Kids Clubs 101 - Just off Harmony

[Gators77]

Not seeing it...June 9th, 2019 (before taxes)

 

Symphony- Balcony for 2 and inside for 3-$7000

Fantasy-Balcony for 2 and inside for 3 -$11700

 

$4700 difference

 

Symphony Balcony for 2 and Balcony for 3 $7800

Fantasy Balcony for 2 and a balcony for 3 $12300

 

$4500 Difference

 

But you're right its your experience and your money.

 

The Disney price you're getting sounds about right, not sure why your RC price for 2 oceanview balconies for 2 adults in 1 room(1 of my kids is 14 and RC considers that an adult), and 1 adult and 2 children in the other isn't coming out to the approx. $9000 price. I don't know if you qualify for any discounts because of your "status" with RC or not, but here is what I show:

[Luv2teachandcruise]

Anyone know if a 12 year old can step down (she is size of a 10 year old) and wants to be with 10 year old brother and went on cruise last year and loved kids club. I also don’t want her on with 17 year old boys!

Yes. My son has stayed in AO on 2 different cruises at 12. We just explained that he wasn't ready for the teen group.

[SkiTeton]

I’m wondering the same! When are you sailing? I’m in August-I’ll let you know.

 

October. I hope I can remember to check in on this thread after August! Thanks!

[Luv2teachandcruise]

Has anyone had experience with a child moving down an age group? Our group has 4 kids, ages 9, 9, 11, & 12. We are hoping that the 12 yr old can move down to be with the rest of the kids...

Yes. We have done it twice.

[Smiley525]

Has anyone had experience with a child moving down an age group? Our group has 4 kids, ages 9, 9, 11, & 12. We are hoping that the 12 yr old can move down to be with the rest of the kids...

 

 

I’m wondering the same! When are you sailing? I’m in August-I’ll let you know.

[Gators77]

Not seeing it...June 9th, 2019 (before taxes)

 

Symphony- Balcony for 2 and inside for 3-$7000

Fantasy-Balcony for 2 and inside for 3 -$11700

 

$4700 difference

 

Symphony Balcony for 2 and Balcony for 3 $7800

Fantasy Balcony for 2 and a balcony for 3 $12300

 

$4500 Difference

 

But you're right its your experience and your money.

 

Two oceanview balcony cabins on the 6/9/19 7day Western Caribbean Symphony out of Miami for 2 adults in 1 cabin(RCI considers a 14yo an adult) and 1 adult and 2 kids in another comes out to just over $9000 unless you're getting some past passenger discount. Just did it again this morning on their website.

[Smiley525]

Yes. We have done it twice.

 

 

Great to hear! My DD is tiny (only 57 inches and 58lbs) there is no way I want her in with the 17 year olds! We are on the Grandeur which is a small ship so doesn’t have separate ‘teen’ rooms (meaning 12-14) (15-17). They didn’t even really divide up 5-12 much

Edited July 2, 2018 by Smiley525

[mjkacmom]

Anyone know if a 12 year old can step down (she is size of a 10 year old) and wants to be with 10 year old brother and went on cruise last year and loved kids club. I also don’t want her on with 17 year old boys!

I can pretty much guarantee that the 17 year old boys will want nothing to do with your dd. I have a ds15 and ds20, and dd17 was freakishly tiny until 15/16, and boys were never an issue.

[LuCruise]

Not seeing it...June 9th, 2019 (before taxes)

 

Symphony- Balcony for 2 and inside for 3-$7000

Fantasy-Balcony for 2 and inside for 3 -$11700

 

$4700 difference

 

Symphony Balcony for 2 and Balcony for 3 $7800

Fantasy Balcony for 2 and a balcony for 3 $12300

 

$4500 Difference

 

But you're right its your experience and your money.

 

Ditto...I've always seen a large difference (back in 2016 we went with Allure vs Fantasy for this reason). We have March break booked for family of 4. We have Boardwalk room booked, but I looked at Ocean View since these exist on both ships. We are also Canadian so Disney has to be booked in USD and then converted at payment, whereas we can book Royal in CAD.

 

Fantasy: $6852 USD = $9043 CAD

Symphony: $4341 USD or booked in CAD at $5575 CAD

 

With dollar being so bad, that's a huge difference, and to pay over $9000 for cruise alone when for us, we still need airfare, is insane. Even if you are from US, the USD difference is still 2511. That's a lot that can be spent on other things, or another trip.

