Just back from the Oasis of the Seas.... comparative review with DCL....

[dunnhorn]

Hi everyone,

 

Having been a fairly long-term lurker (and sometimes contributor) on this board, and having just literally got off Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas 3 days ago, I thought I would share my thoughts and opinions for any of you who have ever thought about what it may be like "on the other ship."

 

Again - before I start - let me say that I realize that some who read this may have gone on the Oasis and may have had a completely different experience, and may have a totally different "take." I fully disclaim that these experiences are OURS and these opinions are MY OWN and if you choose to cruise Oasis, you may have a totally different experience.

 

There - disclaimer over. :)

 

Now - some background. Who are we? We are long term (15+ years) DVC members who go to Disney every year. Kids are 11 and 9, and we have been on 3 Disney cruises, including the Fantasy last year and the Dream the year before that (both in their inaugural sailing years.) Our neighbors went with us on the Dream, and thought it was a little pricey, so we thought we'd check out Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas. They had other friends who love cruising Royals's Freedom of the Seas, so they thought they would invite them along as well.

 

So, our group of folks were as follows: Me (44), my hubby (40), our kids (11, 9) and our friends (39, 38, 8, 5) and their friends (39, 38, 10.) We all had outdoor balcony rooms on the forward starboard (same as we always have on DCL.) I would say that all things considered, the Oasis was about $1000 cheaper than the Fantasy for our family, and we also received $700 in different shipboard credits.

 

First off... THIS SHIP IS HUGE! The embarkation process was amazingly painless, with the port seeming like a giant airport terminal. The check-in area was easily 3x the size of DCL, and literally it took us 15 minutes to check in, 2 minutes to have our picture made and then we were headed to the ship. There were no "assigned times" to arrive at the port. Hardly any wait times at all and the parking was incredible - our parking spot was literally 140 steps from the car to the ship. No parking deck! It is clear that nearly everyone flies in for their cruise.

 

Once on the ship, we are funneled into what my 9 year old said felt like a shopping mall. It was the Promenade Deck, which was indoors and contained all of the shops for the ship. It also had a few bars and --- this was interesting --- about 2 or 3 kiosks/counters that had featured "today only" items for sale every day. At first we didn't realize that the items were a one-day-only thing. The first night they had nothing but alcohol out (and they were swarmed.) I thought it was interesting that they had such huge bottled alcohol sales out int he central area of the ship on the very first night. "Not very kid friendly" I thought to myself. Little did I know this was only the tip of the iceberg.

 

We weren't really greeted by anyone as we got on the ship. We just walked on, not knowing which way was up. We decided to head to the Park Cafe in the middle of Central Park area to eat the famed "Roast Beef Sandwich" that everyone raves about. (Central Park is the park area carved in the middle of the ship that has trees, bushes, shrubs and walkways and is cut open to the sky. It really is remarkable.)

 

We got to Park Cafe and the famed "roast beef sandwich" consisted of one slice of beef loin on a salted weck roll about the size of our fist. It was good, sure - but not the level of raves I had heard and read about by everyone. No shrimp, no fancy buffets - no crab claws around the pool. Also, Central park was very HOT.

 

The good news is that our room was ready! No waiting - pretty much, we get on the ship and the room is ready right then. That was nice. We went to our room and were amazed by the KING bed with egg crate - that was the best part of the room was the bed. However – there was no room for the privacy curtain between the adult area and kid area (we got to miss that privacy curtain!) And this was strange - the beds for the kids consisted of a sofa that made into a double bed, and a twin bed that came from the ceiling. Because the beds were different sizes, the ladder for the ceiling bed just didn't fit over the double bed below. So, in actuality, this room would have fit 5. I have no idea what the situation was, whether this was from a remodel or what - but it just didn't fit and clearly didn't look to be designed to work that way.

 

We met our room attendant at that point, and I asked him for ice 2x a day (he said no problem) and to clean out the fridge and honor bar (he said ok - but he didn't) and for him to make towel animals every night, because I heard that they didn't do that on Royal. Our attendant said "no, we don't do towel animals every night - we do them every other night, so you will only get them on sea days." I was a little taken aback that he would say no to what I thought was a simple request, so I didn't say anything. He also told us what he work hours were and when he was available and when he was not available. Again, I thought that was interesting.

 

The prices on the honor bar weren't bad - 2.50 for a can of coke - but we had purchased 2 cups for the unlimited soda package and we didn't need it. I never really understood why they had the "honor bar" in there in the first place if it wasn't to try to gouge us somehow? We were able to slap a bag tag on a case of water and bring that in no problem. And my husband and I split up and went through security separately so we each were able to bring on 2 bottles of wine.

 

Back to the room – our steward told us at that point that there was a nice "sailaway" party on the pool deck after the muster drill. I had visions of Mickey and Minnie dancing and a big countdown, so we got ready for the muster drill and put on our swimsuits and headed to the pool for the “party.”

