From a dedicated RCCL cruiser need help with Disney

I am a Diamond cruiser with RCCL, just got off my best cruise (in 30 cruises) on the Allure. We rebooked Allure for next spring break, but my wife wants to try Disney Fantasy. We ended up finding a deal on two cabins on Disney which is very close to our RCCL price for 2 cabins. I have posted some posts on Disney CC, about RCCL and Disney, and the Disney posters just slammed RCCL, like it was a disease. I am a dedicated RCCl, Hal 3 star and Princess Platinum, and Celebrity Elite. No Disney status. Anyone have any unbiased feelings or comparisons of Disney vs. RCCl?

Thank you.

Yes. Disney is basically superior in everything it does. Better food, service, entertainment. If there are things you are looking for that Disney doesn't offer (i.e. casino), then RCI has and advantage. But overall, Disney is a far FAR superior product.

Yes. Disney is basically superior in everything it does. Better food, service, entertainment. If there are things you are looking for that Disney doesn't offer (i.e. casino), then RCI has and advantage. But overall, Disney is a far FAR superior product.

Sorry macruisefan, but after eight Disney cruises and ten on RCI, this is just not true. Food is no better, service is no better, entertainment is no better. All Disney is is more expensive, and geared to Disney fanatics and their kids. On the flip side, on Disney there is less public space, smaller pools, fewer food venues.

I liked the fact that the cabin we had on Disney had a split bathroom - one had a toilet & sink & the other a tub & sink - made getting ready for dinner, etc. so much easier.

Pat

In my opinion the only thing a Disney cruise offers is a high price tag......unless you are a Disney fanatic and then I suppose it is worth it. I much prefer RCCL or others to a Disney cruise. They do not have casinos if this is important to you and I really don't think the food & entertainment is any better.

And just on a personal note......my young grandchildren were terrified of the larger than life characters.

We found Disney's service, cabin layout, shows, and ship decor to be superior. Food was about the same. And as stated above, RCI has casinos, Disney does not.

I have posted some posts on Disney CC, about RCCL and Disney, and the Disney posters just slammed RCCL,.

Not surprised in the least. It seems EVERY forum here has its fair share of cheerleaders.

its likely jealousy from the DCC fans. from what I understand and have read, Disney has absolutely NOTHING that can come close to comparing to the Allure or Oasis.

I have never cruised on Disney and dont care too. I dont care for their theme parks so I cant imagine it being any different on their ships and also their prices are a turnoff to me as well.

Yes. Disney is basically superior in everything it does. Better food, service, entertainment. If there are things you are looking for that Disney doesn't offer (i.e. casino), then RCI has and advantage. But overall, Disney is a far FAR superior product.

Thanks. The next time I want to spend a week surrounded by swarms of children plus crew members dressed up as Disney characters, I will check out the superior cruiseline.

Yes. Disney is basically superior in everything it does. Better food, service, entertainment. If there are things you are looking for that Disney doesn't offer (i.e. casino), then RCI has and advantage. But overall, Disney is a far FAR superior product.

I totally disagree..............I've been on Disney ships and on Allure. I'd choose Allure anytime over Disney.

Thanks. The next time I want to spend a week surrounded by swarms of children plus crew members dressed up as Disney characters, I will check out the superior cruiseline.

Yeah. It's not like Shrek is wandering around on Allure....

Oh, wait....

Our family enjoys both lines. If you go to the DIS boards and search under my use name (same there as here) I did a side by side comparison last September when we did a 7 day Med cruise on Disney and then literally walked off of one ship and over to the next and took a 7 day Med cruise going to most of the same ports on RCI.

I would post a link for you, but the DIS is having issues right now and keeps knocking me out when I log in. They switched to new servers and have not gotten the bugs out yet:rolleyes:

Anyway, if you have specific questions I will try to answer them for you:)

Yes. Disney is basically superior in everything it does. Better food, service, entertainment. If there are things you are looking for that Disney doesn't offer (i.e. casino), then RCI has and advantage. But overall, Disney is a far FAR superior product.

And just when were you on a Disney cruise......????

You seemed to have forgotten them when you created your signature..;):rolleyes:

WE did the Disney Magic in 2005 and are doing the Magic in June for a weekend with friends who want to try it out. We are also going on the Disney Fantasy early in Dec when it is almost reasonable.

Disney is a niche, high quality product, and is very expensive. Every 5 years we do one of their cruises. The real Disney freaks go every year.

We do go to the theme parks every other year, staying at our Marriot Orlando timeshare which is a superior product to the DVC.

We were on the Allure b2b in 2011 and will be comparing the Fantasy to that and the RCI Voyager/Freedom ships.

