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Is Disney worth the difference? Help us pick our family cruise!


melly923

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Hi! I am not new to CC but I haven't logged in, for quite a while and I needed to register. :) Excited to be back and planning another cruise. My DH and I have taken a few cruises as a couple but we are planning our first with our young kids. Looking for advice. We always enjoy a port-heavy itenery. (Well actually my DH insists on it). We would like to cruise in Fed 2013, so it's coming up soon. Our kids will then be just turned 4 and 20 months. While we haven't cruised with kids yet we have traveled extensivily with them all over Europe, so we feel that we can handle a cruise with the kids.

 

The 2 choices we are talking over are RCCL Western Caribbean on Freadom of the Seas. OR Western Caribbean on Disney Fantasy. Personally I know my kids would love Disney. They love all the Disney songs and characters and would have a great time b/c of that alone. However, it is way more expensive, almost $3,000 more. Not sure it's worth the huge extra costs. I would love any advice from people who have been on either ship. I know both have good kids programs including programs for toddlers which we do plan to utalize so we can catch a dinner and a show alone a night or 2.

 

Also, any advice on Port activites and excursions or just beaches that are fun for families would be awesome.

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My advice would be to do Freedom of the Seas. I've done Disney and my son absolutely loved it. A Disney cruise is everything you would expect- nice youth program, characters onboard, kid friendly from start to finish. However- if you are like me- you don't like being on a ship that is 50% kids. Dining with strangers wasn't fun for me because in my case- the child wasn't well behaved and it put a damper on dinner- which was noisy and kid-centric. Never again.

 

You'll have a better mix of adult activities and kid activities on Royal. There is a H2O zone for kids in diapers on Freedom class. On Disney there is a small little pool for kids in diapers- that continually circulates a stream of water- nothing like on Royal. The baby room on Disney was the "crying room". This would not be a place I'd want to leave my 2 year old. On Royal there is in cabin sitting (upon request and availability $19 per hour) and also the new toddler program where you can drop your 2 year old off.

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I'd have to 2nd that..Freedom has tons for everyone to do...and you'll have a great vacation, for a lot less money than on Disney. I'd save the Disney experience until the kids are older and can truly appreciate the "magic"!!!

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I agree with the above posters, BUT just want to point out that the H2O Zone is only for potty-trained children, and children in diapers are not allowed. This is for health safety reasons. There are people who do not honor this, and go anyway, and they are not always caught. But just so you know, Freedom does have a small wading pool like Disney for those who are not potty trained. They MIGHT have in-room sitting available for a large fee, and have started their own nursery, similar to Disney. They will both provide an awesome experience, but $3000 sounds like way too much for me.

 

Only caveat: just be prepared for a lack of bathtub in many categories on RCI. You need a Junior Suite or higher to get a tub. If your children are fine with showers it is not an issue, but you might want to get a plan together if they are not.

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DCL is a lot of fun, and my DD (15 month ) loved her short time in the nursery despite the crying going on around her. It was a really good cruise overall and super easy even with small children.

 

The only problem I have with DCL is the rates! They seem to sky rocket out of our price range quickly, especially 7 nights.

 

It is important to plan very early when rates first come out. Speculation is the 2014 DCL rates should be released soon. I am working with my Disney TA to have her get me a quote As soon as the rates are released. I am crossing my fingers that it will be low enough for us to say yes. If not, we are also looking at Carnival and NCL. Both of which also have programming for 2 year olds.

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Thanks for the replies so far. To the point about the shower, does anyone know if the shower head comes off, attached to a hose? My kids have taken "showers" like this, sitting on the shower floor with me spraying them with the hose, but not actual standing-up ones.

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Comes down to if those 3 thousand $$$$ change your life, year, month or what. Value means different things to different people, we did Disney when our kids were 3 and 6. We got some cute and special pictures/memories, they enjoyed the characters and disney themed stuff, 11 years later they remember almost nothing.

 

Would I do it again, yes, but the reality of it all is great cruise/vacation can be had with our without the mouse.

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This shows you pictures of the baby splash zone on Royal

 

http://cruiseforums.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1187319

 

I believe that this is on the Oasis, not on Freedom. Freedom has the smaller splash pool, similar to Disney, and the H2O Zone is only for potty trained children on Freedom. Here is a link to someone's photos from Freedom, and you can see the little pool that is for those in diapers:

 

http://cruiseforums.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=35586422#

 

Can't remember about the shower. For some reason I think it was a fixed shower head. I believe some people bring blow up tubs to stick in the shower in order to bathe little ones, but that probably would not work as well for the 4 year old.

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If it was my cruise, for $3k more, I'd stay with Freedom OTS, but everyone's choice for their value can be different.

 

But before final payment deadline, do continue to keep an eye on special deals at DCL like IGT/OGT/VGT, but usually they don't come out until after deadline so I guess that doesn't help :(

 

I did some comparison months ago and if you compare the pricing for low season in mid/late January, DCL Fantasy and Oasis/Allure OTS are pretty much the same for the similar type of cabin ... not sure about it now.

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We sailed both Disney (Magic) and RCI (Freedom and Mariner).

Oh yes, we love Disney who wouldn't, but for the price..........wow. The last time we looked

we can get on RCI a grand suite for the same cost on Disney in a Cat 7. In other words big difference.

We love RCI

Remember we do not live in a perfect world, and RCI does have needs but, we like her.

