RCCL vs DCL- What am I missing?

[MrsRaker]

We are a family of four with two young children (currently 3 and 20 months). I've done months of research on cruising with Disney next year and was hoping to book once the fall itineraries are released. As with many others though, I'm a little taken aback at the price increases for the summer fares. If this trend continues, as I'm sure it will, there's no way we can justify that kind of money on DCL. My question is, what does DCL have that RCCL doesn't? How family friendly is RCCL? Obviously, I would be missing the characters, and Castaway Cay. What else?

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

Your money?
And of course you will be told "but you get free soda on Disney". LOL

Seriously you used to get better service on Disney, but I think that with the expansion that edge disappeared IMHO


My friends kids had a great time in the RCCL clubs. I guess out cabin was a little smaller, but we really did not notice.

 

[MrsRaker]

My husband and I are both soda drinkers so I did notice the soda, ha ha. Even at 6.50/pp/pd, that $91 for a 7n is still a huge savings for us over DCL. I really have put a lot of time and research into DCL and don't want to be disappointed by going a different way.

 

[BamaGuy44]

My husband and I are both soda drinkers so I did notice the soda, ha ha. Even at 6.50/pp/pd, that $91 for a 7n is still a huge savings for us over DCL. I really have put a lot of time and research into DCL and don't want to be disappointed by going a different way.

We are in the same "boat" as you. We've been on 4 Disney Cruises and loved every one. But for our upcoming May 24, 2015 7 Day Caribbean out of Port Canaveral for 3 adults:

Disney Fantasy - Oceanview stateroom (no balcony), JUST the cruise fare, no tips or insurance: $5,100

Freedom of the Seas - Oceanview room (WITH balcony), including insurance, soda package and prepaid tips: $3,880

Yeah I'll happily pay for my soda. If my son (18) was still young enough to care about Disney's awesome kids clubs, or the characters, Disney themed shows, etc it might be worth the difference. But for us it was a no-brainer to give RCCL a try this time.

I LOVE Castaway Cay, but hopefully Labadee will be enjoyable as well.

 

[woody73]

. . . Obviously, I would be missing the characters, and Castaway Cay. What else?

Split bathrooms.

Woody

 

[ForTheLoveOfDCL]

We are a family of four with two young children (currently 3 and 20 months). I've done months of research on cruising with Disney next year and was hoping to book once the fall itineraries are released. As with many others though, I'm a little taken aback at the price increases for the summer fares. If this trend continues, as I'm sure it will, there's no way we can justify that kind of money on DCL. My question is, what does DCL have that RCCL doesn't? How family friendly is RCCL? Obviously, I would be missing the characters, and Castaway Cay. What else?

I am a die hard Disney cruiser, 6 complete but Disney is pricing us out. I will miss my mouse but we are booked on the Explorer in Sept for Bermuda!! I am beyond excited. I have gone into this saying not what does Disney have rccl doesn't but what does rccl have Disney doesn't!!! Ice skating, rock wall, and so much more. I got a balcony for sure on rccl cause I want the space but I am sailing way way less then Disney. I can do 2 cruises on RCCL for 1 Disney.

 

[abdmom]

RCCL is very family friendly. The split bathroom is a major difference in the stateroom. Most RCCL staterooms do not have bathtubs, only showers. Suites have tubs. There is a wide variety of staterooms on RCCL ships, much more so than DCL. Some are larger, some are smaller than DCL staterooms.

The amenities vary greatly between classes on RCCL. The Oasis and Allure have the most amenities, followed by the Freedom class, followed by the Voyager class. The Radiance class has huge expanses of glass, bringing the outside in. Several of the ships have DreamWorks characters - Shrek etc.

The kids clubs on RCCL are separated into age groups. The 3 year old would be in with 3-5 year olds. The kids clubs are much more organized on RCCL than DCL. The kids clubs close for lunch and dinner on sea days, but there is an option to pay for the kids to stay for those times.

The "free" soda on DCL is only at one location on the pool deck. At every other location, you have to pay about $2 plus tax. RCCL has several all you drink packages, including the soda package, non-alcoholic and alcoholic packages.

Overall, RCCL is a very "active" cruise line, whereas DCL tends to be all about the characters.

 

[bumbershoot]

My question is, what does DCL have that RCCL doesn't? How family friendly is RCCL? Obviously, I would be missing the characters, and Castaway Cay. What else?

