Royal caribean cruise line

[princesspat209]

Has anyone cruised on royal caribean cruise line & if so was it a good experience? we have done 6 Disney cruises but would like to explore the idea of another cruise lie.:

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

Yes and I had a great time (But of course I went into it expecting to have a great time, not with a "thumbs down" attitude in advance)

Service exceeded what I got on my Dream cruise. Yes, you have to pay for soda, but considering I saved $500 and got a longer cruise with some cool ports... I could afford the soda card

RCCL has better adult options and teen options IMHO. One family I met did have a kid in the kids club and they had to drag her out of there so it must have been OK.

 

[NY Disney fan]

OP, why give RC a thumbs down if you have never sailed with them before?

 

[PrincessTrisha]

If you're an active family, I think RCCL would be a great choice.

We sailed on the Explorer of the Seas in February and it was a good cruise.

RCCL isn't our cruise line of choice (as a non-active adult, I didn't find a lot of activities for me) but they offered ice skating, rock climbing and lots of spa stuff. They also had a great adult pool area with 2 huge hottubs and padded loungers. The family (or all ages) pool area looked nice as well.

 

[kimpossible]

If you're an active family, I think RCCL would be a great choice.

We sailed on the Explorer of the Seas in February and it was a good cruise.

RCCL isn't our cruise line of choice (as a non-active adult, I didn't find a lot of activities for me) but they offered ice skating, rock climbing and lots of spa stuff. They also had a great adult pool area with 2 huge hottubs and padded loungers. The family (or all ages) pool area looked nice as well.

Could you tell me some some more about this ship. We were supposed to sail on the Magic out of Miami next Thanksgiving, but since the ship was switched to the Wonder we cancelled. This ship sails out of Port Canaveral this week, but we are nervous to sail on another cruise line. What are some of the major differences? We are a family with 2 DS's age 14 and 9 at the time of sailing.

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[Jestocost]

OP, why give RC a thumbs down if you have never sailed with them before?

Many posters confuse the thumbs down icon with a question mark.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

OP, why give RC a thumbs down if you have never sailed with them before?

Sometimes that symbol gets confused with a question mark.

 

[TwinPrincessMermaids]

We grew up on RCCL (now RCI) and our last cruise with them was Hawaii 2002. They were always good enough. I don't remember as much about the ships (I was confused even about the ones I sailed, I think maybe Sovereign, Legend and Monarch maybe?) so they aren't particularly memorable except that I remember singing (as always) and my husband thought the soups were just broths which was really boring to him. In the last 11 yrs since, we took 4 Carnivals. Our first two was as good as any RCCL I had been on. The last two DEFINITELY showed in their cut backs, and this last one in particular was AWFUL service and just not that much fun, although the ports were always good. I guess if we DIDN'T cruise DCL ( ) we would be up for RCI again. But they aren't exactly cheap either and get you on incidentals. Those big giant Oasis and Allure boats have actual cities in them! That's not really our style. I don't want to pay $$$$ and feel like i"m at a mall. A lot of the things they offer are for upcharges (like mystery dinner) anyway, which to me defeats the point of being on a cruise. However, if it wasn't DCL, it would probably be RCI by a LONG shot before we go back to CCL!!?! For Sure! That having been said, we've only done 1 3 day DCL so we are JUST getting started and totally ready for more.

RCI has more of the vegas casino style entertainment that is just ok for us. I don't care for thongs on stage myself. Also you have to walk through the casinos on the promenade decks, and that was SO refreshing not to have to with Disney! So if you are happy with a floating hotel, you will probably be very happy. If you love the family atmosphere of Disney, you might find that some of that is lacking although there are LOTS of activities to do.

I would go over to CruiseCritic and read thru their Royal Caribbean forum. You will see lots of reports, questions, etc. just like this one, only all this RCCL and you can ask questions.

Bon Voyage!

 

[hpsalb]

DH and I sailed on the Freedom out of PC a few years ago and really enjoyed it. We've done DCL twice (again) since then now that we have DS. I would definitely consider it again if we were going on a longer cruise, especially as DS is getting older. There was not as much in the way of shows like DCL, but there were tons of other activities. Labadee was nice, but nowhere near CC. I've looked at some of the older ships and they didn't seem to offer as much, or at least not what we were looking for, but I would go for one of the newer ones.