 

Everyone is different and has different needs, but to us, we love Royal and it's super kid/family friendly that it's a no brainer for us. We have 3 Royal cruises booked (but would love to budget a return to Disney World at some point).

 

As for original post, great feedback about the clubs, and good to know that you can switch groups if really wanted. Our kids are 4 years apart so definitely would have been good (as an aside, they weren't even interested in the clubs...but that might have been a factor as they would have been split up).

[whitshel]

The Disney price you're getting sounds about right, not sure why your RC price for 2 oceanview balconies for 2 adults in 1 room(1 of my kids is 14 and RC considers that an adult), and 1 adult and 2 children in the other isn't coming out to the approx. $9000 price. I don't know if you qualify for any discounts because of your "status" with RC or not, but here is what I show:

Here's what I show.

As you can see total price with taxes is $8400, $3500 and $4900 which is with taxes. My quotes were all without taxes (including Disney) so subtract the $650+ off and it actually comes out to $7750. And its even cheaper if you booked through an agency with a group rate. About $800 less, so $6900.

 

None of these are with kids sail free!

 

Honestly, I'm sure Disney is a way better product then Rccl, but you certainly are paying for it. You can buy a drink package and dine in specialty restaurants all week n still be cheaper on the most innovative ships on the planet :)

 

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

[ONECRUISER]

Great to hear! My DD is tiny (only 57 inches and 58lbs) there is no way I want her in with the 17 year olds! We are on the Grandeur which is a small ship so doesn’t have separate ‘teen’ rooms (meaning 12-14) (15-17). They didn’t even really divide up 5-12 much

Always depended on how many kids on board those older ships. Not many kids they will combine

[rimmit]

Harmony...Adventure Ocean..."closed" from 5-7pm. :confused: This wasn't the case when we sailed on HOTS last (2017) March. We dropped our little at the Aquanauts at 5:30pm and they (staff) took them to dinner in a closed off area of the WJ and then back to the kids club for the evening program. So this change must be new.

 

The kids club is technically closed during 5-7 everyday. What you are referring to is “Adventure time dining”. This is offered on about half to a little over half the cruise days typically and bridges the gap while the kids club is closed. I’ve seen it offered as many as all but two nights on a cruise to as low as every other night and seems to be completely random and variable I. Appearance. They always have it on formals nights though. These are our favorite nights and this we watch for it like a hawk. It will never be available on the 1st night and rarely if ever on the last night.

 

From all the CruiseLine’s I have been on, and I have been on every major US based cruise line, Disney is the only one that has continual operation throughout the day while the ship is at sea. When docked most will operate the entire time the ship is docked with no closures.

[rimmit]

After recently going on RCI, the extra $400 per person is well worth it in our opinion and it's definitely not the price of 2 RCI cruises. The extra $57 per day per person is well worth it for the better quality food and overall service. Just depends on what's important to you I guess.

 

Also, once you go on a Disney cruise they give you a 10% discount on a future cruise if you book a placeholder. So now that $2000 difference is only $1100!

 

I stalk prices of Disney and RCI cruises and price gaps like that are incredibly hard to come by. The best I have ever done is on the upcoming Sept 2019 TA on the Magic. 10 nights on the magic and using 10% future cruise discount got me down to 4500 on the day the cruise went live for a family of four. This goes from London to NYC. Currently the Independence TA going from London to FLL in fall 19 is 3800 for 14 nights. Not quite apples to apples but RCI doesn’t do 10 night TAs that go from London to FLL. Also RCI TAs drop in price over time so this is likely the highest it will be. Disney prices only go up.

 

For the Magic, that’s about a $450/night basis, which is INSANE for Disney to get a per night that low. Disney tends to run $700 per night or more.

 

For independence about $270/night and it will only go lower. This is about the smallest price gap I have ever gotten. Normally, my price gaps for similar types of cruises for similar dates runs about $700/night for Disney and $300-350/night for an RCI Cruise which ends up being about half. This is for a family of four in the off season. I have noticed that the gap closes for peak season Oasis class ships. At that point Oasis class tends to run about $600-$650/night and Disney starts to hit $1050-1100/night, for a typical family of 4 on a Caribbean cruise. All bets are off for Alaska and Europe. Disney gets exorbitantly high, so much so that I almost laugh.

 

Ultimately, it’s whatever someone values. I tend to go for the cheapest cabin on board and splurge on other areas such as shore excursions. Some splurge on food. Some splurge on drinks. Some love shopping. There is no right or wrong answer, but Disney is definitely pricier and in many cases a 2 for 1 deal against RCI.

