What else dies RCI not have.

I never checked out Disney before, but based on the conversation here I just compared a balcony room on Disney and Princess and the Disney (pretty much the same itinerary) was almost twice as much. The Balcony was a little larger 268ft vs. 231ft, but the difference for the room was $1295 vs $2395. RCI is slightly more than Princess at around $1500.

 

Is Disney really worth that much more for some soda and special characters to be included?

I guess people are going on it so they must be thinking it's worth the difference in price.

 

Tom

It's not just "some soda and special characters". Their level of service and attention to detail are significantly higher, in our opinion and in the opinion of many others.

I never checked out Disney before, but based on the conversation here I just compared a balcony room on Disney and Princess and the Disney (pretty much the same itinerary) was almost twice as much. The Balcony was a little larger 268ft vs. 231ft, but the difference for the room was $1295 vs $2395. RCI is slightly more than Princess at around $1500.

 

Is Disney really worth that much more for some soda and special characters to be included?

 

I guess people are going on it so they must be thinking it's worth the difference in price.

 

Tom

I haven't been on Disney, either, but a 268 sq.ft. room is almost as big as what Royal Caribbean would call a Junior Suite. JS is a little bigger than that on most ships, at around 300 sq.ft., but the normal balcony categories are usually under 200.

I haven't been on Disney, either, but a 268 sq.ft. room is almost as big as what Royal Caribbean would call a Junior Suite. JS is a little bigger than that on most ships, at around 300 sq.ft., but the normal balcony categories are usually under 200.

This reminded me of another nice thing the Disney ships have - the split bathrooms.

It's not just "some soda and special characters". Their level of service and attention to detail are significantly higher, in our opinion and in the opinion of many others.

From your tagline it looks like the last time you sailed Disney was in 2009. We stopped sailing Disney in 2010 (after eight cruises - 5 Magic and 3 Wonder), because we were getting bored with them only doing two itineraries - but back then we loved the ships. When we sailed with them (2006-2010), I would completely agree with you about level of service and attention to detail. However, we had the opportunity to sail on Magic again this May, and both of those characteristics that used to set Disney apart from the rest of the main line cruise ships have slipped significantly. We never even met our room steward, there were maintenance people all over the ship painting and scraping (and closing off public areas for long stretches), the pools never opened before 9:30 in the morning, and we found the same trash in the same spots on the pool deck from the day we boarded until the day we departed. Virtually all of the deck chairs on the promenade deck were broken, and the ceiling in our balcony cabin leaked so badly that our room steward (apparently - because we still have no idea who he was) left two pairs of DCL slippers in our cabin so we didn't have to walk over the soggy carpet all day. Maintenance was called, but we never saw them (maybe they left the slippers?), and the leak never stopped.

I haven't been on Disney, either, but a 268 sq.ft. room is almost as big as what Royal Caribbean would call a Junior Suite. JS is a little bigger than that on most ships, at around 300 sq.ft., but the normal balcony categories are usually under 200.

That includes the balcony ~60 sq ft. The actual cabin is about 200 sq ft, but because of the double bathrooms and the weird way the walls jog in and out, the usable space is actually quite a bit smaller than a cat E on RCL

That includes the balcony ~60 sq ft. The actual cabin is about 200 sq ft, but because of the double bathrooms and the weird way the walls jog in and out, the usable space is actually quite a bit smaller than a cat E on RCL

Ah. In that case, not so good.

Sent from my GT-I9300I using Tapatalk

After reading this whole thread it is true that RCCL has crappy options for food on port days and on embarkation days. It is pretty darn limited.

After reading this whole thread it is true that RCCL has crappy options for food on port days and on embarkation days. It is pretty darn limited.

In a word, No. That is not true.

I'm a bit saddened. I had planned to jump the Disney Ship and swim to RCI. But after doing little homework so far I see that

 

1. They do not offer a place to iron of do laundry.

 

2. They do not allow you to bring bottles of water or soda.

 

3. You can only bring one bottle of wine per person.

 

4. And it seems getting anything to drink even a coke might cost be a bit for the 2 week cruise j was sinning on doing.

 

ANYThiNG. else I CANT do on RCI? Ugh.