 

[allison0523]

We went on the Freedom of the Seas out of PC 2 years ago and it was good. That was our first cruise and we had nothing else to compare it to. We had a toddler at the time and there weren't many options for kids that age. The staff was good, the food was good but the other people on the cruise with us were mostly European and mostly rude. Just my opinion.
We went on 2 Carnival cruises the beginning of this year (3 night Sensation and 7 nt W. Carib. on the Legend). We had an excellent time on both cruises and at half the cost of what we paid on RCL 2 years ago for the same type of cabin.
But it all comes down to what you are looking for and what's important to you. We are very easy going people that go with the flow. We are not foodie type people and we can make the best of most situations. We check out the shows if we have time but that's not why we go on a cruise. We go on a cruise to take us to the islands so we can go to the beach, go snorkeling, etc.

 

[Narnia_girl]

I'd love to hear some comparisons of Castaway Cay (which I've visited) with Coco Cay (which I have not). Specifically, what activities do they charge a fee to do on Coco? I saw a photo of some water jumps (trampolines like I think) and the poster said RCCL charges to use them.

 

[tajz90]

Our fav line is Disney, but if we couldn't go on a Disney, our next choice would be RCCL.

However, I must add, my kids call it Royal Boribbean The kids club "closed" early (free) and if you wanted your kids to stay, you had to pay. The activities including rock wall and ice skating, at least on our cruise, we're only open certain time periods.

 

[Radley]

We tried RC and I've got to say I wasn't impressed. My main issue was the food but the staff weren't as friendly and it certainly wasn't as clean. Maybe we were unfortunate but over half our group were ill from something we ate and we really struggled to find food suitable for our baby and he isn't a fussy eater. On Disney we would spend about 2 hours in the buffet at lunch time as he picked his way through a variety of foods. On RC we found the buffet food to be extremely greasy even the veg! One day there was nothing but bread that DS would eat so we asked for some veg to be blended, they took the veg that had been sitting out on the buffet. Maybe we were spoilt by Disney but we weren't impressed! Activitywise RC does have a lot to offer but for us especially whilst DS is young all our future cruises will be Disney.

 

[TwinPrincessMermaids]

Only went to CoCo Cay when we were 11. However, it's still the most stunning fish and coral reef I can ever remember, and i've snorkeled Hawaii. (Of course the fire coral sting was memorable too.) I don't know if it's still like that or if the hurricanes have altered it, but I still hold everything to that standard. There were SOOOOOO many fish! I can still see it in my mind 20 yrs later vivid as can be. There was nothing on the island at that time, not even showers, we had to rinse off with bottled water. I'm sure it's changed A LOT since then. I was still really happy with Castaway as we still saw hundreds of fish (although perhaps not as brightly colored but some were!) so it was good too.

 

[PrincessTrisha]

Could you tell me some some more about this ship. We were supposed to sail on the Magic out of Miami next Thanksgiving, but since the ship was switched to the Wonder we cancelled. This ship sails out of Port Canaveral this week, but we are nervous to sail on another cruise line. What are some of the major differences? We are a family with 2 DS's age 14 and 9 at the time of sailing.

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

There were things I really liked about the ship.

1. The promenade was a great space - it's indoors (we sailed out of NYC in February - having this inside space was wonderful!).

2. They have the Freestyle coke machines (yes you have to buy the soda card but you do get a mug/bottle) that offers over 100 different flavours - loved being able to get coke zero with vanilla, or lime or flavoured waters or flavoured sprite, gingerale, powerade, etc. It made for an interesting 9 days of beverages!

3. The food was generally good - liked the main dining room over the buffet (except for breakfast). At lunch they offer the tutti salad - basically it's a huge salad bar with everything you could think of and they toss it for you.

4. They have an ice skating show (tickets are tied to your muster station - it will be listed in the navigator or whatever it is that RCCL calls their daily papers). It's outstanding!

5. We had a voice comedian (he did character voices), it was another great show - loved that they offered more than just singing and dancing shows.

6. The Chamber nightclub is very different and if you have the opportunity, go check it out.

7. The adult pool has stairs into it (I personally loved that) so it was much easier to get in and out of than the pools with just the ladders.

Things that I didn't love on the cruise:

1. The buffet - just didn't find the food that good.

2. Room service charge between midnight and 5am (not that it impacted us, but we were just always aware that there was a charge - the food from room service was usually good).

