Royal Caribbean v. Disney

[bumbershoot]

With that said, I sailed with my parents on Royal Caribbean about 10 years ago .....The only thing I didn't care for was that every night in the MDR was essentially a formal night, and I hated that.

Our honeymoon was on royal 13 years ago and it wasn't true then. I think this might be a perception thing or something coming from your parents.

d. Also, just give me the Diet Coke! If you buy the drink package, you have to carry a cup around to refill the soda.

You do not. Just take your card to a bartender and get your drink.

If you want to use the freestyle machines then of course you need the cup. But if you just wanted a Diet Coke take your card to a bar.

It felt like most of the activities were things you had to pay extra for. There were art auctions and watch sales and a casino.

Interesting perception. Those are all totally optional. We attended the art auction and it was totally free I got three glasses of "champagne", too. Bad sparkling wine, but oh well.

Plenty to do on Royal that's included. Only things we found that were needed and extra cost are in Disney too. Espresso and fancy ice cream! Of course, last time we were on DCL they didn't have the fancy ice cream. So ds went without bc the ingredients in cheap ice cream and "soft serve" don't work in his system. Then again he did love the arcade that they so rudely took away in order to copy Royal's fancy ice cream!

 

[disneyholic family]

Also, just give me the Diet Coke! If you buy the drink package, you have to carry a cup around to refill the soda.

not true.

If you buy the drink package, you can walk up to any bar, any restaurant, any anything on the ship with your card and order a diet coke. No drink cup required.
Exactly what i did a zillion times a day.
I never even opened the drink cup that came with the package as i wasn't interested in using the freestyle machine (on the allure of the seas).
i must have had at least 10 diet cokes a day - each time from a bar. Ordered either directly at the bar or from one of the roaming bar waiters....

it was given to me in a tall bar glass, with ice and a straw just like with any bar drink..

in fact, i found that to be far more satisfactory than the coke situation on DCL ships where i have to shlep up to the free drink station if i want my diet coke...

 

[KashasMom]

We've done 4 Disney cruises and one RCCL cruise. I felt like they were constantly nickel and dining me on the RC cruise. It felt like most of the activities were things you had to pay extra for. There were art auctions and watch sales and a casino. I've seen the jewelry stuff in the Disney cruises, but it is much more in the background. Also, just give me the Diet Coke! If you buy the drink package, you have to carry a cup around to refill the soda. I wash dishes at home and I don't want to do it in my vacation. Also, the movie selection was not as diverse. They showed the same few movies over and over. My husband really likes to sit in the theater and he was bored. The pools on the RCCL boats are saltwater. My kids hated them and wouldn't get in the pool. I personally thought the shows were not nearly as good on Royal Carribean. The Disney shows really are Broadway quality.

Last complaint. You can only eat dinner in one dining room on RC. You have to pay an up charge to eat in any of the others. Just charge me more for my cruise up front. I don't want to pay $100 more to get food I already paid for. (We only did Palo once in 5 cruises and have never been to Remy) It got really boring eating in the same dining room every night.

No more RC cruises for us. I'll pay more up front for the more entertaining experience.

I'm not sure when you last cruised with RCI but almost all of your comments are inaccurate. The nickel and dime thing is what Disney fanatics tend to say about every other line. But really the ONLY thing that is not included on RCI that is included on Disney is soda. All the other things that are available for a charge on RCI are available for a charge on Disney - photos, upscale dining, shopping, excursions, etc. Oh and Disney CHARGES for that popcorn you might want for your movie! Adding a casino to your list of nickel and dining does not make any sense.

We did not have saltwater pools on Oasis/Serenade but the pools on many cruise lines are refilled out at sea with cleaned and filtered sea water. And the pools on Oasis/Allure put DCL's dirty bathtubs to shame!

Like food, the shows are subjective. The big RCI ships have really good shows - my daughter enjoyed them more than the DCL shows. And having seen ALL the Disney shows on Broadway, I don't agree the shows on the ship are of the same quality but I know people like to say that.