Technically, someone jumped from Royal and swam to Disney. But I digress

We cruised disney magic last year and loved it - better food and slightly better service than royal. Also their island Castaway Cay is terrific, better than Labadee or Coco Cay as it's better maintained, less crowded, and has adult-only area with better buffet. However we only did Disney because they had a special price which brought it closer to royal. We're back to royal as it's more bang for buck. But will do Disney again with grandkids as their kids options are better imo for ages 2-13.

In a word, No. That is not true.

Yeah IMO when I think about it on the cruises I've been on. Is the dining room open for lunch on port days? Maybe I am mistaken and it is, I always go to the WJ. Is Izumi, Chops, or Giovanni's on Serenade next week? I always recall them being closed until dinner. Never been on Oasis so maybe that's different. We can agree to disagree :) unless I'm wrong of course.

We have sailed with Disney twice. We are going on our 3rd Royal cruise next week. Our family has been very pleased with our experience on Royal.

Never had them "in my face every time I turn around" on Disney. They are at designated places at designated times. Obviously they have to get there, but it is a very direct route. And they can be easily avoided.

Yes.

It was so bad that I begged to get get additional ressies at Palo. I was refused after one dinner and one Brunch. even after paying huge premium, I still was that willing to spend even MORE on food that i actually wanted to eat. and they said NO.

 

Oh and the attitude of the dining staff really turned me off. I got rolling eyes every night and unlike Royal NEVER ONCE did anyone offer to custom make a dish for me or provide an alternative meal once they saw I wasn't eating.

Once you're onboard you can book more IF there is availability. If you were onboard and tried for it, there was no availability.

That's odd that the staff didn't offer. Did you ask? On our 4th DCL cruise the server seemed weirded out that I wasn't eating much, but it really took me saying "I just don't like this" for him to clue in that he could actually DO something about it. And then, just like on Royal, they helped out. But you have to talk to them about it, not just not finish your meal.

I thought I read on the Disney they do not allow any drinks to be brought on board.

They allow any drinks to be brought on.

That's right, if you're talking about soda for two people. So, if you want unlimited soda, you can tack on about $50 per person to the base cost.

?

6.50 per person per night is the cost of the unlimited soda package. That's what you were responding to and it sounded like you were refuting that.

That's right, if you're talking about soda for two people. So, if you want unlimited soda, you can tack on about $50 per person to the base cost.

"No lunch in MDR at embarkation or on any port days" - Same is true on Disney

No, not true. Lunch in EG on Dream, at least, is available on embarkation.

After reading this whole thread it is true that RCCL has crappy options for food on port days and on embarkation days. It is pretty darn limited.

I don't know about MDR lunch, but Windjammer lunch on embarkation was really good.

Is Disney really worth that much more for some soda and special characters to be included?

IMO no. Even if they were the same per night cost I would have a hard time deciding.

We cruised disney magic last year and loved it - better food and slightly better service than royal. Also their island Castaway Cay is terrific, better than Labadee or Coco Cay as it's better maintained, less crowded, and has adult-only area with better buffet. .... But will do Disney again with grandkids as their kids options are better imo for ages 2-13.

Disagree with all of that! Now, we've been on Dream not Magic, but the food on Disney is horrid for us. The vegetarian options are for the most part really gross. On Royal the options are nice (though they have a persistent error on one night's menu). I love Coco Cay more than Castaway. And my son, who has been 9 and 10 on Royal (and 8, 9, and 10 on Disney) likes Royal's kid clubs better than on Dream.

We're about equal in "status" on Disney and Royal (as in, bottom of the rung LOL, so it's more about how many cruises to take before hitting the next level up) and we have ZERO Disney cruises booked, and TWO Royal cruises booked. It's just really worth it to us.

OP, Royal's dry cleaning costs are VERY reasonable, to the point where it's cheaper to do your dry cleaning onboard instead of at home. To get your stuff pressed before formal nights is VERY reasonable (actually it's about the same on Disney...I am not going to press my nice dresses or my husband's suits on vacation so we send them out for pressing no matter what line we're on).

To pay that much more for soda, especially when we don't drink it? Even if we did drink it, to pay that much more for soda?

The benefits just don't add up, IMO.

If you want fancy espresso drinks you'll pay on either line. If you want DECENT ice cream you'll pay on Royal but don't even have the choice for that on Disney. (ice creams onboard both from MDR etc are just junk ingredients or "soft serve" which isn't even food)

crappy options, I should have just said limited. I have no qualms with the food at all. Just saying I do believe our options are very small on embarkation/port days.