3. Our beds were kind very firm and the pillows were flat (I slept on the couch and found it particularly hard).

4. The movie theatre - it's just a small room on 2 that has a big screen and chairs (more of a conference room). I found the chairs uncomfortable and the movies fuzzy (we have an HD big screen at home so maybe I'm a little biased).

5. Our room steward was an odd duck. Gave us very specific hours he worked (7am to 12pm and then 4pm to 9pm, I think). He did the basics but nothing more.

The same:

Dining room service - we had really great servers. Having the soda card, they always had our drinks waiting at the table each night. Plus, they were pretty spot on with recommendations and very concerned when we didn't like something.

Bar Service - not too pushy but there when you needed them. Plus, I didn't find drink prices too bad depending on what you ordered. Usually for me, it was around $15 for 2 drinks including tip.

 

[Zeppelin]

We tried RC and I've got to say I wasn't impressed. My main issue was the food but the staff weren't as friendly and it certainly wasn't as clean. Maybe we were unfortunate but over half our group were ill from something we ate and we really struggled to find food suitable for our baby and he isn't a fussy eater. On Disney we would spend about 2 hours in the buffet at lunch time as he picked his way through a variety of foods. On RC we found the buffet food to be extremely greasy even the veg! One day there was nothing but bread that DS would eat so we asked for some veg to be blended, they took the veg that had been sitting out on the buffet. Maybe we were spoilt by Disney but we weren't impressed! Activitywise RC does have a lot to offer but for us especially whilst DS is young all our future cruises will be Disney.

ditto here....we took a 4 night cruise out of Port Canaveral around 2001 and can confirm many of your complaints...

1- the main dining room smelled- that old buttery smell you get from a older rug....

2- we did not see the head server/captain/maitre di (whatever you want to call him/her) once until it was tip night....i put $5 in the envelope as he did nothing for us...the final morning he was very nasty to us...

3- what annoyed me the most was the day we were suppose to go to their private island (Cococay?) it was beautiful and sunny but they claimed the seas were to rough for the tenders to take us ashore...had to spend the entire day on the ship and thought i was going to go nuts...

 

[PrincessTrisha]

3- what annoyed me the most was the day we were suppose to go to their private island (Cococay?) it was beautiful and sunny but they claimed the seas were to rough for the tenders to take us ashore...had to spend the entire day on the ship and thought i was going to go nuts...

We missed Castaway Cay once and it was sunny and lovely out - on deck. The water was a different issue.

It can happen on any cruise.

 

[Bookwood]

We sailed Freedom of the Seas out of Port Canaveral in 2010 (before DCL) and will be sailing on Freedom again in 2014. I loved the ship and the activities. I can't tell you about CoCo Cay as 2014 will be our first trip there- we went to Labadee Haiti on our first cruise and there's no comparison to Castaway Cay (rocky sand and swim areas and a lot of the I'll help, tip me attitude- only on that island though).

For a 9 and 14 yr old I would think a ship like Freedom would be great, the wave runner, rock wall, skating rink all great activities for that age group .(in fact my niece and nephew ages 11 and 13 when we sail are really looking forward to it.)

I loved the buffet areas and the MDR on Freedom as well as the food, but really like Disney's rotational dining so you have different dining rooms. I don't gamble so that's not a problem for me, and the "no free soda" helped me stay away for the whole week! (we always had ice water in our stateroom which was great)

 

[Zeppelin]

We missed Castaway Cay once and it was sunny and lovely out - on deck. The water was a different issue.

It can happen on any cruise.

on cruises where tenders are required to dock on a private island...i dare say that would not happen on a sunny day at Castaway Cay as DCL can pull right into the dock...or at the very least the chances of it happening are significantly less...

 

[UCFGrad01]

Meh, it was okay. Not terrible, but not great either.

The food was okay.

The service was okay.

I didn't enjoy the activities onboard as much as DCL.

Oddly, I felt that DCL pays much more attention to having adult-only areas and activities.

I felt rather nickel and dimed, there seemed to be extra charges for a lot of stuff.

Coco Cay was decent, but no CC. The part we were on was quite rocky (small rocks, not pebbles but not boulders either) when entering and in shallow water, very rough on the feet. You tender rather than dock, but whatever.

I wouldn't say I would never cruise with them again, but it did make me realize that I personally prefer DCL