Disney or RCCL

[lilbon]

I am going on a cruise in October of this year. We are taking our 2 sons 16, 8.. just wondering what cruise ship would be the best to go on.. its our first cruise.

We have booked a Disney cruise (3300 for inside) but I have gotten a quote for a RCCL for 3400 (verandah)..

I picked Disney because of the child program. And I understand that Disney allows you to bring along alcohol...

Any advice would be appreciated. :)

[loveJake]

I have been on 5 Disney cruises with 1 coming up in August and 1 booked for 2006, so you can see we love Disney. We take our Grandkids now age 10 and 11, have taken them every year since they were 5 and 6. My husband and I went on our 1st RCI cruise in May to Bermuda. There were hardly any children, one night the kids marched into the evenig entertainment dressed as pirates up on stage. I think there were 8 kids, at Disney there would have been tons in the clubs. So during school I could see a difference for you kids if they plan on during kids entertainment. If you plan on a strickly family vacation and always doing things together then that would not be a problem. RCI the ship was clean and beautiful, to us the entertainment was way under par from Disney, with Disney being more of a stage production. Food was about the same, but Disney had way more to select from and especially at lunch. RCI buffets were the same everyday, as were the dining room lunch except for one daily special. Don't want to get too long, anyother questions just ask.

[TheWog]

Your 8 year old will love Disney. The kids programs was a lot of fun for my son and he warmed up to it as the week progressed (he was 6 when we went). The 16 year old will probably still have a great time. There is a lot to do and they have their own private area called the Stack. Is your other option the Mariner of the Seas? Same port, larger ship, less money (or in your case better accomodations for same money). I think they would also love this.

You should decide if you love the Mouse and is it worth it. Castaway Cay is a great island and definitely worth visiting. At least once.

Good luck deciding.

[alinnj]

IMO RCCL! Enjoy the balcony and all the great activities that RCCL offer. My first two cruises were with Disney when I had nothing to compare with. Since I have gone on 4 other cruises that were much cheaper and my family has enjoyed them as much. Eastern & Western Carribean, Alaska, Canada and soon to be Hawaii. Now that I have something to compare with I now realize that on my first two cruises which were Di$ney that they were way over priced for what I received. They were fun, I can only go during the summer when they want BIG BUCK$!!!!

I still love Disney, however another cruise with them is out of the question with my family.

[callajl]

Wow- that is amazing that you got a deal like that. We went on RCI Mariner last Oct/Nov in a JS paying about $3800. We went on DCL cat 4 June/July and paid about $3400 with a Fl resident discount but it was over July 4th and the RCI was during hurricane season.
Depending on which RCI you are going on, I would say to take the verandah just because it is a VERANDAH!! WOO HOO

[OPSoccermom]

lilbon,

There is a great thread on page 5. OP was mojomanny. Discusses the pros and cons of each line.

We've done the Mariner OTS, both DCL ships, and 2 Celebrity cruises with our son and daughter. I feel the review by mojomanny was pretty fair.

[mom x4,grandma x4]

We have taken 4 grandkids from age 2 to 14 on DCL. They each had their own Navigator (paper) full of schedules events all day and evening, which changed everyday. Lots of free time stuff to just wander in and out of the clubs and chat with friends. All 4 kids couldnt get enough of the clubs.
The Studio Sea night club was a family night club, so if you want to do things as a family as well as apart , they have Game shows to participate in, dance parties, Karoake, Walk the plank, slasa and line dancing lessons and much more. Most of the kids clubs are open until 1:00 A.M. , sometimes 2A.M.
The Stack for teens has it's own video arcade, coffe and refreshment bar, dances, special teen only excursions, movie and pizza parties, karoake, pool parties and much more.
The new Pirate night dinner and deck party is outstanding. It's the best deck party we have ever been to. You can dress as a pirate at dinner, your wait staff is dressed too. They talk pirate all night, so is the menu. After dinner in the evening they have a great deck party with music and pirate dancing, characters in pirates attire and a themed story that goes through the evening, the grand finale is a live fireworks show from the ship, it's really awesome!! It's followed by a buffet on deck 9, all with a pirate theme.
They will even give everyone at dinner a pirate scarf so you can join in the fun even if your not dressed up. Some adults hesitated to dress up, but after it was over you could over hear them saying, Next itme I'm dressing up too.
The entire ship is geared to be kid friendly, after allit is disney and families are what they are all about. Yes they do charge more, but to see the smiles on the kids faces makes it worth it for us.
I'm sure what ever you choose to do will be the right thing for you and who knows maybe you'll go again and then you can try the other line.
Good Luck,
mom x4,grandma x4

[momofmeg]

As far as I know all the cruiselines will allow you to bring your own alcohol on board. also you can buy it in the ship's store and pay a "usage fee" to take it back to your cabin. From what I understand this usage fee amounts to the tax you save when buying alcohol on board. So why drag that with you?