 

The muster drill - and that was similar to Disney except for one thing.... the life vests were stored in some closet near the theater. In all of the Disney ships, we had the life vests in our room. So, I'm not exactly crazy about the idea that if there was some emergency, I would have to traverse that GIANT ship, stand in some crazy hysterical line to get life vests then file into a life boat that held 300 people. I don't know - something didn't sit right with me with that whole situation. I wanted access to my life vest.

 

The "sailaway party" consisted of a steel drum band playing live music - no M.C., no countdown, no nothing. We just started moving. I turned to my husband and said "Oh look - I guess that was it!"

 

After that, we went to dinner. The food was fine, not remarkable. I would say, however, that our dining service team was exceptionally attentive. The dining room was luxurious and comfortable. Throughout our cruise, we never really got to know the dining staff - but I think that is because they were busting it to move the food and serve the tables so quickly, they didn't really make time for chit chat. Again, this is very different from the DCL experience, where you really get to know your servers and assistant servers VERY well... however it is at the expense of service. If we had asked for an extra entree or another appetizer, on DCL it took forever. Here, on Royal, it was done with the wave of a wand. However the food quality just wasn't on par with DCL.

 

After that, we went to our first show - the ice show. It was very good and extremely entertaining. However it was not full. I thought that was interesting.

 

We were tired, so headed back to the room. This was bizarre - that night our room attendant didn't put the ceiling bed down for us. I thought that was unusual, considering the fact he had MET our family. Like, our 11 year old son and 9 year old daughter were supposed to sleep in the same double bed??? We had to call at 10:30 p.m. to have him come back and set up the ceiling bed (not exactly what you want to do your first night.) He was very defensive about it, saying "I didn't set this bed up because you didn't tell me you wanted me to set this bed up." It was the most ridiculous thing - I just shrugged it off. He then started railing on how awful it was to work for Royal because the company didn't support its employees and basically let people take the tips off their account. At that point I didn't know what to say.

 

The next day was Nassau, and we had a nice room service breakfast (note: Royal's room service offers HOT breakfast, where DCL's is only continental. This is a major improvement over DCL!) Afterwards, we went to the pool deck. I must say, the pool deck at the Oasis is incredible. It has 5 pools and probably a dozen hot tubs. There are two elevated hot tubs right next to every pool - so parents can sit in the hot tubs and watch the kids in the pool. The pool deck really was exceptional in every way over any of the Disney ships in that there was something for everyone - 2 flow riders, 2 rock walls, a zip line, 5 pools and a water spash zone, not to mention the dozen hot tubs. Four of the hot tubs were enormous "infinity" hot tubs that were in wings over the side, so you looked down and saw the ocean below. Incredible. The pool deck is definitely far and away better than DCL.

 

We splashed in the pools all day and had a great time. That evening, we went for dinner, and I basically had the same thing the second night. I didn't realize it until I received my meal and I was like “wow, this looks familiar...” Had to send the steak back because it was overcooked. Afterwards, we checked the kids in the kids club for the first time and explored the ship as adults.

 

A note on the kids club. The environment of "Adventure Ocean" reminded me of a nice day care. It was bright, colorful and fun – but nothing remarkable. It had separate rooms with different toys and areas, but the kids were segregated by age. This became a major issue for us during our trip. The ages are 3-5, 6-8, and 9-11. Our neighbors had to move their 5 year old up to the 6-8 group to be with her 8 year old sister. Our daughter who was 9 had to move "down" to the 6-8 year old group to be with her 8 year old friend. The boys were happy as clams in the 9-11 group.

 

Well, when her friend wasn't in the 6-8 kids club, our 9 year old didn't want to be there. However, it was a MAJOR problem for the Adventure Ocean staff for her to go back and forth from the 6-8 age group and the 9-11 age group. Halfway in the trip, the counselors started giving our daughter grief about it. My husband got VERY angry about this because he didn't think they should have put her in the middle of what was clearly an administrative issue on Royal’s part - they should have talked only with us and left her out of it. Meanwhile, our daughter wasn't happy in the 6-8 age group. She thought it was too structured, it felt "too much like school" and they were all required to play the same game at the same time. So, when we checked her in later in the week, the Adventure Ocean staff told us that we were no longer allowed to put her in the 6-8 age group with her friend - we said fine, she didn't like it anyway. As an aside and a disclaimer, she was fairly happy being in the 9-11 age group. Our son also liked the group – but he did say that the counselors could get bossy at times and one point told the kids that they were going to kick out all of the kids who were allowed to check themselves out. He told us this the last morning of the cruise – and I noted that on the comment card and identified the counselor by name who gave that threat.