DCL has the included sodas. Doubt the kids will be using that much at their ages.
DCL has characters; those meet 'n greets are something like half an hour long...not much time at all!
DCL has the "legal" ability to bring booze, waters, and sodas onboard with you. They have to be in your carryon.
Other than that....?


RCCL has Dreamworks characters on some ships.
RCCL has packages so those who want soda can buy soda and those who don't aren't subsidizing the soda drinkers.
RCCL doesn't officially allow anything beyond 2 bottles of wine per stateroom.

RCCL also has ice skating on many ships, the flowrider on many ships (in your case obviously that would be for the adults), bigger pools (safer pools). Ships are just as pretty, but in a different way that Disney ships are pretty.

RCCL has Coco Cay and Labadee as private island/beach, on some itineraries. We enjoyed Coco just as much as Castaway, only in different ways!

 

[UpstateAddict]

Are the pools on RCCL heated?

Also missing the aqua duck/aqua dunk on all but the wonder.

 

[pjc4925]

Having just gotten off the Freedom of the Seas I would like to offer my $.02. We only made one show. We had a group of 18 in our party and left our dining at one time to see everyone at least at dinner time. We ate at 5:30. We would have to skip dessert to make the 7:00 show or go to the 9:00 show. We only made one show and it was a comedy show. We did not see any "Broadway" type shows even advertised like we are used to on the Disney boats. The kids clubs are not open on sail away day. The remaining days are broken up into sections each about 4 hours long with an hour or so break between sessions. You need to take care of your child during those hour breaks. Which means stopping whatever you are doing and entertain them. Don't get me wrong, I don't use the kids clubs as a babysitting service and actually my daughters age 11 and 5 seldom visit the clubs on any of our cruises. Just an observation. Also after 10:00 PM there is a $7 per hour charge until midnight or two I forget. My daughter did not have charging capabilities on her card. The staff told her she would have to sign the receipt for $14 dollars, daughter felt uncomfortable with that, but whatever. Unfortunately when we were bored my wife and I would find ourselves at the casino. I enjoy going to Vegas, but want to do other things while on a cruise. The characters were scarce. You could not take pictures with your own camera while standing with a character. The TV selection in the room was limited to TBS CNN and ESPN2 and then a Dreamworks movie and a Barbie movie and then Spanish channels. I didn't like having to pay a couple dollars for a Starbucks or Ben and Jerry Ice cream or $15 per child for my daughter to decorate a cupcake. Felt nickled and dimed. I was told by someone in my party that if you left a pool towel in your room, you were going to be charged $25. Never saw that in writing so can't confirm that. The food was much more "cruise" like on RCCL. I am not impressed with the food in Disney's MDR. We didn't get the soda package, but never had a problem getting a soda with dinner and think I drank more water anyways. Had to miss their private island due to rough weather and small tender boats could not make it. Not a problem at Castaway Cay. With all of that and Disney being sometimes nearly twice the cost of anyone else, we did not book onboard and started looking for our next DCL cruise.

And pools were not heated last week. Hot tub was too hot and almost unbearable however. The pools are bigger on the RCL. Freedom of the seas has the similar capacity as the Dream or Fantasy but we were never crowded. If we can get a 7 day on Magic or Wonder that would be preferred. Dream and Fantasy pools seem a lot smaller.

 

[bumbershoot]

Are the pools on RCCL heated?

Sadly, I have experienced "no" as the answer, and that's also what I have read on cruisecritic.

However, we will NEVER go in one of the tiny and unsafe pools on Disney's ships, so it's either a cold but pretty pool or no pool at all for us.

Having just gotten off the Freedom of the Seas I would like to offer my $.02. We only made one show. We had a group of 18 in our party and left our dining at one time to see everyone at least at dinner time. We ate at 5:30. We would have to skip dessert to make the 7:00 show or go to the 9:00 show.

We made NO shows. Same timing issue. But then I dislike the shows on Disney (I truly disliked Golden Mickeys with a passion that's almost irrational) so it's no loss to me whatsoever.

We only made one show and it was a comedy show. We did not see any "Broadway" type shows even advertised like we are used to on the Disney boats.

The kids clubs are not open on sail away day. The remaining days are broken up into sections each about 4 hours long with an hour or so break between sessions. You need to take care of your child during those hour breaks. Which means stopping whatever you are doing and entertain them. Don't get me wrong, I don't use the kids clubs as a babysitting service and actually my daughters age 11 and 5 seldom visit the clubs on any of our cruises. Just an observation.

And it's a good point! I personally liked it, because it meant I got to see my kid and it wasn't just because I was being a meanie. DS doesn't eat in the kid's clubs on DCL anyway.

