Just got back from a cruise with Royal Caribbean

[tezb]

We are just the opposite...we cruised DCL 3 times and tried Mariner for first time last summer. We liked it better than DCL. We now have older kids...3 teen boys so they were getting bored w/ DCL...as were we. We just found there to be more night life and fun for adults on the Mariner (RCCL). We are not drinkers or party people just wanted more to do now that we don't have little kids anymore. We don't plan on going back to DCL but it was a good start for a first cruise experience. The cruise also was about 2000. cheaper for a family of 5 and we had 2 nice rooms, one w/ verandah.

If you're interested in venturing and trying another cruise line, please don't let a few people's opinion confirm your decision to only stay w/ DCL. I know many people who tried other cruise lines esp RCCL and liked it the same if not more. We worried we would also compare to DCL and feel depressed about NOT being on the Magic but we looked at it as a different cruise experience and not Disney. Once on the Mariner, we had a great time and didn't miss the Disney experience....mind you ...we are NOT Disney fanatics either. To each is own.

 

[NCRedding]

dairyou: Thanks for your report.

Good luck posting a negative RCCL report on Cruisecritic--those people can be vicious, as you obviously know, since you're hesitating. I wish they were nicer over there.

 

[getoutthere]

Well, I guess I am one of THOSE people from the RCI cruise critic board as I started there first on my RCI cruises and now we are trying DCL for the first time in September. Most of the time if you present your complaint in a non-condemning way the poeple will understand your prefrence. I, for one, love RCI. That being said, we have not taken our children with us. We decided their first cruise should be DCL. So I can't comment on the children's programs. What I can comment on is on our 1 Carnival cruise and 4 RCI cruises we have always had a wonderful time no matter the ship or the length of the cruise. I will say that some cruises have just been better than others. Since RCI is my favorite I am worried about being disappointed on our DCL cruise, but then again, it is pretty hard to disappoint me. RCI has always had nearly flawless service and I am hoping (and for the price, expecting) the same from DCL.
The one thing I love about RCI that DCL does not have is the variety of ships and itineraries to choose from.

 

[bobbiwoz]

We're empty nesters, but have sailed with our adult children and other family members. We've been on about 15 cruises, and we loved our Carnival Destiny cruise from Puerto Rico in 2000. We've never had a bad cruise, DCL is great, but it's not the only one we like.

Bobbi

 

[NancyIL]

I returned from my first Royal Caribbean cruise 2 weeks ago - Splendour of the Seas out of Tampa - and it was fabulous! After my very first so-so cruise a year earlier on Holland America with my mom out of Port Canaveral, I really wanted to try Disney. However, it was a good 150% more than a comparable itinerary on Royal Caribbean. I didn't travel with kids, and in fact I ended up cruising alone when my sister had to cancel 3 days before our cruise. My DH and I will be on a RCI cruise this summer in Europe, and I'm planning a (probably) solo 4-day Baha Mexico cruise next May - also on RCI. By the way, I love www.cruisecritic.com

 

[NCRedding]

getoutthere: I apologize if I offended. I should have said "some of those" people on RCCL. I have just found in my experience that the disboards people are more forgiving. For example, there is a thread on the disboards about someone being disappointed in their DCL cruise. after reading through the 13 pages of responses, there is no one who is calling the OP a troll; or picking apart his grammar or spelling, or going through his post looking for errors and calling him a liar. Every slightly negative post I've read on cruisecritic degenerates into this kind of stuff. I certainly am not saying that you personally are vicious.

 

[debabe]

We are just the opposite...we cruised DCL 3 times and tried Mariner for first time last summer. We liked it better than DCL. We now have older kids...3 teen boys so they were getting bored w/ DCL...as were we. We just found there to be more night life and fun for adults on the Mariner (RCCL). We are not drinkers or party people just wanted more to do now that we don't have little kids anymore. We don't plan on going back to DCL but it was a good start for a first cruise experience. The cruise also was about 2000. cheaper for a family of 5 and we had 2 nice rooms, one w/ verandah.

