Platinum DCLer does RCCL, minus kiddo, will answer questions

[we"reofftoneverland]

NCL has wine tastings. Very reasonably priced.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

They did offer a Martini seminar, but from the info my wife got it was not like the Martini tasting on DCL. We can deal with missing out on stuff like this for the value we are getting.

We have 2 trips booked next year and will keep one and ditch one. I thought the 10 night on the Serenade was expensive until I did the cost per day per person for 2 people in the room and it came out at 105$. The other option is the Freedom again with 3 people in the room for 8 nights and it came out to 94$ per person per day. These were inside rooms and we would add the soda package for each person to up the cost a bit, but it is still a good value.

Friend and I just booked for the first week of March on Anthem. Guarantee balcony with gratuities for roughly $2k walking out the door. 7-night cruise. I didn't think that was awful. I don't drink soda. She doesn't drink alcohol. We're going to do the BOGO specialty dining the first 2 nights. Split internet. It's not a terribly expensive trip at all.

 

[cgolf]

The shops on RCCL have sales, which would be a good thing if they'd just stop with the hype and promos on the mic in the stores.

We cruised RCCL just a week after DCL and the adult atmosphere was a nice change of pace. We found the food comparable, but DCL's nightly entertainment was superior.

We attended the equivalent of the Castaway Cay Club reception onboard RCCL and the RCCL refreshments were superior -- they had hot and cold hors de ourves and lots of desserts -- almost didn't want to go to dinner that night. (I said almost.) The DCL reception made it easy for DH to get his pic taken with Capt Mickey and the Wonder's Captain, but other than that it was a waste of time. The refreshments were a joke.

Totally agree on the night entertainment on DCL, there is more of it it seems and the stage shows are better quality.

You also let me get on my soapbox to all those complaining about DCL ships being dead at night. Other than then maybe the casino, the activity on the royal ship seemed to slow down a lot at 10. Maybe they were all up in olive and twist or somewhere we didn't see. So I thought the RCCL ship was quiet at night too.

I will say that the quest game show and 80's dance party were very well attended and very lively of the freedom, compared to DCL. Also the belly flop contest was awesome, DCL should do this, it was handled well and was very amusing.

 

[cgolf]

NCL has wine tastings. Very reasonably priced.

Unfortunately my wife only likes Rosa Regale, thanks DCL concierge, and fruity wet wines. So for her she can't drink any of the wines when we have done a tasting before.

 

[tinkerone]

Totally agree on the night entertainment on DCL, there is more of it it seems and the stage shows are better quality.

I think that may depend on the ship. Both 'Oasis of Dreams' and 'Come Fly With Me' were every bit as good as anything DCL has. I would go so far as to say Oasis of Dreams was better than anything I have seen on DCL however it is a Cirque du Soleil type show and if someone doesn't like Cirque then they would certainly disagree.

 

[Bree]

That is very strange about Windjammer not having fruit out all day or the GF station. I was able to get fruit all day last April on the Independence. It was out for breakfast, lunch, afternoon snacks and dinner. There was also a dedicated station for gluten free items. One thing I love about RCCL is that Windjammer is a buffet at dinner. Sometimes I just don't feel like going to the main dining room!

 

[mcd2745]

This year we decided to do a cruise on the Freedom of the Seas because in short we didn’t see the value in another DCL cruise. I don’t want to make this a pricing discussion, just our honest take on the two lines.


The Ship

DCL – We are big fans of the classics, they are super easy to navigate and we love the adult pool area. The Dream class are not as simple to navigate and the adult pool area is not well designed, in the shade a lot and it is not conducive to swimming mini laps like you can on the classics. The classics definitely have their bumps and bruises and the Dream class even have a few. The pluses are the running track on deck 4 and no casino, only outdoor smoking. The feel of the classics is more laid back overall while the Dream class are hectic on the upper decks and more laid back on the lower decks.


Freedom – We love the layout, it was super easy to find everything. The upper decks were pretty chill, not a lot of kids on this cruise, most likely the time of year, and the Royal Promenade was very lively and a lot of fun. The casino was a bummer due to the smoking, the smell unfortunately carried out of that area sometimes. The running track on the top deck was a joke which was a bummer for me. The Deck 4 seating area was really nice and it was pretty easy to find some quiet spots to chill out. We also really enjoyed that they let you out on the helipad, at night you could see a ton of stars and sailaways were fun. The interactive boards on each floor showing the cruise compass and locations of all the venues are really nice, DCL should do something like this.


Verdict – DCL Classics and Freedom to close to call and Dream class behind both.


