Should I change cruise for royal ?

[disneyholic family]

both of them are good.

i've been on two royal cruises (radiance and allure) and 5 DCL cruises (wonder, dream, magic).
Personally, i prefer DCL, but since you've never tried Royal, it's probably a good idea to give it a try so you can see for yourself which you prefer.
I don't really think you can make a mistake - they're both good.

(by the way, i didn't vote in the poll)

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[starvenger]

Well, that would probably make it tougher to switch. My personal feelings are that if it's more about the cruise there's less remorse or fear when switching - you know at a base level what you're going to get and maybe you like the new ship, maybe you don't, but you're unlikely to regret trying.

BUT, you're looking for the "magic"... well, you know you're not going to get Disney magic on a Royal ship, and maybe that's the cause for hesitation. If you really want to try another cruise line, you'll have to put your feelings - and maybe some FOMO-type concerns - aside and just go for it.

 

[Garyjames220]

both of them are good.

i've been on two royal cruises (radiance and allure) and 5 DCL cruises (wonder, dream, magic).
Personally, i prefer DCL, but since you've never tried Royal, it's probably a good idea to give it a try so you can see for yourself which you prefer.
I don't really think you can make a mistake - they're both good.

(by the way, i didn't vote in the poll)

.

that’s your reasons for liking dcl more

 

[disneyholic family]

that’s your reasons for liking dcl more

i didn't give my reasons for liking DCL more..
i simply said that i do, but since i think that royal is also good, perhaps the OP should try it to see for himself.
as to why i like DCL?
my board name might give you a clue...
but as i said, both cruise lines have good products..
we took the radiance in alaska because i wanted a one way cruise, which DCL doesn't offer...
and in the case of the allure, i'd always wanted to try it...and i honestly had a very good time on board..
but when i went back to cruising on DCL, i remembered why i enjoy them so much..
that disney magic quality to the experience...
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[Skywalker]

I’m guessing your leaning towards Disney since you asked on the Disney board. Rccl has a board you will get a lot difference response. Whatever you decide enjoy.

Haha, yes. Reminds me of an episode of my favourite sitcom, Mad About You. Paraphrasing but, Jamie was reading baby books and said "This one says to avoid coffee. That one says a bit of coffee is good for you" Paul asks her "Well do you want to drink coffee?" "Yes." "Well then buy that one." lol.

 

[mevelandry]

Hey

Me, my wife ( Young 30s) and by May 2021 a baby ( about 9 months ) have a eastern Caribbean cruise booked and we are trying to decide should we keep our booking with dcl or change to royal

In dollars it’s going to cost about $4400 for the ocean view stateroom plus flights from U.K, extras on the ship and a few nights before it at WDW so quite a lot all in

now that it’s booked am trying to decide if we have done the right thing. $4400 does seem a lot for just a week.

I have looked at royal Caribbean’s prices and I reckon it would be about $1000 cheaper for a balcony on harmony of the seas or oasis

however we both do love Disney, the shows, the service and the nursery looks good and love the magic of the ships

we have a place holder and that’s with the discount in it if we never had that there’s no way we would do it

we are saving now before the baby is here and trying to do a big first trip all together. After that any holiday will be a push as my wife will be off work

anyway let me know what you would do as we are both really stuck and need help deciding

** I also want to add in that disney is about $1000 more plus drinks

royal is $1000 less and that’s all inslusive (offer in Uk)

we do like our cocktails too

I already answered a few days ago but yes, I do believe you should give Royal a try.

 

[Jsoenning]

I agree with the posters to consider waiting until the baby is older for either line. We went when our youngest was just over one and still refer to it as the cruise from h-e-"double hockey stick". It was on Royal Caribbean - one thing that added to the negative that we didn't know not having a child in grade school was that it was also over spring break. The pool deck was so crowded that my oldest got kicked in the head multiple times in the shallow end of the pool. We didn't attempt the pools again.