Your most inaccurate comment is about the dining. Oasis/Allure have more than 25 dining options, most of which are FREE. The choice of food from very healthy to hot dogs at the Dog House is great for any foodie! We LOVE that RCI offers a dinner buffet for dinner, something which DCL does not. That dinner buffet has all kinds of freshly cooked, HOT food - all types of cuisines. Our 3 most recent dining experiences on DCL have been so subpar. First time on the Magic it was just the 3 of us at a table. Our dining team had a very large table and us. Of course, we barely got any attention/service since they were concentrating on the big table. Our first time on the Fantasy our waiter mentioned giving him an "excellent" review 5 nights out of 6. I HATED going to dinner every night because of his speech. Our last time on the Fantasy we had a family with 3 kids and parents who didn't parent. It was very stressful having kids climbing all over the table. I would have gladly traded any of those experiences for an RCI dinner buffet.

As a family we are winding down our Disney cruises - only 2 left. If there is something that works out (I think we did really well with our upcoming Magic cruise) we would go. But we've happily branched out to other lines and will continue to do so. I think life is much better with a little variety and there is life after Disney! For those who can only see good in Disney, I say go for it! There are enough options to keep us all happy!

 

[KashasMom]

We've done 4 Disney cruises and one RCCL cruise. I felt like they were constantly nickel and dining me on the RC cruise.

Someone posted this on another thread...thought you might find it eye-opening (I know I did)!

DCL Cruise Expenses (other than cruise fare and gratuities)

1. Alcoholic drinks at the bars and from roving servers (welcome aboard)
2. Wine by the glass or wine packages at meals
3. Spa treatments
4. Shore excursions (including cabanas and rentals at CC)
5. Purchases from the stores: clothing, sundries, jewelry, souvenirs, etc.
6. Adult dining (Palo, Remy)
7. Bottled water
8. Photos (individual and packages)
9. Onboard booking for future cruises
10. Disney Vacation Club membership (you can purchase on board)
11. Art (thank goodness those "auctions" are gone, but you can still purchase art)
12. Candy and snacks outside theater
13. Tips for room service
14. Internet
15. Room upgrades (usually at port, sometimes GS)
16. Bingo
17. Parking/transportation
18. Port porters
19. Alcohol and cigarettes for delivery at end of voyage
20. Welcome aboard packages (flowers, candy, etc waiting in your cabin)
21. Adventures by Disney (you can purchase on board)
22. Cameras from photo shop
23. Cellular phone calls (although it will be billed later to your phone bill)
24. Medical care
25. Cigars (Meridian bar)
26. Arcade
27. Hair Braiding
28. Nursery care for children under 3
29. Tastings and Mixology
30. Excursion tips
31. Soft drinks from room service or bar
32. Specialty coffee
33. Meeting room rental
34. Onboard or Castaway Cay wedding (currently $3000/$4000)
35. Vow renewal ceremony
36. Sports simulator
37. Laundry room and send-out laundry and dry cleaning
38. Tuxedo rentals
39. Room service sodas and candy (these have a charge)
40. Additional tip (over the automatic) for bar servers
41. Required gratuity added to spa services
42. Pins sold at trading pin sessions
43. Extra wave phone rental
44. Duties at customs at end of cruise if you've made a LOT of purchases abroad
45. Ship to shore calls from your room phone
46. Fuel supplement charge if the price of oil is above a certain level
47. Popcorn at theater
48. Fish Extender program gifts
49. Kids’s club magic bands (if you want to keep them, you lose the deposit)
50. Stamps from Post Office at Castaway Cay
51. Tip for Castaway Cay cabana host (you’ll need cash for this one)
52. Sparkling or still (plain specialty) water with your meal
53. Upcharge food items at the adult clubs
54. Candy and ice cream from Vanellope’s on the Dream
55. Smoothies from the bar in Senses Spa on the Dream
56. Required tip at spa (not optional)

 

[Ofinn]

There could be drunk people on any cruise - including DCL. We hadlots of them on our Oasis cruise, and many on our Carnival cruises,


Edited my mistake . Meant couple with no kids. You are right drinking can occur on any ship, but I would say definitely occurs more on RCL than Disney. No matter what, bad things can occur on any cruise and great things will occur on any as well. Cruises are great!