If you're interested in venturing and trying another cruise line, please don't let a few people's opinion confirm your decision to only stay w/ DCL. I know many people who tried other cruise lines esp RCCL and liked it the same if not more. We worried we would also compare to DCL and feel depressed about NOT being on the Magic but we looked at it as a different cruise experience and not Disney. Once on the Mariner, we had a great time and didn't miss the Disney experience....mind you ...we are NOT Disney fanatics either. To each is own.

This was our experience with RCCL too. DS14 and I had a great time on Explorer of the Seas. We had a verandah room for $1000 less than the Cat 11 we had reserved on DCL, same week, same itinerary. I also like that RCCL has computer access in your room (for a fee) and interactive TV, where you can check your stateroom account at the click of a button. Every one's experience will differ based on expectations, degree of service (we never had a towel animal in our room on DCL but had one every night on RCCL), and activity level. We're more of the 'on the go' type and loved the physical activities available moreso than wine tasting and character appearances. My son had a limit of $50 to use for the 7 days in the arcade and did not exceed it (and I thought he was in there a lot). We never got to use the overcrowded pools on DCL and the salt water pools didn't bother us (we swim in the ocean and it's salt water too )

I had such an exceptional experience on Princess that I didn't think I would ever sail another line but like to try new things, which is why I've cruised on DCL and RCCL. I don't think you can go wrong very often no matter what type of cruise you chose. It's sure better than being at work.

 

[lookingforward]

I have sailed on a several
other lines and liked them all. To be honest I was underwhelmed with the Wonder, but I attribute that to the time we sailed (right after a hurricane) and the fact that we did not get to DCL's private island.

RCCL is a fine line, it is not a luxury cruise..but neither is DCL. Celebrity is my favorite mainstream line. We booked a penthouse suite (1100 square feet, jacuzzi on the deck, butler service) for what a Cat 3 would cost on DCL (actually about $750 cheaper). It was amazing and the food was better than DCL. Celebrity does not have the disney magical thing happening....but it has other wonderful offerings. The kids program on Celebrity is smaller and my daughter definately got more attention as compared to DCL (which had about 800 kids)

We have also sailed Crystal which is really geared for adults and very upscale. NCL was fun but not quite as nice as DCL, although a lot cheaper!
I guess my point for commenting at all it that there are other great cruise lines out there. Some DCL fans are perfectly content to stay with a sure thing and I don't blame them if it works for them. My vacations are so precious to me that if I loved DCL I would be loyal. But if you seek to try new places, itineraries, experiences and perhaps pay a little less..then you should look at other lines for options. There are so many choices out there!

 

[thelobstershanty]

We have sailed on DCL and loved it, but we were not overly impressed with the food, we stopped at Castaway right after it reopened from the hurricanes, so we were a bit disappointed with that and found the price to be very much on the high side.
We are now booked on a RCCL that is 8 nights vs 7 nights, has 2 more ports of call and we have a bigger room. We also had a verandah room on DCL but the RCCL verandah room is bigger. The RCCL cruise is only costing me $400.00 more for 2 people, then I paid for 1 person on DCL! And we get an extra night, 2 more ports of call and a bigger cabin. We do not have small children so never used the kids clubs on DCL nor will we on RCCL. I have heard nothing but glowing reports about RCCL from co workers who are repeat cruisers, so we are really looking forward to it. I am not saying we will never go on another DC, but if we like RCCL equally, it will probably be awhile before I book another DCL voyage. RCCL has more of a variety of cruises with more ports of call, and more stuff for adults to do. DCL is wonderful, especially for those with small children. But for an adult only trip, I really do not know if it is worth the extra money. I guess we will know better after our RCC.