 

Now - for the thing that really concerns me - the first night we dropped our kids off in the kids club, our daughter got really seasick and was in the bathroom the whole time. With the kids club, you have to pick the kids up by 10:00 p.m. or else you are charged $6/hour per kid. We dropped her off around 8 p.m. and when we got there at 10, we were told she wasn't feeling well. The room was also very hot and stuffy. She was bright red. The Adventure Ocean staff told me "yes, we left a message on your room phone that she wasn't feeling well." MY ROOM PHONE??? WHY WOULD I BE IN MY ROOM WHEN THE KIDS WERE IN THE KIDS CLUB? I then realized that they had NO pager system, NO mechanism to find me other than calling me out over the PA system if there was a problem. This was a MAJOR thing that made me uneasy over the rest of the week. For that reason, we didn’t leave the kids in the kids club over 2 hours at any stretch without checking on them. What a pain it was to have to go up and check on the kids every hour and a half or so because we didn’t have a pager or anything.

 

Royal has these iPhone thingies we could check out, but they were $40 each, and I had read that they didn't work well. Our friends stood in line for 45 minutes to get them, but they gave their last ones out to the people right in front of them, so they didn’t get them. Frustrating. So – bottom line - the kids club doesn't give out pagers or anything. For a ship that size, and the money we paid - this really floors me. Shame on you, Royal, for not offering anything like this for parents. Again, tip of the iceberg.

 

So, the next day was a sea day and we had an amazing time on the pool deck. Had to pull the kids away to make our reservations for the broadway show on the ship. We had ressies for 2:30 p.m. show of "Hairspray." I had read reviews, and had concluded it would have been okay for our kids --- but our neighbors both concluded the opposite for their younger girls so they skipped the show.

 

I must say, "Hairspray" was awesome. Incredible singing, dancing, acting - it was fabulous and the kids loved it. BUT - at the 2:30 show, they had gratuitous profanity!!! I mean good grief, if there are going to be kids at any show, wouldn't it be the only matinee? Couldn't they have taken the profanity out of that matinee show? Also, having not one but two guys dress in drag made for quite the interesting dinner conversation later that day...

 

And that brings me to the cruise director. We had "Ricky" as our cruise director. Ricky is from Jamaica and although he was friendly and enthusiastic, he was a complete and total Queen. I never once saw him in any type of sea uniform. He wore jeans and a polo that was usually so tight it was painted on. I must say, however, that he was at EVERYTHING. Every show, nightly parties - Ricky was EVERYWHERE, making announcements, telling jokes – being his lovable Queen self. By the end of the trip, it dawned on me that he really wasn't the cruise director - he was really the "Em Cee" of the ship. He was the great announcer, the great face for everything - but he was running around so much - on TV, at shows, making announcements, that there was no way that he could actually PLAN stuff. So, he had a "director of activities" who actually did that (although I wasn’t certain – I think he was also gay as well.) But Ricky being a complete queen didn't matter to me except in one regard - there was definitely a "pro-gay" slant to activities and the entire ambiance of the ship. Again, I am generally okay with this but I just wasn't expecting it. You may say "how?" Well - there was electronica/dance music pretty much at every turn. The last morning of the ship, we were eating in the Solarium café for breakfast – there was quiet electronica music and I actually heard the word “erotic” in the song. I was like “um, okay.” There was a Love & Marriage show (adult only) where they analyzed the relationship of three couples and one of the couples was a gay couple. Also, they had not one but TWO different late night "1970's Disco" parades/parties on the Promenade deck. TWO? They videotaped each of these events and played them back through the ship TV so you could watch. Let's just say that for the ‘70’s parties there was a sea of folks in YMCA gear - bare chested men wearing vests and cowboy hats doing the conga through the crowded Promenade. "Ricky" was also bare chested wearing a giant orange afro that was about 12" thick at any side. And then, you know – Hairspray with the cross dressers.... JM J Bullock another night in the Viking lounge singing Broadway torch songs… For the final show "Come Fly With Me" there was a number where they had just men dressed in these leather shorts/leather shirt unitard outfit wearing wigs with cornrows hanging upside down from inverted umbrellas with their legs spread eagle, twirling about. Our neighbor said it was "a bit on the gay erotica side" --- I was thinking the same thing, so it wasn't just me.

 

In the middle of the days, we went to the dive show "Oasis of Dreams" which was incredible. We ate one time at Johnny Rockets, which cost us $30 for burgers and fries.

 

During the week, we also ate at Chops which was FABULOUS. That was $30 a person and was prepaid prior to the cruise. Amazing meal, amazing service – but that was another $60… $90 with wine….