I would assume people traveling with their kids would be behave better. It's hard enough taking care of young children when your sober. Most people don't behave badly when they are drinking they are just having fun.

 

[ldo]

sorry for confusion. I was trying to quote others who wrote:
Re RCCL: He even said it was quite common to see drunken men over 50 stumbling around on deck at night like they were coming from a frat party.
Negatives: on Oasis:
- lots of drinking and drunk people

And then was adding my experience of:
I have been on RCCL 5X. I have never seen anything like this. The closest I saw was 2 mid-20s guys in the hot tub in the adult area at around 11pm telling another guest in the hot tub that they were wasted b/c the bartender at a Carib. port bar kept giving them free shots. They were actually rather polite and not bothering anyone. We had 3 children with us and did not ever find anything offensive, bad behavior, etc.
I would say, though, that there is more likelihood of a booze cruise with shorter cruises, except maybe DCL, where the price is still quite high, IMHO. We did have a number of high schoolers (who could not drink) with chaperones on our 4 day RCCL spring break cruise. We have not had this on longer cruises (except a HS band, who were all delightfully behaved).
Our only difference for extras on RCCL vs. DCL is that we pay for a few nights of upgraded dining on RCCL and a few sodas. We do find DCL main dining room better than RCCL MDR, IMHO. We have done Palos before, but find DCL MDR is fine for us.

 

[FigmentSpark]

Someone posted this on another thread...thought you might find it eye-opening (I know I did)!

DCL Cruise Expenses (other than cruise fare and gratuities)

1. Alcoholic drinks at the bars and from roving servers (welcome aboard)
2. Wine by the glass or wine packages at meals
3. Spa treatments
4. Shore excursions (including cabanas and rentals at CC)
5. Purchases from the stores: clothing, sundries, jewelry, souvenirs, etc.
6. Adult dining (Palo, Remy)
7. Bottled water
8. Photos (individual and packages)
9. Onboard booking for future cruises
10. Disney Vacation Club membership (you can purchase on board)
11. Art (thank goodness those "auctions" are gone, but you can still purchase art)
12. Candy and snacks outside theater
13. Tips for room service
14. Internet
15. Room upgrades (usually at port, sometimes GS)
16. Bingo
17. Parking/transportation
18. Port porters
19. Alcohol and cigarettes for delivery at end of voyage
20. Welcome aboard packages (flowers, candy, etc waiting in your cabin)
21. Adventures by Disney (you can purchase on board)
22. Cameras from photo shop
23. Cellular phone calls (although it will be billed later to your phone bill)
24. Medical care
25. Cigars (Meridian bar)
26. Arcade
27. Hair Braiding
28. Nursery care for children under 3
29. Tastings and Mixology
30. Excursion tips
31. Soft drinks from room service or bar
32. Specialty coffee
33. Meeting room rental
34. Onboard or Castaway Cay wedding (currently $3000/$4000)
35. Vow renewal ceremony
36. Sports simulator
37. Laundry room and send-out laundry and dry cleaning
38. Tuxedo rentals
39. Room service sodas and candy (these have a charge)
40. Additional tip (over the automatic) for bar servers
41. Required gratuity added to spa services
42. Pins sold at trading pin sessions
43. Extra wave phone rental
44. Duties at customs at end of cruise if you've made a LOT of purchases abroad
45. Ship to shore calls from your room phone
46. Fuel supplement charge if the price of oil is above a certain level
47. Popcorn at theater
48. Fish Extender program gifts
49. Kids’s club magic bands (if you want to keep them, you lose the deposit)
50. Stamps from Post Office at Castaway Cay
51. Tip for Castaway Cay cabana host (you’ll need cash for this one)
52. Sparkling or still (plain specialty) water with your meal
53. Upcharge food items at the adult clubs
54. Candy and ice cream from Vanellope’s on the Dream
55. Smoothies from the bar in Senses Spa on the Dream
56. Required tip at spa (not optional)

It would be interesting to have a comparison chart that listed these (and others) and compared them to the other lines. On first look, I'd say most of this list also costs extra on other lines, too. I also think including duty free purchases (#19 and 44) is ridiculous. These would cost you on any international vacation, not just cruises.

