Jumped ship and went RCL

[tinkerone]

http://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2015/09/18/5-ways-royal-caribbean-different-disney-cruise-line

WoW! when i read number one, price, i was shocked. i knew there was major price differences but to see so many listed in one spot really brings it into perspective.
thanks for the link.

 

[holula]

WoW! when i read number one, price, i was shocked. i knew there was major price differences but to see so many listed in one spot really brings it into perspective.
thanks for the link.

There isn't always a huge difference between Oasis/Quantum class and Disney but Freedom or older there is generally a huge difference. We looked at the five night Magic repo from SJ to Miami in 2016 but it's cheaper to do an eight night on Freedom by $300... Plus we save flight cost.

 

[tinkerone]

There isn't always a huge difference between Oasis/Quantum class and Disney but Freedom or older there is generally a huge difference. We looked at the five night Magic repo from SJ to Miami in 2016 but it's cheaper to do an eight night on Freedom by $300... Plus we save flight cost.

we booked a cruise in 2016 on the oasis, an 8 night, and it was almost $2000 cheaper than the 7 night fantasy sailing which left the day before the oasis sailing from the same port. i was very surprised by the difference. happily surprised.

 

[holula]

we booked a cruise in 2016 on the oasis, an 8 night, and it was almost $2000 cheaper than the 7 night fantasy sailing which left the day before the oasis sailing from the same port. i was very surprised by the difference. happily surprised.

That's awesome. We saved about $1000 last week sailing Oasis instead of the Fantasy but off season prices for Disney are definitely closer to Oasis prices than say, the peak of summer. We booked Harmony for next year and the difference between that and the Fantasy is about $500.

 

[bumbershoot]

Price differences...

So far we haven't gotten a Royal cruise cheaper in total than a disney cruise, but...when you look at the price per night that's when you see the differences.

Our first Disney cruise, a 3 night in category V (at a rate just $300 TOTAL more than the next lower category): $720+ per night
Our first family Royal cruise, a 7 night balcony: $466 per night.
Disney INSIDE cabin 4 night: $482 per night


etc. You can see that the total isn't always going to be cheaper, necessarily, but the per night cost is, usually! (for us, always)


Of course if I were ever in the market for a 7 nighter on Disney, that is where I am SURE I would see that Disney's total would be much higher than Royal's, especially on Freedom class and below.

 

[Frozen2014]

we booked a cruise in 2016 on the oasis, an 8 night, and it was almost $2000 cheaper than the 7 night fantasy sailing which left the day before the oasis sailing from the same port. i was very surprised by the difference. happily surprised.

I noticed the same thing for our cruise...comparing Royal Allure to Disney Fantasy, similar stateroom category, both Eastern Caribbean same week....also $2000 CAD difference. So, we went with Allure...both look amazing for kids but for $2000, we'll stick with Royal.

PS - Just recalculated and with the CAD dollar as today, it's closer to $3000 difference. As Canadians we definitely like the fact that you can book your cruise in CAD so no matter how the dollar swings, we know our final payment amount.

 

[tinkerone]

Price differences...

So far we haven't gotten a Royal cruise cheaper in total than a disney cruise, but...when you look at the price per night that's when you see the differences.

Our first Disney cruise, a 3 night in category V (at a rate just $300 TOTAL more than the next lower category): $720+ per night
Our first family Royal cruise, a 7 night balcony: $466 per night.
Disney INSIDE cabin 4 night: $482 per night


etc. You can see that the total isn't always going to be cheaper, necessarily, but the per night cost is, usually! (for us, always)


Of course if I were ever in the market for a 7 nighter on Disney, that is where I am SURE I would see that Disney's total would be much higher than Royal's, especially on Freedom class and below.

that's an interesting way of looking at it and I like it! going to give that a try when booking in the future.

I noticed the same thing for our cruise...comparing Royal Allure to Disney Fantasy, similar stateroom category, both Eastern Caribbean same week....also $2000 CAD difference. So, we went with Allure...both look amazing for kids but for $2000, we'll stick with Royal.

and that is the beauty of rcl for we Canadians. being able to book up front in Canadian funds saves a whole lot. dcl really should have this ability.

 

[eskimoinparadise]

Price differences...

So far we haven't gotten a Royal cruise cheaper in total than a disney cruise, but...when you look at the price per night that's when you see the differences.