Now I have never done that as I do not drink much and love to go to the lounges like the paino bar (Cadilliac Club on Disney Wonder) or the live band (Route 66) where I have my few alcoholic drinks. But I am sure you can check the rules with an e-mail asking Disney what is or is not allowed. I definetly know on RCCL you can buy the alochol on board and pay a usage fee to take it to your room.

One thing though-now this was not us as we were 3 adults and loved the adult only areas including the adult's only pool-but I have read complaints from family people about the family and kid's pool being super crowded- and it was on my cruise too-no surprise when that cruise 70% of the passengers were under 16.

Now we had a veranda and loved it. We also loved the split bathroom. Now I do not know if your inside cabin has the split bathroom-some inside cabins don't-but if it doesn't maybe you would like the veranda on RCCL better.

Another good thing about Disney is the kid's club is open evenings-so if you and hubby want time together at Palo's or Route 66 or just some private time-you don't have to pay for a sitter.

[Let'sCruise]

Yes, RCl is cheaper, but you get what you pay for. The entertainment is superior, the food is superior, the ship is superior and the activities are superior on Disney. In fact, there aren't many activities on RCl. We will save our money and travel with Disney next time. Our vacation on Enchantment of the Seas was ok, but Disney is awesome. We are still talking about it 4 years later.

[lookingforward]

The Voyager class RCCL ships are wonderful. NOt sure which ship you are looking at, but the kids would have a great time on the bigger RCCL ships. I have sailed both DCL and RCCL and liked both, but for kids activities I think RCCL does a bit better. My kids went inline skating, ice skating, rock climbing, miniature golfing, etc. They loved Johnny Rockets for snacks and felt they got more attention at the kids clubs (because there were far less kids onboard). I felt the food was about the same in quality, service was a bit better on DCL.

For adults, I think RCCL has more to offer. I am a diehard Disney fan so I LOVED the disney themed shows, however my husband liked the RCCL offerings more. He loved the prommenade with different clubs and activities. DCL's private island is supposed to be much better than RCCL's. I did not get to DCL's island due to a hurricane but RCCL's was nothing special.

Honestly, you will be fine on either line. Have a great vacation!

[Jsme]

I think it depends on the ages of your children and what ship you are looking at on RCI. The newer ships on RCI are suppose to be wonderful. We love DCL. We have been on two and have another one planned in just a few weeks. We have been on one RCI and have cancelled our DCL curise for next year 11/06 to do the Freedom of the Seas. We were able to book two rooms for less than the 4 day DCL. We let the kids decide which to do and RCI's FOS won over DCL.

Oh forgot to add this. I think RCI is a little bit more greedy than DCL. You can still take your own water and alcohol on DCL and they also have free sodas at dinner and at the beverage station on deck 9. Palo's is only a surcharge of $10. While RCI is starting to charge for everything! They will no longer let you buy alcohol and comsume ti on board. They do not give you free sodas. Their surcharge restaurants are at least $20 pp. It is easy to spend as much on a RCI as you would on the DCL.

[dkort]

hi. here's my opinion and my daughter's. my daughter is 8 and she has been on 9 cruises, princess, rccl and carnival. our first dis will be next year. okay, so why haven't we done dis as yet. here's my daughter's answer: "mom, if i don't like the kids club and don't want to just swim, then what?" my daughter (our family) travels extensively for business and pleasure. 2 cruises a year (at least) and 2-4 major vacations at least 2 weeks in length, caribbean, hawaii, u.s., plus several weekend trips inbetween. pretty seasoned traveling group. our daughter has done it all and seen a lot. inotherwords, we are lucky enough to never have to say, "let's do a dream vacation," since we can pretty much take any "dream vacation" we want. with all of this in mind, let's go back to what she said about not wanting to go on disney. oh, in addition to this, we live in southern california and are annual passholders to disneyland. we've done character breakfasts, dinners, you name it and have stayed at all of the disney hotels in la. we've also stayed at most of the orlando disney hotels. we go to disneyland at least once a week in the summer when we're home. now, with all of this background, i'll get back to what my daughter originally said about why a dis cruise didn't matter. having never been on a dis ship and not being able to speak exactly from experience, let me explain real quickly what i think the differences are between rccl and dis. rccl's voyager class ships: adventure, voyager, navigator, explorer and mariner. all of these ships offer ice skating, rock climbing, miniature golf, johnny rockets, full basketball court, kids water slide and water play area (except for navigator) and kids programs. these are very active ships. disney, on the other hand, has swimming pools, 1/2 basketball court and kids programs. now, if i didn't live so close to a dis resort and do not frequent the place, then going on a dis cruise would probably be my first choice with a kid. i've always had the impression that a dis cruise is a floating disney experience, which it should be. now, let's get to the bottom line - money. dis is expensive. we always have a balcony stateroom, junior suite or better on any ship. when you compare, dollar for dollar dis against any other of the major cruise lines, YIKES is all i can say. and yes, i've heard the statement, "well, you're not in your room that much anyways, so who cares if you have an inside." if that was the case, then why are ship lines building more ships with more balconies? people wouldn't be paying for balconies and better if everyone "didn't care" if they had an inside or not. there's nothing like being able to throw open those doors, sit on the balcony with a cup of coffee in the morning and look out onto the open sea. the only time i personally would take an inside cabin is if i were on a very, very tight and limited budget or if i were on a 3 or 4 day sailing. i hope i've helped you make up your mind.