As senior citizens we love having pictures taken with the characters, did so on the Allure and will do it again on the Fantasy along with the other couple we will be traveling with. The two women, both seniors, line up with the kiddies for the photo ops. And me, I have a picture of my self in bathing trunks arm in arm with Daisy Duck. Quack quack.

I am a Diamond cruiser with RCCL, just got off my best cruise (in 30 cruises) on the Allure. We rebooked Allure for next spring break, but my wife wants to try Disney Fantasy. We ended up finding a deal on two cabins on Disney which is very close to our RCCL price for 2 cabins. I have posted some posts on Disney CC, about RCCL and Disney, and the Disney posters just slammed RCCL, like it was a disease. I am a dedicated RCCl, Hal 3 star and Princess Platinum, and Celebrity Elite. No Disney status. Anyone have any unbiased feelings or comparisons of Disney vs. RCCl?

 

Thank you.

We sailed DCLevery year from 2000 thru 2008, usually Thanksgiving or the week after, swapping the Eastern and Western sailings. Our girls were 7 and 9 on our frist sailing. We LOVED Disney, yes, it was expensive that time of year but we made some great friends that sailed with us the same time. The ships were ALWAYS spotless, food was always good, and tes, the split bathrooms were very nice. We sailed RCCL the first time a few Januarys ago and sailied on the Monarch......it was VERY inexpensive compaired to DCL and we noticed it in the buffets...no peel and eat shrimp and watermelon anywhere......there were toats for you to put you plates in after eating and MANY tables with dirty dishes on them.....On DCL the plates were almost gone before you stood up.....the Monarch had no verandahs (which my wife and I always book) and it was wierd no having a couch.....but once again, it was an old ship and very inexpensive sailing. We have since sailed on the Navigator and Freedom and are sailing the Jewel this Thursday. The difference between the Monarch and the Freedom and Navigator was like the difference between the Monarch and the Majic or Wonder.......they were bigger ships, a little more expensive sailing (not as much as DCL) but the service was better, rooms were bigger, ships were cleaner and buffets had what we were used to. We would DEFINATELY sail DCL again if they were competitive in price, even our 20 and 22y/os said they would go...and we arent "disney people" dont care much for the parks either.......DCL DOES allow you to bring alcohol on the ship with you for consumption also. I usually carried on a case and a half of beer for me, a bottle of vodka for my DW and a case of water for girls. If you have a competitive price I'd say DO IT! Castaway Cay is an absolute paradise!!!! You can get a lot more answers about DCL at http://www.disboards.com

I've never been on a Disney cruise, but if I were you, I would do some research on the ship (not necessarily message boards as much as studying deck plans, etc) and find out what they offer that is different than RCI- and spend time focusing on that. People can go back and forth about whether service, food, etc are better on one line vs the other, but chances are it's a close call and varies based on personal taste and just dumb luck as to which has the edge on a particular cruise, for a particular person. One benefit of Disney though, for you, is that after 30 cruises on RCI, I would bet that a lot of the standard offerings- though great- probably feel a bit stale compared to when you first tried them. So instead of debating whether the flowrider is better than something Disney offers, try to appreciate those different offerings for what they are. I think Disney is the only cruiseline with fireworks at sea. That sounds cool to me! The restaurant that goes from black/white to full color as you dine appeals to the theatre kid in me too- what a neat concept!

With 30 RCI cruises, it seems like you're lucky enough to be able to travel often- and that this Disney cruise probably doesn't mean that you're giving up your only RCI cruise in the near future- so don't think about what you're missing and think of it as an opportunity for a change of pace!

Yeah. It's not like Shrek is wandering around on Allure....

 

Oh, wait....

Wandering around? From the majority I have heard from you actually have to go out of your way most of the time to find him :confused:

guess I will find out next week while on Freedom

Personally I would not recommend just doing a comparison of deck plans.

I think one of the best things Disney offers that we have not seen on other lines is a really JAM PACKED offering of on board activities (Trivia, game shows, crafts, etc) and all of them are MUCH more themed, more elaborate, and with more enthusiastic staff than anything I have ever seen on another line.

Personally I would not recommend just doing a comparison of deck plans.

I think one of the best things Disney offers that we have not seen on other lines is a really JAM PACKED offering of on board activities (Trivia, game shows, crafts, etc) and all of them are MUCH more themed, more elaborate, and with more enthusiastic staff than anything I have ever seen on another line.

All "sailaway parties" were MUCH better......and yes, DCL is the ONLY cruise line that has a fireworks show....

