Disney vs RCL?

[Sunshine101]

Hi all,

 

DH and I are avid cruisers and would like to take our 7yo and 4yo on one now. We have sailed with RCL 7x, and are wondering now which would be best for our girls. What do you think? Disney or RCL? Pros and cons to both?

 

Thanks for any input!

[Gatrcruzer]

I haven't been on Disney yet, so basing mostly on what I read. Just got off of RCI with a little on (a bit younger than yours). To be honest, my guess is that they'd both be good choices. Which one is better may depend on your girls and your family's desires/needs, budget, itinerary, as well as the time of year. We enjoyed RCI, found the staff to be wonderful, many activities, and very family-friendly. At the same time, there is a lot for the grown-ups. In fact, in many ways RCI felt as though it was trying to be all things to all people, and mostly succeeded. One thing that was a little less family friendly was the smoke - more smoke in the interior of the ship than I have experienced in the past 12 years of cruising. On the other hand, you can't get more family friendly than Disney, and if your girls are into the Mouse that would be a good choice. I believe that they are now allowing some age groups to mix at the kids clubs, so if your daughters wanted to be together at the kids club I believe they could be. On RCI I think the breakdowns in age are firmer so they could not be together, but depending on your girls this could be a plus or minus. I have also heard that soda is free on Disney at meals, if that is important to you (we are not soda drinkers, and for some that might actually be considered a negative). I have also read about the alterations to Castaway Cay and it sounds fantastic! Some of the newer RCI ships are really filled with interesting activities, but they are also quite large - sometimes alarmingly large - whereas the current Disney ships are smaller, and have fewer gimmicky activities (but do you really need an ice rink, flowrider, rock climbing wall, etc. for your girls?). Disney does look to have a fun looking water slide on the newer ships. I do think that the new Dream and Fantasy will be more on the large side, but nothing compared to Oasis, or even the Freedom class on RCI. If you are thinking a 3/4 night trip to the Bahamas I'd definitely go with the new Disney Dream over one of the older RCI ships, if you can afford it. I guess you need to think about what you are looking for, the needs of your girls, the itineraries, and see what is a good fit. Best of luck and happy cruising!

[Essiesmom]

Do keep in mind that if you are looking for more adult diversion, there is no casino on Disney. EM

[cb at sea]

No one entertains like Disney....but if money's an issue, RCI will give you a great time at a better price!

Disney's cabins are better than RCI's....but they have no casino! Both have great kid's programs. The ports are the ports....doesn't really matter how you get there!

[ck93]

Not sure if Royal does it, but Disney always catered to our children before us. They received their meals and desserts before us adults. The kids thought that was really neat that they were more "important" than we were!:D

[boulders]

Both RCI and DCL give very good experiences for both kids and adults. To answer your question as to which would give the "best" experience for girls aged 7 and 4 - it depends.

 

As you know the facilities on RCI vary between ship classes. Voyager, Freedom and Oasis classes have ice skating rinks with the ice shows which my kids love. There's also the H2O zone. On DCL, there is a small water park and large slide.

 

The kids clubs on RCI (AO) would group the 4 year old with 3-5 year olds and the 7 year old with 6-8 year olds. They have structured activities throughout the day. AO closes for certain times, like lunch, but you can sign your child up for lunch for a fee. They will also have a special dinner at Johnny Rockets' 1-3 times a 7 day cruise. At other times, they will close from 5-7 pm.

 

DCL kids clubs don't close for meal times. If your child is there at meal times, they will feed them. The activities are not as structured. The child has the choice to join in the planned activities, or do their own thing. There are a lot of computers in both the Club and the Lab and ds5 spent the majority of his time on these. Kids of your children's ages have the ability to go in the Club or the Lab as they wish.

 

The shows and shore excursions on DCL are more family friendly than those on RCI.

 

Dinners are about equal on both cruise lines. RCI's Windjammer is much better than the buffet on DCL. Although DCL serves pizza, etc at poolside, I really didn't care for it.

 

I prefer the staterooms on RCI. I felt really cramped in the DCL staterooms. The split bathroom takes up a lot of space. All the DCL staterooms have a tub.

 

The pricing on DCL has come way down. It is now comparable to RCI.

[boulders]

Oops Duplicate post

[Mack2]

I've cruised aboard Disney twice, and was fortunate enough to catch two different main shows. The old Hercules show (when my eldest was 4) and the Dreams show (plus the premiere of Chicken Little) when my youngest was 3. The Disney production shows are truly amazing... extremely well done.

 

Now my eldest is pushing 12, and he's been on 8 cruises. The majority of them being RCI... so it's been a while since we've cruised Disney.

 

 

I will say for Disney, that the experiences aboard the two lines is almost incomparable.

Disney... is Disney. It's a whole marketing experience and you are completely immersed in everything Disney (the "magic", the characters, the pin trading, the color changing dining room, etc)

They do a very good job of promoting everything Disney, and creating a template for a family oriented Disney-esque vacation.

