We tried RC and we liked itttttt...

[Princesca]

We sailed on Odyssey of the Seas back in February. We'd only been on one cruise prior to that, and it was on the DCL Fantasy (it was during the Disney+ promo and the ship was packed in like sardines, so that may have informed our opinion somewhat). We loved DCL, but it honestly isn't in our budget to do more than every few years, so we thought we'd give RC a try. We loved cruising, and RC beat any all-inclusive vacation we could find, price-wise, in addition to the convenience of having a 'traveling hotel room' and not needed to plan much of anything outside of the cruise itself.

We really liked it! There were some things we thought were better than DCL. Crowd management was better, room service and island food was WAY better, there were more activities, and we loved the footstools on the balconies. For such a small thing, they really improved our experience. Embarkation and debarkation were much smoother too, and we took advantage of their special needs program, which was much better than DCL (oddly - you'd think DCL would go out of their way for special needs kids but I couldn't even find that they had any kind of autism program). We loved Coco Cay and Labadee and would choose probably either of those over Castaway, as much as we loved Castaway.

What was better on Disney was the beds and the MDR. I also liked that sodas were free on Disney, but I'm not a big soda drinker anyway, so I just bought a couple during the week on RC and was satisfied. Dinner entertainment on Disney is also nice - there wasn't anything like that on RC, so if you have small kids, dinner was a bit boring for them. I have also read that DCL has special stabilizing thrusters on their ships, and if so, that would explain why we had much more 'debarkation sickness' on RC than on DCL. We didn't experience seasickness on RC, but felt a bit wobbly for a week or so after our return. Splash pad on Fantasy was vastly superior to what was offered for diapered kids on RC, which was basically a large puddle in full sun with a couple of tiny fountains. We also liked that the scent of cigarette smoke was less prevalent on Disney. On RC it popped up frequently, even on the beach at Labadee. :/

Kids club on RC was great, our son loved it, but he wasn't old enough to try DCL's so we don't have a basis on which to compare that.

If you're a Disney fan, nighttime shows were a tie. If you aren't, we give that win to RC too. They were more appealing to a diverse group I think.

DCL will always be our top pick and our 'home' at sea, but for half the price, I definitely see us cruising RC again. I'd like to try one of the Oasis class ships.

 

[Jwaire]

RCL has stabilizers too. While they do try to nickel and dime you, there's a ton of variety in entertainment, activities and most importantly food choices.

DCL has its place, especially for parents of younger children, but RCL has made vast improvements over the last 10 years and they aren't slowing down.

Whereas, I feel DCL has did nothing but jack up the price, cut costs, lower their quality standards and try to weed out anyone who doesn't have young children over the same time frame.

 

[dpswift]

Thank you for the positive review.we sailed RCI twice last year, Disney once(also on the Disney plus deal) Carnival once.

We are all adults so we didn’t use the kids clubs. We preferred our servers on RCI, however Disney servers made a point of going out of their way for us because on previous Disney cruises our servers were not great. I can’t compare Carnival on this because we had My Time dining and had a different server each night.

We enjoyed the entertainment on all 3 lines. I do however find it hard to compare because the shows were so different.

We currently have 2 RCI cruises booked we would prefer to cruise Disney again but it is so expensive

 

[hedberg1661]

Thanks for sharing. I too have only done DCL previously so I liked hearing what you thought was better on each cruise line. Looking forward to my RC cruise in November. Can't wait!

 

[Princesca]

Reading about all the DAS changes inspired me to come back here to my original post and re-emphasize how incredibly kindly we were treated on Royal, with regard to our son's neurodivergence. I didn't provide details in my initial post, but all it took was a single email to the RCL special needs address, and we were met at check-in with immediate boarding, accompanied by a cruise terminal employee who escorted us all the way to the ship. It was so wonderful. Traveling with special needs kids is often full of unknowns and stress, especially when one or more of the parents are also neurodivergent, and we felt so comforted by this one small gesture. We were also given accommodations at the kids' club - our son has some occupational delays and he has been slow to potty train, but they made an exception for him and allowed him in a diaper and gave us a phone to come change him if needed. No worries, no fuss. When I inquired about this with Disney, I was told simply 'no diapers in kids' club'. I know if they have an accident you can come get them and a certain amt of that is tolerated, I guess, but who wants that level of mess (either employee or vacationing parent)??? We're going to focus hard on potty training this summer, but I'm nervous if we don't have it locked down by our next DCL cruise. The kids' club is a huge benefit to us, and one of the top reasons why we cruise.

Royal made us feel like we were welcomed guests, and not like they were 'put out' by having to accommodate us. So I just wanted to share that detail as well.

