Fantasy for Long-Time RCCL Cruiser

[LisaT91403]

Hello, DCL Fans!

 

I'm someone who has been "Loyal to Royal" for many years. I cruised with my parents, and inherited their "status" on RCCL...and I've continued to sail with them now that I have my own child.

 

My son is 6, and has been on 3 RCCL cruises (at ages 1, 3, and 5), and two of those have been on Oasis and Allure. I think he'd love a Disney cruise, and the Fantasy looks like fun. However, I'm intimidated by trying a new cruise line after so many on Royal. I don't know where to start! On Royal, I know which cabin type to book, which deck I want, and how to plan shows and dining. On DCL, I don't even know where to begin.

 

I'm looking to you all for advice.

 

- What type of cabin might I want on DCL if I am used to a Junior Suite on RCCL?

 

- How do I pick a good cabin location?

 

- Is there anything I should know about entertainment (what not to miss? what to sign up for ahead of time?) or dining?

 

If you can point me to where I might find a treasure trove of information, I'd really appreciate it!

[DISNEY FANTASY]

I have been on RCCI in a junior suite On DCL the Cat T (3) are slightly better go for the a Fantasy a great ship , In my signature line I have a link to RCL cruise and it was compared to DCL

 

 

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[meatloafsfan]

My impression is that most people on RCCL book a junior suite for the space - I don't think that junior suites on RCL come with too many added perks (like their regular suites). (I'm just going by what I've read since on Royal, we stick to the interior accessible cabins).

 

Anyways, balconies on DCL are generally a good size and most come with the split bathroom.

 

I'd choose by where on the ship you want to be (midship, forward, aft) and then look at the prices from there.

 

Category 5E have some of the largest balconies on the Fantasy but we also enjoy our 4E (we sailed in 5552 - which is an accessible 4E).

 

If it's available, and you like a large balcony - you may want to look at 5052. It has a *really* extended balcony as it has the same size as the accessible cabin on the starboard size of the ship but the cabin itself is a regular cabin.

[moki'smommy]

RCCL cabins are smaller than on Disney. You have to get a junior suite on Royal to get about the same square footage as a deluxe cabin (cat 11-5) on DCL. Moving up to a 4 will actually give you more space, and a T(3) will give you the concierge perks if desired. However, those perks come with a hefty price tag.

 

There is really no such thing as a bad location--we've gone 30 DCL cruises and found something good and some negatives on each location. What do you want to be near? Kid programming? Pools? Restaurants? Adult areas? The Fantasy is a big ship--you can't be really close to everything, so choose what matters most. We like aft, but that's us.

 

The only dining you sign up for is adult only (surcharge) dining. All shows/entertainment are open--you want to go, you show up at the stated location. There are enough seats in the Walt Disney theater so everyone can have one, but if you like a particular seat location, get there early. (15-30 minutes).

[LisaT91403]

My impression is that most people on RCCL book a junior suite for the space - I don't think that junior suites on RCL come with too many added perks (like their regular suites). (I'm just going by what I've read since on Royal, we stick to the interior accessible cabins).

 

You are 100% correct. We book a Junior Suite for the space -- there really are no other perks. You have to book a higher level suite in order to get the "suite perks"...the Junior Suite is just for space and space alone. The other thing it provides is a wall-to-wall curtain that separates the bed area from the living room (and sofa bed) area. If you book a smaller cabin, then the curtain only goes about 1/4 of the way across the room, if that. In the Junior Suite, you can close the curtain completely...and thereby put your child to sleep and still have your reading lights on in the bedroom area. I'm not sure how Disney cabins compare to this.

 

I will go check out square footage to see if a regular verandah cabin on DCL will work. We don't need concierge services, just space :-)

[teamdavis]

We too are RCCL fans and are looking forward to our upcoming DCL cruise next year.

 

We booked a 5A verandah, which does include the curtain you can draw to separate the bedroom area which is good. I also understand that DCL cabins are larger in general so you may be fine in a category 5!

[DISNEY FANTASY]

I was very very disappointed with RCL, I found the ship very nice the concierge service good but the entertainment very poor and the cruise director something out of the sixties a nightmare.

 

Food was very hit or miss on RCL you might get one good meal but often it was very poor they can't do desserts.

 

I posted on cruise critic quickly this morning we actually had a Grsnd a suite there which compares to a Cst T (3) midship suite on DCL.

 

Entertainment, food, service is far better on DCL, RCI nickel and dimes you and treats you as a big wallet they want to pick pocket, you pay for soda packages orange. Juice apart from breakfast, upgrade steaks the coffee is rubbish.

 

Kids clubs are great on DCL it has rotational dinning, and a lot is included.

 

DCL doesn't have the wave runner, or a ice skating show or a casino, but DCL has great shops and a lot of enlightened meetings to enjoy.

 

The shows on DCL shouldn't be missed or a fireworks and pirates night.

