DCL vs. Everyone Else . . . who would you pick?

If price wasn't a factor, yes, we'd choose DCL. We feel, on the whole, that it's better...just not 2x (or greater) the price better than the other lines (we've also sailed RCCL 3x, NCL 2x, are trying Carnival in August, and are GOLD CC members on DCL). We'll continue to do DCL cruises, but not exclusively.

Ideally, we would blend certain aspects from all the cruise lines - not just DCL - to come up with our "perfect" cruise experience. For starter's, I would take NCL's "Freestyle" approach to dining, RCCL's onboard activities (slides, flowriders, rock wall, etc), to go along with DCL's entertainment and service. Then I would pick and choose various restaurants/bars from each.
 
We've been on so many cruise lines and ships. Our daughter celebrated her 3rd birthday on her first Disney cruise. (We spent most of that one waiting on lines for character photos!) Her next Disney cruise was when she was 4 and the next when she was 6. Before and in between she was on several other cruises - different lines. However it was after that Disney cruise when she was 6 that she wanted a more "active" experience. She could swim all day long but Disney's pool is not conducive to that. I didn't want to sit through a long drawn out dinner each night OR I wanted the experience of a family dinner in a really nice restaurant. I also didn't like all of the DCL shows (just the ones based on the movies). We often found ourselves a bit bored - after a bad experience in the kids' club, my daughter wouldn't go in (not that she spent a lot of time there anyway). And the itineraries were the same old same old. As much as there were things we loved about Disney (characters) there wasn't enough to keep us from straying. We found the RC Oasis of the Seas. They had 4 pools and a great splash zone. They had dinner buffets with a wide selection! (They had a much better breakfast buffet than we'd had on Disney.) And there were musicals, and ice skating shows, and aqua shows! There was a rock climbing wall and a FlowRider. All of the things that worked for our family. After that cruise my daughter asked when we could go back on that ship again.

Our next Oasis class experience was a cruise she and I did alone on the Allure. This one was even better and she and I tried out 4 specialty restaurants. I LOVED that she could enjoy them with me. She wasn't charged for 1, minimal charges for 2, and we both had a freebie from our TA. It cost us so little in total and it was the best cruise food I've ever had. We literally spent hours every day in one of the uncrowded pools and had a blast. We went to all the shows. (She actually told me that was one of her two favorite vacations ever - high praise.)

After that we mixed it up with 2 more Disney cruises, an NCL (unfortunately), and another Oasis class, Harmony. We haven't encountered issues that others complain about. We don't go near the casino so no smoke issues. The ships are so big that we've felt more crowded in DCL Magic's atrium. We don't shop so it's easy enough to walk past stores - similar to how we bypass them on Disney. We don't find Disney's food any better nor the service. We are pretty laid back so don't like people on top of us (waiters and such). We've found the crew on other lines to be as nice to us as we are to them! It's actually my husband that likes the Disney experience more - I think it's the "details". My daughter has long been over the princesses and is more interested in Space Mountain. If it wasn't for the characters, there probably isn't anything that would keep me going back to Disney (they are that special feeling for me that makes me "go 10" as someone else above said). We're lucky that it's not about the money; it's just about what works and doesn't work for our family. I love Disney parks and I love the Very Merrytime cruises. So as long as I can get my fix from one of those sprinkled with some Oasis class, I'm happy.
 
We sat next to an allergy family on Freedom, and every night the servers gave the parents next night’s menu and order forms so they found pre-order exactly what they needed. I wouldn’t worry at all about Royal.


I’m of basically equal status on Disney and Royal. But since their systems are different, that means I’ve spent more days on Royal.

All Disney cruises were in Dream.

On Royal I’ve been on Radiance, Freedom twice, Vision, and adventure.

My heart is with Royal.

Service is equal on both, but on Disney it skews towards cloying, which I canNOT stand. One time it hit that level on Royal and it made us very uncomfortable. It was during dining, and I’m sure they thought they were providing excellent service, but it was just too much for us.

Food is about equal. We’re vegetarian with ingredient issues, and the care for us is equal. I’ve had to resort to Mac and cheese on Disney and spaghetti with marinara on Royal more than once, because that night’s vegetarian meals were just too gross to deal with again.

Shopping on both is like a mall. Once is fancy Bellevue square (up east of Seattle) and one is meh Tacoma mall (in Tacoma), but they are still just malls.

On radiance I didn’t know better AND was brand newly pregnant and could smell the casino smoke everywhere. On Vision we hit awful weather and the smokers couldn’t go outside so they went to the casino, and by the end of the second day of not being able to go outside it was starting to get desperate.

BUT on Dream a smoking section is right along the jogging track, so...


Belly flop contest, eh. I’ve literally come across it once time. And it’s because my husband at the time took part in it. He had a terrific time. And he lost even though he should have won (not a small fellow) and everyone was sad for him.

I’m NOT a Disney show person. Again, cloying. My family refuses to let me see golden Mickey a second time because of my near violent reaction to it. Seriously the show makes nooooo sense. It’s ridiculous. Ugh. So I do not miss the shows when on Royal.