 

Hubby went to the wine bar once and had a $12 glass of wine.... I basically drank Pina Coladas for $8 each (probably equivalent to DCL, maybe a buck or two more…)

 

What I’m getting at with all of these figures is that at the end of the day, with all of the “nickel and diming” the price was likely equivalent or close to equivalent. $100 for the soda package for the family, $80 for the iPhones (equivalent to the wave phones), $150 to have the kids in the kids club until midnight each night, $60 for a meal at Chops with food that would be equivalent to DCL food – $30 for Johnny Rockets - you see where I’m going with this. The $1,000 difference suddenly disappears… and then the difference really would be the OBC we got from our travel agent ($400) and the Royal B of A card ($300.) If we booked using our Disney card, we’d probably get a couple hundred, so we’re talking a couple hundred dollars difference between the two cruises after everything is said and done. And with Royal, I felt like they were always in our face trying to get us to buy things, go to special shopping events, merchandise sales – it was never that way on DCL.

 

A couple other observations:

 

1. For excursions, we always met the tour operator OUTSIDE the ship, in the port. There was no Royal crew member to serve as a "liaison" between us and the tour operator. In St. Thomas, our excursion was pushed back an hour, so we were leaving an hour later. In St. Maarten, the "on board" time for the ship was a half hour BEFORE our excursion was scheduled to return. Again, it seemed as if Royal had no clue what the left hand and right hand was doing when it came to excursions. With our St. Maarten excursion, the operator basically hooked us up with a bus driver, then met us at the excursion place, and when it was over he said goodbye to us there and went home because he lived nearer to that side, and the bus driver took us back (again, in a hurry because we had an "all aboard" time moved up.) The excursion operator told us before he left: "okay everyone, remember to go quickly right to the ship and don't stop anywhere, okay?"

 

2. At the back of the ship, there is a pair of giant LED jumbo-tron screens. Every night at 8:30 there was a movie... however the movie was always PG-13. That tells you right there who they expected for the audience.

 

At 8:00 on Thursday, they had a “dancing waters” show scheduled at the back of the ship. We were there, ready to enjoy the show and nothing happened. No show, no announcement, no nothing. We waited and then at 8:30 p.m. the James Bond movie “Skyfall” started (again, PG-13) so we left.

 

The bottom line is that although this was a great, big, beautiful and fun ship – there just wasn’t much programming for families in the evening hours. We had the 6:00 p.m. dinner seating, so we were out at 8. The kids club was “free” from 8 – 10 … so, during that time we searched everywhere for live music. THERE WAS NO LIVE MUSIC ON THE SHIP, ANY NIGHT, FROM 8:30 – 10:00 PM EXCEPT IN THE DINING ROOM! We just left the dining room! They only had live music for the late seating, and no live music at any of the venues. There were also no “family venues” outside of the pools.

On two nights they had a “family dance party” at one of the adult clubs from 9 – 10 p.m. We went the first night of the “family dance party” and got there at 9:15. Nobody was there and they were packing up. When our group of 11 arrived, they cranked it back up again – but the music was NOT kid friendly. My friend went to the DJ to complain – and they switched it to the various popular songs (cupid shuffle, cha cha slide, Macarena, etc.)

We went to the “Character breakfast” on the last sea morning of the trip. There was only one seating at 7:45 a.m. In all of the publicity, they had pictures of Shrek, Alex the lion and other characters – but guess who was missing during the “Character Breakfast.” I never once saw Shrek the entire trip. During this breakfast, the characters came out and did a dance and then the kids were to line up and see them and have their pictures made, etc. The characters did not circulate to the tables.

By the end of the cruise, we had concluded that Royal’s cruise had bursts of “family friendly” elements but was not “family centric” as what we were used to on DCL. It was almost the attitude of “lets throw in a carousel, a balloon animal artist, some face painting, a kids club and call it a day.” The main shows were not “family friendly” and the programming was most certainly NOT “family friendly.” Even the adult programming was lacking. One of my husband’s favorite things to do on the DCL ships was the whisky tastings… there was nothing at all like this on the Royal ship. I remember pouring over the Navigator and circling and highlighting all of the events for the day that interested us, thinking “wow, how can we possibly fit all of this in!” Not the case with the Compass.

The ship activities were clearly designed for active adults. The ship “came alive” at 10:00 p.m. with parties, adult parades and events and live music… yet the kids clubs started charging fees at 10 p.m. To be fair, the Disney ships did start winding down at 10 p.m. – many kids do get up early and there are early activities on DCL. With Royal, the entire ship seems to be sleeping until 11:00 a.m. and most excursions don’t start until noon or 1.

To cap it off… the last night of the trip they had a comedy show from 9 – 10 in the main theater. It was “18 and up” but we went because we love comedy. Someone brought kids to the show, and the comedian started making fun of them and said “kids should be in a smaller ship behind this ship.” In a single joke, this comedian explained the philosophy that we felt all week long.

 

Will we cruise Royal again? Maybe, but it will be WITHOUT KIDS.

Will we take the kids on a Royal cruise again? No, or at least not until they are 16 (the adult areas are open to ages 16 and up.)

Meanwhile, we are looking forward to our cruise next year on the refurbished Magic! Castaway cay, here we come!!!