Also after 10:00 PM there is a $7 per hour charge until midnight or two I forget.

Also worth knowing! Then again, it's mentioned every day in the Compasses so it's hard to forget. Along with the $1 per minute charge that starts at 16 minutes after closing time for normal hours.

My daughter did not have charging capabilities on her card. The staff told her she would have to sign the receipt for $14 dollars, daughter felt uncomfortable with that, but whatever.

Unfortunately when we were bored my wife and I would find ourselves at the casino. I enjoy going to Vegas, but want to do other things while on a cruise.

Oh wow, we walked through one time, and it was just so unpleasant we went through to the other side and were done with the place. We found ourselves wandering around, looking at all the art, or making a scavenger hunt of the bar signs, etc. Kind of what DCL has us doing with the midship detective agency, but without the long, noisy interactive things that happen with MDA. We also spent some time in the library.

The characters were scarce. You could not take pictures with your own camera while standing with a character. And just like on DCL, character meeting times are short and mentioned in the Compass (vs Disney's Navigator).

FWIW for us in January on Freedom, there were specific times when you could use your camera, and times when you could not. It's possible your crew was more busy than ours was, and didn't have time to mention that.

The TV selection in the room was limited to TBS CNN and ESPN2 and then a Dreamworks movie and a Barbie movie and then Spanish channels.

I didn't like having to pay a couple dollars for a Starbucks or Ben and Jerry Ice cream or $15 per child for my daughter to decorate a cupcake. Felt nickled and dimed.

Not sure if you're comparing that to Disney. But you don't get free espresso drinks on Disney Cruise Lines, either. And they don't even HAVE Ben and Jerry's on their ships, so you don't have any option to pay for it. B&J meant that my son had the chance to have ice cream that's fairly decent and with known ingredients, so bumping up the budget by $30 to let him have it every day was totally worth it! DCL doesn't have the cupcake thing, either.

I was told by someone in my party that if you left a pool towel in your room, you were going to be charged $25. Never saw that in writing so can't confirm that.

Since they weren't telling you it was going to happen, it wasn't. Right around the time of our cruise in January RCCL mainly stopped it with the pool towel charges. It was still in effect halfway through our cruise, then we could tell when it changed because the crew got a lot more relaxed with checkouts and turnins. I think your party member was going by old info.

The food was much more "cruise" like on RCCL. I am not impressed with the food in Disney's MDR. We didn't get the soda package, but never had a problem getting a soda with dinner and think I drank more water anyways. Had to miss their private island due to rough weather and small tender boats could not make it. Not a problem at Castaway Cay. With all of that and Disney being sometimes nearly twice the cost of anyone else, we did not book onboard and started looking for our next DCL cruise.

I believe DCL used to have to tender to Castaway. But there ARE plenty of sailings where they canNOT dock there! There's even a thread on the Dis dedicated to it. Just because DCL doesn't tender doesn't mean they always get to go to Castaway. I'm super sorry you didn't get to experience Coco Cay, though. It was great.

How did you get sodas for free? Did they think you had a package?

And pools were not heated last week. Hot tub was too hot and almost unbearable however. The pools are bigger on the RCL. Freedom of the seas has the similar capacity as the Dream or Fantasy but we were never crowded. If we can get a 7 day on Magic or Wonder that would be preferred. Dream and Fantasy pools seem a lot smaller.

It's not my intention to be argumentative. I had thoughts about some of the things you said, and feelings about others, and some of it I felt needed a bit of clarification.

 

[pjc4925]

It's not my intention to be argumentative. I had thoughts about some of the things you said, and feelings about others, and some of it I felt needed a bit of clarification.[/QUOTE]

Don't think you are argumentative at all. Just two different opinions. And valid points to each of my "complaints" (even though they were mainly observations no real complaints. Still had a great time). We simply asked for a soda on one of the nights and he brought us a soda every night. Never asked for our room key and we never gave the impression we had a soda package. We just thought they gave soda with dinner only.

 

[BamaGuy44]

It's not my intention to be argumentative. I had thoughts about some of the things you said, and feelings about others, and some of it I felt needed a bit of clarification.

Don't think you are argumentative at all. Just two different opinions. And valid points to each of my "complaints" (even though they were mainly observations no real complaints. Still had a great time). We simply asked for a soda on one of the nights and he brought us a soda every night. Never asked for our room key and we never gave the impression we had a soda package. We just thought they gave soda with dinner only.[/QUOTE]

Interesting about the soda at dinner, everything I've read says soda at dinner is extra unless you have the package. Maybe some servers don't want to fool with a bill and just let it slide. Either way we'll be buying the soda package for my son , the price is reasonable especially since they have the freestyle Coke machines which he loves.

