Fantasy vs. Allure

We just got off the Allure and it was amazing. Our 3 and 6 year old loved it, and so did my wife and I. We rebooked for next year in 2 boardwalk balconies. Needless to say, I have been hunting for rates on the Disney Fantasy, and I found 2 connecting family oceanviews which will be about the same price as the 2 boardwalk balconies on the Allure. Now my dilema....which one? We are Doamond on RCCL and have no status on Disney. Please throw out your pros and cons. I will deposit on both, but now need to figure out which one.

I thank you in advance.

If you want WOW, activities, fun, etc., that Oasis/Allure.

If you want magic, elegance, some refined and Disney-stylishness in a traditional oceanliner setting, then DCL.

Personally, if the price is comparable between a neighbourhood balcony on Oasis/Allure and a 246 sq ft oceanview stateroom on Disney Fantasy, I will pick Disney.

If I can get an oceanview balcony on Oasis/Allure for a lower price than an OV on DCL Fantasy, then I may go with Oasis/Allure. You'll need to know what is your "break-even" point.

Cruising on Allure/Oasis is same as staying in a resort in Las Vegas, like the Venetian.

And it wont sink like the Titanic :)

Getting offshore with 5000 other passengers is not my idea of a vacation.

I would take the Disney Fantasy, in a heart beat, anyday.

We recently cruised on Allure with our DD (age 8), and although she enjoyed Allure, she loved the Disney Dream. As a parent, I can definitely understand why she enjoyed the Dream so much. Allure was very nice, but the Disney experience was amazing for our family.

Allure might have all the bells and whistles like a Las Vegas resort, but nothing will come close to the magic of Disney.

Just why do millions of visitors come to Disney's Orlando from all over the World, when there are many 'other' amusement parks.

The crazy issue of crowds on the Allure is non existent. There never was a crowd for anything? It was very often that you wouldnt even see anyone in the hallways. Royal Caribbean has it down pat. No waits getting on and off ship, no wait for food, and I have never been on a ship where you can always get a chair. Yes. RCCL may have issues with some of their ships, but allure and oasis are in a league of their own. We were on a full sailing. I could care less of defending the ships, I have nothing to gain or lose, I am just trying to make a choice for my family, which we already made and are going to try the Fantasy. But the crowd issue is a non factor on the Oasis ships. We have lots of friends who have also been on the ships, and agree.

Disney all the way.

Diamond and WOW doesn't come close to Mickey and Magic.

We just got off the Allure and it was amazing. Our 3 and 6 year old loved it, and so did my wife and I. We rebooked for next year in 2 boardwalk balconies. Needless to say, I have been hunting for rates on the Disney Fantasy, and I found 2 connecting family oceanviews which will be about the same price as the 2 boardwalk balconies on the Allure. Now my dilema....which one? We are Doamond on RCCL and have no status on Disney. Please throw out your pros and cons. I will deposit on both, but now need to figure out which one.

 

I thank you in advance.

I think i would go with the Fantasy.

The Disney 7 day product on the fantasy is really very good.

And i think you'll enjoy it as a nice change of pace.

I'm not one of those people who think that disney walks on water.

It doesn't. But i do think all four of you will enjoy the cruise on the Fantasy.

I understand that you don't have any status on disney. Have you considered a concierge room? i see that you're taking 2 connecting rooms. Have you priced a concierge room? If you travel concierge, you will be able to make your pre-cruise reservations at 120 days before the cruise. The same as the highest level frequent cruiser on disney.

I don't know. I think you should try disney to see what it's like. So many people do love it and the kids have a spectacular time. So maybe you'll also like it. You've already done the Allure, so isn't it nice to try something else too?

and again, i am not a disney is best believer. Not at all. But it is good. And you are definitely the target market (family).

why not try it. I'm sure you'll enjoy it. Maybe you won't want to do it again, but i'm sure you'll enjoy the cruise.

I would do Disney only because you have done Allure.

I love DCL.. I by no means think they walk on water. But my experiences on DCL verses the other lines I have been on is better. That is all.