[Scrapnana]

Interesting review. Although many cruise lines say they are "kid friendly" or "family friendly", I don't believe any line can beat DCL in that respect.

[Friend100]

Interesting review. Although many cruise lines say they are "kid friendly" or "family friendly", I don't believe any line can beat DCL in that respect.

 

... because everybody's definition of what is "kid/family friendly" can be quite different.

[CariBear]

My family had a very different experience on Oasis. My daughter was 8 at the time and loved the kids clubs. She made a bunch of stuff in the lab and came home with a bunch of crafts and prizes from bingo in the kids club. I actually prefer the split age groups vs all the ages together. Maybe if my kids were closer in age this would be an issue. My daughter also loved Hairspray...and didn't read into any of the cross- dressing or suggestive wording(I didn't notice much). Did you attend any of the parades/games on the Boardwalk? My kids loved the carousel and both parades with face painting, balloon artist and games with prizes. My son was 3 at the time and would fall asleep at dinner( we had late seating)....so we would go to a quiet spot and relax.....usually at the aft by the track.

 

There was live music nightly on Central Park....plus the Schooner Bar (piano)....maybe Boleros a couple of nights.....plus in Dazzles there was a live band too.

 

We can't wait to go on Allure....or Oasis again, but first we are sailing on the Disney Fantasy in 11 days. We are surprising the kids...they have no clue we are going. I have been on the Disney Dream twice.....so I know what to expect. I know we will miss all of the pool options on Oasis, but hopefully the Aquaduck and Mickey slide will make up for the lack of pools. The pools on Disney....especially on sea days.......look like overcrowded bathtubs. This is the one area where Disney really needs improvement.

 

Hopefully your next cruise adventure will be more towards your liking. Happy cruising!

[dunnhorn]

Thanks so much!

 

Yes actually our kids had a great time. I am not talking negatively about the cruise in front of them because I want them to remember a great time. You bring up a great point about the kids clubs - my son definitely would not want to be around kids way younger, and I was actually looking forward to this because I was thinking he was starting to "age out" of the Disney clubs. Turns out, there were a couple of counselors on the ship who sounded like they were less than patient with the kids. My kids report was that the counselors who were good were VERY good and the ones who weren't were terrible (sounds like a kids perception, huh?) They did love the carousel... I did catch a violinist in Central Park one night, but it wasn't on the schedule. There were 2 nights we were specifically looking for live music from 8:30 - 10:00 p.m. (when we picked up the kids because we didn't want to have to pay for overtime) and there was nothing. We went to the Schooner bar and played trivia - no music. Boleros had live music but it ended at 8:30. This is definitely one area where Royal can improve - program more family or parent-friendly activities for those parents who just finished dinner, and are either with or without kids looking for something to do until 10 pm. It just seemed like the main party started at 10 pm - we were surprised by that.

[martinm]

Great review!

I love DCL but I always find myself comparing the prices...

[awaywego0000]

Thank you for the review. I appreciate the comparisons.

 

Communication between the parents and the kids club is very important. On our Disney cruise we had problems with one of our wave phones. We did get another one but unfortunately hadn't discovered the problem until the kids club was unable to get through to us. They called us because another girl hit my daughter in the eye and she was crying. Disney does the right thing making them available to the parents free of charge.

 

However, I do agree that the pool area needs improvement on DCL. I was surprised by how small the pool was on Magic. I am sure bigger pools would come at a cost such as smaller rooms.

[matondo]

Thank you for your review. Our children are grown and we have been thinking about the OTS or Allure but this is not the first review where it seemed like you are nickel and dimed to death. So many eating venues have an upcharge. FYI we are taking our FIRST Disney cruise next month. Looking forward to experiencing the "Magic".

[Alaskabound77]

Loved reading this!

[Nolefan95]

Thanks for the review but I don't think you thoroughly reviewed the cruise compass each day. Every single night on the ship, there was live music in dazzles or central park or the boardwalk between 8:30 and 10pm (your prime time from what I understand). I just don't think you reviewed the compass to know when/where it was. Do a search for Oasis of the Seas cruise compass in the RCCL forum to see that there were many family friendly things scheduled during these times. I just think you missed it. I have been on both cruise lines and both have there plusses and minuses. But I had to speak up when you said that there was little to no family friendly activities during these times on the Oasis. I strongly disagree. No doubt DCL is more focused on kids but RCCL is not too shabby either.

[Steve78]

Hi Guys

 

Just a quick response in regards to the OP's comments on the lifejackets and Muster Drill. I work in the marine industry and it has been found, particularly in light of the Concordia incident that it is better for passengers to head directly to their Muster station and collect lifejackets there. On many ships passengers are asked to return to their stateroom, collect their jackets and then proceed to a muster station. In a real emergency this extra time is crucial and can put lives at risk, so I believe you will see more and more newer ships stowing lifejackets at the Muster stations and passengers not going back to their rooms.