 

[KashasMom]

It would be interesting to have a comparison chart that listed these (and others) and compared them to the other lines. On first look, I'd say most of this list also costs extra on other lines, too. I also think including duty free purchases (#19 and 44) is ridiculous. These would cost you on any international vacation, not just cruises.

I agree. I think most are not relevant to many/most people. I guess it proves 2 points...1) that ALL cruise lines charge for many items (not that anyone is being nickled and dimed on a non-Disney cruise) and 2) Not everything is included in your cruise fare (very good info for those who haven't cruised before).

 

[Love2Cruz]

I would like to try on of their Oasis class ships one day....but they are up there in Price, not cheap my any means, but less the DCL. As far as people drinking, people unwind and have fun on their vacation, they're not driving, they paid a lot of money, they probably work hard at work and like to enjoy themselves. Very few get fallen down wasted drunk...I have never seen that in any of my cruises. Some drink more than others and I once had a lady who was so drunk she asked me if I would go to her funeral cause she felt no one would show up, in the ladies room...I told her she could count on me being there...lol We were dancing in the casino to the band earlier on and I knew she was drinking, but she was harmless. That's probably the most drunk I've seen someone on a cruise.

 

[wombat_5606]

Also, someone who maintains the list above, can now add The Royal Court Royal Tea.

 

[disneyholic family]

we love both DCL and Royal...
the oasis class ships are wonderful and worth at least one sailing....
we cruised on the allure of the seas a few years ago and adored every minute of the cruise...
we especially enjoyed all the silly games (if you know it dance it, finish the lyric, trivia, quest, video scavenger hunt, etc etc)...

 

[Dug720]

I have not been on anything larger than Radiance Class on RCCL as I don't have any need or desire for the bells and whistles, and the behemoths of the seas don't appeal to me. That said, I've been very happy on Radiance-class (about the equivalent size-wise of DCL's Dream Class) with the exception of the beds. I have yet to have beds that do not eat me during the night no matter what the stateroom host does to ensure they are "secured". That is the one thing I preferred on HAL over RCCL since they both have two beds that can be pushed together. HAL had invested in the straps that can go around the mattresses and tightened so there is no "eating" going on. RCCL simply adds more sheets and pulls them tighter to try and keep the mattresses together.

As a solo traveler I greatly appreciate Disney's NON-split beds. I sleep much better on a solid mattress than two pushed together.

 

[KashasMom]

I would like to try on of their Oasis class ships one day....but they are up there in Price, not cheap my any means, but less the DCL.

I had waited and watched for years - literally. We got an excellent deal on the Oasis (I think it had to do with our school calendar and how Labor Day fell last year). This year my daughter and I really scored....Royal was having a BOGO60off so we booked an oceanview balcony on the Allure for BOTH of us for $2,095.16 (plus an OBC!). Same cateogry/date on the Fantasy for the two of us is $6,083.24. A no brainer as far as I'm concerned!

Keep looking! I'm waiting to check out MSC that you recommended - would like one of the new ones for summer 2018!

 

[Love2Cruz]

I had waited and watched for years - literally. We got an excellent deal on the Oasis (I think it had to do with our school calendar and how Labor Day fell last year). This year my daughter and I really scored....Royal was having a BOGO60off so we booked an oceanview balcony on the Allure for BOTH of us for $2,095.16 (plus an OBC!). Same cateogry/date on the Fantasy for the two of us is $6,083.24. A no brainer as far as I'm concerned!

Keep looking! I'm waiting to check out MSC that you recommended - would like one of the new ones for summer 2018!

