Disney cruiser "Royally" converted

[wdwluvin]

Hi everyone,

 

We just disembarked on Sunday for our absolutely AWESOME Freedom of the Seas cruise. We absolutely loved it.:)

As you can see from my signature and username we are usually loyal to the Disney brand name. We are Disney Vacation Club members and have sailed on all of DCL's ships. Disney, however, is getting stupidly expensive so it was with some trepidation that we booked our spring break cruise on FOS.

We need not have worried as we decided (myself, DH and DS16), about halfway through our cruise last week, that we would be hard-pressed to book another DCL cruise.

Our experience on FOS met and, in many cases, surpassed DCL.

We loved our interactions with the friendly crew, the terrific food (MDR, Chops, Giovannis, Sabor, Windjammer), entertainment (fabulous shows and so many choices), beautiful ship...I could go on and on....:)

 

We booked for next spring break on the Allure. Can't wait!

 

If any DCL cruisers have any questions about the differences/similarities; feel free to fire away!

[OfTheSeasCruiser]

I'm glad you had a great time!:)

[JessyCruises]

I am a fellow DVCer and Disney lover who also prefers RCL over DCL. Welcome to the club!

[tomko2]

So glad you really enjoyed your cruise. The Freedom Class ships are our favorites (boarding the Independence on Sat. :D).

You will love the Allure -- so much to see and do.

 

If you haven't done so already, do join RCL's Loyalty Program - the Crown and Anchor Society. Just call them and give them the info for you and your family to become members so you can start enjoying some of the benefits on the Allure.

 

KathyT

Edited March 22, 2016 by tomko2

[Clarea]

Glad to hear Freedom compared well with Disney.

 

How about the shows? I always hear that Disney shows are fantastic.

[jmf123]

wdwluvin, I enjoyed your post and am so glad you had an awesome family cruise on Freedom! :cool:

[wdwluvin]

I am a fellow DVCer and Disney lover who also prefers RCL over DCL. Welcome to the club!

Thanks! Happy to be a member of this club. We bookended our cruise with weekend stays at Kidani and Boardwalk - best of both worlds!

 

So glad you really enjoyed your cruise. The Freedom Class ships are our favorites (boarding the Independence on Sat. :D).

You will love the Allure -- so much to see and do.

 

If you haven't done so already, do join RCL's Loyalty Program - the Crown and Anchor Society. Just call them and give them the info for you and your family to become members so you can start enjoying some of the benefits on the Allure.

 

KathyT

Thank you. We did do this onboard. :)

[wdwluvin]

Glad to hear Freedom compared well with Disney.

 

How about the shows? I always hear that Disney shows are fantastic.

 

Disney shows are fantastic - no question. The production values and talent are Broadway caliber. We were equally impressed with the mainstage FOS shows. I really enjoyed "Marquee" and "Once Upon a Time", as well as the Drew Thomas magic show. The ice show was wonderful and DCL has nothing like that.

 

wdwluvin, I enjoyed your post and am so glad you had an awesome family cruise on Freedom! :cool:

Thanks! Just wanted to let other frustrated, out-priced DCL cruisers know that there is an equally (if not better) cruise alternative.:)

[Clarea]

Disney shows are fantastic - no question. The production values and talent are Broadway caliber. We were equally impressed with the mainstage FOS shows. I really enjoyed "Marquee" and "Once Upon a Time", as well as the Drew Thomas magic show. The ice show was wonderful and DCL has nothing like that....

It is true that Disney does not use a live orchestra for their shows? The live music is one of the things I enjoy the most about Royal's shows.

[SevenWonkas]

We've been on 11 Royal cruises and three Disney. Will be returning to Disney in a couple months, and have a Royal cruise booked next year. Although I'd pick Disney if all things were equal (price, itinerary, etc), Royal does have a really great product too! We always price things out, and Disney rarely wins for a long cruise. In fact, for our Fantasy cruise in a couple months it wasn't cheaper than Royal, but with our son starting school next year it was our last chance to take advantage of the cheaper rates when school is in session!

[bigsky]

Been on Disney and the same class as you went on. As much as I love Disney, yes, they are very over priced. Paying for the name. You will love the Allure! Going on her this year, but went on her sister ship. Imo, shows were even better than the freedom class.

Welcome to Royal! [emoji572]️

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[wdwluvin]

We've been on 11 Royal cruises and three Disney. Will be returning to Disney in a couple months, and have a Royal cruise booked next year. Although I'd pick Disney if all things were equal (price, itinerary, etc), Royal does have a really great product too! We always price things out, and Disney rarely wins for a long cruise. In fact, for our Fantasy cruise in a couple months it wasn't cheaper than Royal, but with our son starting school next year it was our last chance to take advantage of the cheaper rates when school is in session!

 

Our son is 16 and participated in the teen club so I can't comment on RCL's Adventure Ocean program versus the Oceaneer's Club on DCL. I know when DS was younger he loved the DCL kid's club and we all love the Disney characters.:D

 

Been on Disney and the same class as you went on. As much as I love Disney, yes, they are very over priced. Paying for the name. You will love the Allure! Going on her this year, but went on her sister ship. Imo, shows were even better than the freedom class.