[dkort]

oh, i forgot to mention the extras that rccl charges for that dis does not. considering the amt of money that you're paying up front for the dis cruise, i should hope that sodas, bottled water or whatever were free. the difference in price between a balcony (not navigator's verandah, but full balcony) 7 day on dis magic and rccl voyager or freedom during high season can be as much as 2-3 thousand dollars. that's a lot of soda!

[Jsme]

oh, i forgot to mention the extras that rccl charges for that dis does not. considering the amt of money that you're paying up front for the dis cruise, i should hope that sodas, bottled water or whatever were free. the difference in price between a balcony (not navigator's verandah, but full balcony) 7 day on dis magic and rccl voyager or freedom during high season can be as much as 2-3 thousand dollars. that's a lot of soda!

After going on DCL my family is ready to try RCI's FOS. As stated in my above post, my kids chose to cancel a DCL in order to go on RCI. However, I think it would be easy to spend the money you save by not going on DCl on a RCI cruise. We have done it, so I am speaking from experience when I make that statement. But the choice is really up to what you want. I have to say DCL is smaller than the larger ships of RCI, but DCL does offer an experience that no other cruise line can offer you. However DCL is NOT a floating Disneyland or world but you can have a character breakfast, see the characters and most shows include the characters. While my kids do not care for any character meal some smaller children love the magic of this. Mine just never enjoyed this.

I can not tell you which cruise line to go with. I was and am pointing out a few differences. I can not honestly tell you I have a preference.

As op stated about the balcony/verandah we have always stayed in a stateroom with one. The kids love it and so does my DH. They are nice but no necessary. If my only options to cruise was in a room without a balcony I would go for it because I love to cruise, however, I do not want a tiny cabin.

[sdf89]

Will be brief, since prior posts cover most things. Our teens were disappointed on RCCL and felt like there was not much to do and few teens in their areas. (And we did the cruise during spring break!). This time we also have a 5 year old going, so we do pick Disney.

On the other hand, Disney is probably overpriced by most people's standards... but by others such as us, the higher probabilityfor fun by the kids is almost priceless. Good luck!

[itdjbw]

My kids are ages 11 and 7.
We are about to go on our 3rd DCL cruise, the kids love it and looking forward to it, they are well travelled internationally, done numerous cruises, but still love the DCL experience and looking forward to it.
The DCL kids club is much better than the others they have tried, the service is great and it is not just a floating disney world.
My sister went with her kids on RCCL they were 10 and 12 and she said the lines were so long for rock climbing they never got the chance to do it all week and the skating did not interest them, the camps were boring so they basically swam all week which they could have done at home.

My view is to take the kids on DCL while they are young enough to experience it and enjoy the camps etc. besides camp and swimming they have lots of other activities.

[logan1_2000]

Both Have Their Supporters. I've done 4 DCL, two week long caribbean on the Magic and two 4 night bahamas on the Wonder. Love DCL. My first cruise was RCI, on the Empress, thought it was okay at the time, but then 10 mos. later went on the Wonder for the 1st time and was blown away and realized that relatively speaking, compared to DCL, the Empress sucked (and what we really enjoyed was vacationing with the friends with whom we travelled). So why am I booked on 2 RCI cruises w/i a month of each other this coming winter? Variety, and budget. Want to travel w/ our friends again, first cruise for them since the Empress. They didn't want to spend very much $, and wanted to use the cruise as a getaway from the kids. I couldn't imagine going DCL w/o my son, 9. And since I wanted a winter cruise to go somewhere warm when the weather is cold (well, cold for Atlanta; I grew up in CT and have gotten spoiled by the mild winters), the Bahamas on DCL might be chilly, but the Western stops of Cozumel and Key West and the caribbean warmth sounded good. (Also, even a tight 154 sq. ft. stateroom is a huge improvement over the closet that passed for a stateroom on the Empress). And got a hell of a value for 6 nights during new year's break, a junior suite on the radiance for 2700 for the three of us--the same i am paying for three of us oceanview on the Magic next fall. The same week, DCL would be close to double that for a lesser stateroom and one more night.