Our first Disney cruise, a 3 night in category V (at a rate just $300 TOTAL more than the next lower category): $720+ per night
Our first family Royal cruise, a 7 night balcony: $466 per night.
Disney INSIDE cabin 4 night: $482 per night


etc. You can see that the total isn't always going to be cheaper, necessarily, but the per night cost is, usually! (for us, always)


Of course if I were ever in the market for a 7 nighter on Disney, that is where I am SURE I would see that Disney's total would be much higher than Royal's, especially on Freedom class and below.

This is really the only way to compare prices. Even if you compare category to category on cruises of the same length (i.e. interior to interior, etc.) you will also never see a Disney cruise priced less than an RCL cruise on a price/day basis. When comparing equivalent (same length, same time, same ports) cruises on a price/category/day basis, I have never seen a Disney cruise priced anywhere close to an RCL cruise.

 

[holula]

This is really the only way to compare prices. Even if you compare category to category on cruises of the same length (i.e. interior to interior, etc.) you will also never see a Disney cruise priced less than an RCL cruise on a price/day basis. When comparing equivalent (same length, same time, same ports) cruises on a price/category/day basis, I have never seen a Disney cruise priced anywhere close to an RCL cruise.

The newer sailings on Harmony are pretty close to DCL, but that's a brand new ship and right now is attracting premium pricing. But pick any other ship and I fully agree. The only thing I would add is that most interiors on other lines are MUCH smaller than DCL, which is why there is often a huge difference in price. If you pick the larger insides, there isn't as much difference.

 

[eskimoinparadise]

The newer sailings on Harmony are pretty close to DCL, but that's a brand new ship and right now is attracting premium pricing. But pick any other ship and I fully agree. The only thing I would add is that most interiors on other lines are MUCH smaller than DCL, which is why there is often a huge difference in price. If you pick the larger insides, there isn't as much difference.

Smaller interior cabins are being phased out as the other cruise lines retire their older ships - but there are still quite a few lines that are slow to refresh their fleets. However, when I compare DCL with RCL on the same itinerary on the same week (any week of the year) and can get a balcony cabin on RCL for less than the lowest category interior on Disney, I will break my own logic and compare across cabin categories.

Sometimes, the price differential borders on obscene:
3/6/16 Freedom of the Seas 7-night Eastern Caribbean in a Junior Suite (297 sq. ft + 97 sq.ft balcony) (2 Adults) $4,312; Promenade Inside stateroom (160 sq. ft.) $1,686
3/12/16 Disney Fantasy 7-night Eastern Caribbean in a cat 11b interior (169 sq. ft.) (2 Adults) $4,632

 

[holula]

Smaller interior cabins are being phased out as the other cruise lines retire their older ships - but there are still quite a few lines that are slow to refresh their fleets. However, when I compare DCL with RCL on the same itinerary on the same week (any week of the year) and can get a balcony cabin on RCL for less than the lowest category interior on Disney, I will break my own logic and compare across cabin categories.

Sometimes, the price differential borders on obscene:
3/6/16 Freedom of the Seas 7-night Eastern Caribbean in a Junior Suite (297 sq. ft + 97 sq.ft balcony) (2 Adults) $4,312; Promenade Inside stateroom (160 sq. ft.) $1,686
3/12/16 Disney Fantasy 7-night Eastern Caribbean in a cat 11b interior (169 sq. ft.) (2 Adults) $4,632

Even on the newer ships that RCCL and NCL are building, the regular interiors are still smaller than Disney. They have started offering "large" interior staterooms though, which I am pleased to see. I don't need a verandah but I don't like the tiny box I had on Enchantment.

That's insane! You could book another cruise with that saving on an inside. I pulled these up earlier - and it's not exactly apples to apples since DCL doesn't have 2017 dates and Freedom is a day longer - but it's a huge difference.