[Gators77]

I stalk prices of Disney and RCI cruises and price gaps like that are incredibly hard to come by. The best I have ever done is on the upcoming Sept 2019 TA on the Magic. 10 nights on the magic and using 10% future cruise discount got me down to 4500 on the day the cruise went live for a family of four. This goes from London to NYC. Currently the Independence TA going from London to FLL in fall 19 is 3800 for 14 nights. Not quite apples to apples but RCI doesn’t do 10 night TAs that go from London to FLL. Also RCI TAs drop in price over time so this is likely the highest it will be. Disney prices only go up.

 

For the Magic, that’s about a $450/night basis, which is INSANE for Disney to get a per night that low. Disney tends to run $700 per night or more.

 

For independence about $270/night and it will only go lower. This is about the smallest price gap I have ever gotten. Normally, my price gaps for similar types of cruises for similar dates runs about $700/night for Disney and $300-350/night for an RCI Cruise which ends up being about half. This is for a family of four in the off season. I have noticed that the gap closes for peak season Oasis class ships. At that point Oasis class tends to run about $600-$650/night and Disney starts to hit $1050-1100/night, for a typical family of 4 on a Caribbean cruise. All bets are off for Alaska and Europe. Disney gets exorbitantly high, so much so that I almost laugh.

 

Ultimately, it’s whatever someone values. I tend to go for the cheapest cabin on board and splurge on other areas such as shore excursions. Some splurge on food. Some splurge on drinks. Some love shopping. There is no right or wrong answer, but Disney is definitely pricier and in many cases a 2 for 1 deal against RCI.

 

When you compare RCI to Disney, you have to use the Harmony or Symphony only IMO since those would be the ships with comparable amenities.

 

We currently have a 7 day Caribbean cruise on the Disney Fantasy booked for 3/16/17 - total price $8431(which includes my 10% placeholder discount).

 

RCI has a 7 day Caribbean on the Symphony leaving on 3/9(the one leaving on 3/23 is the same price), even with all of RCI's "gimmick" savings of kids sail free, instant savings, and bogo50, the total price would be $8137. This is fresh off their website this morning using 2 adults in 1 cabin, 1 adult and 2 children in another, and both ships using oceanview balconies.

 

The fact that Disney is only $300 more is mind blowing IMO. And a no brainer!

[Ourusualbeach]

When you compare RCI to Disney, you have to use the Harmony or Symphony only IMO since those would be the ships with comparable amenities.

 

We currently have a 7 day Caribbean cruise on the Disney Fantasy booked for 3/16/17 - total price $8431(which includes my 10% placeholder discount).

 

RCI has a 7 day Caribbean on the Symphony leaving on 3/9(the one leaving on 3/23 is the same price), even with all of RCI's "gimmick" savings of kids sail free, instant savings, and bogo50, the total price would be $8137. This is fresh off their website this morning using 2 adults in 1 cabin, 1 adult and 2 children in another, and both ships using oceanview balconies.

 

The fact that Disney is only $300 more is mind blowing IMO. And a no brainer!

 

You are comparing cruises booked at 2 different times. That can create huge price differences.

 

What is the cost to book the Fantasy today for the 2 cabins?

 

Edit. Just looked. The cost for ONE balcony cabin for 3 is $7171 BEFORE taxes and fees.

 

Not sure how you are thinking a Disney is even close in price.

[rimmit]

When you compare RCI to Disney, you have to use the Harmony or Symphony only IMO since those would be the ships with comparable amenities.

 

We currently have a 7 day Caribbean cruise on the Disney Fantasy booked for 3/16/17 - total price $8431(which includes my 10% placeholder discount).

 

RCI has a 7 day Caribbean on the Symphony leaving on 3/9(the one leaving on 3/23 is the same price), even with all of RCI's "gimmick" savings of kids sail free, instant savings, and bogo50, the total price would be $8137. This is fresh off their website this morning using 2 adults in 1 cabin, 1 adult and 2 children in another, and both ships using oceanview balconies.

 

The fact that Disney is only $300 more is mind blowing IMO. And a no brainer!