I have not cruised on Allure or Oasis yet. I really did not want to only because , well... Even though I have heard great things about crowd flow/ control my husband and I are not attracted to the "city within a ship" feeling. But we are open to trying it and actually feel we should. To see what it's like.

For us we love the adult activities on board DCL day or night. When we want to do something we find something. We do not miss a casino either. We are not big casino people on land and when we cruise a ship

With one we use it at least a couple of times. But it doesn't seem to make or break our fun on DCL. My mom is a huge casino lover and still loves DCL. Maybe we are real kick back and relax kind of cruisers?? IDK

I hope you and your family enjoy your cruise! We set sail on the Fantasy in 19 days! :)

I believe you can have fun on either ship. Disney makes your vacation magical and Royal Caribbean gives u bang for your buck

I would do Disney only because you have done Allure.

I love DCL.. I by no means think they walk on water. But my experiences on DCL verses the other lines I have been on is better. That is all.

 

I have not cruised on Allure or Oasis yet. I really did not want to only because , well... Even though I have heard great things about crowd flow/ control my husband and I are not attracted to the "city within a ship" feeling. But we are open to trying it and actually feel we should. To see what it's like.

For us we love the adult activities on board DCL day or night. When we want to do something we find something. We do not miss a casino either. We are not big casino people on land and when we cruise a ship

With one we use it at least a couple of times. But it doesn't seem to make or break our fun on DCL. My mom is a huge casino lover and still loves DCL. Maybe we are real kick back and relax kind of cruisers?? IDK

I hope you and your family enjoy your cruise! We set sail on the Fantasy in 19 days! :)

I fully agree with you about your not liking the city within a ship feeling.

If I want to enjoy board walk and central park, I would prefer to go to the real ones instead of the gimmick tiny ship based imitation ones. I prefer the "Maritime" experience of being on a ship, rather then the fake city slicker ambiance on a ship.:rolleyes:

For me the things to be enjoyed on a ship has to 'ship like'. Like pool decks , promenade decks, the views from the bow, stern and the wind in your face .

Shopping malls, board walks and parks and rock climbing stuff is better left to a resort in Las Vegas :D

I fully agree with you about your not liking the city within a ship feeling.

 

If I want to enjoy board walk and central park, I would prefer to go to the real ones instead of the gimmick tiny ship based imitation ones. I prefer the "Maritime" experience of being on a ship, rather then the fake city slicker ambiance on a ship.:rolleyes:

 

For me the things to be enjoyed on a ship has to 'ship like'. Like pool decks , promenade decks, the views from the bow, stern and the wind in your face .

 

Shopping malls, board walks and parks and rock climbing stuff is better left to a resort in Las Vegas :D

have you been on the allure/oasis?

Did Allure in February and we're leaving in a few days for a trip on Dream. I'll let you know how they compare. I've cruised with both and like them both for different reasons. With that said, we probably won't cruise on Allure or Oasis again..too big and only average experience. I'd say, take your kids on Disney this time and let them decide which they like best...my guess is, it will be Disney :)

Gary- thank you for you thoughts, but I am curious, have you ever been on the Allur or oasis? There is a tremendous amount of outdoor space, you can get at both the rear and front of the ship, and the board walk, and Cental Park are open air. I never felt like I was in Vegas. I know what the experience on the Allure and Oasis are. I am just looking for points to support going Disney and Rccl? And the Promanade goes all the way around the entire ship.

It is always so hard to make these decisions. My guess is that both ships would provide a great experience for your family. I think you just need to think about the differences between the two, and I suspect you are aware of how they differ, and decide what sort of experience you'd prefer.

And I disagree with Gary: ANY ship can sink!!

We just got off the Allure and it was amazing. Our 3 and 6 year old loved it, and so did my wife and I. We rebooked for next year in 2 boardwalk balconies. Needless to say, I have been hunting for rates on the Disney Fantasy, and I found 2 connecting family oceanviews which will be about the same price as the 2 boardwalk balconies on the Allure. Now my dilema....which one? We are Doamond on RCCL and have no status on Disney. Please throw out your pros and cons. I will deposit on both, but now need to figure out which one.

