How does Royal Caribbean compare to DCL for families?

[OneParticularHarbour 71]

Hello all,

We have family cruising on Royal Caribbean that have asked if we wanted to cruise with them. We have done DCL several times and Carnival once. We are a family of 5 - kids would be 4, 7,10 at time of sailing. Cruise would be on their newest family of ships- I think the Liberty.

 

1. How are RC's kids clubs? Are their a lot of kids in them? (when we were on Carnival there were very few kids & kids club was very small) We would be traveling end of Jan/beginning of Feb.

 

2. What is the overall feeling of the ship? DCL is so family oriented I don't worry that the kids will be exposed to anything inappropriate.

 

3. What are you charged extra for (besides alcohol)?

 

4. How much smoking will we be exposed to?

 

5. How is their private beach in Haiti? Someone had told me their were armed guards at the perimeter- is this really true?

 

Sorry for all the questions, just trying to get a feel for the ship before we make a decision.

 

Thanks for any help! :)

[Hooked on Cruises]

Hello,

 

Before our DD we cruised on RCI and we loved it, especially Freedom ships. They are very spacious, beautiful, larger pools, Royal promenade.

To answer all your questions:

• Plenty of kids in clubs, all ages, very spacious + rock climbing wall mini golf, ice rink (went twice ;) ) and Flowrider (free surfing)
  
• Beautiful ship, but elevators crowded at show/dinner times, use stairs
  
• No indecent exposure or too much smoking
  
• Sodas are extra or you can buy a beverage card w/ nice mug for $35 per person. Comes in very handy and you can fill it at any bar, pool, not dinning room. Extra for specialty restaurants Chops and Portofino ($15 per person).
  
• Haiti was beautiful and we did not see any armed guards. Avoid little market, people are too pushy for you to buy things. Nice food provided too. This is a nice heaven. They do have a nice playground for little ones (Splash something)

If I did not have a little one, I would go for another Freedom ship but this time we are going on 7 day Magic Eastern route. I will miss my HUGE ship. You won't be dissapointed with Liberty at all. It is the same replica as Freedom of the Seas (my baby). Good luck. I can answer any of your questions.

[cmom]

We just got off the baby ship the Grandeur this past Dec. We loved it. Now I like the bigger ships so we booked on board for a future cruise. Anyways. my boys were both 7 and I couldent keep them out of the kids club. They usurally go to bed around 6:30 believe it or not. But on the trip they were so mad at me when I picked them up at 10pm. After that they charge and I couldent stay awake anylonger.

 

The kids will love it. I to am excited to see the difference if any with RCCL and Disney. With you going on one of the big ships then the activities have got to be endless.

 

GO give it a try. I cant see how any cruise can be bad.

[NCmom]

We cruised on the Radiance of the Seas to Alaska with DD who was 10 at the time. I went into it with high expectations, and was disappointed in RCCL. The kids clubs have limited hours, and I felt like we were just getting started with something when it was time get DD. They charge $5 per hour after 10 pm. I felt as though the clubs weren't as supervised as on DCL--in fact, I spoke to one of the counselors about some issues that some of the girls were having when one of the boys in the club (who was the son of one of the entertainers). The counselor basically blew me off, so the girls took matters into their own hands.

 

I was also disappointed in the activities offered onboard. There were days when I only had 1 or 2 things I wanted to do, unlike on DCL when I felt like I had to pick between 2 things I wanted to do at the same time.

 

By the end of the cruise, there were a large number of teens who were just hanging out around the ship. The last night was the worst, when we had teens standing on different decks overlooking the Centrum area yelling curse words back and forth.

[Host Mick]

I haven't cruised on RCI yet so I'm not authorative on the dfferences but we've booked a cruise on the Vision of the Seas to Messyco. She's a panamax about the same size and age as the Disney Magic. In my reading, I've found a lot of differences.