Welcome to Royal! [emoji572]️

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

Thanks! Can't wait for the Allure!

[sagette]

So excited to see this. We're going on our first RC cruise next month and I hoping we love it so much that we book our next one. ;)

[wdwluvin]

It is true that Disney does not use a live orchestra for their shows? The live music is one of the things I enjoy the most about Royal's shows.

 

It's funny that you mention this because I said the same thing to DH. We really enjoyed the live orchestra on FOS and the way they "floated" in and out during the productions. I've never seen that on DCL. In fact, there was WAY more live music in all venues on FOS.

The nightlife between the two cruiselines cannot be compared. DCL is a ghost town by 11pm, while Freedom was just getting started. We really enjoyed it.

[wdwluvin]

So excited to see this. We're going on our first RC cruise next month and I hoping we love it so much that we book our next one. ;)

 

I'm far from a RCI expert but I'm sure you will love it!:)

[Clarea]

It's funny that you mention this because I said the same thing to DH. We really enjoyed the live orchestra on FOS and the way they "floated" in and out during the productions. I've never seen that on DCL. In fact, there was WAY more live music in all venues on FOS.

The nightlife between the two cruiselines cannot be compared. DCL is a ghost town by 11pm, while Freedom was just getting started. We really enjoyed it.

Thanks for the info, I had read about the lack of a live orchestra during shows on Disney, but did not know if that was still the case.

[cincicruisers]

Thanks for sharing, glad you had a good vacation.

[rkkunk]

We love DCL also, but for now they have priced us out. So glad that you enjoyed your cruise on FOS!

 

A couple of years ago we found an amazing price for a D1 balcony on the Allure. The ship intrigued us with how big it was and all of the things that you can do on it. So we booked it. We absolutely loved it! Our son is getting older so he loved all of the different things to do. We do love the DCL shows but the shows on the Allure we good too, especially the Aqua show! We enjoyed the food. We really liked Giovanni's. It was a great experience, just a difference experience from DCL.

 

When got home from the cruise on Allure, we realized that we didn't get to do everything that we had wanted. So, we booked another cruise for this May! We have waited almost 2 years for this and leave in about 40 days!

 

I hope that you enjoy the Allure as much as we did!

[pop5]

i love both lines. My kids still love both, however, there is more excitement for the older ones on RC.

[wdwluvin]

Thanks for the info, I had read about the lack of a live orchestra during shows on Disney, but did not know if that was still the case.

 

Glad I could help you. I read many of your posts before our FOS cruise and you were most helpful - happy to return the service!

 

We love DCL also, but for now they have priced us out. So glad that you enjoyed your cruise on FOS!

 

A couple of years ago we found an amazing price for a D1 balcony on the Allure. The ship intrigued us with how big it was and all of the things that you can do on it. So we booked it. We absolutely loved it! Our son is getting older so he loved all of the different things to do. We do love the DCL shows but the shows on the Allure we good too, especially the Aqua show! We enjoyed the food. We really liked Giovanni's. It was a great experience, just a difference experience from DCL.

!

There is a Thai expression that I think sums up how we felt about RCI and DCL; "same same,but different". There are lots of similarities (great service, quality kid's/teen's programs and entertainment) and lots of differences. We really enjoyed the differences.

Have a great cruise on the Allure!

[jules815]

Freedom is our favorite RC ship. Glad you enjoyed! :)

[TinyPinkBug]

We are also DCL fans but have been priced out in recent years. I am amazed people are paying their prices now especially considering that I have read that they are slowly removing a lot of the little extras that really set them apart. We have been on all but the Magic and had hoped to sail on her this year, but couldn't swing the price. We sailed on Enchantment two years ago and hated it, the kids were miserably bored. We said we would never do RCI again. We were considering the Norwegian Getaway, but after reading many reviews comparing the Getaway to the Allure, we decided on the Allure at the last minute. I am really hoping we don't regret it.

[Keith1010]

Glad to hear you had a great time.

 

Keith

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

Thanks for the info, I had read about the lack of a live orchestra during shows on Disney, but did not know if that was still the case.

 

While I don't know for sure they don't use live music (it could be under the stage like normal stage shows), I will gladly take that over the horrifyingly dreadful "City of Dreams" I sat through on the Radiance last summer. I would rather sit in my cabin and do nothing than subject myself to dreck like that ever again. (Not that I will be sitting in my cabin - but I will NOT be wasting time on Six Flags-type dreck while cruising this summer.

[dolphingirl47]

We are also DVC members and I am a huge Disney fan. We have done 13 Disney cruises in the past and tried Royal Caribbean for the first time in December on the Splendour and fell in love. We are now under 50 days for our cruise on the Ovation and we are hugely excited about this. If we like Ovation, we are planning to book another cruise on her for November while we are on board.

 

Corinna