They didn't bring a pack and play until the evening and the cleaning crew had accidentally left the balcony door cracked open. So no nap and hotter than Hades for the first night.

You also don't know how your baby will do. Our 13 month old cried every night though she was a good sleeper at home so we got zero sleep. We speculated after the cruise we thought it was because she was "sea sick"...a little Benadryl may have helped. We spent quite a bit of time in the room trying to stick to the normal nap schedule but with no sleep at night that was sort of off as well.

We booked an Oasis Suite to have tons of room and be able to close the curtain. Then we had a rude lady in her 50's ring our doorbell every night between midnight and 2 am until one night when I opened the door and gave her the business. We ended up canceling an Alaskan cruise that we had gotten a sweetheart price on Royal based on this experience. We next did Royal when the girls were older and grandma came along...had fun hanging out as a bigger family as there aren't many day-time activities for kids on Royal.

If we were to do one line over the other with a baby, I'd pick Disney hands down. Our kids watched the heck out of Disney Junior so the morning dance parties, character breakfast, character meets were all fun...yes they cried up close to characters when young but were excited from a distance. They were made over by the dining staff. The nursery staff seemed much better equipped and interacted with our kids more at that age. It wasn't until 18 months but our oldest was able to sit through the evening Disney shows. Food is much better on Disney. Alcohol is not that expensive either. I want to say the Captain Mai Tai's are around $6.50, which is good for 5 shots of alcohol per drink. So I think $600 for 7-night cruise seems high. I do end up spending more money on souvenirs on Disney as Royal has nothing special for kids that you can't find at a local toy store.

If you do either line consider doing things out of the norm. On Disney we often skip dinner one night and hit the pool with no crowd. Consider bringing a device that can connect to the tv to watch videos. Bring a white noise track and play off your phone to drown out the hallway noise.

Having said all that we were originally loyal to Royal and are diamond members so will likely be our cruise line of choice at retirement some day.

 

[Jsoenning]

We were always able to book as much time as we needed at the Disney nursery. We pre-booked hours and then went to the nursery straight away to add time.

 

[Garyjames220]

I agree with the posters to consider waiting until the baby is older for either line. We went when our youngest was just over one and still refer to it as the cruise from h-e-"double hockey stick". It was on Royal Caribbean - one thing that added to the negative that we didn't know not having a child in grade school was that it was also over spring break. The pool deck was so crowded that my oldest got kicked in the head multiple times in the shallow end of the pool. We didn't attempt the pools again.

They didn't bring a pack and play until the evening and the cleaning crew had accidentally left the balcony door cracked open. So no nap and hotter than Hades for the first night.

You also don't know how your baby will do. Our 13 month old cried every night though she was a good sleeper at home so we got zero sleep. We speculated after the cruise we thought it was because she was "sea sick"...a little Benadryl may have helped. We spent quite a bit of time in the room trying to stick to the normal nap schedule but with no sleep at night that was sort of off as well.

We booked an Oasis Suite to have tons of room and be able to close the curtain. Then we had a rude lady in her 50's ring our doorbell every night between midnight and 2 am until one night when I opened the door and gave her the business. We ended up canceling an Alaskan cruise that we had gotten a sweetheart price on Royal based on this experience. We next did Royal when the girls were older and grandma came along...had fun hanging out as a bigger family as there aren't many day-time activities for kids on Royal.

If we were to do one line over the other with a baby, I'd pick Disney hands down. Our kids watched the heck out of Disney Junior so the morning dance parties, character breakfast, character meets were all fun...yes they cried up close to characters when young but were excited from a distance. They were made over by the dining staff. The nursery staff seemed much better equipped and interacted with our kids more at that age. It wasn't until 18 months but our oldest was able to sit through the evening Disney shows. Food is much better on Disney. Alcohol is not that expensive either. I want to say the Captain Mai Tai's are around $6.50, which is good for 5 shots of alcohol per drink. So I think $600 for 7-night cruise seems high. I do end up spending more money on souvenirs on Disney as Royal has nothing special for kids that you can't find at a local toy store.