I want to add that both companies seem to take pride in their ships. We found the Freedom to be well maintained and staff always working on keeping it in good shape. But, just like DCL it is not perfect. I would rate both lines as 3 star lines, and when you cruise these lines you can’t expect 5 star quality. I have taken issue with people on this board that have taken pokes at our favorite ship the Magic, so I am consistent for both lines. Overall I would say DCL is cleaner, but it is pretty close.


More to come.

I really like the layout of the RCCL ships also. Specifically, I think the Royal Promenade is a great feature (when not cluttered with whatever merchandise they are hawking at the moment), and having a simple cafe open 24 hours (plus the pizza place - which we liked - is open until 3am) is something I wish DCL had. while the atrium area on DCL is very nice, it's a very small area and tends to get a little cramped if something is going on. Agreed as well on the interactive boards near the elevators/stairs on each floor. Very helpful for a lot of people.

 

[cgolf]

Now the craziest thing that happened on the trip and it happened on the first night when we were trying to figure out if RCCL was going to work out for us.

My wife and I were walking up the steps and an elderly gentleman was walking down dressed in nothing but a pool towel put on like a diaper. My wife was in the lead and he gave here a story about how he was lost and needed help finding his way back to his room. I bolted, I mean went and looked for a cm in a hall anywhere and did not see anyone. Once we realized that we couldn't help him and heard another couple coming upstairs we headed past and he started the same story with them. I assume this was a gentleman with dementia and I felt very bad for him. The whole time though we had our fingers crossed that the pool towel was well fastened as we didn't need to see anymore

That was an interesting way to get our trip started!

 

[cgolf]

That is very strange about Windjammer not having fruit out all day or the GF station. I was able to get fruit all day last April on the Independence. It was out for breakfast, lunch, afternoon snacks and dinner. There was also a dedicated station for gluten free items. One thing I love about RCCL is that Windjammer is a buffet at dinner. Sometimes I just don't feel like going to the main dining room!

The only thing that I can figure is that they had only a small number of gf people onboard not making it worth it to set up the pod? They did have uncut fruit like apples and kiwi, but my wife likes having the different melons and pineapple like they had out at breakfast.

I did miss the shrimp that DCL offers though.

 

[Bree]

The only thing that I can figure is that they had only a small number of gf people onboard not making it worth it to set up the pod? They did have uncut fruit like apples and kiwi, but my wife likes having the different melons and pineapple like they had out at breakfast.

I did miss the shrimp that DCL offers though.

They have shrimp on the buffet at least one night for dinner, but I don't know if there is a way to find out ahead of time. I didn't feel like going to the dining room for dinner one night, but MIL & SIL went. I went to the buffet instead and it was there. I brought a pile of them back to the room for my MIL to eat later. She was so mad she went to the dining room and missed it LOL!!!

 

[bumbershoot]

I really like the layout of the RCCL ships also. Specifically, I think the Royal Promenade is a great feature (when not cluttered with whatever merchandise they are hawking at the moment), and having a simple cafe open 24 hours (plus the pizza place - which we liked - is open until 3am) is something I wish DCL had. while the atrium area on DCL is very nice, it's a very small area and tends to get a little cramped if something is going on. Agreed as well on the interactive boards near the elevators/stairs on each floor. Very helpful for a lot of people.

In case you don't know, or to be clear for others, not all ships have the promenade. Vision class does not; they have the atrium. And I think Radiance class has the atrium, no promenade, as well.

 

[lisaradz]

I've not seen the tastings on other cruise lines either. I was reading some Compasses from a past Anthem sailing identical to our itinerary and noticed several 2 for 1's here & there. There were some other drink specials advertised. I figure I can watch for these, too.

Make sure you get all of the details on the drink deals. DH thought he was getting this great two for one deal on Liberty of the Seas, but it only applied to the drink of the day. 2 of the 7 days were to my liking...it could be a deal if you like drinks with simple syrup. of course the first few days when they were pitching the upsell was when they had the better drinks.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

Make sure you get all of the details on the drink deals. DH thought he was getting this great two for one deal on Liberty of the Seas, but it only applied to the drink of the day. 2 of the 7 days were to my liking...it could be a deal if you like drinks with simple syrup. of course the first few days when they were pitching the upsell was when they had the better drinks.

Thanks for the tip!

 

[cgolf]

Thanks for the tip!

With the 10 drink for 75 buck deal, plus the added gratuity of course, allowed us to get daiquiris and the 12 buck cocktails. Not sure what wasn't an option for us.

 

[cgolf]

In case you don't know, or to be clear for others, not all ships have the promenade. Vision class does not; they have the atrium. And I think Radiance class has the atrium, no promenade, as well.

We may go on the serenade next year which I believe also has the atrium, but most importantly it has outdoor areas for windjammers. It would be cool to see what their smaller ships are like.

 

[ali_in_al]

Thank you for all the great info!