RC Monarch of the Seas or Disney Dream for Honeymoon?

[swinkinhofer]

I have to put in my two cents worth! We have sailed on Disney 4 times: once with a teenage, once as family reunion (36 of us!), and twice just the two of us, for our 25th and 30th wedding anniversary. We love DCL with or without kids! We are not "huge" Disney fans as such, but DCL gives so much class and elegance for the adults, we just love it. The clubs have family shows early, and adult only shows later. Palos is fantastic, the adult pool is quite and relaxing, and Castaway Cay has the adult only side that is quite serene. We have no problem finding romantic places and things to do on DCL. That's why I just booked our next DCL cruise for our 35th Anniversary! I can hardly wait!

 

[KRFK5]

Thank you to everyone for the great feedback!

If we do go ahead and book, is it best to go direct through Disney or through at 3rd party, and if so which one?

Thank you!

 

[krisces]

What memories! My hubby and I sailed on the Monarch of the Seas 15 years ago on our anniversary!

I have to agree with the other posters, that this ship is past her prime. There are so many cruise lines to choose from that I would do a bit more searching!

If you do decide on DCL, you will not be disappointed! I use Small World Vacations for my trips, and they always get me what I ask for and they have great customer service.

Have a wonderful trip - whatever you may choose!

 

[mbbarron]

I've been on the Majesty of the Seas twice, which like has been mentioned earlier, is the sister ship of the Monarch. The last time I went on that ship, I was unimpressed. I remembered the food being better but honestly I was slightly disappointed. The ship was definitely showing signs of age and the service while adequate was certainly not outstanding.

In my opinion, for a honeymoon, you should definitely go on Disney! I haven't been yet (30 days and counting) but from everything I've heard in person from friends who have been, Disney customer service and the overall experience is first class. If this was my honeymoon, this would be a priority! I'm sure there are adult only places on any Disney ship where you could go so that you're not surrounded by children. And if you wanted, you could book Palo every night for dinner for $20 more per person (per night of course), so you'd be assured a child-free dinner. I don't know if that's even a concern to you.

I agree with other posters. You get what you pay for and the RCCL weekend excursion ships are just that... inexpensive getaways.

Go for a nice ship and overall great experience for your honeymoon. You'll remember it forever!

 

[BealsRwe]

My $.02

I have sailed on the Disney Magic, Disney Wonder, soon to be the Disney Dream, and RCL Monarch of the Seas.

DH and I took our Honeymoon on the Disney Wonder. We had a fantastic time. It was his 1st cruise ever (I had been on the Wonder 2 times prior). We both love Disney, so it made sense for us to take a DCL trip for our honeymoon. We would have taken a cruise on the Magic for 7 days, but we wanted to stay in town the night of our wedding, vs. leaving right after our ceremony to get on the ship. They had Honeymoon buttons, and each day we had a surprise in our stateroom such as chocolate covered strawberries at check in, and cookies after a day at Castaway Cay.

We are Disney Cruise advocates and LOVE each Disney Cruise we have been on. DH, DD, and I will be heading our on the Disney Dream for Halloween, and we are beyond excited to get on this ship for the 1st time.

DCL advantages (IMO)
Entertainment (shows, movies, deck parties-sailaway and pirate, fireworks), Palo, larger staterooms, ability to bring own alcohol and beverages onboard, no additional charge for soda (if you get at the soda station on deck), adult only areas on the ship and Castaway Cay! Casual and laid back...plenty of activities to choose, or just lounging around. The DCL ships themselves are a more romantic/classic design from the atrium, to the artwork

RCL Monarch OTS advantages
Food was comparable to DCL, if not a little yummier-especially at the Windjammer cafe, there is a casino-but we never go, more adult activities until the weeee hours of the morning (we don't do because they charge extra for kids clubs after 10, and we have a 7 yo now). More of a party atmosphere. Booking cost is lower, but you have to buy a soda package, can't take own beverages onboard.

If it were me, I would select the Dream if you love Disney. Plenty to do. Otherwise, I would select a larger RCL ship-a newer one, with more things to do. Monarch OTS crew was fantastic, but we have seen that on all of our DCL trips too.

Congrats!

 

[MagicFan75]

We've done four Disney cruises, two without kids (one of which was our honeymoon) and two with kids. Definitely different experiences with and without kids, but all of our cruises have been completely fabulous. Disney spoils and pampers you and has lots of fun things for the adults (martini and wine tastings, cooking demonstrations and tastings, spa, bars, etc.). But keep in mind that there will be a lot of children onboard. Good luck!

 

[HappyPeach]

I think you need to compare a newer RCCL ship. You should look at one of Carnival's new ships, also. (To the PP who said Carnival is "dumpy" and for "Vegas" people... well, maybe in the past. You shouldn't judge what you have never tried!) There's something to be said for having a more adult atmosphere, not being surrounded by other people's kids (on your honeymoon!) and having entertainment options beyond Disney's very saccharine stage shows. I'm gold on DCL, so obviously I love it. But I have cruised on other lines and had a good experience. On this board, you are dealing with super-Disney fanatics and I doubt you can expect an impartial opinion. You might want to try the boards at cruise critic also. As far at the Monarch of the Seas... it's old and dumpy. If it's strictly and only between those 2 ships, do DCL.