 

Thanks for the review.

 

Cheers

Steve

[Talex831]

Hi Guys

 

Just a quick response in regards to the OP's comments on the lifejackets and Muster Drill. I work in the marine industry and it has been found, particularly in light of the Concordia incident that it is better for passengers to head directly to their Muster station and collect lifejackets there. On many ships passengers are asked to return to their stateroom, collect their jackets and then proceed to a muster station. In a real emergency this extra time is crucial and can put lives at risk, so I believe you will see more and more newer ships stowing lifejackets at the Muster stations and passengers not going back to their rooms.

 

Thanks for the review.

 

Cheers

Steve

 

We've actually always been told to go to your muster station and there are life jackets there if you are not in your room. If in your room, then bring the ones from the room. We have never been told to go back to our room to get them.

[Aloha 1]

Having sailed on both lines, I absolutely agree with the OP's analysis. Both lines will give you a great cruise but Disney definitely is the one for children under age 13. Having said that, would a small Casino in the adults only district really be too much to ask for? My guess is that it could sway a lot more people to consider DIS as an option if there was some adult only entertainment even with limited hours.

[MEGADAN]

I read this review because coincidentally, we are sailing on the Fantasy for Thanksgiving 2013 and then the Oasis in July 2014. We have been on RCCL 5 times and DCL 5 times. We have been on the Dream but not the Oasis. I really didn't have an interest in Oasis but because we are sailing with friends the price difference came into play.

That being said, our kids are grown now, 21 and 19 but we still prefer DCL over RCCL. We like the food, the service, the entertainment and the attention to detail that DCL brings.

If money was no option we would probably cruise DCL exclusively,that is how much we enjoy DCL.

[xrae]

Loved reading your review! I got to tour the Oasis a few months ago. It's a spectacular ship. Amazing. But the feeling I got the minute I stepped on board is ... We'll take a dollar for this and a dollar for this ... there are so many places where they ask you for more money. Cupcakes. Drink packages. Specialty dining venues. After-hours kids care. Fitness classes. Etc. I do think a Disney cruise costs more up front, but I think at the end of the week, you'll spend more on the Oasis/Allure.

 

That said, RCCL seems to have more OBC offers available to offset the spending you might want to do on board.

 

I've always thought the Oasis/Allure would be a good ship for a family with teenagers, or for someone who liked Vegas or who didn't want to know they were on a ship for a week.

 

As for the pool situation vs. Disney, it's a matter of real estate. Oasis & Allure are just enormous ships with a lot of surface area on that upper deck; they have a lot of places for pools. Disney Dream & Fantasy, not so much.

[PennyAgain]

Thanks for your well written review.

 

We are in the midst of doing planning for a family vacation/cruise and the younger folks want Disney World and Disney Cruise. I think that I agree with them. It will be a Disney vacation for us.

 

I agree about the 'dollar here and dollar' there issue on RCI. Have experienced that to a lessor degree on their smaller ships.

[CI66774]

OP - maybe it wasn't your intention, but I got the distinctive impression that you were unhappy that the emcee or cruise director was gay. Why label him a "Queen?" That was (IMHO) quite unnecessary and added nothing to your review. Some of the best cruise directors on some of the best ships are gay - so what? Those kinds of descriptions ("queen") are disparaging, at the very least.

[nycruiser80]

Disney has the family niche of cruising firmly carved out for themselves. I have cruised Disney a few times and I cruised Royal many times. I sailed the Allure last summer and yes I believe Disney is still one of the best for families. Though the Allure did have a lot to offer for kids with their water park and Dreamswork characters. Then again I do not have children so it is harder for me to judge. I guess I am one of those "queens" you have described. I usually just say I am gay, I in no way want to be a women (no offense ladies but I like being a man) :)

 

Also, I feel Disney is a bit more upscale then Royal nevertheless the Allure and the Oasis are step up from existing Royal products.

 

As for gay cruise staff it is quite common to find a large percentage of gay staff on board especially when it come to the entertainment staff. In fact on my last Disney cruise I had run into many gay cruise staff members. I did not find a "pro gay" atmosphere on my Allure cruise but I guess that is a matter of perception. Plus these days it seems electronica music is the "hip" type of music. I am a teacher and I hear the kids (especially the older kids) either talking about rap or electronic type of music. I don't know give me the 90s music....Dave Matthews, Alanis Morissette and I am happy:)

[Luckyman_apd]

OP - maybe it wasn't your intention, but I got the distinctive impression that you were unhappy that the emcee or cruise director was gay. Why label him a "Queen?" That was (IMHO) quite unnecessary and added nothing to your review. Some of the best cruise directors on some of the best ships are gay - so what? Those kinds of descriptions ("queen") are disparaging, at the very least.

 

100% agree. Very unnecessary comment.