 

I thank you in advance.

Your children are 3 and 6, go for Disney this time. It's much different then any other cruise experience. It will be so magical for your children at their ages. You will most likely love it as much as the Allure, but for different reasons. :)

have you been on the allure/oasis?

No , but I read its in depth reviews ;)

No , but I read its in depth reviews ;)

With all due respect, I'm guessing the original poster was looking for input from people who have actually been on both Disney and Allure. Reading "in-depth reviews" and spending a week on it are two completely different things. As other posters commented, the open spaces on Allure are wonderful. I would never dream of comparing Allure's Central Park to the real thing (which, "yes", I've been to) but it certainly was a nice place to take an evening stroll in the fresh air but without the wind that you get on deck.

Here is a post I had on a Disney board. Being a general Disney fan myself I find that it is hard for Disney fans to not want to consider other options because Disney generally does things so well.

Having said that, comments that say that RCCL is Vegas style compared to Disney is totally off. Here were my comparisons - like the situation the OP is in now I had last sailed on Allure before trying disney.

Long story short, I would cruise on either without any hesitation. Both have their perks and drawbacks which I will describe below.

First, some background. We are a family of 5 (kids are all under 10). We are DVC members and travel to Disney on average of once per year. While we love vacationing in Disney, I don't have Disney-rose-colored glases. i.e. I certainly don't think everything Disney does is flawless. My kids like Disney as well but are at the point that if they see a character, they'll want a picture with them if there is no line but certainly don't to wait in line for one.

We have done 3 cruises in the past, all on RCCL: Voyageur (pre-kids), Freedom (with kids) and most recently Allure one-year ago. We loved all of those, and when doing this most recent Disney Dream cruise last week, I used those RCCL experiences as a bench mark. I realize all those RCCL ships are different, but they are the three most recent vessels on that line. While the Dream is not a large as Allure (it's more similar to Freedom), when I do draw comparisons I use Allure as a comparator as the pricing is similar to that of the Dream/Fantasy.

Here are my comments about experiences on DCL vs RCCL:

General esthetics:

Both lines are nice. The steamship look of DCL is a nice touch, but honestly once on board I'm not sure if I continued to notice it. I don't envision myself being on another line in the future and wish that it looked like the DCL ships.

Cabins:

We had a family oceanview room on the Dream which we loved. We've only had a standard interior room on RCCL so hard to make direct comparisons. The one thing that stands out though is on DCL, the ergonomics of the desk and storage were excellent. Despite our family of 5, we actually had drawers we didn't have to use, and didn't have to trip over suitcases. The space under the bed and in the trunk were well used. Liked having the split bathroom and thought the shower was great.

The looks cabin interior is something for which I liked DCL more than RCCL. Not that RCCL is bad, but DCL seemed a bit more warm. But if you're not in your room much it won't be a big difference maker.

Embarkation/Disembarkation:

I've read people having differing views on this one. For RCCL you get on whenever you arrive at the port, but you are given an assigned time or order to get off. On DCL it's the opposite - you have an assigned time to get on, but can get off whenever you like. So it's whatever is more important for you. I personally liked how easy it was to get off the DCL ship - you were guaranteed to have breakfast with your regular servers which was nice but stil able to get off early. We chose this early disembark time and it was smooth. Can't say if it would have been more hectic if we chose to get off a bit later. I really appreciated how easy it was to navigate in the terminal. Everything was clearly marked, and there were marked lanes to lineup for rental car shuttles. On RCCL it seemed that once you left the building you were on your own.

Ship layout:

on RCCL it's like a center hall entryway of a house. You have the Promenade, lined with shops, where tons of people can walk back and forth without huge traffic flow issues, and the rooms line either side. When I first got on the Dream, I found myself missing this main path, and found it odd to have to walk by rooms to get from one end of the ship to the other. Also it felt awkward to have to go through bars to get from the aft elevators on the 4th deck to the front of the ship. So overall the RCCL layout makes more sense, but honestly once I got used to the different DCL it wasn't a big deal. Although I continued to find the elevators opening in the middle of Cabana's a bit odd. Also the sun deck space on the 13th deck forward was pretty much empty the entire cruise. I know it's nice to have quiet space for people to relax, but when you have a pool deck on sea days that is packed you wonder if better use could have been made of that space.