I actually booked the Oasis out of PC for March 2018, they were having the OV Balconies for the same price of Boardwark or Central Park balconies so I booked an OV Balcony for about 2500 for two, which isn't bad, but I still didn't feel it was a good deal. Part of me wanted to go to Europe anyway, so when I came across an MSC cruise for the same week in the Mediterranean for 1299 for two people in a guaranteed Balcony...I cancelled the Oasis and booked MSC. I'll probably pay about $2500 or more when you include airfare and hotels..but it will be Europe and not another Caribbean itinerary (I do so many of those). I'm actually hoping to accrue enough AMEX miles that I'll be able to get most of my air paid for by then. I also wanted another excuse to go back to Venice.

 

[Luvmypetz]

I will experience my first RCI cruise in 2 weeks. Will experience my 2nd DCL in Jan. I have future reservations on both lines for Jan 2018. RCI will probably win for the cheaper amount, but also b/c we don't have kids, I LOVE soda but realize it's just sugar in a cup, and the 2 new stops for me, Aruba and Curaçao, will let me stay into the evening hours, experiencing more of the world. Just my $0.02

 

[Bree]

One difference between RCCL & DCL that I just thought of. If you have ASD kids, you can make special arrangements for boarding & muster drill. If you contact Special Needs in advance they will flag your reservation. You can get priority boarding to help alleviate the stress for your ASD child. When you get aboard go to Guest Services and they will let you know where to go for muster drill. It's usually in a conference room or lounge. Sometimes they let the whole family attend there or only let one adult and the ASD child while the rest of the party attends the regular drill. The muster there is so much calmer and quieter. Other times they will let you stay in your stateroom and you can watch the instructions on the TV.

DCL has been useless for us with an ASD child. They have not let us board early nor attend muster in an alternative location. I'm trying again for our next cruise for an alternative location, but I'm not holding my breath. We will arrive after 12pm for boarding so my DS isn't overwhelmed.

 

[mevelandry]

I will experience my first RCI cruise in 2 weeks. Will experience my 2nd DCL in Jan. I have future reservations on both lines for Jan 2018. RCI will probably win for the cheaper amount, but also b/c we don't have kids, I LOVE soda but realize it's just sugar in a cup, and the 2 new stops for me, Aruba and Curaçao, will let me stay into the evening hours, experiencing more of the world. Just my $0.02

"it's just sugar in a cup".

That is why I could deal with the "no free sodas" on our Carnival cruise so easily. I've been trying to stop drinking sodas (or at least reducing drastically) for a while. So we had coffee, water, lemonade and iced tea (and juices for breakfast). We were very satisfied with it. I would say that in our eyes, free soda is not added value anymore. We can definitely live without it.

 

[KashasMom]

"it's just sugar in a cup".

That is why I could deal with the "no free sodas" on our Carnival cruise so easily. I've been trying to stop drinking sodas (or at least reducing drastically) for a while. So we had coffee, water, lemonade and iced tea (and juices for breakfast). We were very satisfied with it. I would say that in our eyes, free soda is not added value anymore. We can definitely live without it.

We really don't drink it at home so not having it on a cruise is no big deal for us either.

 

[PrincessTrisha]

Three more "Different Things"
The prices for excursions and dinners can go on sale. We booked Jet Skis a few weeks ago and this weekend they went o sale for $10 less per person. You do have to pay for the excursion when you book it. So we re booked at $90pp and will get a refund for the $99.99. They don't tell you when things go on sale you have to keep checking the website.

The beds are two twins put together. So they will split. We always book two cabins so my collage age children will be happy that one of them doesn't have to sleep on the pull out couch.

Sign up for email alerts with Royal - The drink packages have gone on sale twice for us and both times, I received an email. The excursion sale right now is also pretty good.

 

[Weedy]

Sign up for email alerts with Royal - The drink packages have gone on sale twice for us and both times, I received an email. The excursion sale right now is also pretty good.

Thank you. I saw that after I posted this. Now... I just have to check my email. LOL.