Royal or Disney?

[firstwdw]

Posted this in Disney forum but may make more sense here:

family trip with college age kids- unable to decide.......I thought I was set on Freedom of the Seas. But junior suite is $1K more than a spacious balcony room for a 5 night cruise. The rooms look old and tacky and I've heard beds on Royal are so firm and not comfy(I can't do firm). The public areas of the ship look nice.

With a placeholder, a 4 night on Disney Wish in an ocean view on deck 2 is still $1400 more than 5 nights on Freedom midship balcony. Wish goes to the Bahamas obviously.....which we wanted a change from and Freedom goes to Mexico and Cayman Islands.

The new DCL Destiny is $$$ and nearly sold out so I'm not sure I want to get involved with that chaos. And we've done the Dream so many times so even though that's a better price we really wanted something new. Magic from Texas is also $$$ for the 5 night with 2 ports and the 4 night only goes to Progreso

So all you DCL fans.....am I going to HATE Royal? Do I give it a try? Teens would love Flowrider, Perfect Storm slides, ice rink, rock wall, big sports court etc. The price is right for Royal.

Another thought is Utopia but that's the Bahamas and we wanted to try something new (and warmer in winter-as Bahamas can be chilly and windy in early January). THANKS!

 

[Frozen2014]

Haven't been on the newer Disney ships but it if you are going in with a negative attitude with Royal then you may be disappointed. I am actually going on Freedom next weekend for March Break. It's not one of their newer and greater ships but I know what to expect and will have a fantastic time. Freedom does have the fun stuff for teens that you mention though so lots to do. Perhaps though if you want to be wowed, try on Oasis class. Utopia and Wonder are their newer ones. Or if shows are important to you...there is no Broadway show where the other Oasis class have one. I am a Royal fan and have never had a bad cruise (and have been on Disney Magic as well). Let us know what you decide.

 

[Sehsun]

My husband and I enjoy DCL. Royal Caribbean is our preferred cruise line. We have not had a bad cruise with them.

 

[OKW Lover]

We've done both and enjoy both. We are Damond + on Royal and Platinum on DCL. Each has its own appeal.

 

[ucf_knight]

Posted this in Disney forum but may make more sense here:

family trip with college age kids- unable to decide.......I thought I was set on Freedom of the Seas. But junior suite is $1K more than a spacious balcony room for a 5 night cruise. The rooms look old and tacky and I've heard beds on Royal are so firm and not comfy(I can't do firm). The public areas of the ship look nice.

With a placeholder, a 4 night on Disney Wish in an ocean view on deck 2 is still $1400 more than 5 nights on Freedom midship balcony. Wish goes to the Bahamas obviously.....which we wanted a change from and Freedom goes to Mexico and Cayman Islands.

The new DCL Destiny is $$$ and nearly sold out so I'm not sure I want to get involved with that chaos. And we've done the Dream so many times so even though that's a better price we really wanted something new. Magic from Texas is also $$$ for the 5 night with 2 ports and the 4 night only goes to Progreso

So all you DCL fans.....am I going to HATE Royal? Do I give it a try? Teens would love Flowrider, Perfect Storm slides, ice rink, rock wall, big sports court etc. The price is right for Royal.

Another thought is Utopia but that's the Bahamas and we wanted to try something new (and warmer in winter-as Bahamas can be chilly and windy in early January). THANKS!

I'd pick Utopia as I think most if not all of their Bahama trips go to CoCo Cay which is probably my favorite part of any Royal cruise that has that on its itinerary.

 

[firstwdw]

I'd pick Utopia as I think most if not all of their Bahama trips go to CoCo Cay which is probably my favorite part of any Royal cruise that has that on its itinerary.

I am 99% certain that is exactly what we are going to do and just hope it's not a cold spell when we sail! 4 days on Utopia and MAYBE a day at Universal or Disney Thanks for your input!

 

[firstwdw]

Haven't been on the newer Disney ships but it if you are going in with a negative attitude with Royal then you may be disappointed. I am actually going on Freedom next weekend for March Break. It's not one of their newer and greater ships but I know what to expect and will have a fantastic time. Freedom does have the fun stuff for teens that you mention though so lots to do. Perhaps though if you want to be wowed, try on Oasis class. Utopia and Wonder are their newer ones. Or if shows are important to you...there is no Broadway show where the other Oasis class have one. I am a Royal fan and have never had a bad cruise (and have been on Disney Magic as well). Let us know what you decide.

Have a great time on Freedom! This ship still interests me but I think we are going to go for Utopia this time!

 

[sethschroeder]

I could not pay the prices these day on Disney.

Royal is nice for balcony rooms with the downside of wanting to get 2 of them when traveling with kids.
NCL is great for the Haven rooms at Disney verandah prices which blows Disney away if you are dropping the money and has actual 1br/2br variants with kids.
MSC have not tried yet but Yacht Club gets top reviews consistently and a good way to do the Ship within a Ship without dropping as much money.

Celebrity supposedly has great food but starts to be price, Carnival looks like a party (not our jam for a cruise), HAL/Princess possibly their newest ships but really they are Alaska ship options.

