Is RCL actually cheaper than DCL?

[Cfabar1]

I know everyone says that RCL is cheaper than DCL. Maybe I am doing it wrong.

We are a family of 3 - small child who is under 2. When we look and compare Verandah room to Verandah room, regularly DCL ends up being slightly cheaper, or no more than $200 more.

That's not even noticing that when you compare verandah room to verandah room in terms of sq. footage, really a Verandah on DCL is closer to a Junior Suite on some RCL ships.

Am I just unlucky with the routes I am looking at? they tend to be the short cruises out of Port Canaveral. Maybe it is a more expensive port than Miami?

Any guidance would be appreciated! Thanks!

 

[OKW Lover]

IMHO, it's very unusual for RCL to be cheaper than DCL on comparable itineraries. If you found a bargain you should jump on it.

 

[John VN]

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[Lesverts]

Just checked for April 2024. Everything I am looking at is at least 1000 dollars cheaper on Royal compared to Disney. Though I will concede that if you look at Icon those are as expensive or more then a similar cruise on Disney.

 

[John VN]

We are checking for a 6/2 or 6/3 in 2024 cruise from PC for 4 Days just us 2 right now with my findings ---

DCL Verandah = $4,931
RC Junior Suite Sea Class Concierge = $4,008
NCL Suite = $3,578 on 5/24/2024
MSC Yacht Club Concierge +++ = #3,600

Am I missing something --- how is DCL the same or cheaper ???

 

[Cfabar1]

Gotcha. On several specific cruises we have taken DCL priced lower, I have wondered if it was because we had 3 passengers - one of which is an infant, and Disney asks for the age when determining the price and RCL doesn’t.

When looking at the 4 night itineraries in June, even when adding in the 3rd person, the cost was still cheaper.

 

[John VN]

Gotcha. On several specific cruises we have taken DCL priced lower, I have wondered if it was because we had 3 passengers - one of which is an infant, and Disney asks for the age when determining the price and RCL doesn’t.

When looking at the 4 night itineraries in June, even when adding in the 3rd person, the cost was still cheaper.

I just checked RC for 3 Guests (1 < 12yo) on 6/3 sailing with Verandah @ $3883.45.

 

[Cfabar1]

I just checked RC for 3 Guests (1 < 12yo) on 6/3 sailing with Verandah @ $3883.45.

yes, sorry, actually checked your dates and my post wasn't stated well, it was that RCL was cheaper.

 

[sam_gordon]

I'm not sure where you guys are getting your numbers. I used two adults, 1 child. Four day itinerary. Leaving from Port Canaveral on June 3, Stops at Castaway Cay (Disney)/Coco Cay(RCI) & Nassau.

DCL Verandah (243 sq ft including verandah) = $6292.


RCI Balcony Room (182 sq ft room + 80 sq ft balcony = 262 sq feet) = $3,883.


Granted, that's the Wish (launched in 2022) vs Allure (launched in 2009). But I'd say that's a significant difference in price.

 

[Capt_BJ]

my interest in DCL fell when I realized I could sail Viking Ocean or river for the same or lower per day price .... about to be grand parent, we may be back to DCL in the future but NOW ..... forgetaboutit

 

[rere101399]

We’re making the switch this year from DCL to RCCL. Family of 4, with 1 of the kids under 12 so he counts towards KSF. We’re platinum with DCL but we’re taking a break for now. We’ve done 7 of our DCL sailings post Covid and my wallet can’t take the strain anymore!


I have a 1 bdrm Grand Suite booked for a 7 night Med sailing with RCCL for 6k…I can’t even get a regular balcony room on a DCL Med sailing for that price much less concierge class. I just looked and a comparable Med sailing on DCL is 11k for a regular, non concierge verandah room. So Royal is 6k for a 1 bdrm concierge suite and DCL is 11k for a non concierge regular room. I couldn’t make DCL make sense anymore.