 

As for the review, I just got of our first cruise ever last month and we are considering disney in the future, but the price is turning me off a bit. The family environment though turns me on.

 

We sailed the norweigian epic. The cruise was a gift from a family member who works on the ship. We had a fantastic time but there were definitely things disney offers we could have used. The pager system for kids/parents for one. Never left our daughter in the kids club more than 2 hours, and my 3 year old hated it. Dropped him off the first time and they called our room 15 minutes later that he wouldn't stop crying. Didn't even have time to change to do anything Adult. The second time we went to a bar and called to see how he was.....crying hysterically. Actually said he didn't like it when we picked him up.

 

However, while we didn't get any adult time, it's not to say that it wasn't fun for them and that I wouldn't go on another norweigian or RC cruise again...I just feel like at this age, disney is probably more for them......as we are DVC owners.

 

A casino missing from disney is a downer for me as i really enjoyed the Epic casino, but I did get annoyed at all the "sales" on board. Needed a new watch (mine is very old and I wanted something waterproof for the beach) so I bought one during their "sales". It wasn't much of a sale. I could have bought the same watch on amazon for about $20 less on amazon with free shipping. The liquor sales were not very good either as St Maarten offer much better prices but who knew as a first timer. Not unhappy with the watch...I needed it and I really like it.

 

The food.....fantastic on the Epic. I hear DCL is good and the server moves with you.....sounds cool. I really wish we had taken advantage of the room servic for breakfast. We went to the buffet every morning, but we also met the family member every day at breakfast and since he paid for the trip I can't really complain :). I don't feel like I was nickeled and dimed, although we did run up a big bar tab.....especially by the pool on sea days. Sad to hear disney pools are filled like bathtubs.....that was our one complaint about the Epics pools. They were sooooo crowded and not very big at all. And good luck findin a chair to lounge on as they were all filled up by 9:30 am.

 

I am hoping we really enjoy a disney cruise. The price is really setting me back though. We are planning a 7 day trip next summer and would like to surprise my wife with a 7 day cruise to end the trip. We want to do the eastern carribean. Same exact itinerary as our Epic cruise except castaway cay instead of nassua.....nassua was horrible!

[dcd777]

100% agree. Very unnecessary comment.

 

As for the review, I just got of our first cruise ever last month and we are considering disney in the future, but the price is turning me off a bit. The family environment though turns me on.

 

We sailed the norweigian epic. The cruise was a gift from a family member who works on the ship. We had a fantastic time but there were definitely things disney offers we could have used. The pager system for kids/parents for one. Never left our daughter in the kids club more than 2 hours, and my 3 year old hated it. Dropped him off the first time and they called our room 15 minutes later that he wouldn't stop crying. Didn't even have time to change to do anything Adult. The second time we went to a bar and called to see how he was.....crying hysterically. Actually said he didn't like it when we picked him up.

 

However, while we didn't get any adult time, it's not to say that it wasn't fun for them and that I wouldn't go on another norweigian or RC cruise again...I just feel like at this age, disney is probably more for them......as we are DVC owners.

 

A casino missing from disney is a downer for me as i really enjoyed the Epic casino, but I did get annoyed at all the "sales" on board. Needed a new watch (mine is very old and I wanted something waterproof for the beach) so I bought one during their "sales". It wasn't much of a sale. I could have bought the same watch on amazon for about $20 less on amazon with free shipping. The liquor sales were not very good either as St Maarten offer much better prices but who knew as a first timer. Not unhappy with the watch...I needed it and I really like it.

 

The food.....fantastic on the Epic. I hear DCL is good and the server moves with you.....sounds cool. I really wish we had taken advantage of the room servic for breakfast. We went to the buffet every morning, but we also met the family member every day at breakfast and since he paid for the trip I can't really complain :). I don't feel like I was nickeled and dimed, although we did run up a big bar tab.....especially by the pool on sea days. Sad to hear disney pools are filled like bathtubs.....that was our one complaint about the Epics pools. They were sooooo crowded and not very big at all. And good luck findin a chair to lounge on as they were all filled up by 9:30 am.

 

I am hoping we really enjoy a disney cruise. The price is really setting me back though. We are planning a 7 day trip next summer and would like to surprise my wife with a 7 day cruise to end the trip. We want to do the eastern carribean. Same exact itinerary as our Epic cruise except castaway cay instead of nassua.....nassua was horrible!

 

Were English and doing our second Disney Med cruise this summer, you do pay extra but i think its totally worth it, the shows are first class, the food is great, whether your an adult or child you will love the service on their ships, I too miss the casino but you soon get over it, every port you visit your a VIP, everybody loves a Disney Ship, go for it you wont regret it.