I really do believe I will notice a dropoff in service and friendliness in some areas, but I am confident RCI will be fine. I love the Disney production shows and have little interest in the usual RCI entertainment (we went to one show in 4 nights on the empress--yawned through a salute to when Swing was King...). There are Disney touches of whimsy and fanciful details that just make me happy and relaxed on my vacation, which is what I am seeking. I like the rotational dining and I enjoy the show in Animators palate even though I have seen it--I like watching the faces of the children seeing it for the first time. I like there being coke fountains at the drink station, the split bathrooms, the oversized staterooms (214 sq ft. for an oceanview w/o a balcony). I have usually found good value taking DS out of school and sailing when school is in, but DCL is a boat-load (pun intended) of $$$ during school vacations. So I want to experience travel in a suite, mini golf, some of the other activities, and my son was never enamored of the Club/Lab anyway because he is more active than their agenda, though at night as an 8 year old he would stay and play PlayStation with the other boys until closing time, 1 a.m.

So I am looking forward to an itinerary for a 4 nighter than to me is more appealing than Nassau (where I now typically stay on the ship), travelling w/ friends, I know we'll have fun, and the cruise will run $1,100 or so for the 2 of us w/ an ocean view. And then looking forward to not having to pull son and wife out of school (she teaches) and experiencing the radiance class and a 293 sq ft. jr suite and 66 sq. ft. of verandah.

And I am looking forward to a ship that frankly feels like home, where cast members throughout the ship in any job, upon seeing me wearing a shirt from castaway cay before we have gotten to that island at the cruise's end, will think to say "welcome back". I like desalinated water in the pools, but the saltwater on RCI isnt a dealbreaker. I dont gamble much, but hope that the casino doesnt translate into more exposure to smoking on the ship. We found the food better on DCL, but with both Portofino's and Chops, and a newer Radiance class vessel, i'll give RCI a fair chance to be just as good this time perhaps.

Will this be an only cruise? Or at least, wont expect to cruise again for at least a few years? Tough call--what ship is the RCI alternative? As my buddy the Wog explains, how much do you love the mouse? There are Disney touches--and all Disney vacations are premium priced. Think of the charm and pixie dust of a disney trip w/o the motion sickness or standing in lines or walking long distances combined w/ a caribbean cruise. And if you just plain want the verandah experience on your cruise, esp. on a Voyager class like the Mariner, that may be the way to go.

Here's the good news--no bad choices on the menu. Do both, two years apart--get a Disney Visa card, charge everything--including the RCI cruise--on it for 2 years, groceries and all, and apply the 1% in disney dollars directly to the cost of your DCL cruise. And put all spare change at the end of the day for the whole family into a "Disney Jar". Those two methods totalled $2,000 for our family in preparation for last April's Magic cruise. Then I put the on-board bill onto my RCI card to start working my way toward a free cruise for 2 in about 2-3 years.;)

[A Little Pixie Dust]

I have been on several cruise lines. We recently took the DCL Magic on it's West Coast Cruise in July. Although I have never been on RCCL, I feel that the kids club experience on my other cruises would most likely be close.

I have an 8 year old daughter. She loves all kid's clubs. No matter what, she has a great time. I think DCL is a special kind of magic for the family. Not just in the clubs but everywhere on the ship from the dining rooms to the character greetings. You would need to ask yourself what type of activites would your kids really enjoy? If you would like an idea of what activities your kids would enjoy, please email me and I can direct you to a website that has copies of the navigators. On our cruise in July, my daughter made a mouse pad, a volcano, baked chocolate chip cookies, went on a scavenger hunt, bridge tour, make a commercial, and more.

We live in S. CA and Disneyland is basically in our backyard. I love Disney but also love cruising. My next 2 cruises booked are with Celebrity due to the destination.

I am sure that you will be happy with either cruise line. Enjoy your vacation!

Desiree

[oscarmoraz]

but by others such as us, the higher probability for fun by the kids is almost priceless. Good luck!

I think it depends on the ages of your children and what ship you are looking at on RCI.


Well said!

C

[NJBill]

I have been on both with 8 and 16 yr old. My 16 year old loved Disney..it was very organized and structured with activities. My kids also like Disney a lot better. Worth a few more bucks.. I never had a verandah..but do this year..so I do not know if it is worth giving it up......or just book a Cat 4 on Disney, and enjoy both.........