Disney or RCL, please help!

[blessedwithfour]

Hi! We are going to do our first family cruise - me, husband, and fours kids ages 6-13, and I can't decide between a 7 night RCL to Southern Caribbean OR a 5 night Caribbean (Cozumel and Castaway Cay) on the Disney Wonder. With RCL we would have connecting balconies, but with Disney only thing left is connecting inside state rooms. :(

 

Has anyone done both and can you offer any advice? A LOT of my friends swear that Disney is better, and I don't doubt that, but honestly the itinerary on RCL sounds more appealing. The Disney cruise is about $1,000 saving over the RCL one...which is appealing too....but two nights less of course. And we have to fly into San Juan for RCL, which is expensive...but so is Miami I'm finding. Airfare is a killer.

 

I also know that the Wonder is an older ship for Disney. The RCL ship is Adventure of the Seas. I'm not sure if they are comparable?

 

Any help appreciated!!

[flhokie]

That's a really hard decision! Which RCCL ship would it be?

 

We've sailed both lines--our last RCCL ship was Allure and Disney was Fantasy.

 

I love both. DD preferred the nursery on RCCL (& kids club on another line) to Disney's kids program because of structure. That being said, your kids are older and have each other (she's an only so she was going in by herself).

 

The service on Disney was excellent. RCCL was not bad at all, Disney was just a step above.

 

We preferred the pool deck on RCCL.

 

Dining was more flexible on RCCL (my time, alternative options the whole family could enjoy, etc). Food was good on both, but I'd give the nod to Disney.

 

If Disney were less expensive and all else equal, I'd probably choose them in this case. You won't spend much time in the cabin.

 

For Miami, you could also fly in to Ft Lauderdale or even West Palm Beach (rent a car for drive to Miami). For San Juan, there is only 1 option.

[dltaeg]

sorry wrong place posting

Edited July 20, 2015 by dltaeg
sorry again