Interesting to get the DCL vs RCCL perspective. We love DCL but at the same time I'm excited to see what else is out there. One question since you guys have been on Freedom: Is there a snack stand near the pool like they have on the Disney ships? One of my son's favorite things on DCL is being able to walk up and get a slice of pizza any time he wants very easily. I think he eats his cruise fare qorth of pizza alone I know there's Sorrentos in the Promenade for pizza as well, but that's a trek to a different deck, etc if we're hanging at the pool

 

[woody73]

. . . The kids clubs are not open on sail away day. The remaining days are broken up into sections each about 4 hours long with an hour or so break between sessions. You need to take care of your child during those hour breaks. Which means stopping whatever you are doing and entertain them. Don't get me wrong, I don't use the kids clubs as a babysitting service and actually my daughters age 11 and 5 seldom visit the clubs on any of our cruises. Just an observation. Also after 10:00 PM there is a $7 per hour charge until midnight or two I forget.

DCL is famous for daycare at sea.

Woody

 

[pjc4925]

Interesting to get the DCL vs RCCL perspective. We love DCL but at the same time I'm excited to see what else is out there. One question since you guys have been on Freedom: Is there a snack stand near the pool like they have on the Disney ships? One of my son's favorite things on DCL is being able to walk up and get a slice of pizza any time he wants very easily. I think he eats his cruise fare qorth of pizza alone I know there's Sorrentos in the Promenade for pizza as well, but that's a trek to a different deck, etc if we're hanging at the pool[/QUOTE]

That was one thing that we actually mentioned during our cruise was that there was no snack shacks by the pool. Windjammer, the buffet is located on the same deck and close to the kids splash area. They had pizza, hamburgers, and hot dogs (I never saw chicken strips though) and there were certainly no restrictions about bringing it outside but it was not as convient as DCL snack shacks. But on a positive side to that, my kids ate most of their dinners and did not get filled up snacking all day.

 

[mills10]

However, we will NEVER go in one of the tiny and unsafe pools on Disney's ships, so it's either a cold but pretty pool or no pool at all for us.

I saw a couple of people on this thread say the pools on DCL aren't safe. Just wondering what is unsafe about them. I've only been on one Disney cruise and I can't think of what was unsafe about them, but it was a few years ago and I can't remember all of the details. Just curious, thanks!

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

I saw a couple of people on this thread say the pools on DCL aren't safe. Just wondering what is unsafe about them. I've only been on one Disney cruise and I can't think of what was unsafe about them, but it was a few years ago and I can't remember all of the details. Just curious, thanks!

I used to be a lifeguard... And when I saw the pool on the Dream I was SHOCKED!

If I had kids and they had been with me on the Dream on our sea day I would NEVER allow them in the pool. It was literally wall to wall human A kid could EASILY fall down and just be trapped below the humans. Even the addition of lifeguards would NOT change my mind unless it was accompanied by actually enforcing the pool capacity to a safe level.

The family pool is too small for the large ships and too overcrowded. There's already been one horrid tragedy on this line and while I don't know if overcrowding was part of the issue I would not be at all surprised based on what I saw.

I honestly stood there with my mouth open just amazed that parents were allowing their kids in that mosh pit. I wondered when the tragedy would occur and sadly a few months later a child did drown in one of those pools. While he lived his life, and that of the entire family, has been changed forever!

Yes, Disney now has lifeguards, but having worked as one you can't actually effectively guard a pool that overcrowded.

 

[Summerl30]

Agree that if they don't reinforce a limit, it will never be safe. I used to guard too and I'd be completely stressed out guarding that pool with that many kids in such a closed space.

 

[bumbershoot]

I saw a couple of people on this thread say the pools on DCL aren't safe. Just wondering what is unsafe about them. I've only been on one Disney cruise and I can't think of what was unsafe about them, but it was a few years ago and I can't remember all of the details. Just curious, thanks!

Tiny and they allow serious overcrowding. Terrifying.

 

[dvcdisney]

This past March, we were on the Fantasy and even though it wasn't too busy, it still made me nervous. We always had to make sure that one of us is with our daughter at the pool. I don't go in, but sit on the side.

I've heard many parents tell their kids that they are just over at the tables eating. It makes me cringe. I do sound like an overprotective parent, but I'm good with that in this case.