 

[DCLMP]

We spent 12 days on Odyssey last May. To this date it's my favorite ship. We've done 32 DCL cruises. 2 Royal and one Carnival, one NCL. I loved the size of the Odyssey. Not to big and not too small. The layout was great. after the first walk around the ship I knew where everything was. The design just made sense in my opinion.
By far the best gym out of all of the them. I guess if there's one criticism its the running\walking deck. I like the running deck on the Harmony better. The top of ship was great early morning or late afternoon, but the middle of day forget it..... way to hard to dodge the sun bathers.

Overall a really nicely designed ship. I was expecting a behemoth like most new ships these days. I was presently surprised when we drove up and saw it was sized about the same as the Fantasy or maybe a little smaller. I'm glad there is one cruise line still making ships that are average size.

Highly recommend this ship if its still in the Med next year. You will save a lot of money over the Fantasy.

 

[tidefan]

We spent 12 days on Odyssey last May. To this date it's my favorite ship. We've done 32 DCL cruises. 2 Royal and one Carnival, one NCL. I loved the size of the Odyssey. Not to big and not too small. The layout was great. after the first walk around the ship I knew where everything was. The design just made sense in my opinion.
By far the best gym out of all of the them. I guess if there's one criticism its the running\walking deck. I like the running deck on the Harmony better. The top of ship was great early morning or late afternoon, but the middle of day forget it..... way to hard to dodge the sun bathers.

Overall a really nicely designed ship. I was expecting a behemoth like most new ships these days. I was presently surprised when we drove up and saw it was sized about the same as the Fantasy or maybe a little smaller. I'm glad there is one cruise line still making ships that are average size.

Highly recommend this ship if its still in the Med next year. You will save a lot of money over the Fantasy.

@DCLMP did you not find the lack of laundry a big issue on a European cruise? It is my understanding that RCCL ships don't have laundry facilities (at least the ones I've been on don't - Serenade, Oasis, Independence). It was extremely convenient to have laundry available on Regal Princess last year for our 12 night British Isles cruise. Really helped on the packing.

Have not been on a class like the Odyssey, but I bet I would prefer it over the 3 I mentioned (especially Independence, which we just did not care for at all).

 

[DCLMP]

@DCLMP did you not find the lack of laundry a big issue on a European cruise? It is my understanding that RCCL ships don't have laundry facilities (at least the ones I've been on don't - Serenade, Oasis, Independence). It was extremely convenient to have laundry available on Regal Princess last year for our 12 night British Isles cruise. Really helped on the packing.

Have not been on a class like the Odyssey, but I bet I would prefer it over the 3 I mentioned (especially Independence, which we just did not care for at all).

You can fill a bag and stuff it as full as you want for I believe 30 -35 dollars. I did it twice. I saved 8k over DCL spending money on laundry was not an issue. I really enjoyed having them do my laundry and not battle for a washer and dryer. Disney has started offering this service too. I believe it was 25 items for 30 dollars.
You can really get a lot in those bags. Roll you clothes and stuff. Since it was a med cruise we had just shorts, t shirts, undergarments and workout clothes to wash, but they do offer dry cleaning.

 

[tidefan]

You can fill a bag and stuff it as full as you want for I believe 30 -35 dollars. I did it twice. I saved 8k over DCL spending money on laundry was not an issue. I really enjoyed having them do my laundry and not battle for a washer and dryer. Disney has started offering this service too. I believe it was 25 items for 30 dollars.
You can really get a lot in those bags. Roll you clothes and stuff. Since it was a med cruise we had just shorts, t shirts, undergarments and workout clothes to wash, but they do offer dry cleaning.

Yes, we use the bag on Princess, since our status gives us free laundry. But, I still like that Princess has the laundromats. Makes it so easy! Also, we looked at RCCL for a similar cruise to our Northern Europe one next year, but an 8 night on RCCL was about the same as the 12 night on Princess, and that was with Princess Plus (Wifi, Gratuities, and Drinks).

It may be different if we had any status with RCCL, but we don't, so there is no incentive there.

 

[DCLMP]

Yes, we use the bag on Princess, since our status gives us free laundry. But, I still like that Princess has the laundromats. Makes it so easy! Also, we looked at RCCL for a similar cruise to our Northern Europe one next year, but an 8 night on RCCL was about the same as the 12 night on Princess, and that was with Princess Plus (Wifi, Gratuities, and Drinks).

It may be different if we had any status with RCCL, but we don't, so there is no incentive there.

You have to do what gives you the best deal, but to answer your question the laundry wasn’t an issue. We cruised to Northern Europe on DCL in 2022 and it was such a battle to get a washer or dryer. I’m glad DCL started the bag service. As you know having status on DCL is worth nothing.

I’ve been looking at Princess in Japan. It’s funny though that’s where the whole Covid thing started all those guests stuck on the princess ship in Japan. Also looking at Celebrity in Japan.