Food & drink:

Overall very similar. The rotational dining on DCL was neat, but wasn't a make it or break it thing for me. I liked Royal Palace the most, which is most like the main dining room in RCCL. I found both Enchanted Gardens and Animator's Palate a bit crammed, but not enough to really bother me.

The food in the regular dining rooms were similar between cruise lines.

Specialty dining: Palo was awesome, as was 150 Central park on RCCL so both excellent options.

Buffet dining; similar between the two in my opinion although I valued how on RCCL you could access it in the evening before bed. This was not possible on DCL.

"Escaping"

What i mean by this are opportunities and locations to just get away from the action or chaos and spend quiet time with the family. Both lines have adult-only areas, but I like being able to spend relaxation time with my kids outside of the stateroom. This is one thing that bothered me a bit on DCL. On RCCL you could escape the madness of the pool deck and go to the Promenade and have pastries, slice of pizza, sandwiches, free coffee, or get a sausage or donut on the Boardwalk, or hang out in Central park with a snack from the Park Cafe. On DCL you could go to Flo's to get pizza/burgers/chicken strips/sandwiches etc. - but it's up on the pool deck and frankly on days at sea by the afternoon I just wanted to avoid that craziness. I did try the Cove Cafe (which I loved) but you have to purchase a drink in order to get the snacks and kids are technically not allowed. It was similar at the Vista Cafe.

Kids Clubs:

I had a hard time getting my kids to leave Adventure Ocean on RCCL, and also on the Dream. They mentioned they liked Disney's more, but related it to having more video-game style activities. But one thing I trust Disney more than other company is occupying kids, so have to give it top marks for sure. Not that RCCL's is bad, and I think it's probably right after Disney's. One thing RCCL did seem to do was take the kids outside (for example, on the sports court). On Disney they seemed to be restricted to the Oceaneer area. I give the Disney kids-club staff credit - how they manage all those kids in there is beyond me.

Sports & activities

For thrills RCCL has rock-climbing walls, zipline (Allure/Oasis), Flow-riders. The Dream/Fantasy has the aquaduck. I found a bit more 'staying power' with the RCCL offerings. I suspect teens would feel the same way. The Aquaduck is fun, but with the lineups for it especially while at sea, I didn't find I wanted to keep doing it.

Pools: definitely better on RCCL.

Sports deck: both have ping pong and mini golf. Liked how it was set up on RCCL where it was sheltered a bit more. Couldn't even play ping pong on the Dream as it was so windy up the there. But again, not a make it or break it thing.

Service

Disney seems to be renowned for its service. Honestly I didn't find too much difference from the service we got at RCCL. It may be different on the smaller Disney boats in which fewer passengers allows for a more personal experience but I found service on the Dream similar to RCCL's Freedom or Allure.

Entertainment/shows

We did most of the shows on both. We're not big on any of them, and attending them is generally low priority on our list of things to do on the ships. Having said that, the entertainment on both were very good. On the Dream you don't have to worry about shows being kid friendly whereas on RCCL you have to make sure to check first.

Other passengers

I definitely found DCL's passengers to be more friendly, which is not surprising. on RCCL, especially on Allure, the passengers are mostly families as well, but I found there were more older teens on board and you noticed them. On the Dream, I recall looking out onto the Vibe area and no one was there. I'm sure there were teens on board but generally less noticeable.

So putting everything together, I loved both experiences. Our next cruise is on the Oasis, and after that the Fantasy. Once our kids are all over 10 I think we'll probably book more on RCCL as there are more activities for older kids to do.

Standouts on each:

Dream - Palo, staterooms, Kids Clubs

RCCL (Allure/Freedom) - activities for adults and teens(Flow rider!), zones to have quiet family time (e.g. Central park), 150 Central Park, Park Cafe

Hope this helps. Feel free to ask questions.

