DCL vs Royal Carib.

Well, it 'can' happen...we sailed in May the first year Disney sailed in Mediterranean (Tunisia was still a port)..$999 per adult, kids sailed free..and they gave us $1600 in On board credit...so for 7 of us we were out of pocket $4,000 for a 10 night cruise..but had $1600 OBC...so all that for $2600...:)

 

That is why we MUST sail another ship this summer...always sailed off season, but with three in college...must stick to summer dates...so which ship would you take 18-21 year olds who don't drink or gamble? They honestly would love to sail Disney, but we can't afford 11k for 7 nighters...

please let me know which ones your kids loved! I need to book something this week...can sail out of anywhere..prefer to sail Caribbean. Thanks!!

First, you can't equate prices on DCL 10 years ago with now. I got some super prices on DCL in 2009 and 2010--can't get anywhere close to those now.

As to summer cruises with 3 college age kids...I'd look at Royal Caribbean and NCL if they like the bright colors, etc. Princess is probably a little sedate for them although my 25 year old and I were pleased with that line. We found a wide age range on Princess. Celebrity was an older crowd. This may have been just the cruises we chose, but it was our experience. I look at the Caribbean as "Been there, done that," but it might be fun on a different cruise line....especially one with different ports than DCL hits.

First' date=' you can't equate prices on DCL 10 years ago with now. I got some super prices on DCL in 2009 and 2010--can't get anywhere close to those now.

 

As to summer cruises with 3 college age kids...I'd look at Royal Caribbean and NCL if they like the bright colors, etc. Princess is probably a little sedate for them although my 25 year old and I were pleased with that line. We found a wide age range on Princess. Celebrity was an older crowd. This may have been just the cruises we chose, but it was our experience. I look at the Caribbean as "Been there, done that," but it might be fun on a different cruise line....especially one with different ports than DCL hits.[/quote']

 

Thanks! We were hoping to hit Tortola or the southern part this go round...we just love the Disney Cruise line experience and hate to be disappointed as we don't often get the chance to vacation :(

Thanks! We were hoping to hit Tortola or the southern part this go round...we just love the Disney Cruise line experience and hate to be disappointed as we don't often get the chance to vacation :(

I totally agree and there are things that we miss from DCL when we cruise on other lines. But then, there are things that other lines do better. With my youngest being an adult, I can't justify DCL's rates at this point. And honestly, sometimes it is nice to be on a ship that isn't overrun with unsupervised children (I do realize that a couple of families not supervising can make it seem like the "whole ship.")

While my family sails with Disney, and we really enjoy them, I personally sail solo on Royal Caribbean due to price and greater variety of itineraries, ships. I am a huge Disney fan, but they are 100% a premium cruise line and, hence, why my family only cruises with them every other year. Love both lines, have no real complaints with either of them and am looking forward to my two solo cruises with Royal on Adventure, Harmony :) Hoping to book our summer 2019 cruise on the Magic very soon!

We have done 18 Royal cruises and thought we were hooked for life, we made it to Diamond plus, mainly cruising in suites. Over the years, we have noticed their service and friendliness towards guests has diminished especially those that paid the big bucks to cruise in full suites. Realizing we probably wouldn’t make it to the next Crown & Anchor level, we decided to venture out and try other lines. In all honesty, the service and hospitality and friendliness of everyone we have encountered with Disney is beyond comparison to any line we have been on. We have been on 4 Disney cruises now, 3 of them in Concierge with cruise 5,6&7 already booked. The concierge teams we have met are by far steps ahead of any we have dealt with on Royal. It seems they go way out of their way to learn everything about you to make your cruise experience make you hungry for more. Granted we miss the rock wall and ice skating on Royal, but nothing compares to the fun at CC, it’s such a beautiful island and the 5K makes it even more special. Even tho the price difference between the 2 lines is thousands off, we will continue to sail Disney , going with the old adage , you get what you pay for.

DH and I were just on the Magic in the Med in September and have never been as busy on a cruise as we were. We stayed onboard during 2 of the 4 ports and only got off for lunch at the 4th port.

 

 

Regarding Glacier Bay in Alaska - RCCL also doesn't go there. But they (and Disney) go to Icy Strait Point, which is our favorite port, and glacier viewing is Hubbard, which is enough for us.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

I am curious why Icy Strait Point is your favorite? I was just in Glacier Bay on Holland America (Glacier Bay was wonderful, I could not stand HAL) but it did not seem so much more spectacular than Hubbard that I would pick an itinerary solely on Glacier Bay. My next voyage does go to Icy Strait Point so I am wondering what its "must do's" are.

I am curious why Icy Strait Point is your favorite? I was just in Glacier Bay on Holland America (Glacier Bay was wonderful, I could not stand HAL) but it did not seem so much more spectacular than Hubbard that I would pick an itinerary solely on Glacier Bay. My next voyage does go to Icy Strait Point so I am wondering what its "must do's" are.

axelskater - a little OT, but I noticed that you sailed the QM2 in December 2009, was that the 10-day Southern Caribbean that sailed the first week of December by any chance? We were on that too.

axelskater - a little OT, but I noticed that you sailed the QM2 in December 2009, was that the 10-day Southern Caribbean that sailed the first week of December by any chance? We were on that too.