I also have the Icon of the Seas booked with RC for May 2025. 7 night eastern, booked in a sky suite class family room, 9.5k. We were comparing to the Treasure, which was going to be 17.5k for the same thing May 2025 - a 7 night eastern in a concierge family room. Icon vs Treasure seems like a fair comparison to me, so the almost double price tag for a similar concierge room is simply unjustifiable.

 

[starvenger]

That's not even noticing that when you compare verandah room to verandah room in terms of sq. footage, really a Verandah on DCL is closer to a Junior Suite on some RCL ships.

One thing you do need to remember is that some of that space is eaten up by the split bath. IMO the "extra" space you get (or don't get) in the standard balcony staterooms is negligible, even when factoring in your little one.

With that said, you get a tub in Disney and you do not in a standard room on Royal. That could be a dealbreaker for you.

 

[Cfabar1]

Yeah.... I think it also depends on what ships and port flexibility you have, but it seems especially if you are booking far out, that RCL will beat Disney on price, or if you can get a VGT/OGT/etc.

 

[NephieRN]

We’re sailing on the Harmony out of Galveston on a 7 night over spring break in March. I paid $1890 for 4 of us in a balcony. DCL only has 4 night sailings our spring break week from Galveston or New Orleans and they want over $3000 for an inside room. The 7 nighter from port canaveral is nearly $6000 for an inside guarantee with restrictions. I’m finding it harder and harder to justify DCL prices these days. If prices are comparable for the same length of sailing I’ll still choose DCL over RCCL but those are few and far between.

 

[tidefan]

We still love DCL, but we have moved on to other lines as well, though to be honest, it's not RCCL.

If no kids, we prefer Virgin Voyages. Otherwise we seem to be splitting time between Princess (their Plus package is way more economical than RCCL) and the new Mardi Gras class ships on Carnival. All of these tend to price out much less than RCCL.

 

[starvenger]

We’re sailing on the Harmony out of Galveston on a 7 night over spring break in March. I paid $1890 for 4 of us in a balcony. DCL only has 4 night sailings our spring break week from Galveston or New Orleans and they want over $3000 for an inside room. The 7 nighter from port canaveral is nearly $6000 for an inside guarantee with restrictions. I’m finding it harder and harder to justify DCL prices these days. If prices are comparable for the same length of sailing I’ll still choose DCL over RCCL but those are few and far between.

The Harmony is at the International pier here in Cozumel. I would rather be on that ship versus the Regal Princess that I'm currently on. I'd even go on the stupid purple slide.

We've also seen NCL Breakaway and Sky in other ports, and they look like a lot of fun!

 

[lilsonicfan]

I think that for short cruises to the Caribbean the price difference won't be as noticeable as, say, a 7 night cruise to Alaska, where for our family of 5, DCL pricing came in at 2.5-3X the price of RCL, HAL etc.

 

[tidefan]

The Harmony is at the International pier here in Cozumel. I would rather be on that ship versus the Regal Princess that I'm currently on. I'd even go on the stupid purple slide.

We've also seen NCL Breakaway and Sky in other ports, and they look like a lot of fun!

Funny you say that, when we were in San Juan on Oasis and Regal pulled in next to us, we all would have rather been on Regal than Oasis. We found the included food options on Oasis to be poor at best.

Different strokes for different folks...

 

[starvenger]

That's the funny thing too - I remember the food being much better my previous Princess cruise (which, granted, was 17 years ago). There's more variety, but it's certainly not at the level I expected. Maybe it's a pandemic casualty or something.

 

[tidefan]

That's the funny thing too - I remember the food being much better my previous Princess cruise (which, granted, was 17 years ago). There's more variety, but it's certainly not at the level I expected. Maybe it's a pandemic casualty or something.

We were on Regal Princess this past May (British Isles) and the food was very good. Sometimes I wonder if it isn’t so much the ships themselves, but the suppliers. For instance, our butter on that voyage was definitely sourced in France and was really good (can’t believe I’m saying that about butter)…. But you get the idea…