__________________

We just got off the Allure and it was amazing. Our 3 and 6 year old loved it, and so did my wife and I. We rebooked for next year in 2 boardwalk balconies. Needless to say, I have been hunting for rates on the Disney Fantasy, and I found 2 connecting family oceanviews which will be about the same price as the 2 boardwalk balconies on the Allure. Now my dilema....which one? We are Doamond on RCCL and have no status on Disney. Please throw out your pros and cons. I will deposit on both, but now need to figure out which one.

 

I thank you in advance.

I have never been on the Allure but I can assure you Disney will not disappoint you. Why 2 rooms for just 4 of you? Disney's rooms are big. We put 5 (3 teens and 2 adults) in a veranda room. Plenty of room. Plus 2 bathrooms in each room. FREE soda/juice/tea/coffee 24 hours a day from the soda station. Disney does it right.

I have never been on the Allure but I can assure you Disney will not disappoint you. Why 2 rooms for just 4 of you? Disney's rooms are big. We put 5 (3 teens and 2 adults) in a veranda room. Plenty of room. Plus 2 bathrooms in each room. FREE soda/juice/tea/coffee 24 hours a day from the soda station. Disney does it right.

Exactly my thoughts. 2 rooms for 2 kids and parents?

Rolling in money I guess.

The bunk beds can sleep 2 adults itself making it 4 adults in a room, so 2 under 10 year olds should have had no problems.

With all due respect, I'm guessing the original poster was looking for input from people who have actually been on both Disney and Allure. Reading "in-depth reviews" and spending a week on it are two completely different things. As other posters commented, the open spaces on Allure are wonderful. I would never dream of comparing Allure's Central Park to the real thing (which, "yes", I've been to) but it certainly was a nice place to take an evening stroll in the fresh air but without the wind that you get on deck.

Show me where he says that .

I always decide to cruise on a ship after reading in-depth reviews of that ship.

I am confused why, if I am asking for opinions about Allure vs. Fantasy, why my choice for 2 cabins comes into play? First off, I do not need to defend this. Secondly, it was 1500 cheaper to take 2 cabins than 1, when I booked.

We did a B2B on the Disney Dream last year with our boys (who were 6 and 7 at the time) in the biggest inside cabin they had. We are RCCL fans, but loved our time on Dream. The boys, who are not huge Disney fanatics, really got into getting autographs and pics with the characters, we loved the rotational dining concept, the Aquaduck was awesome, and the service, fireworks and shows were just great. I would try the Fantasy based on the ages of your kids and to do a Disney ship at least once.

Next year we are trying the Allure in two connecting Boardwalk Balcony rooms and all of us cannot wait. We were really tripping over each other in the inside room on the Dream. Although there was enough room for us, we missed our usual balcony rooms and it was a tight squeeze with all of our luggage and the four of us.

We did Oasis in March 2011 and will be sailing on the Fantasy in 2 weeks and then in November we will be sailing the Allure.

We, too are Disney "people" I love ALL things Disney and we go yearly and as soon as DS in in K we will be saving for DVC.

With that being said, I believe that both lines with have pros and cons. I am glad you choose Fantasy so that you will have done both.

I can't wait to sail Fantasy and compare it to Allure but I think's it is going to be diffucult. I, believe I am going to LOVE both in it's own way.

We will most likely be booking another Fantasy cruise onboard for April 2013 and then August 2013 we will be doing a land based WDW vacation for my 40th.

But in 2014 I could see myself doing Oasis/Allure again after a year of Disney stuff.

Oh one more thing, from what I have "read" the crowds on the Dream/Fantasy are making much more nervous then they have did on the Oasis/Allure before I sailed it. We ALWAYS had a lounge chair on the pool deck even getting there at 9 or 10 am. So I have to say I am more anxious about our upcoming Fantasy and the crowds compared to the 5k of people othe Oasis.

We NEVER found it to be crowded EVER AND getting off ship at ports was SO easy.

Missy