new bigger ship is in the works and possibly a west coast itinerary. DCL will need it to stay fresh.

Dining - Personal Choice dining was our favorite. We enjoyed not having to eat at a specific time every night. The dining rooms are gorgeous, though not themed. Plus assigned dining is an option should you choose to do that. No Palo, but Sabitini's was as good, plus at that brunch the Mimosas or champagne continued to flow thoughout the meal. Dining room food good on either ship. Liked having the 24 hr. Horizon Court on Princess, easier to get a snack any time day or night. Better in room dining choices on Princess, also fresh fruit was placed in your room daily.

Kids stuff - ours our grown, but Disney wins here. Don't know why any one with kids would do Princess, although I talked to a TA this week on our cruise and she said Princess is expanding their program. My son loves arcade games, and Disney's was pretty bad, small and old games. Princess had a huge arcade with lots of top notch stuff.

Shows - The Disney shows are good, but we didn't really get a thrill from seeing them again. ( We actually found the girl who plays Ann-Marie in DD to have a particularly annoying voice) Loved being able to see the Disney movies and the Magic's theater is better. Lounge acts more plentiful on Princess and more enjoyable.

Service - about the same for either ship, but just a bit more pampered on Princess.

Rooms - Princess wins. Our mini-suite was bigger than our verandah room on the Magic. Bath was bigger, more storage space, dressing area. You could actually sit in the tub.

Private islands - Castaway Cay is lovely, we enjoyed ourselves. But Serenity Bay (where we chose to stay after our massage) doesn't have as nice facilities as the rest of the island. On Princess Cay the bars, restrooms, food and shops were more centrally located. We tendered in, but big deal. We didn't wait for trams or have far to walk.

For repeat cruisers - Castaway Club really doesn't offer anything, Princess offers great deals for repeat guests.

Price - Here is where Princess wins out. We had a great time for a lot less money. I sailed in suite for what I put my kids in (standard inside). And we saw the inside offering on Princess (went to a couples room we met through our CruiseCritic meet) same size as the Magic's inside, just as nice.

So, for us at least, we will have to think about cruising Disney again. They do have a few interesting itinerary changes next year, so who knows? Our kids loved cruising and after seeing the Explorer in our ports, they would like to give something else a go.

Loretta

 

[kajohn]

Thanks nicurnc for a great comparison of Princess and DCL.

Your comparison helped open my eyes that there are many great cruiselines out there, and it would be ashame to not try to experience as many as I can! While we are booking another RCCL cruise for the family for 2005 (so they can experience a Voyager class ship), we will probably stray to either Celebrity or Princess our next cruise in 2006 (without kids, they go on odd years, we go alone on even years!).

 

[allshookup]

We took our very first cruise on DCL this past August and we loved loved loved it! My DH was a little leery about being "stuck" on a cruise for a week but just as I thought he couldn't wait to book another. Well we were all set to go DCL again next August but we really want to escape this winter and neither of us is thrilled about flying. Then I got this email from NCL that they were running a special out of NY on the Dawn year round to Florida & the Bahamas. To make a long story short I ended up booking a cruise for February vacation for almost $1,000 less than the booking we had for the end of August. I am hoping the kids will like the kid's club. According to the pictures it has a big play area with tunnels, slides etc. I am looking forward to this idea of free style cruising with 10 restaurants to choose from and no set dining time. The best thing is that we just have to hop on a bus in Boston that takes you right to the ship. But I am also afraid we will be disappointed with NCL after having cruised DCL. Anybody have any experience with NCL?

 

[mrsfuzzmo]

I've sailed NCL 4 times (RCI-2, Dolphin-1,CCL-2, APC- 8 months working, Windjammer-1) and I think I may like NCL the best. Their ships aren't the biggest or the glitziest, but for the money, they have everyting everyone else does. Great food, Excellent entertainment all day long, great ports of call, and everything else in between. You'll enjoy the mix of passengers on NCL. They are neither a young "College party" age line, nor a old stodgy line, but right in between. I'd say the same mix as RCI. I haven't sailed NCL since they switched to the Freestyle dining (we did Norway Last year, but Norway wasn't switched to Freestyle), so I can't comment on that. I really like sitting with the same people every night of the cruise and having the same waiters, so I am not sure if I will go on NCL again because I don't think I'll like the freestyle dining, but you never know. Let us know if you like it, if you choose that route. All in all I really like NCL.

mrsfuzzmo

 

[Elton Joel]

It's true. You are very brave to post your info. I also have done some research. For the the little one's and teens still into Mickey's family & friends it's the Best! But, if you're already doing the WDW visit and want more of the thrill of live entertainment yet
not quite the "Vegas Scene". RCCL seems to offer us who are picking up the tab a worthy alternative. Plus I've heard that Dueling Pianos "Orlando Style" is being increased aboard their fleet!