If you do either line consider doing things out of the norm. On Disney we often skip dinner one night and hit the pool with no crowd. Consider bringing a device that can connect to the tv to watch videos. Bring a white noise track and play off your phone to drown out the hallway noise.

Having said all that we were originally loyal to Royal and are diamond members so will likely be our cruise line of choice at retirement some day.

Sorry to hear that about him getting kicked. Hope he was ok. How rude some people are

Thanks for all that info

That's very good if u can get a captain mai Tai for $6.50. I was expending it to do double that. Is a lot of the drinks like that. If not I love them anyway

When I looked into royal. We would probably add on a dinning package, water park at coco cay, room service the odd night. I guess that can add things up and make it not far away to dcl price

I no a few people are saying wait till later but we won't have a place holder then so that would probably price us out for dcl so now is mybe our best chance and prices will only go up am sure

 

[Garyjames220]

We were always able to book as much time as we needed at the Disney nursery. We pre-booked hours and then went to the nursery straight away to add time.

That's good to know. How often did u use the nursery.

Did u find your cruise relaxing with a baby and having the nursery there

 

[Jsoenning]

Did u find your cruise relaxing with a baby and having the nursery there

We had a few hours every night to ourselves and took in a Palo brunch.

Yes, we could tell our oldest was well taken care of...later on the younger also enjoyed until she reached the age of wanting to be wherever big sister was.

 

[Jsoenning]

On the pricing of drinks, it varies. Without the drink package on Royal Caribbean, drinks seemed to average $12, which was $15 after tip. We treated ourselves to morning mimosa's on the cruise mentioned above and it was $30 for what was mostly orange juice. With the drink package for you on Royal that won't matter in your case.

Because of the individual pricing on Royal I was pleasantly surprised at the cost of drinks on Disney...beers / glasses of wine where you order the house version aren't bad either if I recall correctly. The Mai Tai sticks out because that was our first alcoholic beverage.

The Disney ship bar menus with prices can be found on-line. I'd post a website but not sure if that's allowed.

 

[disneyholic family]

That's good to know. How often did u use the nursery.

Did u find your cruise relaxing with a baby and having the nursery there

we were on the Magic in July with my kids and grandkids.
the youngest was 13 months old on the cruise.
I reserved the nursery in advance - 2 hours every night during the theater show so that my son and daughter in law could enjoy the shows with their two other kids, without the baby..
they used the nursery every night of the 7 night cruise and were very happy with it..

.

 

[allaboutthemouse]

Whichever cruise line you pick, I would make sure that you get really good cancel for any reason insurance! It's really hard to plan that far ahead into the future for a baby that doesn't currently exist. You may think you want to be a certain type of parent, but you don't KNOW what type of parent you will be until you actually have a baby, it's impossible to fully realize that life change until you're there! You might think you'll be fine with putting a baby in the nursery, but once that baby is real, you might feel totally different. You might have a really difficult baby that makes traveling not easy at all. When my DS was 9 months old, he still didn't sleep through the night and cried ALL the time. Taking a cruise with him at that age would be been total torture and the opposite of relaxing. I would have been stressed the entire time worrying about his crying bothering other people and would never have been able to enjoy a long sit-down meal in a restaurant and I would have not been able to take him to the nursery because he really just cried all the time. We did still travel with him when he was a baby, but trips where we could cater to him a bit more. We rented condos so we had our own space and our own kitchen to prepare meals. This was a much more enjoyable way for us to travel with a baby. You may have a really easy baby and taking a cruise might be perfect for you, but I just want to caution you that that might not always be the case and to make sure you're covered if your plans need to change.