And moving up the loyalty ladder.

Safe travels.

 

Sue and crew

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There is no comparison - even when I ask my girls. Their favorite ships are RCI Freedom class. They have been on RCI Freedom, RCI Indy - Disney Magic and Disney Wonder - they don't EVER ask to go back on Disney.

 

They do ask when are we going on Oasis ;)

 

And the Baby Splash zone is not that small compared to "Mickeys hat"

 

THIS is the Freedom's Baby Splash zone (and to answer the shower question - yes the head is removable AND adjustable on all RCI ships)

 

125.jpg

 

124.jpg

 

And the Mickey hat which is the baby area on Disney

 

124.jpg

 

122.jpg

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I've cruised on Disney & RCCL, Disney pre-DD and RCCL pre & post DD. We are taking DD on her first cruise next year--on Allure.

 

The one thing that I thought was excellent about Disney was the ship itself. They do the classic oceanliner very well. Other than that, I did not care for Disney and do not plan to sail on them with DD, especially for their prices.

 

Personally, I'd sail on RCCL and put the $3000 towards another vacation or something else. When we were on RCCL recently (without DD), the kids in the children's program were having a ball (we saw them around the ship several times).

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I think Disney is great, and would try to do it at least once. But a $3,000 premium on a 7 night cruise? I'd rather go on Freedom and spend a few days at Disney. Did some quick math, 7 day park hoppers for two adults and one child (your youngest won't need a ticket) is $1,052.15, though you'd want at least two days to rest so a 5 day hopper would probably be sufficient. If you like camping, then a campsite at Fort Wilderness (on Disney property) averages $50 a night non-peak; that's $350 for 7 nights. Ok, so now you've just gotten an extra 7 days of vacation, all at Disney, just with the money saved by booking the really awesome Freedom of the Seas, and still have over $1,500 (ok, probably more like $500-$1,000 after splurging on character dining, few meals out, etc.). Even if you don't like camping, you can stay at a value resort for $100/night or so (depending on what time of year, obviously it'll be higher during peak season).

 

Well, that's just how I look at it. Or...book Freedom of the Seas now, bank the extra $3,000, and wait for an irresistible deal on a Disney ship (saw a really, really low Transatlantic last year or the year before; if we weren't in Alaska at the time, I would have jumped all over that).

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We have a 7 year old son and a 1.5 year old daughter, and we've cruised a fair amount. (My husband and I will hit Diamond on RCCL on the cruise we're booked on for next summer, and our 7 year old will hit Emerald in his own right.) We currently have two cruises booked, coincidentally, one Disney and one RCCL.

 

Our son did his first cruise at 7 months, our daughter at 14 months, both on RCCL. We were not very impressed with what they for babies and toddlers on RCCL 6 and 7 years ago, but we thought they had much better resources for the under 3's 6 months ago. On the particular ship we were on in February, they had a toddler play group every morning (they've had this for many years), they had toy check out (you could borrow one bag of toys for the whole trip, or trade it out as often as you wanted if your child didn't like the toys or was ready for new ones), and they set up an indoor age appropriate play area with books and toys for the entire cruise. The last is not standard, as I understand it, and depends on the percentages of younger children to older children.

 

Anyway, we've been very happy with children's programming on RCCL recently. We're also about to try Disney, because we've been curious about it, and they made it easy for us by sailing out of Galveston this year.

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Thanks for the replies so far. To the point about the shower, does anyone know if the shower head comes off, attached to a hose? My kids have taken "showers" like this, sitting on the shower floor with me spraying them with the hose, but not actual standing-up ones.

 

Short answer - yes. I would put a towel or something on the shower floor before bathing. Just my .02

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There is no comparison - even when I ask my girls. Their favorite ships are RCI Freedom class. They have been on RCI Freedom, RCI Indy - Disney Magic and Disney Wonder - they don't EVER ask to go back on Disney.

 

They do ask when are we going on Oasis ;)

 

And the Baby Splash zone is not that small compared to "Mickeys hat"

 

THIS is the Freedom's Baby Splash zone (and to answer the shower question - yes the head is removable AND adjustable on all RCI ships)

 

 

I love you, Crusinmama! <3 My kids don't ever want to go back on Disney. They love the Freedom class ships, and we would go on Freedom again anytime!

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I've never cruised on Royal but we took a disney cruise with our 18m dd this summer. It was a nice ship but I didn't think it was worth the extra money we spent. I know food is subjective but I found the food quality to be quite bad, this was on the Dream. I also didn't like having to transfer to cape canaveral...although I don't know where Disney departs for a western carib itinerary. Someone else also mentioned having to dine with other families, I also found this hard especially since Disney does not have the anytime dining like most other lines and we had to eat at 8pm which was very late for our dd. I also found that a lot of the children in the 2-5 yr range were having a lot of meltdowns. I think there was so much stimulation going on for them all the time. This is coming from someone who has travelled extensively with her daughter and I would not do disney again or at least not until she is much older(like 9 or 10). We will be however taking her on her 3rd and 4th princess cruises this nov and dec:). One other thing I just thought of, my dd wakes up early on vacations and I remember the breakfast buffet did not open until later than what we are used to on princess. Sorry cant remember the time but I think it might have been 8am(maybe somebody can correct me) but I thought it was really late...hard when you have an 18 month old that is hungry.

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