ANYThiNG. else I CANT do on RCI? Ugh.

I think i saw you on the transatlantic harmony roll call, which would explain the 2-week cruise.

halfway through the cruise royal generally offers a laundry special where anything you can fit in a laundry bag they give you (decent-size, though not huge) is a set price of maybe $25 or $30 to wash. they won't wash everything, but will take underwear, shirts, maybe shorts. someone who's used the service before should have more details. it's pretty standard, even on 7-night cruises, so i have no reason to believe they won't offer it on harmony, especially for a 13-night cruise.

i've never embarked from barcelona before, but in florida and nj we always bring on at least a 6-pack of water and no one has ever said anything. some people put luggage tags on cases of water and it makes it to their room. i have a friend who only drinks pepsi products (royal has coke) so she brings cans of soda - again, no problem. obviously no guarantees, but having an issue is rare.

as for soda, the package would be $6.50/night, so about $85 for the 13 nights (forgive my math if it's wrong....). with built-in gratuity, it would be about $100. not cheap, but certainly not enough to make up the difference in price from disney. :) also, unlike disney, where you have to get your soda from the soda station by the pool and if you get it in the dining room or from a bar you will be charged, the royal package covers soda from anywhere except room service - dining room, bars, etc. if the harmony has freestyle machines (i think she's supposed to) you can get hundreds of drink combinations.

Some things i miss from disney when i'm on royal - fish extenders, aqua duck, rotational dining, split bathrooms. that's about it. and seeing as the harmony will have water slides and our roll call will do a gift exchange, i might not even miss the first two so much. :p

i hope this is helpful.

What's a fish extender

?

 

6.50 per person per night is the cost of the unlimited soda package. That's what you were responding to and it sounded like you were refuting that.

In what way did it sound like I was refuting that, when I started with "that's right"? Just curious. I was assuming that the poster meant for two people, when saying, "the cost of my soda for a week would be almost $100," as that would be about double the cost of one person. But, based on that assumption that it was for two people, I stand by my statement that "that's right." :D

What's a fish extender

A gift exchange some guests do on the disney cruise line. each stateroom has a little hook (originally shaped like a fish, hence the name) outside their door, and passengers hang little gift holders out there (they kind of look like hanging shoe organizers), and others come around and leave little stocking-stuffer type gifts. if you do a google search for "fish extender" you'll see the gift holders/pockets - these days people go nuts getting them customized, and there are a lot of people on craft websites that make them.

In what way did it sound like I was refuting that, when I started with "that's right"? Just curious. I was assuming that the poster meant for two people, when saying, "the cost of my soda for a week would be almost $100," as that would be about double the cost of one person. But, based on that assumption that it was for two people, I stand by my statement that "that's right." :D

I think the confusion is that the OP was looking at a two-week cruise (though they did say "a week" later on). The soda package is about $100 for one person for two weeks (or, as pointed out, two people for one week :) ).

we are avid dcl cruisers however that is going to change once oasis gets to p.c.

we booked the 8 night sailing and are saving $2000 over the cost of Disney for the same week, one night less on disney. that's for 2 people so if you had kids the savings would be even greater.

yes, we will have to pay for soda, so $120 for two people. still saving more than $1800, I like that! also, if I do want to purchase alcohol, I can buy a package for that on rccl where as I can't on dcl and it can be a surprise when you get your bill at the end of the week. I don't drink much and hubby doesn't drink at all so its not important to us but I can see it could be to some.

the one thing I don't think I have seen mentioned is that there is a corking fee for wine brought on board at dcl where as, if I understand this correctly, that fee is waived on royal.

we do have cruises booked on dcl between now and then but I can see us switching real fast if the oasis works out the way I think it will.

ThAnkyou so much for all your replies. Sorry for the error in my post about sinning. I was using a cell phone and no glasses.

 

I do realize that Disney cost more normally because they add in those cost. But my point of jumping ship was the cost. So if I am going to have to pay for those things that I like and i do like to iron my clothes and wash my panties. Then I may as well stay with disney. ?!?

 

I also like to mix drinks in my room and sit and relax on my Balcony. Maybe I am a Disney snob. Maybe I will give RCI a try. But will prob not be the 2 week cruise first go around with them.