 

 

I had a 14 night RCI cruise we had maybe four good shows in that cruise, none where the ships production and all guest entertainers.

 

Yes Portafino and the Steakhouse compared well to DCLs Palo but not Remy, and Windjammer Buffett was an equal to Cabanas on DCL and longer hours.

 

Things like the ice show were great, the pools nice as well.

 

But desserts no they can't do them, I recall the menu saying " Champaign Strawberry" all the tastes of Wimbledon, it was a small jelly and a strawberry something that you get from a cheap basic store range.

 

DCL has style, it's an Entertainment company doing cruising not a cruise company doing some entertainment.

 

To pick a cabin work out the time of year your going where you want to go, then your budget and the rest will fall into place.

 

 

 

 

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[LisaT91403]

Thanks for all of the info! Does anyone know what the difference is between a Category 4 and Category 5 cabin? It looks like the Family Ocean View is a bit bigger, but I'm not sure I understand where exactly the extra square footage falls.

[moki'smommy]

A cat 4 is made to sleep 5 people with a murphy bed that folds out of the wall. It is about 30 sq/ ft. bigger than a cat 5. All non-concierge DCL cabins have a curtain that separates the big bed area from the living room area. The only exception I've ever seen is that it doesn't exist in some HA cabins.

 

A junior suite on Royal is minimally larger than a cat 5 and smaller than a cat 4.

 

When you look at the Dream/Fantasy, there are some cat 4s with special features (oversized balconies, fancy showers, etc.)

[boulders]

A cat 4 is made to sleep 5 people with a murphy bed that folds out of the wall. It is about 30 sq/ ft. bigger than a cat 5. All non-concierge DCL cabins have a curtain that separates the big bed area from the living room area. The only exception I've ever seen is that it doesn't exist in some HA cabins.

 

A junior suite on Royal is minimally larger than a cat 5 and smaller than a cat 4.

 

When you look at the Dream/Fantasy' date=' there are some cat 4s with special features (oversized balconies, fancy showers, etc.)[/quote']

 

This is incorrect information. Junior suites on Royal Caribbean are 300 sq ft not including the balcony. The total square footage is 391 sq ft on Freedom. Category 4's on Fantasy are 300 sq ft including the balcony. You will not get a stateroom the size of Royal Caribbean's junior suite on Disney unless you get a full suite. Disney staterooms/ Royal Caribbean's staterooms

 

After adjusting for the extra 30 sq ft that Disney puts into their split bathrooms, a DCL category 4 is most similar in size to a D1 on Royal Caribbean.

[moki'smommy]

 

A junior suite on Royal is minimally larger than a cat 5 and smaller than a cat 4.

 

 

While this line may be incorrect (sorry, it was based on one Royal ship from about 8 years ago), the information about the cat 4s is correct. The minimum size of a cat 4 including balcony on DCL is 299 sq. ft. some are larger due to configuration. Some have oversized balconies. There are some that sleep as few as 3 people but have the larger size, but most sleep 5.

 

There is a lot more variation in cabins on the Dream and Fantasy than on the Magic and Wonder.

 

When we looked at Royal, we found that we had to go up to a "junior suite" to get the same size as a cat 5 on the Magic....and that the junior suite was larger than the cat 5 BUT the next lower cabin was smaller. I do not know if these figures still hold across their fleet.

 

Sorry for the confusion.

[LisaT91403]

In doing some research about cabin size, I found that it was a little difficult to compare because DCL *includes* the verandah in its calculation of square footage (while RCCL gives you square footage for the cabin and the balcony separately). But from what I can tell, it looks something like this (cabin/balcony/total):

 

RCCL Junior Suite (Oasis class): 287/78/365

RCCL Junior Suite (Mariner class): 297/65/362

 

RCCL Balcony (Oasis class): 182/53/235

RCCL Balcony (Mariner class): 199/65/264

 

DCL Conc Family Ver (Fantasy): 241/65/306

DCL Veranda (Fantasy): 204/42/246

 

So from the looks of this, none of the Fantasy's cabins (excluding suites) are as big as a RCCL Junior Suite. However, the Fantasy's Verandah cabins are bigger than RCCL's Balcony cabins. And on RCCL's older ships, the Balcony cabins are only 5 sq ft smaller than the Veranda cabins on Fantasy...but the RCCL balcony itself is much bigger.

 

So, it seems like the DCL category 4 is not really equivalent to a JS on RCCL. It is more like right in between a standard RCCL Balcony cabin and a JS. And the category 5 is slightly bigger than a standard RCCL Balcony cabin.

[meatloafsfan]

There are some 5Es at the Aft of the ship which are differently shaped and offer much more cabin space.

 

5E's:

 

8682

8184

7190

7688

 

I believe most of these were supposed to be accessible cabins but didn't meet the standards and so are just classed as "regular" cabins. I don't believe that most of them have the split baths - but have a single bathroom with a shower.