Well, we tried…

[Disneyworldlocal]

I know I wasn't the one you were replying to, but I did the 4 night utopia earlier this year. The only DCL ship i;ve been on in Dream (Im doing treasure later this year). Overall I enjoyed it, but I did leave thinking I enjoyed DCL more. There is a party vibe but it's also very easy to stay clear of. It's not like it's drunken adults everywhere causing a scene. There were A LOT of kids on my sailing (way more than I thought there would be considering how the boat is advertised), and it seemed like there was plenty for them to do. I know people don't like the mall on a ship vibe which I get, but the nice thing is it gives you more to do. 4-5 slides, rock climbing, zipline, etc. The water show they have is so far the best thing i've seen on a cruise ship. We ended up not eating in the MDR once because the menus didn't sound that great to us. Two nights we picked two of their speciality places (a seafood place, and chops, their steakhouse), both really good. The other 2 nights we just ate at the buffet.

Thanks for sharing. I really appreciate it

 

[Disneyworldlocal]

My husband and I did a 4 night sailing on Utopia in February that stopped at Coco Cay twice. We are newly minted empty nesters and were eager to try a non-DCL cruise.

Overall, we had a good time and I left satisfied with my experience, but it was definitely a different vibe than Disney. “Shopping Mall at Sea” is a good descriptor of the vibe we got upon embarking - nice shopping mall, but just not the same as any of Disney’s ships upon entry. Kind of like walking into the lobby of the Wilderness Lodge vs. a nice Hilton.

I also thought it was way too loud - but figured that was because Utopia is “the world’s biggest weekend”. I didn’t realize it was a fleet wide thing! Fortunately, I had read that it was loud and brought ear plugs to wear to the shows and such, but didn’t realize how loud it was going to be everywhere else! We avoided pool parties and the main pool deck at all costs due to noise (we spent about 5 minutes at a deck party before the noise got to be too much). Even Windjammer had ridiculously loud “party music” playing for the first 15 minutes or so at opening when we went there for dinner one night.

There were things I really liked: the adults only solarium, the balcony furniture (reclining chairs with ottomans in the ocean view balconies … though this did not look like the case on Liberty of the Seas that was parked next to us, so must be ship specific), the stateroom showers, the ability to split the main bed into two twins, etc. I also really liked the Central Park area. I also thought the shows were very good and it was a nice change of pace from DCL.

I really liked Coco Cay. We had great weather and going two different days allowed us to try a variety of things. On Day 1, we only utilized included amenities and spent most of the day on South Beach in shaded loungers. On Day 2, we paid for Coco Beach Club. Coco Beach Club was very nice, but I would be happy just utilizing included amenities on future visits.

I was not impressed with the food in general and prefer Disney. We didn’t try any specialty dining on the ship and actively disliked the main dining room (we went twice). Windjammers had a lot of variety, but it was pure chaos and felt stressful. We did really like the Park Cafe’ in Central Park for breakfast and lunch - it was like an elevated Daisy’s Delights with seating. Coco Cay food was on par with Cookies, but with more variety.

I would cruise Royal again (actually hoping to try a 7 night on Star of the Seas) and think my young adult children would probably enjoy it, but nothing compares to DCL for a wholesome family cruise. Disney definitely feels like an elevated experience over Royal and I prefer the Disney vibe and atmosphere. Utopia didn’t feel “trashy” to me, but I don’t like to gamble, I drink very little and I’m not into nightlife … and these were prominent features on Royal. You can avoid them, but they are there and attract crowds that enjoy these activities, so the demographic is definitely different … more adults only groups, more older people, couples on vacation without kids, etc. I heard so many Florida retirees in the Solarium talking about past cruises and boasting to each other about deals they got with casino comp cruises or Florida residents rates or free drink packages.

Also, on Disney, I never worried if an all ages venue would be appropriate for my kids … on Royal, even though it was just my husband and I, I found myself thinking “this is not kid friendly” on several occasions while at events where there were no age restrictions.

I liked my cruise and can see myself cruising Royal again with my husband, but it would not be my first choice for a family cruise. If you’re going on Royal because you want to try something different and go in with the right expectations, I think you’ll be fine. If you really want to cruise DCL and are thinking about Royal just to save money, I would re-think the plan.

Thanks so much for the review. I really appreciate it. We don’t drink or go to casinos so I appreciate the detailed info

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

The two teenagers weren’t into the flashy stuff on the ship (ice skating, climbing wall, water slides, etc)

I know my husband and I aren't interested in those features of a ship but my father-in-law's wife really is and they've enjoyed their Royal Caribbean and previously Carnival (they've stopped going on Carnival as much in favor of Royal Caribbean) cruises that had those.

For your family did you go in thinking they would like that stuff but they ended up not or was that something you didn't think about when booking the cruise?

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Congrats on eating at fine restaurants

When someone just has to input that they eat at all these fine dining places (or drink high end wine or insert other things) you know they have a certain mentality in mind that is normally the not so kind mentality.