I do like a comedian or a magician and will see them. They’ve been equal on both.


I’ve gotten interesting rooms on Royal, and I’ve done two category Vs, one inside, and one big porthole room (#6666, which was awesome) on Dream. I don’t generally go for plain rooms lol.


I’ll try celebrity next, because it seems interesting.

Those are my disjointed thoughts.

You killed me with this: My family refuses to let me see golden Mickey a second time because of my near violent reaction to it. :D:D:D

And YES, I totally get the cloying thing!!
 
You killed me with this: My family refuses to let me see golden Mickey a second time because of my near violent reaction to it. :D:D:D

Yeah, while all the shows have great production value and the performers are very talented...Golden Mickeys, Believe, Wishes, and Dreams (which are all basically the same exact show) are all way too formulaic/contrived/sappy etc for my preferences.
 


I have numerous cruises on Celebrity (5), Royal (5), Carnival (12), Princess (4) and DCL (7).

Our first cruise was DCL and for them I will be forever grateful because otherwise I wouldn't have found my absolute love of cruising. We did a "cruise extravaganza" last winter where we cruised b2b2b2b on Princess, then Celebrity, then Carnival, then DCL. We came to the realization that although DCL was great, we had just as good, if not better experiences on the other lines and at a fraction of the price.

There's far too much good stuff out there to just limit ourselves to DCL only.
 
Yeah, while all the shows have great production value and the performers are very talented...Golden Mickeys, Believe, Wishes, and Dreams (which are all basically the same exact show) are all way too formulaic/contrived/sappy etc for my preferences.

Yes! I just cannot go see any of those one more time! Gives us extra time to relax or maybe swim while the pool isn't crowded.
 
Yeah, while all the shows have great production value and the performers are very talented...Golden Mickeys, Believe, Wishes, and Dreams (which are all basically the same exact show) are all way too formulaic/contrived/sappy etc for my preferences.
The plots (such as it is) of Wishes and Believe feel as if it they were built around the big production pieces, so it doesn't feel organic. They've simply devised a way to get from point A to point B.

The better jukebox musicals seem to have a story in mind (not necessarily a GOOD story, mind you, but a story nonetheless), and slot the appropriate songs in as they go.

It's a bit frustrating as it feels as if they could do a lot better if they tried, but instead they just add 15 pieces of flair and do the bare minimum to work all the popular songs in.
 


We've done 3 DCL cruises (1 Bahamas from PC, 1 Western Caribbean from PC and 1 Port Canaveral from NYC), 1 Princess (Alaska), 1 Royal Caribbean (NJ to Bermuda) and 1 Carnival (charter specialty cruise from Miami to Western Caribbean). So we are not experts by any means, but since 2016, when the cruise bug bit us, we've tried a few things. We are a family of mom, dad, 2 teenagers, 1 tween and grandma.

Guest Services: IMHO, Disney has the best guest service. Everyone of the other ones were lacking when compared with Disney. On our most recent RC cruise I had a question and called Guest Services from my stateroom. The phone rang and rang and rang. I counted and it rang 63 times and then I was disconnected. This happened twice. Folks working in Guest Services on Princess were not friendly or particularly helpful.

Entertainment: Disney's Broadway style shows are hard to beat. The shows on Princess were a hot mess, but the comedians and other performers were top notch. On RC one of their shows were terrible, but the other one (We Will Rock You!) was fantastic. Their comedians were funny and they has some great bands/performers in the bars and nightclub.

Food: Disney has the best main dining rooms IMHO. But the food and dining rooms on Princess were also very good. We especially enjoyed our meal in Chops. Well worth the $50 upcharge to us.

Stuff for Kids to do: My teens and tweens still love all things Disney and meet and take photos with the characters. But none of them use the kids/teens club very much. RC had an amazing array of activities for them: rock wall, indoor skydiving, surfing simulator, bumper cars, rollerskating, ping pong, air hockey . . .

If I were ranking them I would say: 1. DCL

2. RC



3. Princess








4. Carnival

When we choose which line to sail we look at itinerary first, cruise line and then price. We also consider how much time we plan to spend on the ship. For DCL is worth it if we like the itinerary and the price isn't totally ridiculous. For Alaska. we couldn't justify the price difference when 2 inside cabins on DCL cost 2 X as much as an inside and a mini-suite with an huge balcony on Princess. We found that on a Alaska cruise we just don't spend enough time on the ship to worry justify the cost.

Last November we sailed from NYC to PC and had a day at WDW and one at Castaway Cay. We can't think of a better way to spend Thanksgiving week. Sadly they are not doing that cruise this year. We are hoping that DCL buts this back on the schedule form Nov 2020.

I guess the answer for us is: for the right itinerary and the right price DCL is totally worth it to us. If money were not a consideration, I'd sail them everywhere that we could. But, sadly money is a consideration. We sailed DCL first and my friend's wife said that we are spoiled. This maybe true, but we really enjoyed the cruise on RC and will also be sailing them again in the future.