YES!! Oh the QM2 :hearteyes::hearteyes::hearteyes::hearteyes: Did you like her? We have been sailing in the Grills lately and it has been amazing. Talk about accommodating! Your wish is their command. I know Cunard is not for everyone but I love her.

We sail the Elizabeth to Alaska next year.

My husband and I do Cunard, but my mom and I always do Disney! She and I will do a 7 day New England/Canada voyage when they are released for next year. I think the Magic usually does that and it will be our first longer Disney voyage - all others have been 4. After all the descriptions here it does not sound like we will lack for things to do!

I know some people have said you pay more on DCL vs other lines for Europe. When I priced out our upcoming Disney Mediterranean Cruise on June 2 on opening day vs. RCL's new Symphony of the Seas for the same week they were extremely close (within about a hundred) in price when you added in the cost of the soda package. So make sure you check prices carefully. With that being said, the next Caribbean cruise we're doing during spring break 2019 is going to be on RC Allure because there was a huge price difference.

I know some people have said you pay more on DCL vs other lines for Europe. When I priced out our upcoming Disney Mediterranean Cruise on June 2 on opening day vs. RCL's new Symphony of the Seas for the same week they were extremely close (within about a hundred) in price when you added in the cost of the soda package. So make sure you check prices carefully. With that being said, the next Caribbean cruise we're doing during spring break 2019 is going to be on RC Allure because there was a huge price difference.

Sent from my SM-T350 using Tapatalk

You're going to pay a premium to cruise on the brand new mega ship versus the older, smaller disney ship. That's not really an equal comparison.

 

Sent from my SM-T350 using Tapatalk

I'm not saying that it's an apples to apples comparison, but for my family which loves cruising on Disney when I found that I could do a Disney ship for around the same price, I didn't feel priced out of Disney for Europe. Plus the Magic is going in dry dock at the end of this month and will have a brand new Tangled restaurant, updated Cove Café, updated spa, updated teen room (Edge), etc when we are on board. :D

YES!! Oh the QM2 :hearteyes::hearteyes::hearteyes::hearteyes: Did you like her? We have been sailing in the Grills lately and it has been amazing. Talk about accommodating! Your wish is their command. I know Cunard is not for everyone but I love her.

We sail the Elizabeth to Alaska next year.

 

My husband and I do Cunard, but my mom and I always do Disney! She and I will do a 7 day New England/Canada voyage when they are released for next year. I think the Magic usually does that and it will be our first longer Disney voyage - all others have been 4. After all the descriptions here it does not sound like we will lack for things to do!

We enjoyed it immensely. Definitely a different type of crowd. We're commoners, so we only sailed Britannia class :p we haven't had an opportunity to sail Cunard since, but definitely would do it if the opportunity arises.

We enjoyed it immensely. Definitely a different type of crowd. We're commoners, so we only sailed Britannia class :p we haven't had an opportunity to sail Cunard since, but definitely would do it if the opportunity arises.

We sailed Britannia our 1st 6 voyages, then out of the blue Cunard upgraded us for free to Princess Grill. My husband said "don't get used to it!" but I guess we both did. It has meant a lot more time at the office for me! But we love Cunard and cannot wait to sail the Elizabeth - every other voyage has been the QM2. I found Disney is also a wonderful line, and it suits my mom and I very well. He tried Disney and said - well it is nice but...So he and I stick to our journey back in time on Cunard, and she and I stick to DCL. If you are anywhere near NY, QM2 does a 5 day July 4th each year, including Boston on Independence Day. It i s not very costly, a nice way to see her again if you are on the Eastern US. I liked it since there was no long flight involved. Hard thing about Cunard - since she is UK based it often involves a long flight

We sailed Britannia our 1st 6 voyages, then out of the blue Cunard upgraded us for free to Princess Grill. My husband said "don't get used to it!" but I guess we both did. It has meant a lot more time at the office for me! But we love Cunard and cannot wait to sail the Elizabeth - every other voyage has been the QM2. I found Disney is also a wonderful line, and it suits my mom and I very well. He tried Disney and said - well it is nice but...So he and I stick to our journey back in time on Cunard, and she and I stick to DCL. If you are anywhere near NY, QM2 does a 5 day July 4th each year, including Boston on Independence Day. It i s not very costly, a nice way to see her again if you are on the Eastern US. I liked it since there was no long flight involved. Hard thing about Cunard - since she is UK based it often involves a long flight

That's the beauty of it. New York is our home port. We've sailed the QM2 out of Red Hook, Carnival and DCL (twice) out of New York. So convenient.

Thanks for that info about the July 4th cruise. Can't do it this year, but I'll keep it in mind for 2019.

Royal cruiser here that's been wanting to try Disney. I'm just having a lot of trouble justifying the price difference though. 7 night sailings out of Florida are over TWICE the price as Royal's Oasis class ships. Is it truly worth the extra money? I have a friend that just got off Disney Dream yesterday and she was less than impressed with the food and thought she received better food on Carnival last year.