 

I don't gamble either.

Just pack some more panties.

Just pack some more panties.

And there you have it ... a solution to every problem, and a refute of every contention. Welcome to Cruise Critic!

My suggestion to the OP: stick with Disney. You're going to find things not to your liking at every turn of the Royal Caribbean experience, continually comparing them with your Disney cruises ... and if there's one way to put a damper on the vacation, this is it.

We've sailed them all over the years, and have concluded that there's no perfect cruise line (for us, at least). The food is better on this one, the amenities are more to our liking on another, the staff treats us better here, the entertainment is great there ... never had a bad cruise (although one Carnival trip came close), but some have definitely been better than others. Royal is our line of preference ... nothing particularly outstanding, but they do pretty much everything well. We get a great bang for the buck, and it's all about value, as opposed to price, for us. We don't believe that it's worth the additional cost to sail with the mouse, but the OP apparently has another take.

So pay the difference and get what you want ... enjoy!

Al

And there you have it ... a solution to every problem, and a refute of every contention. Welcome to Cruise Critic!

 

My suggestion to the OP: stick with Disney. You're going to find things not to your liking at every turn of the Royal Caribbean experience, continually comparing them with your Disney cruises ... and if there's one way to put a damper on the vacation, this is it.

 

We've sailed them all over the years, and have concluded that there's no perfect cruise line (for us, at least). The food is better on this one, the amenities are more to our liking on another, the staff treats us better here, the entertainment is great there ... never had a bad cruise (although one Carnival trip came close), but some have definitely been better than others. Royal is our line of preference ... nothing particularly outstanding, but they do pretty much everything well. We get a great bang for the buck, and it's all about value, as opposed to price, for us. We don't believe that it's worth the additional cost to sail with the mouse, but the OP apparently has another take.

 

So pay the difference and get what you want ... enjoy!

 

Al

I agree with this. Very different cruises. Disney is Disney and caters to kids (shows, activities, theming). RCL caters to families and non families.

We loved our RCL cruises so far and the ships have so much to offer, and has something for everyone. I would say the only thing lacking with RCL is including waterslides (but they have the H20 zone for kids and flowrider for older kids/adults)....but they are even changing this and adding them to Harmony and other ships in the future.

Can't wait to take our kids on Allure next spring!

i'd be so interested in knowing the price difference in what the opp would pay for a comparable disney to the rccl. as i mentioned, just for one week, the difference for us is over $2000. with that we get an extra night thrown in there. for that savings i can have someone pick up my laundry and do it for me which is much better than trying to find a empty machine or having to wait till midnight so i can beat the crowds.

for that savings i can have a drink delivered to my cabin every night to have will sitting on the balcony and not have to worry about mixing it myself.

thats the savings for one week, what could the savings be for two? your choice, of course, but you should really sit down and seriously think about the differences and costs. you may be surprised.

I agree with this. Very different cruises. Disney is Disney and caters to kids (shows, activities, theming). RCL caters to families and non families.

 

 

 

We loved our RCL cruises so far and the ships have so much to offer, and has something for everyone. I would say the only thing lacking with RCL is including waterslides (but they have the H20 zone for kids and flowrider for older kids/adults)....but they are even changing this and adding them to Harmony and other ships in the future.

 

Can't wait to take our kids on Allure next spring!

I would disagree that Disney only caters to kids. I have sailed them three times - twice as a solo adult and once with an all-adult family, and we have always had a blast.

That said, I am excited about my upcoming RCI cruise on the Radiance and am planning - barring an absolutely horrid time which I do NOT anticipate - to book a Brilliance cruise to Italy for next summer while on board.

So while I may be a Disney girl at heart, I am not opposed to branching out.

(I would edit, but my phone won't let me.)

I should add that for me it is much more about the atmosphere and the crew and to a degree the ports (though I am willing to overlook less than exciting ports if the atmosphere and crew are a fit for me) than bells and whistles. I don't rock climb. I don't surf - or fake surf. I am not a fan of ice skating even on solid ground. I live in NYC, so I can take or leave the shows. Ergo all the things that many people cite as reasons for choosing RCI are moot points for me.

For me it is more about the intangibles so to speak. That is what makes my decision on choosing ships and cruise lines.