THIS

 

[Garyjames220]

Well after a lot of changing back and for

We have decided to go for DCL

main reason we do enjoy the magic of the ship and with out the place holder and prices only going up it will probably be our last cruise with dcl for a while

so that gives us plenty of time to go for royal after this cruise anyway

 

[starvenger]

Happy you were able to come to a decision! And I hope that everything goes well with the newborn.

 

[mevelandry]

Well after a lot of changing back and for

We have decided to go for DCL

main reason we do enjoy the magic of the ship and with out the place holder and prices only going up it will probably be our last cruise with dcl for a while

so that gives us plenty of time to go for royal after this cruise anyway

You already had a place holder. It's only fair to take advantage of it.

 

[Garyjames220]

You already had a place holder. It's only fair to take advantage of it.

Yeah thats what I was thinking

 

[SamiL]

We just got back from a three-night cruise on the Dream (our first cruise ever!) with my tween and 22-month old. We traveled with both kids as infants and toddlers and I think the best advice I can give you is whatever you decide to do, adjust your expectations. It's too early to know what your little one's personality will be like. Will DB love the nursery or will you get a message 15 minute into dinner saying "we are trying to calm her, but she is extremely upset?" Will he sleep through the night? or stay up all night and want to sleep all day. Having a kid amaaaazing, but it's the hardest thing I've ever done.

Here's how our cruse went. DD did great during boarding and muster (yay!) after that she started demanding to go "night-night." We held her off long enough to take a quick look at the nursery, then I took her to nap while DH and DS checked out the kids club and tween club. She was still napping at dinner time (5:45) so they went on without me and our server was kind enough to package dinner for me, which my husband and son brought up. DD was so tired she slept through a loooong in-room announcement. We had a 6:30 nursery reservation so woke her a little after 6:00 and got her freshened up. She was happy and stayed in the nursery until we picked her up around 9:30. They commented on how good and happy she was. The next day she didn't nap as well. We all ate dinner together and she was grumpy and a handful. It was miserable. I tried to take her to the nursery but got a message around 30 minutes later that she was upset and cried unless someone held her. The staff was willing to keep trying, but I know my girl and it wasn't happening that night. The next day was our anniversary. DS would not nap at all. At dinner, we sent the oldest off to the tween club and tried again with the nursery for DS. This time my husband dropped her off and let the staff know it was our anniversary. We had initially wanted to have dinner and see a show together, but by that point, we would be happy making it through dinner alone together. We did make it through dinner. I checked in on her and she had fallen asleep watching Mickey and the Road Racers. DH and I enjoyed some alone time and shopping before she woke up and we got a message that she was upset but they were trying their best to calm her. DH went and picked her up, and we watched a movie in the room before packing.

Traveling with kids is not relaxing. It is hard. There is more stuff to carry and a lot less time to have fun. One or both of you will be in the room for long stretches of time. We did not see a single show or movie during our cruise. We still had fun and enjoyed being together, but we knew going in it was going to be tough sometimes. If my son hadn't been about to age out of the kids club (he wanted to do the Star Wars stuff) we would have put this off longer. We tag-teamed as much as possible so we could do some activities with DS, but a lot of our time was devoted to caring for our toddler. And she's a pretty good traveler and generally a happy kid.

Another thing to keep in mind is, it is easier to travel pregnant than with a baby. We did a family trip to New York when I was near the end of my second trimester and I got tired from time to time, but we still got to do way more stuff than we would have with a baby. If you can move up your trip you might enjoy it more, or you might want to think about putting it off until baby's closer to three.

Our first family vacation after she was born was very low-key. We rented a condo at a resort in the mountains. We drove. We didn't go far or spend a lot of money and it was relatively relaxing.

If it were me, I would take a small babymoon trip before the baby comes. Save some of the money you'd spend on a big trip for babysitters and date-nights after baby comes and for a family trip for around baby's third birthday. That's when I remember traveling getting easier with my son. When they are down to one shorter nap per day you can get out and do more.