Disney Fantasy - 7 Night Western 1/23/16
Lowest Inside: $1141pp
Lowest O/V: $1197pp
Lowest Verandah: $1351pp

RCCL Freedom of the Seas - 8 Night Eastern 1/21/17 (we are actually booked on this cruise)
Lowest Inside: $632pp
Lowest O/V: $730pp
Lowest Verandah: $912pp
Lowest Junior Suite: $1290pp

 

[mcd2745]

Was just shopping some cruises for next year...


prices are for the cheapest interior room for 4 people (2A, 2C - 14 & 11)


Disney Fantasy 8/20/2016 7-nt Western: $6,620

RCCL Allure of the Seas 8/21/2016 7-nt Western: $4,270

RCCL Freedom of the Seas 8/21/2016 7-nt Eastern: $2,890



I shake my head when the Disney apologists on here say that there isn't much of a price difference. We love DCL and think they have the best product out there...but the difference between them and RCCL is not worth a 55-130% premium. A 10-20% premium? Maybe, but not 50% and more.

 

[AquaDame]

Yup! We are saving around 2K by canceling our January cruise on the wonder and going RCCL on a similar southern. Fingers crossed we all love it!

 

[bumbershoot]

The only thing I would add is that most interiors on other lines are MUCH smaller than DCL, which is why there is often a huge difference in price.

But, FWIW, not everyone notices a difference once in the room. I certainly didn't know the Royal rooms were smaller. I didn't notice it once there! I had the same amount of storage space, the same feeling of room... I cannot right now convince myself that our Vision panoramic room was any smaller than our category V rooms, because it simply did not FEEL smaller to me. (apart from the balcony of course)

I shake my head when the Disney apologists on here say that there isn't much of a price difference.

But then not everyone sees that difference. There are those who do go looking for the huge differences, and don't find them. New ships, holiday itineraries, booking later for Royal than they did for Disney...the differences aren't going to be there, or won't be as big.

In general, though, booking at the start...we'll see something different.

 

[holula]

But, FWIW, not everyone notices a difference once in the room. I certainly didn't know the Royal rooms were smaller. I didn't notice it once there! I had the same amount of storage space, the same feeling of room... I cannot right now convince myself that our Vision panoramic room was any smaller than our category V rooms, because it simply did not FEEL smaller to me. (apart from the balcony of course)

I definitely think storage is a huge part of it. I felt like my room on Oasis could have done with a little more, but on Freedom we had a good amount.

 

[EONSO]

We hope this blows away RCL - was not impressed with all the broken stuff. Carnival was even worse! We are paying much more for this than the others.

 

[Our 2 Princesses]

I definitely think storage is a huge part of it. I felt like my room on Oasis could have done with a little more, but on Freedom we had a good amount.

Our family of four was in an interior room on the Freedom last September. We felt so cramped compared to the interior rooms with the split bathrooms on Disney.

 

[Ofinn]

Price differences...

So far we haven't gotten a Royal cruise cheaper in total than a disney cruise, but...when you look at the price per night that's when you see the differences.

Our first Disney cruise, a 3 night in category V (at a rate just $300 TOTAL more than the next lower category): $720+ per night
Our first family Royal cruise, a 7 night balcony: $466 per night.
Disney INSIDE cabin 4 night: $482 per night


etc. You can see that the total isn't always going to be cheaper, necessarily, but the per night cost is, usually! (for us, always)


Of course if I were ever in the market for a 7 nighter on Disney, that is where I am SURE I would see that Disney's total would be much higher than Royal's, especially on Freedom class and below.

I always look at cost per night when booking a cruise. I guess that's why we don't do 3 or 4 night cruises anymore. Our 11 night transatlantic next year is less than 3 night cruise on DCL in July.

 

[MC0810]

We want to do a rccl next. We did fantasy in may and ncl getaway (haven)recently and I will say NCL food we had was 100000x's better than Disneys. Haven was an amazing experience and im not sure anything will beat it...we've been spoiled.The kids club at Disney can't be beat but out kids still asked to go to NCLs clubs every night so they must have been doing something right. There was far more to do on NCL especially if your child is over 42 inches. I would say for little ones under 5 Disney is best because of the overall entertainment and the cute Nemo splash area and mickey pool but our kids really had a blast on NCL. Maybe I should do a comparison post...

 

[holula]

Our family of four was in an interior room on the Freedom last September. We felt so cramped compared to the interior rooms with the split bathrooms on Disney.

We did Freedom in a balcony, and there is only two of us. We also mostly only book interiors on Disney, because we are driven by price. the balcony we had on Freedom was very similar in size to Disney.

I also agree that NCL had (mostly) better food than Disney. I am always surprised when I see posts saying how poor the food is. There were definitely some misses but mostly it was great.