 

[JWachter]

Go any Oasis class ship on Royal! There is so much to do for a family! A Boardwalk with a Carousel, a park with live trees and flowers in the middle,zip line, rock wall, so much more I can’t even mention it all. Definitely one that visits Coco Cay! You don’t need to spend any extra there and the food trucks and buffet are awesome! Our favorites are Symphony, Utopia 4 day (3 day is more party crowd) and the Allure is being completely redone and will be like new!

 

[mrs. magoo]

So our friends that we cruise with have done both Royal and Disney and they whole heartedly recommend Royal for your age kids. Their college age kids were much more entertained on Royal than on a Disney cruise. More kids their age. Last summer all my kids hung with a bunch of 20 somethings for the 5 days. They had a blast. Of course all of mine are of drinking age and they took full advantage of the drink package. I would have gone broke on Disney.

 

[FrozenMagic]

Also trying to make the decision between Royal and Disney. The Royal Adventure at Sea is fitting in better with my schedule, but not sure there will be much for a 2 and 5 year old.

 

[firstwdw]

Also trying to make the decision between Royal and Disney. The Royal Adventure at Sea is fitting in better with my schedule, but not sure there will be much for a 2 and 5 year old.

After a lot of back and forth, we decided on Utopia but I have a college age "child." We looked at Royal's Freedom of the Seas, Wonder of the Seas, Adventure of the Seas. We were excited about Freedom and Wonder but not about Miami- so doing Utopia and perhaps a day or two at Disney or Universal before. Adventure is an older ship. Freedom is too but they've recently renovated the public areas (but the rooms are tired). In the end, we decided we wanted a new ship with all the bells and whistles! Either Royal or Disney would be great for 2 & 5year olds. Good luck!

 

[John VN]

After a lot of back and forth, we decided on Utopia but I have a college age "child." We looked at Royal's Freedom of the Seas, Wonder of the Seas, Adventure of the Seas. We were excited about Freedom and Wonder but not about Miami- so doing Utopia and perhaps a day or two at Disney or Universal before. Adventure is an older ship. Freedom is too but they've recently renovated the public areas (but the rooms are tired). In the end, we decided we wanted a new ship with all the bells and whistles! Either Royal or Disney would be great for 2 & 5year olds. Good luck!

r.e. bold -- Glad you are good to go and hoping your vacation is GREAT, just wondering what type of accommodations you are getting, if you don't mind.

 

[firstwdw]

r.e. bold -- Glad you are good to go and hoping your vacation is GREAT, just wondering what type of accommodations you are getting, if you don't mind

We ended up getting an ocean view balcony room

 

[John VN]

We ended up getting an ocean view balcony room

Enjoy the sea view and wonderfully relaxing sounds of the water. DW and I are strictly verandah people.

 

[pjacobi]

After a couple verandas on DCL, we decided to go inside cabin on Royal.

The verandas are nice, but we probably only used it once or twice. We are usually only in the cabin to change clothes and to sleep. I was tempted to Royal upgrade to window or a veranda but exercised self-control. The inside cabin on the Icon was better than expected! There was plenty of room and we never missed the veranda. I saved the money for a future cruise!

-Paul

 

[GOOFY D]

We almost always cruise DCL. We just got off of Enchantment of the Seas and would not recommend anything about it. The worst cruise I have ever been on. The food was nearly inedible and service overall was terrible. The price savings was definitely not worth it. We may try the larger and newer RCCL ships one day, but I am out on RCCL otherwise.

 

[ucf_knight]

We almost always cruise DCL. We just got off of Enchantment of the Seas and would not recommend anything about it. The worst cruise I have ever been on. The food was nearly inedible and service overall was terrible. The price savings was definitely not worth it. We may try the larger and newer RCCL ships one day, but I am out on RCCL otherwise.

You picked probably one the oldest and worst ships to go on. Royal has so much more to offer than this boat. Boats like enchantment are usually more about the ports you travel to vs your cruise ship experience so to speak. You should give them another shot as Disney has nothing like what royal has to offer with their bigger/newer ships.

 

[NightGuardianAngel]

Royal Caribbean for the win for me. Royal Caribbean is perfect and more friendly for those on the Autism Spectrum, especially with the buffet open for dinner since you can put food in separate plates and bowls and dine at a table alone on your own time. Disney cruises close their buffet for dinner and the MDR is almost the only dining option for dinner. This can be overstimulating for some on the Autism Spectrum, especially dining with complete strangers and having all food in one plate running together. There is a big adults only area on the ship which is always quiet if I get overstimulated as well as the Central Park area. Royal Caribbean is also a lot less expensive (even with the soda package) than Disney.

 

[GOOFY D]

You picked probably one the oldest and worst ships to go on. Royal has so much more to offer than this boat. Boats like enchantment are usually more about the ports you travel to vs your cruise ship experience so to speak. You should give them another shot as Disney has nothing like what royal has to offer with their bigger/newer ships.

Maybe one day I will try one of the bigger/newer ships, but this was just disgusting at best. Regardless of the age of the ship, the food should have some consistency amongst the RCCL vessels. If this was any indication of the lack of effort they put in the food, I am not confident any of their other vessels would be much better in that department.