If you decide to do the cruise, plan on tag-teaming the baby and be ready for things to not go as planned. You can still have fun, but you're going to work for it! Parenthood is great and you're going to learn and grow like never before. Congratulations and enjoy the ride!

 

[Garyjames220]

We just got back from a three-night cruise on the Dream (our first cruise ever!) with my tween and 22-month old. We traveled with both kids as infants and toddlers and I think the best advice I can give you is whatever you decide to do, adjust your expectations. It's too early to know what your little one's personality will be like. Will DB love the nursery or will you get a message 15 minute into dinner saying "we are trying to calm her, but she is extremely upset?" Will he sleep through the night? or stay up all night and want to sleep all day. Having a kid amaaaazing, but it's the hardest thing I've ever done.

Here's how our cruse went. DD did great during boarding and muster (yay!) after that she started demanding to go "night-night." We held her off long enough to take a quick look at the nursery, then I took her to nap while DH and DS checked out the kids club and tween club. She was still napping at dinner time (5:45) so they went on without me and our server was kind enough to package dinner for me, which my husband and son brought up. DD was so tired she slept through a loooong in-room announcement. We had a 6:30 nursery reservation so woke her a little after 6:00 and got her freshened up. She was happy and stayed in the nursery until we picked her up around 9:30. They commented on how good and happy she was. The next day she didn't nap as well. We all ate dinner together and she was grumpy and a handful. It was miserable. I tried to take her to the nursery but got a message around 30 minutes later that she was upset and cried unless someone held her. The staff was willing to keep trying, but I know my girl and it wasn't happening that night. The next day was our anniversary. DS would not nap at all. At dinner, we sent the oldest off to the tween club and tried again with the nursery for DS. This time my husband dropped her off and let the staff know it was our anniversary. We had initially wanted to have dinner and see a show together, but by that point, we would be happy making it through dinner alone together. We did make it through dinner. I checked in on her and she had fallen asleep watching Mickey and the Road Racers. DH and I enjoyed some alone time and shopping before she woke up and we got a message that she was upset but they were trying their best to calm her. DH went and picked her up, and we watched a movie in the room before packing.

Traveling with kids is not relaxing. It is hard. There is more stuff to carry and a lot less time to have fun. One or both of you will be in the room for long stretches of time. We did not see a single show or movie during our cruise. We still had fun and enjoyed being together, but we knew going in it was going to be tough sometimes. If my son hadn't been about to age out of the kids club (he wanted to do the Star Wars stuff) we would have put this off longer. We tag-teamed as much as possible so we could do some activities with DS, but a lot of our time was devoted to caring for our toddler. And she's a pretty good traveler and generally a happy kid.

Another thing to keep in mind is, it is easier to travel pregnant than with a baby. We did a family trip to New York when I was near the end of my second trimester and I got tired from time to time, but we still got to do way more stuff than we would have with a baby. If you can move up your trip you might enjoy it more, or you might want to think about putting it off until baby's closer to three.

Our first family vacation after she was born was very low-key. We rented a condo at a resort in the mountains. We drove. We didn't go far or spend a lot of money and it was relatively relaxing.

If it were me, I would take a small babymoon trip before the baby comes. Save some of the money you'd spend on a big trip for babysitters and date-nights after baby comes and for a family trip for around baby's third birthday. That's when I remember traveling getting easier with my son. When they are down to one shorter nap per day you can get out and do more.

If you decide to do the cruise, plan on tag-teaming the baby and be ready for things to not go as planned. You can still have fun, but you're going to work for it! Parenthood is great and you're going to learn and grow like never before. Congratulations and enjoy the ride!

OMG and if that doesn’t put you off going nothing will lol. Only joking glad your been honest

we are used to two nice holidays a year and to not go until the baby is three would be to long with the working hours I do

also I wouldn't have the place holder so I would be priced out of disney

I hope it goes a bit better than it did for you anyway lol