 

[DCLMP]

Some will like megaships that are floating entertainment malls at sea (and arguably DCL is just about to get one single ship in that category). Some will prefer an adult like atmosphere. Some will prefer genuine luxury and some will enjoy a relatively straightforward sailing experience. Some cruise lines or cruise companies have cruise ships or individual cruise lines in each of these segments. And individual preference can vary over time. Some wouldn't care what the ship looks like as long as it is safe and goes to interesting places.

Very true and that's what makes the arguments so funny.

 

[DCLMP]

When someone just has to input that they eat at all these fine dining places (or drink high end wine or insert other things) you know they have a certain mentality in mind that is normally the not so kind mentality.

The fact that they think Palo is on par is whats funny to me. Don't get me wrong Palo is good for a cruise ship restaurant, but I wouldn't eat there if it wasn't free. It used to be better, but they have limited what you can order. I have not tried Remy. I'm afraid it wouldn't be worth the cost.

 

[pjacobi]

So, if it rains at Coco Cay, it's the fault of the cruise line? Does Mickey control the weather at Castaway key?


-Paul

 

[MonaMN]

So, if it rains at Coco Cay, it's the fault of the cruise line? Does Mickey control the weather at Castaway key?


-Paul

Assuming this is directed at me, you should read more carefully. We liked what we were able to experience at Coco Cay but I didn’t feel like I could give a very accurate opinion on the island as a whole since the only area I was able to experience was South Beach before the rain pushed us back to the ship. I also stated that we rented a beach bed and I wish Disney had something like that (not just cabanas).

My intent here was just to provide some color commentary around what we found different, especially since these were unexpected to me.

 

[MonaMN]

I know my husband and I aren't interested in those features of a ship but my father-in-law's wife really is and they've enjoyed their Royal Caribbean and previously Carnival (they've stopped going on Carnival as much in favor of Royal Caribbean) cruises that had those.

For your family did you go in thinking they would like that stuff but they ended up not or was that something you didn't think about when booking the cruise?

I thought the two girls would do more of that stuff, but 16 year olds are unpredictable! We also knew our friends wouldn’t be willing to pay the extra price for DCL, so we tried RCCL thinking it would be the next best option.

I had also heard generally good reviews related to their food allergy practices, which was critical for us. They did handle my kid’s PN/TN allergies well, so no complaints there other than being less clear about the protocols leading up to the cruise.

 

[ngl]

I thought the two girls would do more of that stuff, but 16 year olds are unpredictable! We also knew our friends wouldn’t be willing to pay the extra price for DCL, so we tried RCCL thinking it would be the next best option.

I had also heard generally good reviews related to their food allergy practices, which was critical for us. They did handle my kid’s PN/TN allergies well, so no complaints there other than being less clear about the protocols leading up to the cruise.

For whatever it is worth, I appreciated your review with specific call outs on what you liked and did not like. That is what these boards are for, imo. We all have a different idea of what a "vacation" is - there is no right and no wrong and is a very personal decision. Some like quiet and subdued and some like the party vibe. What I appreciate most is the input with specific comments about different issues. That is what is really helpful, so thank you.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Some like quiet and subdued and some like the party vibe.

Most of the time the comments I tend to see (and I include myself in these as well at times) is people making assumptions of how another cruise line would be.

It's easy to say such and such is a party vibe but is that based on actual experience or an assumption and for that matter virtually ALL cruise lines can be a party vibe including DCL, party vibe does not have to mean drunken adult behavior. Loud music, dancing opportunities, late night options, etc all can make a party vibe but the connotation that often gets made is that it's just drunken fueled club style.

People have made assumptions about casinos, alcohol prevalence, etc to all mean something.

So I agree with you it's more helpful if people get more nitty gritty in the details because otherwise people often fall back on preconceived notions which often then get the conversations going. I had this conversation on another thread with someone else who assumed that a person booking a non-concierge level room on a different cruise line was getting less than what a concierge level room would get you on DCL but it was not at all the case because the two cruise lines were not the same at all so even just looking at what X means on Y cruise lines can help out when talking about likes or dislikes.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I thought the two girls would do more of that stuff, but 16 year olds are unpredictable! We also knew our friends wouldn’t be willing to pay the extra price for DCL, so we tried RCCL thinking it would be the next best option.

I had also heard generally good reviews related to their food allergy practices, which was critical for us. They did handle my kid’s PN/TN allergies well, so no complaints there other than being less clear about the protocols leading up to the cruise.

I think when I was younger I probably would have liked that stuff. The only cruse I did when I was a teen was Carnival Glory at age 15 but that experience was a doozy (traveling in winter with an ice storm and perpetually trying to catch the boat made it halfway through the cruise) but yeah I could see why you'd think they would gravitate towards that.

I do think the mega ships are great for having just the sheer variety of options which with enough people in your traveling group can be very important but in the end if some of those main features of the extra flashy activities don't end up pulling enough interest it's not necessarily going to make a repeat of those ships as desirable in favor of something you're more used to.