Wandering around? From the majority I have heard from you actually have to go out of your way most of the time to find him :confused:

 

guess I will find out next week while on Freedom

We really had to plan to see Shrek on the Liberty last month. They were never "in your face".

I liked the fact that the cabin we had on Disney had a split bathroom - one had a toilet & sink & the other a tub & sink - made getting ready for dinner, etc. so much easier.

 

Pat

LOVED the split bathroom! We had a GIANT room on the Dream last year...Disney to me is definitely more geared towards kids, families...the ships (I have done the Wonder and the Dream) are great BUT I have done 2 RCI cruises as well and the food is all the same, the only way the Dream wins out is because it's NEW, but really, all the cruise stuff is the same and Disney tends to cost more. I love them both and would probably only sail these 2 lines.

I don't have strong feelings for Disney vs. RCCL. Disney just has a lot of kids obviously and since we have none, I feel like RCCL works well for us. I am a big Disney fan and I loved their private island. I am definitely going to go on Disney again at some point and I love that I can go to Disney World AND the cruise. I love how you leave for the cruise from Disney World and feels like you're taking a vacation from your vacation. :)

I love how unique the Disney ships are like the themes of the dining rooms and so on.

Royal seems to have more choices as far as ports and of course Allure and Oasis are huge ships, bigger than Disney and more to do. So I don't know, I think both are great especially for families.

I've been on the Wonder, Magic and Dream and they probably compare with FOS. As others have said there's no casino on DCL but other than that I've found that the main advantage for me was Castaway Cay over Coco Cay - there was simply no comparison! Other than that - Freedom of the Seas is on a par witih the Disney ships.

We did the 3 night DCL Wonder for DD's 6th birthday in 2009 which I would not recommend as I was aghast at the behavior of the guests- worst than my carnival cruise and I mean both parents and kids. Parents seemed think that their kid had to be at the front of every line and so lots of pushing and shoving, and kids who took the volleyball of the sports deck and were kicking it into the pool but no cast member would dare to stop them.

DH loved the food on DCL although I think he just put our recent X cruise on the Summit before her remodel as his overall favorite but he still thought DCL food was a notch better than RCL in general.

I loved the shows on DCL- they had that disney magic that was simply breathtaking and had me in tears it was so good.

DD loved seeing the Princesses but did get a little tired of the lines, etc.

We said if we did another disney cruise, it would need to be a 7 nighter or longer.

Disney is magical! Let me just say that I don't really like to be around kids. We went on the Disney Wonder a few yrs. ago. We had a 32 yr on daughter that was mentally disabled. She passed away before we could take her on a second one. You can't put a price tag on the look in her eyes when Mickey hugged her! The characters were rock stars!

We did not mind the many kids onboard. They were busy all the time. Our daughter, because she was an adult, could not participate in the childerens activities. We were disappointed that Disney did not have a program for others like her. We knew this before booking. Everyone did go out of their way to make her feel special. We were impressed!

We've been on many cruises, and Disney was the most magical! The food was good, not better, then the others. The cabin was the biggest. We had a Navigator balcony. We get balconies on all our cruises. I loved the entertainment, maybe because it was different then all the other cruises.

If your kids like disney, I wouldn't hesitate. I would go again, even though our daughter is no longer with us. Let me add that we don't go to the casinos, and we don't usually party after 12.

Good luck with making your decision!

I am a Diamond cruiser with RCCL, just got off my best cruise (in 30 cruises) on the Allure. We rebooked Allure for next spring break, but my wife wants to try Disney Fantasy. We ended up finding a deal on two cabins on Disney which is very close to our RCCL price for 2 cabins. I have posted some posts on Disney CC, about RCCL and Disney, and the Disney posters just slammed RCCL, like it was a disease. I am a dedicated RCCl, Hal 3 star and Princess Platinum, and Celebrity Elite. No Disney status. Anyone have any unbiased feelings or comparisons of Disney vs. RCCl?

 

Thank you.

Don't look at me...you can see by my screen name that I am bias and I don't even have kids. I would have sailed the Fantasy this year, but I just sailed the Draem last year, so I thought I'd try Allure instead for our 20th wedding anniversary.

My favorites is:

DCL (Gold member -one more cruise to Platimun status)

RCCL (Platinum member- one more cruise I think after this one to Emerald)

and then everyone else after that.

Okay I'm a disney fanatic.. yes I have done disney cruises.. I have done RCI too... if my kids were little I would still pay the high price and go disney=--but as teens NO WAY RCI wins out - and I did look at a cruise for aug on allure vs. disney same route... 3k less for RCI..

there is soooo much more to do on RCI then a disney ship but little kids who love the mouse well then disney would be my choice, even at the higher cost...