 

There is no kids sail free during spring break or for the symphony. Symphony is an exclusion, Everyone that says KSF is smoke and mirrors never pays attention to if it as actual date that it would apply. I have been on both the Disney Fantasy and wonder and to say the amenities are only comparable to Oasis class ships is questionable. While Disney has an awesome kids club and top rate production shows the rate productions shows and better maintenance, ship amenities tend to be better on RCI Voyager class and above. I’ve skating, roller skating, bumper cars, flow riders, Central Park, Carousels, aqua theater, etc. this list goes on and on.

 

Also, it is a little unfair to compare a 10 percent off future cruise deposit price for Disney vs standard RCI. In that case I will add the stockholder credit, diamond balcony discount, motherboard current RCI OBC offer off the week, and my improved OBC by going RCI from my TA. (My ta gives much more OBC for RCI than Disney)

 

Last month A friend just moved their Feb 10 Fantasy Cruise to Feb 10 Oasis during the KSF offer in May because we were cruising then. They paid 2100 with refundable deposit for Oasis. The Fantasy was going to be $5400 with the 10% discount applied.

 

Without ksf it would be $2800 when we checked in June. KSF is back and back down to $2100

Edited July 3, 2018 by rimmit

[Gators77]

There is no kids sail free during spring break or for the symphony. Symphony is an exclusion, Everyone that says KSF is smoke and mirrors never pays attention to if it as actual date that it would apply. I have been on both the Disney Fantasy and wonder and to say the amenities are only comparable to Oasis class ships is questionable. While Disney has an awesome kids club and top rate production shows the rate productions shows and better maintenance, ship amenities tend to be better on RCI Voyager class and above. I’ve skating, roller skating, bumper cars, flow riders, Central Park, Carousels, aqua theater, etc. this list goes on and on.

 

Also, it is a little unfair to compare a 10 percent off future cruise deposit price for Disney vs standard RCI. In that case I will add the stockholder credit, diamond balcony discount, motherboard current RCI OBC offer off the week, and my improved OBC by going RCI from my TA. (My ta gives much more OBC for RCI than Disney)

 

Last month A friend just moved their Feb 10 Fantasy Cruise to Feb 10 Oasis during the KSF offer in May because we were cruising then. They paid 2100 with refundable deposit for Oasis. The Fantasy was going to be $5400 with the 10% discount applied.

 

Without ksf it would be $2800 when we checked in June. KSF is back and back down to $2100

 

Someone with all those perks with RCI is a lifer and no brainer to sail RCI every time. But someone who doesn't have any of those perks or even the 10% discount with Disney. The Fantasy sailing is only about $1100 more than the Symphony. That's where it's up to each family to decide if the extra $157 a day is worth it to them.

[rimmit]

Someone with all those perks with RCI is a lifer and no brainer to sail RCI every time. But someone who doesn't have any of those perks or even the 10% discount with Disney. The Fantasy sailing is only about $1100 more than the Symphony. That's where it's up to each family to decide if the extra $157 a day is worth it to them.

 

We arent lifers. Just need Cruise Line’s with nurseries. :). Now that our youngest turned 3 we no longer need a nursery and can go back to lines without nurseries.

 

I agree. Sometimes we think it’s worth it, hence why we have been on Disney and continue to book it when the price gap closes. We paid $3200 for a 4 night Disney Cruise on the Wonder in oct for 4 out of San Diego last fall. That is more than our 12 night anthem in dec.

 

As I stated before the gap narrows during peak times.

[whitshel]

When you compare RCI to Disney, you have to use the Harmony or Symphony only IMO since those would be the ships with comparable amenities.

 

We currently have a 7 day Caribbean cruise on the Disney Fantasy booked for 3/16/17 - total price $8431(which includes my 10% placeholder discount).

 

RCI has a 7 day Caribbean on the Symphony leaving on 3/9(the one leaving on 3/23 is the same price), even with all of RCI's "gimmick" savings of kids sail free, instant savings, and bogo50, the total price would be $8137. This is fresh off their website this morning using 2 adults in 1 cabin, 1 adult and 2 children in another, and both ships using oceanview balconies.

 

The fact that Disney is only $300 more is mind blowing IMO. And a no brainer!

 

Hmmm, that cruise is $11500 for 2 cabins. You must get really special deals

[Ashland]

The kids club is technically closed during 5-7 everyday. What you are referring to is “Adventure time dining”. This is offered on about half to a little over half the cruise days typically and bridges the gap while the kids club is closed. I’ve seen it offered as many as all but two nights on a cruise to as low as every other night and seems to be completely random and variable I. Appearance. They always have it on formals nights though. These are our favorite nights and this we watch for it like a hawk. It will never be available on the 1st night and rarely if ever on the last night.