The rooms are rooms... I got a balcony both times (when the kids were sleeping, we weren't confined to the room... we could go outside)... but you can still find yourself busy enough on board to not find yourself in the room all the time (whether they're small or not)

 

My kids were deliriously happy throughout the vacation. The crew is extremely accommodating to the children... The ship does get really quiet (except the dueling piano bar) late at night when the kids went to bed... but when you book a cruise with Disney for your family... are you REALLY doing it for yourself? C'mon, let's be honest here.

It's totally for the kids. I mean, if I want to go on a cruise w/o the kids... I'm probably not booking the Magic as a first choice, you know what I mean? (although, the food was excellent on Disney back then... I daresay better than RCI now)

 

RCI has a little bit of everything for everyone. The surfing thing is limited to kids above a certain height, but it's still fun to watch people wipe out, am I right?

 

 

I'm glad we did our Disney cruises... one of those things that I was extremely happy to have my kids experience... whether they remember it or not. I remember, though, and those memories are precious.

I want to do Disney to Alaska... They're sending the Magic up there.

Alaska is boring to young kids. I figure if we do Disney, they won't be THAT bored.

[Mack2]

The only bad thing I remember about Disney had to do with children in swimmie diapers, the waterslide pool (Mickey), and about a dozen "cast members" in yellow jumpsuits with scrub brushes and disinfectants/bleach.

 

Sea days were sorta a bummer because the pool would be closed and drained for 2-3 hours, at different intervals during the day.

 

Highlights I remember were the Princess Tea Party or High Tea (mother/daughter), getting suckered into the pin trading phenomenon, buying the autographed poster of the Characters on the deck somewhere (still hanging in the basement)... and the brunch... they had an adults only brunch... that was really good.

[Sunshine101]

Oh dear, this is making the decision even more difficult. Now I'm getting stressed, haha. What types of characters are on Disney? All types I assume?

[svwkirby]

Oh dear, this is making the decision even more difficult. Now I'm getting stressed, haha. What types of characters are on Disney? All types I assume?

 

Yes, you'll see the Fab 5, the princesses, Stitch, and many others around. On the other hand, some of the RCCL ships will have Dreamworks characters on them as well, but I don't remember when the start date is for that.

[ck93]

Oh dear, this is making the decision even more difficult. Now I'm getting stressed, haha. What types of characters are on Disney? All types I assume?

 

At those ages... give Disney a try! Heck, I'm in my 30's and they made me feel like a kid again.

 

Capt Jack Sparrow is on there for pirate nights... they shoot off fireworks those nights and they are pretty neat to watch. Castaway Cay is also a wonderful family spot. They decided on one cruise with Disney to hang out with their club on Castaway Cay, DH & I ventured out to the Adult's only beach.

 

The last time we cruised Disney, my kids were 14 & 15. We did the land/sea package and they still say it's the best vacation we have had yet.;)

 

We are going on FOS in January. I wanted to pick a cruise for them (now 16 & 17) that allows them more things for older teens to do like flowrider and rock climbing.

 

Have fun deciding!:D

[crzgrl66]

We have done both RCI this year and DCL last year. Here is my families opinion:

 

What our family preferred on Disney Wonder:

 

Kids club - More hours, more choices for kids. Kids could choose group activities or play something by themselves.

Dining - Food was about the same, but on DCL they really take care of the kids at mealtime and if they are in the club, they get fed there.

Water park - My kids preferred the slide on DCL to the H20 zone on RCL

Shows - We thought the Disney shows were better.

 

What our family preferred on Liberty of the Seas:

 

Adult entertainment - lots of things to do late into the evening. DCL didn't have much late night entertainment.

Amenities - Ice rink, rock wall, huge promenade

Pool - We loved the caribbean bands by the pool

$ - 7 Day Cruise was just a little more than a 4 night on DCL

 

If your girls are into the princesses then this would probably be the best time to go on a Disney cruise. Both provide a wonderful vacation for families.

[jewel_beth]

For us, I found that although RCL offers MORE things to do for adults and just as many things to do for the kids, DCL offers more for the entire family to do together. My DS does not care for the kid's clubs and would rather be with us so this is a big determination for our family.

[Dengail]

Hi,

We've been on Voyager and Liberty class RCI and a 4 day Disney cruise. We are Disney addicts, we loved the shows, characters, dining rooms, spa, on the Wonder. The kids club was kind of a let down because the times our kids went, not much was going on and they sat and played computer games. Maybe it was just the times they were there or the short cruise, I don't know but it was disappointing and we LOVE the kids clubs on ships. The Character meets were great, again the shows were simply FANTASTIC.

 

OK, we also liked all the activities on the RCI ships. We golfed, skated, flo-rider-ed:), rock-climbed, etc. We are a very active family so we loved it. The actual food was about the same for us(good) but the Disney dining rooms are amazing. You won't lose on either ship...I guess if I had to choose, Disney for younger, RCI big ships for teens because of the activities.

I liked the spa on the Voyager better than Disney's. (Bought the spa pass on both)

If we could afford to go a longer Disney (we need 2 rooms) we would do it again, but not on the shorter one.