I hope this is at least a little bit helpful!
I would rank those 4 lines in the same order as well
 
I love DCL and have been on a handful of cruises (maybe two handfuls) with them. If I could boil it down I would say its the Disney music playing in the hallways. It makes me feel 10. In port I see other ships with other folks enjoying cruises on other cruise lines. Sometimes the other ships look a bit the worse for wear and sometimes the other ships look lovely.

I know it's likely well discussed here . . . but is DCL the best? If you've cruised other cruise lines out of Port Canaveral I would be interested to know your thoughts?

Maybe the grass is greener . . .

Between DCL and Carnival I would pick DCL (Carnival is a IMO a great cruise line BUT their Port Canaveral Ships tend to be a bit old and a little bit less appealing... If they sent new ships to Port Canaveral, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them)...

However, I'll sail on RCCL's Mariner of the Seas and honestly, it looks absolutely awesome... So after October 2019, I'm not sure which one I will recommend the most. :blush:
 
We sat next to an allergy family on Freedom, and every night the servers gave the parents next night’s menu and order forms so they found pre-order exactly what they needed. I wouldn’t worry at all about Royal.


I’m of basically equal status on Disney and Royal. But since their systems are different, that means I’ve spent more days on Royal.

All Disney cruises were in Dream.

On Royal I’ve been on Radiance, Freedom twice, Vision, and adventure.

My heart is with Royal.

Service is equal on both, but on Disney it skews towards cloying, which I canNOT stand. One time it hit that level on Royal and it made us very uncomfortable. It was during dining, and I’m sure they thought they were providing excellent service, but it was just too much for us.

Food is about equal. We’re vegetarian with ingredient issues, and the care for us is equal. I’ve had to resort to Mac and cheese on Disney and spaghetti with marinara on Royal more than once, because that night’s vegetarian meals were just too gross to deal with again.

Shopping on both is like a mall. Once is fancy Bellevue square (up east of Seattle) and one is meh Tacoma mall (in Tacoma), but they are still just malls.

On radiance I didn’t know better AND was brand newly pregnant and could smell the casino smoke everywhere. On Vision we hit awful weather and the smokers couldn’t go outside so they went to the casino, and by the end of the second day of not being able to go outside it was starting to get desperate.

BUT on Dream a smoking section is right along the jogging track, so...


Belly flop contest, eh. I’ve literally come across it once time. And it’s because my husband at the time took part in it. He had a terrific time. And he lost even though he should have won (not a small fellow) and everyone was sad for him.

I’m NOT a Disney show person. Again, cloying. My family refuses to let me see golden Mickey a second time because of my near violent reaction to it. Seriously the show makes nooooo sense. It’s ridiculous. Ugh. So I do not miss the shows when on Royal.

I do like a comedian or a magician and will see them. They’ve been equal on both.


I’ve gotten interesting rooms on Royal, and I’ve done two category Vs, one inside, and one big porthole room (#6666, which was awesome) on Dream. I don’t generally go for plain rooms lol.


I’ll try celebrity next, because it seems interesting.

Those are my disjointed thoughts.


That's me with "Believe" :rotfl2:
 
the AWFUL smell of stale cigarettes emanating from the casino while you are waiting to get a table at dinner

This one is particularly key for me. If there is any smoking allowed inside, it's off the list for me. That eliminates most of the cruiselines.

For us, we've so far determined that DCL is the best. I do keep looking at other lines but some of the requirements for me:

  • see above re smoking;
  • age range & activities - I occasionally pick up the latest summary book on cruise lines and look at what age ranges and activities there are and eliminate those that don't interest me. I'm not interested in partying, clubbing, gambling, excessive drinking, Vegas-style shows, or trying to mingle with people who are predominantly 20 years older or younger than me;
  • doesn't require me to dress for dinner every evening or, more importantly, requires that after a certain time of night I must be in dressier clothing. I'm good with cruise casual (which for me is nice khakis, lightweight knit or linen pants, capris, or sun dress - I never wear shorts or jeans to dinner) and with one or two nights of formal or semi-formal but I'm not going to wear dressy clothes to walk around the ship at 9 pm;
  • decent room size that doesn't also require me to book concierge.
Pretty much in that order. There are other requirements that I look at too, but they're much more flexible than the above ones. So far, DCL meets that best. There might be others that meet it reasonably well but there has to be an overwhelming reason to switch and that's usually going to be itinerary. So far, that hasn't been an issue as, if there's not an itinerary that we like on DCL, we'll usually skip the cruise and do something else. I have a growing list of things I want to do and see and places I want to go that I'm not forced to choose between cruise A and cruise B. It's usually a case of DCL cruise A or B, trip A, trip B...trip n choices. At the end of the day, the cruise line you choose has to fit you and your preferences and style as much as the itinerary and price does. Some cruise lines are simply never going to be our style. You have to identify what that is and what it is not before determining if DCL is the best for you.
 

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