[DaMom]

We're about to sail with Disney (Wonder to Alaska) for the first time, after sailing with NCL 1x and RCCL 3x, most recently last summer on the Oasis! It was so interesting to read your review, and note the areas where you feel DCL does it better than the Oasis. We had mixed feelings about being on a boat that big - at times you just feel like you're on a floating hotel...one big must for me that I've missed ever since our first cruise on the Vision of the Seas, is enough windows..seems like all the newer boats we've been on have sacrificed the view and the window space for more glitzy extras like cupcake shops and ziplines. Hoping the Wonder, being an older ship will afford us some fantastic Alaskan views!

[cujosmom]

My husband and I are in our mid 60's and in March took our first DCL cruise without children or grandchildren - we just wanted to experience a Disney cruise. We were VERY impressed with the staterooms (with the two bathrooms), the service, FOOD and itinerary (it was an 8 night cruise out of Galveston that included a complimentary full day at WDW) and movies. We were able to take advantage of a Guarantee Special. We enjoyed it so much that we are thinking of doing a Panama Canal Cruise on DCL.

 

Most of our cruises have been on Royal Caribbean and we just returned from a TransAtlantic cruise on the Navigator and have a back-to-back booked on the Allure in Oct. I agree, RCCL does do alot of nickel and dime-ing but just because these extras are offered, does not mean you have to partake. We are Diamond Plus which includes free happy hour (5:30-8:00 pm) every night so additional alcohol is not necessary for us. We don't spend time in the casinos. We don't buy the inflated "sales" in the promenade. We don't normally take the ship's "shore excursions". We don't buy the expensive photos. We don't do the specialty restaurants. We don't do the drink packages. We don't go to the spa. We still have a great time at a very good price (our TransAtlantic was 15 nights and was only $449 pp) and our end of the cruise shipboard bill was only $35 (we had some onboard credit that paid the tips and a shore excursion). RCCL's ships are fantastic and very innovative. My husband loves the sport court activities (basketball, volleyball, rock-climbing wall). Both of us like the mini golf and the ice shows and skating that aren't offered on DCL.

 

If the price is right, we hope to do more Disney cruises but will most likely be on RCCL because of the up-front price. We are sad that Disney decided to pull out of Galveston as I think if they had given it more time, they would have found people would have embraced Disney.

[e2011]

Nice review. Our family has been on the Disney Fantasy, Disney Dream, Oasis and Allure and we have a 5 year old. Our experience on the big ships was very different than yours. We and our 5 yo felt there was actually more for her to do on the Oasis class ships than on Disney as far as water features and pools. And the boardwalk with the carousel and the water show is one of her favorite cruise ship attractions as well as the ice skating. As far as the ships go, all of them are fantastic. However there is no comparison to an Oasis class cruise ship. These are floating cities, not cruise ships! Some people like this, some don't. We loved it and for us we rated the Oasis class as our favorite.

[e2011]

Also, on both Oasis and Allure we had life vests in our stateroom. That was about 4 months ago on Allure.

[NanciRDH]

Thanks for the great review. It is definitely a personal choice on how well things can work for one family, and not another. We are RCI cruisers, and decided to give DCL a try. We did have fun on Dream, but my DD who was 6 at the time, and has grown up cruising wasn't happy at all with the combined ages on Dream...just too many kids. On Oasis, and other RCI ships getting her out of AO is a challenge, not so on DCL, she would rather be with us. Our middle DD should have been in the teen group, but she didn't like it at all...she was just old enough to be in that group, and would probably have been more comfortable in the tween aged group, her maturity level wasn't quite up to the older ones. On RCI I have to be sure to enforce her curfew, she would be out all hours! We had hoped to spend some time in the adult areas with our oldest DD, she was 19, and had "aged out" of the teen programs. But we ended up with one or two of the younger ones, and didn't see any of the adult areas as a result. On RCI the 18-20 age group is at a loss, other than the casino, they are in limbo, so the point goes to DCL.

 

Since you did Eastern, you missed the private island experience. Castaway Cay beats any other hands down! We were on a five day double dip, and my DH was at first skeptical, but by the second visit loved it too...we spent the first stop exploring and the second enjoying it even more. The little one spent time at Scuttles Cove, and was very happy to be there. The majority of kids were her age, and it wasn't a huge crowd. She wished we had left her the first day instead of making her swim with us, lol.

 

I'm sure you missed the larger DCL cabins, we enjoyed those too, but I have mixed emotions on the separate baths...we cruise in 2 cabins, otherwise it may have made a bigger impression on us.

 

As a family we will probably not cruise DCL again, though my oldest is now a CM working at the Grand Floridian, so if she gets us a great deal I won't say no! For us the differences were probably all in what we were used to...my kids grew up on RCI and know their preferences, and are old enough to give an opinion, and DH missed the casino. He's not a big gambler, but enjoys a few hands of blackjack in the evenings. I (as you can see in my sig line!) will still cruise DCL with my Disney crazy friends. It makes the perfect girls weekend getaway for us, this October will be our 3rd. For us, the liquor policy is greatly appreciated. :D