 

[Butterx3]

I have been on 2 Disney Cruises, (not the dream though), and I just got off the Monarch of the Sea's last Friday. I had reservations about cruising on the Monarch, because of the age of the ship and the reviews I had read. But my parents were paying for the vacation, so I had no choice when it came to the boat or cruise line.

I was pleasantly surprised. I was warning my children not to compare, or we would be miserable, and I didn't want to make my parents feel bad or like we were complaining. But I didn't compare nearly as much as I thought. Disney's ships are in much nicer shape, but we thought the food was better on RCCL, and the pool area, was way better. On Disney ships the pools are chopped up here and there. So if you are with a young child, and they want to play at the Mickey pool, then move to the Goofy pool, you have to get up and hope to find another chair by the goofy pool. I could see my children no matter what pool they were in on the Monarch. Plus the Monarch has a lot more seats to sit in. On Disney people save deck chairs, so your always searching for a chair to sit in. On monarch there were plenty of chairs all day, every day, including the sea day. Since you don't have kids you don't have to worry about the pool hopping I guess.

The nightlife on Monarch was fun and there was more to do, and later into the night. I am sure that is because there are a lot of couples cruising without kids. The Trivia games, and the shows were nice, as they didn't all focus on Disney. Disney puts on broadway caliber performances, but the performances all deal with characters from Disney movies. It was nice to see, a musical revue, and comedy acts that went outside the Disney theme.

Our waiters on Monarch catered to our children much more so, than either of the Disney cruises I have been on. Which surprised me. However, our wait staff only had our table with children and then another table with only one child, all the other tables had adults, so they could focus on our kids more, as there weren't a lot of other kids to deal with. The cruise we went on had kids, but not anything like you would see on Disney. And that is to be expected.

Monarchs Private Island was nice, and if you have never been on Castaway Cay, you probably would think its wonderful. But Castaway Cay is nicer in my opinion. Coco Cay (Monarchs Island) just had too much stimulation and junk around. There were too many little pastel painted buildings to deal with, so it felt crowded. The snorkeling was the same on both islands though. Monarch Nickel and Dimes you on the Island, they want you to pay for the water area for the kids, and it was $15 for an hour only. I suppose its their way of keeping the park area from getting crowded. They have a huge slide also whch was another $20 per child. But that was for the entire day. At Castaway Cay the slides and play area are part of your day at the Island. And our TA has always thrown in the floating tubes for us at Castaway, so we have never had to pay for those.

Disney's rooms were much bigger, and the double bath is awesome. But if you went with an economical room on Disney, since there are just 2 of you, there is no guarantee of a split bath either.

Disney had better excusions to do at the ports, so I give them that, and it is nice to switch dining area's each night.

I think Disney is the way to go with kids. And had I paid for the trip we would have done Disney. But I was pleasantly surprised as were my kids with the Monarch. And there were a lot of young couples on there enjoying themselves. There were 3 weddings on board on the cruise we went on. I wouldn't rule the ship out, if your want to save money. But now that I have been on it, I wouldn't go again, (unless it was free of course), but I would try another RCCL ship or Carnival for that matter.

Congrats on your engagement, and enjoy whatever cruise you decide to take. You will have a wonderful time.

 

[Who's your Mickey?]

Hi all,

My fiancee and I are looking into taking a cruise to the Bahamas as part of our honeymoon in early July 2012. We're looking at the Disney Dream 4 night cruise, and also the Royal Caribbean Monarch of the Seas, which is also 4 nights and does a similar route. Just wanted to see if anyone had experience with either. The main reason I ask is that the RC cruise is less expensive, so I wanted to see if anyone could offer some insights on the main differences, if the extra money for the Disney cruise is worth it versus the Royal Caribbean cruise.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

Monarch OTS lacks the bells and whistles of RCI's (or any other cruise line's) newer ships. Fewer bars, dining options and smaller public spaces. Monarchs cabins are also TINY!!! She's a fine ship, but she's also 20 years old. Dream is less than a year old and has many more modern conveniences. It's really hard to compare them because of the drastic difference in their age. Both ships have really enthusiastic crews and there's plenty to do on a 3 or 4 day cruise, but even though she's been well maintained, Monarch does show her age. If either you or your future husband are gamblers, Dream does not have a casino.

You should base your decision on what you feel you want to do on the cruise. If you just want to relax by the pool by day and don't really care about the sideshow activities, then the age of the ship shouldn't matter. I tell you the cabins on Monarch are tiny because it's true, but keep in mind that you are only in the cabin to dress, sleep and ee, er, uh well you know... Disney cruises are significantly more because of two main factors, Disney only has 3 ships (compared to RCI's 22) so they have a fewer berths to fill and well, they're Disney and people will pay for the name. Both ships have silly games for adults, food and alcohol. They both put on stage shows, have comedians etc. Depending on who you ask, you'll find people with definite opinions over which line is better. Personally, I enjoy both. I just somestimes find it difficult justifying the Disney premium...