 

From all the CruiseLine’s I have been on, and I have been on every major US based cruise line, Disney is the only one that has continual operation throughout the day while the ship is at sea. When docked most will operate the entire time the ship is docked with no closures.

Sorry but incorrect in your assumption...I certainly know what "Adventure Time Dining" is and it isn't what (the option) we encountered and personally used last March (2018) on Harmony.

 

We took our grandson (age 4) to the Adventure Ocean Aquanauts area and if we had him there by 5:30pm the staff took all the kids there to the WJ into a closed off section where they were served dinner. They were then taken back to the Aquanauts area to continue with the nightly program.

 

This was not the Adventure Time Dining option you alluded to. We certainly don't want to confuse anyone do we.

[Gators77]

Hmmm, that cruise is $11500 for 2 cabins. You must get really special deals

 

Disney offers a family oceanview balcony cabin that sleeps 5. RCI does not offer this specific cabin type. So only 1 cabin is needed on Disney. Also Disney is very different than most other cruise lines in that their cheapest price is the day you can start booking, prices continue to go up from there. Whereas Carnival and RCI the prices will fluctuate til the sail date. We saved close to $1500 with RCI by checking the prices periodically from the time we booked til the time we actually sailed.

[Andy C]

We are sailing on HOTS in September for under $5k for a GS. I just did a dummy booking for the same week in September on Disney Fantasy. Their entry level concierge suite is not available. The only available suite is a 1 bedroom concierge suite at $12,000 for the 4 of us. That is the exact cost of a STAR LOFT SUITE on our same sailing with a Genie and all the ridiculous Star class amenities. You can keep your Disney cruise.

[rimmit]

Sorry but incorrect in your assumption...I certainly know what "Adventure Time Dining" is and it isn't what (the option) we encountered and personally used last March (2018) on Harmony.

 

We took our grandson (age 4) to the Adventure Ocean Aquanauts area and if we had him there by 5:30pm the staff took all the kids there to the WJ into a closed off section where they were served dinner. They were then taken back to the Aquanauts area to continue with the nightly program.

 

This was not the Adventure Time Dining option you alluded to. We certainly don't want to confuse anyone do we.

 

That is interesting. My kids have spent over a hundred days in the kids program and nursery and I had never encountered that. Did this new program have a name? We literally stalk the kids program for ATD as they are some of our favorite nights on a cruise.

 

That would be great if there are more options now. I have only seen Adventure time dining and My Family Time dining. What you are describing sounds similar to ATD except no reservations which is very convenient. Was there a kid limit like ATD? Did they have ATD as well or only the new system that didn’t require reservation. I wonder if this is a pilot program they are trialing as they are trying to compete with Disney in improved childcare options.

[qa4ever]

I don't think you can compare 2 rooms on Royal to 1 room on Disney. That isn't a fair comparison. 2 rooms gives you an extra bathroom which is a huge benefit.

 

We love Disney and went on one 3 day cruise on the dream. We desperately wanted to go on the Fantasy, but we could literally get a Sky Level Crown Loft Suite on Oasis for CHEAPER than a balcony room on the Fantasy. I just could not justify the high cost on Disney, even though we loved our 3 day cruise and everything Disney. Had we not splurged on the Crown Loft Suite, we probably could have gone on Oasis twice or close to it.

 

Back to the original topic, thanks for letting us know kids can move up! My 11.5 year old really wants to be with her sister who is almost 14.

[Gators77]

I don't think you can compare 2 rooms on Royal to 1 room on Disney. That isn't a fair comparison. 2 rooms gives you an extra bathroom which is a huge benefit.

 

We love Disney and went on one 3 day cruise on the dream. We desperately wanted to go on the Fantasy, but we could literally get a Sky Level Crown Loft Suite on Oasis for CHEAPER than a balcony room on the Fantasy. I just could not justify the high cost on Disney, even though we loved our 3 day cruise and everything Disney. Had we not splurged on the Crown Loft Suite, we probably could have gone on Oasis twice or close to it.

 

Back to the original topic, thanks for letting us know kids can move up! My 11.5 year old really wants to be with her sister who is almost 14.

 

2 rooms on Royal to sleep 5 is cheaper than 1 room on Royal to sleep 5. So if we priced our Royal in 1 room to sleep 5 it actually makes the price difference even closer when comparing the cost for a family of 5 on the Harmony vs the Fantasy.