I know this is a Disney Cruise forum but I know some people have expressed interest in non disney cruises and how they compare to Disney. We were on the Navigator of the Seas on 11/1-11/8. We are a family of four (Me, DH, DD(8) and DS (5))Here goes:
Price: RCCL wins hands down... I booked a category H (outside quad on deck 3) for $2500 and was able to upgrade to an E (family stateroom on deck 9) for $50 additional at the pier... That same room would have cost me $4200 If I had booked it originally. It was a great room!!!
Shows: I would say that RCCL and Disney are about equal... RCCL has alot more variety and quantity of shows but the quality isnt always as great as Disneys. We did see the love and marriage show (an absolute riot) and the ice show (Fantastic) but we walked out on one of the production numbers. I must also say that the parades are really cool!!!!
Embarkation: RCCL.. we got to the pier in Miami by 10:45AM and were on the ship by 11:30.
Debarkation: Disney hands down... we had an early color - green and were off the ship by 8:15AM but there was already a huge line for customs and immigration.
Kids Clubs: RCCL ...when we went on our last 2 disney cruises we made the kids go to the oceaneers club each night so DH and I could have some adult time.. On Navigator the kids were begging us to go... They earned tickets each time they went and traded them in for prizes at the end. Only negative is that you have to pay for care after 10PM...but honestly since the cruise was so inexpensive that didnt really bother us at all.
Dining Room Food - Disney wins this one... while the food was good on Navigator for the most part.. there were 1 or 2 meals where I was less than pleased with the choices and the presentation was sometimes lacking.
Room Stewards and Dining Room Servers..... equal. Our stateroom hostess was wonderful and so were our servers...
Private Island...OH god there isnt even a contest here - Castaway Cay wins hands down... We were so disappointed in labadee that we went back to the ship early....they didnt pay nearly the attention to detail that disney did.
Clientele...definately less kids than disney.. 400 total out of 3400 passengers and most of the people on board were from NJ - teachers convention week.. we saw all sorts of people from singles to young married couples to families and even older folks..
Specialty restaurants... I would say Disney here... while the two restaurants on Navigator were excellent.. they charge $20 per person extra to eat in them and the service at chops (the steak house) was dredfully slow - 3.5 hours for dinner.
All in all it was a great cruise... I would have to give it an overall grade of a B+ with the only really negative thing being Labadee.
I am already booked on the Magic for 8/28/04 but I would absolutely cruise one of the RCCL Voyager class ships again... my daughter was crying on our last day cause she didnt get to do everything she wanted too... that says alot..
Ginny
Price: RCCL wins hands down... I booked a category H (outside quad on deck 3) for $2500 and was able to upgrade to an E (family stateroom on deck 9) for $50 additional at the pier... That same room would have cost me $4200 If I had booked it originally. It was a great room!!!
Shows: I would say that RCCL and Disney are about equal... RCCL has alot more variety and quantity of shows but the quality isnt always as great as Disneys. We did see the love and marriage show (an absolute riot) and the ice show (Fantastic) but we walked out on one of the production numbers. I must also say that the parades are really cool!!!!
Embarkation: RCCL.. we got to the pier in Miami by 10:45AM and were on the ship by 11:30.
Debarkation: Disney hands down... we had an early color - green and were off the ship by 8:15AM but there was already a huge line for customs and immigration.
Kids Clubs: RCCL ...when we went on our last 2 disney cruises we made the kids go to the oceaneers club each night so DH and I could have some adult time.. On Navigator the kids were begging us to go... They earned tickets each time they went and traded them in for prizes at the end. Only negative is that you have to pay for care after 10PM...but honestly since the cruise was so inexpensive that didnt really bother us at all.
Dining Room Food - Disney wins this one... while the food was good on Navigator for the most part.. there were 1 or 2 meals where I was less than pleased with the choices and the presentation was sometimes lacking.
Room Stewards and Dining Room Servers..... equal. Our stateroom hostess was wonderful and so were our servers...
Private Island...OH god there isnt even a contest here - Castaway Cay wins hands down... We were so disappointed in labadee that we went back to the ship early....they didnt pay nearly the attention to detail that disney did.
Clientele...definately less kids than disney.. 400 total out of 3400 passengers and most of the people on board were from NJ - teachers convention week.. we saw all sorts of people from singles to young married couples to families and even older folks..
Specialty restaurants... I would say Disney here... while the two restaurants on Navigator were excellent.. they charge $20 per person extra to eat in them and the service at chops (the steak house) was dredfully slow - 3.5 hours for dinner.
All in all it was a great cruise... I would have to give it an overall grade of a B+ with the only really negative thing being Labadee.
I am already booked on the Magic for 8/28/04 but I would absolutely cruise one of the RCCL Voyager class ships again... my daughter was crying on our last day cause she didnt get to do everything she wanted too... that says alot..
Ginny