• The Vision doesn't have a dedicated children's space so activities take place in clubs and theaters around the ship. Sometimes at the same time as an adult activity in another part of the venue. If you're paranoid of other adults near your kids this could be unnerving. There's an additional hourly cost for the kid's program after 10:00 and the programs shut down during meal times.
  
• They do not allow you to take alcohol aboard the ship under threat of being denied boarding. Apparently this rule is rarely enforced.
  
• There is no alternative restaurant and you are assigned the same table in the same restaurant for the duration of the cruise.
  
• RCI fares are a lot less. How much I can't say because all Disney 7-day were booked solid for July when I tried to get a comparison.
  
• Smoking is allowed on the entire starboard side. This could be a problem if the wind is blowing across the deck Starboard to Port. This will be common on the Southward leg with Westerly prevailing winds.
  
• There is a casino aboard the Vision.
  
• The vision features a large glass-enclosed atrium that is off-limits to kids in the evening. This would be about where the family pool is on the Magic. If it's cool in there it could be a very nice place to hang out.
  
• The central lobby is seven decks high. They call it the Centrum. No word on whether it's regular Centrum or Centrum Silver.
  
• They apparently have a drink station such as that on the Disney SHips where soda, coffee and tea is available.

I'll have a lot more when I get back.

[OneParticularHarbour 71]

Thank you all- I appreciate everyone's views! Still not sure what we are going to do- I asked my kids tonight what they wanted to do and my DD10 voted for DCL while by DS6 said he wanted to try Royal because "they have the biggest cruiseships in the world!" lol

 

I'm sure whatever we decide will be great!

[OneParticularHarbour 71]

The central lobby is seven decks high. They call it the Centrum. No word on whether it's regular Centrum or Centrum Silver.

 

LOL!

 

Thanks for your info- enjoy your cruise!

[Smileeface]

Hi Oneparticularharbour. We've been on 2 Disney Cruises aboard the Magic (eastern in 2001 & western in 2003) and we were on RCCL's Liberty of The Seas in 6/07 (western). My girls are now 11 and 15 (their birthdays in May being the reason for all three cruises). We loved all of our cruises. Disney Magic is a beautiful ship and so is LOS. The only thing I can add is that it's all in the timing with the ages of your kids. If your oldest is 10, that child might be at peak to still get all the fun out of the Disney Cruise. Their clubs are so wonderful, but I don't think Disney does as well with teens. Once past that 12-13 yr old mark it's not as enchanting for them, and they don't offer as much for young teens. So it's harder to go back in time to recapture that Disney awe and wonder once they are past a certain age, you know? Then you can look forward for a long time to what RCCL has to offer, and there is alot. My 11 yr old joined the kids club on LOS at night while we were out and about and she had fun, but she wasn't with them during the day. We were in 4 ports too, so that kept us busy. RCCL has a very fun Karaoke club that my 15 yr old enjoyed alot. But I couldn't tell you any more about the scheduled activities in the kids clubs on LOS. Between RCCL's private island Labadee and Disney's Castaway Cay, I must say that Disney's Castaway Cay is much nicer, much more to look at and enjoy in my opinion. I've read now that Disney has fireworks off the ship one night now, and that 'The Flying Dutchman', the ship from The Pirates Of The Caribbean movies is docked at Castaway Cay, which could be very cool for your kids. Hopefully you will be able to cruise as a family several times around and enjoy the different ships out there. For us, cruising has been one of the best ways to vacation as a family. Hope you have fun!

[OneParticularHarbour 71]

Thanks for everyone's great info!:)

[NJBill]

We have done both lines multiple times. They are comparable. I found the food on RCl better than DCL, and of course DCL is a Disney Experience,so that aspect is not really comparable. DCL has a higher level of service and attention to detail IMO. If you take the "mouse" out of the equation, they are very similar.

[stsomewhere]

We just switched to DCl from RCl can't wait to try it.

[fleeflicker]

I agree if you take the mouse things are comparable. Age is a factor as well. We are trying FOS and we are excited.