 

[jkfreeman33]

We have been on 15 cruises - our 16th will be on Carnival Glory in 6/05 and our 17th will be on Marinar of the Seas in 9/05.
We do not have any children and we are in our mid-40's early 50's,
We love RCCL and I have to say Carnival has come a long long way since we did our first one in 1993.
I have never done a Disney cruise because I'm afraid it will be over run with kids. We have been on cruises where the kids run ramped and the parents are no where to be found. I have visions of this being a 100 times worse on Disney. Friends who have gone on a Disney cruise tell me this isn't so.
It really doesn't upset me if families cruise with Disney and leave the other lines to the adults. I agree, RCCL doesn't really cater to the small children population. Maybe that's why so many adults have such a great time on their cruises.
This I say being a DVC member who spends 10-14 days a year in WDW, so it's nothing against children.

 

[Michelle2]

Dairyou, thanks so much for your post. We have kids and were always wondering the difference between the lines, especially with other ships adding and advertising more "family friendly and kid friendly" things to attract families...But your experience sounded exacly how we probably would have been if we would have made that decision to cruise another line. I think my DH and I will definitely try another cruise line when it is the 2 of us, and really enjoy the variety, but while we have the kids, and they are still 12 and under, DCL will be for us. Right up our alley. We don't like casinos and night life anyways even without kids, and are Disney fanatics, so it sounds like we made the right choice for us! Thanks for the reaffirmation!

 

[taeja71]

My DH is trying to convince me to look at RCCL, but I'm scared. I looked over at rccl.com and couldn't find any detailed info about their kids clubs. All our kids are 5 and under so the clubs have to be organized (staff and all activities of course). I don't like reading cruisecritic.com as they seem to have DIS board-itis. So much of the info they're seeking is right here and on dcltribute.com. DUH!

 

[jgalecpa]

DW and I have sailed on RCCL without the kids and it was great.

Lots of fun stuff, good ports, beautiful ships and friendly staff.

The only two points working against DCL, IMHO, are:

(1) Limited ship itineraries, and

(2) Price.

Especially for the first, there are places DCL just doesn't go.

Want to take a romantic Mediterranean Cruise? Can't do it with DCL. (And there is nothing more romantic than a Greek cruise, I promise!!)

Want to Go to Alaska? Can't do it with DCL.

We have sailed about 5 different lines, and NONE has more fun than DCL. Especially for a family.

But there are times when DCL just is not an option.

We are sailing on Celbrity this summer to Alaska, with the kids. Will let you know how that goes.

When that is the case, there are some fine lines out there. RCCL is one.

BTW, I think RCCL owns Celbrity now.

So, the great thing about this world is that different people have different tastes. Do not be afraid to try new things, now and then!


Jim

[I do agree that people on the Cruise Critic board can be much meaner than people here]

 

[Melrosgirl]

RCCL is a great line. I've been on 2 of their cruises (one in 1992 and one in 2000). Princess is another great line (with a good kid's club - I'm not familiar with RCCL's kid's club). With that said, we are sailing the Disney Magic next year (our second Disney cruise). Only b/c we have young kids. I would not hesitate to sail the other two lines again, but not unti the kids are older.

 

[Dancind]

We've tried one "outside" cruise, a 10 day Celebrity cruise out of Tampa in Dec. 2003. It was one of their older ships, but I don't think that's the only reason we didn't like it. Our biggest problem was the really, really poor kids program. Our DD was 12 at the time, and terribly bored. There was nothing we could do together on that ship, and really not much to do anyway. Unless you like to gamble or bid on art. Bad weather limited pool time or even walking on deck during our cruise. So the sea days were fairly miserable. Luckily, there were five port days, and we had a great time at all the ports! The evening shows were abysmal, and geared to 70 year olds. The food, however, was quite good, and available at all hours. They even had sushi available every day, probably our favorite thing about the ship! And the service was very good. Our dinner servers were not at all like DCL servers as far as personality, but they were excellent servers.

It was cheaper, for sure. But DCL is worth the extra to us by far.