DCL or RCL for Thanksgiving 2014?

[PAFamilyof5]

I have not been on a cruise in almost 10 years, and am looking for some feedback before booking my first family cruise over Thanksgiving 2014. We are a family of 5 and will be travelling with 3 boys, who will be ages 8, almost 5 and 2.5 when we sail.

 

We have narrowed down the choices to the Disney Fantasy out of Port Canaveral (St. Maarten, San Juan and Castaway Cay) or Navigator of the Seas out of Galveston (Falmouth, George Town and Cozumel). For the price of 2 connecting Deluxe Family Oceanview Staterooms with Verandah in Category 04A on Fantasy, we could get a Royal Family Suite on the Navigator.

 

We could drive to Galveston and like the idea of a suite on RCL, but wonder if DCL will be more fun for the boys. We also like the idea of Fantasy because it is a new ship.

 

We appreciate any feedback or recommendations that anyone could share who has done either cruise with young children. Thank you!

[Onessa]

I have not been on a cruise in almost 10 years, and am looking for some feedback before booking my first family cruise over Thanksgiving 2014. We are a family of 5 and will be travelling with 3 boys, who will be ages 8, almost 5 and 2.5 when we sail.

 

We have narrowed down the choices to the Disney Fantasy out of Port Canaveral (St. Maarten, San Juan and Castaway Cay) or Navigator of the Seas out of Galveston (Falmouth, George Town and Cozumel). For the price of 2 connecting Deluxe Family Oceanview Staterooms with Verandah in Category 04A on Fantasy, we could get a Royal Family Suite on the Navigator.

 

We could drive to Galveston and like the idea of a suite on RCL, but wonder if DCL will be more fun for the boys. We also like the idea of Fantasy because it is a new ship.

 

We appreciate any feedback or recommendations that anyone could share who has done either cruise with young children. Thank you!

Do the boys "like" disney characters? Some little ones actually freak out around the costumed characters! Or if your kids are more in to non-Disney characters, the extra cost of Disney might not be worth it.

 

Both ships have a lot for kids that age to be involved in. The 2.5YO does not qualify for the kids programs on either line.

 

Thanksgiving in the Caribbean can be crazy busy with kids (or so I've heard, I've done five TG cruises, but none of them in the Caribbean). Disney tends to not segregate kids by age as much as RCCI does. Again dependent upon your kids, that can be good or bad -- if the 5YO and the 8YO want to do stuff together Disney might be better. But if your kids aren't real good standing up for themselves, the older kids can sometime be a bit intimidating.

 

DD described only DCL cruise as a bit to chaotic (her word at 7YO:)) and limited her time in the kid's program as a result. But she enjoyed the ship board stuff. She's done numerous RCCI and has always liked the kids clubs and the other activites there as well.

 

I can't speak to the ports you are visiting. If going ashore as a family is important to you, I spend most of my effort in determing what there is your family would like to do in port and then pick by ports visited

[bus man]

Unless they changed things recently, 2-year-olds are eligible to participate in Disney's kids program. So if you want to ensure some adult-only time, that's the way to go, unless you want to shell out for babysitting. RCI's entry level for Adventure Ocean is 3 years of age.

 

I've not been on either ship (yet, in the case of the Navigator) so I can't help you there. Thus far, we've only taken the kids on Disney, and they had a blast. The service was superb, and the kids loved the character meet and greets. (My kids were 5 and 3 at the time.)

 

On the other hand, the kids program was less structured and more of a free-for-all than we would have liked. Thankfully for us, we were traveling with friends, and their son took DD-3 under his wing. Otherwise, I'm not sure she would have been able to enjoy the kids club.

 

I actually think that the kids would get more out of the RCI itinerary. I'm not a fan of Jamaica, but the other two stops have a good variety of kid-oriented activities available. On the Disney itinerary, I can't speak to San Juan. St. Maarten is interesting for adults, but not as much for kids (IMO). But Castaway Cay is fantastic, a perfect beach day. So I guess I'm saying either one would work, though the RCI one is probably a little bit better.

 

If cost is a concern, keep in mind that most of Disney's standard staterooms will take 5 people. Only a few RCI rooms will do so, so you would probably need two rooms if you sailed on them.

 

Last, but not least, remember that Thanksgiving is the single busiest weekend of the year for air travel, so availability will be low and cost will be high. Be sure to factor that in to your calculations.

 

Good luck with whatever you decide.