Has anyone cruised on RCL and Disney?

[jaysue]

Trying to get some comparison between the two lines and thought there might be some people who have cruised RCL (we did so in March of this year on the Mariner of the Seas) and Disney - if so would you kindly share your comparison of the two and your views?

Thanks in advance
jaysue

[Disneyfreak]

Hey jaysue,

I have had the pleasure to try both RCL & Disney (as well as many Carnival), and to compare the two, they are both big & actually float!:laughing:

It really depends on what you are looking for in a cruise, If you are looking for a family friendly with the most for the Kids to do then the Disney Cruise wins hands down. On the other hand if you are looking for a couples cruise & with more time away from kids with casinos then RCL would be the better choice. We have taken our kids on both cruise lines & there is alot for the family even on RCL. But for pure Disney Magic (not the boat) almost totally geared for kids then DCL would be the way to go.

One also has to take in to account that RCL will cost a lot less than DCL.

DCL has the best staterooms IMO as far as space & appointments. DCL also has an entire floor dedicated just for the kids. DCL gives you a pager that you keep til the end of the cruise for when your child wants you, you will be paged. We went to pick up our DD the last night of the cruise from the Kids program at about 11 pm & she cried & pitched a fit because she did not want to leave the Kids program.

RCL will have a casino & I think more flexibility in dining options. I will definantly go on another RCL cruise but it may be just the honey & I.
Now this is not to say that RCL does not have a decent kids program because they do compared to all the other cruise lines out there other than DCL.

I probably would not go on the DCL without any children..... ( I would feel guilty)

I hope this helps a little bit!

[ErinC]

Disneyfreak- did you cruise RCL out of New Orleans? I'm curious about the ship that is currently going in and out of New Orleans.

[Rozzie]

Disneyfreak- did you cruise RCL out of New Orleans? I'm curious about the ship that is currently going in and out of New Orleans.

good question Erin. I had a patient yesterday really talking up RCL. Peaked my interest. :magnify:

[Disneyfreak]

Disneyfreak- did you cruise RCL out of New Orleans? I'm curious about the ship that is currently going in and out of New Orleans.

Hey ErinC,

This was actually several years ago & yes it was out of New Orleans.
It was the Grandeur of the Seas ship which is not as big as the Mariner class but was quite nice. I think it was in the 77,000 ton range as far as size.

As far as what is going out of New Orleans now, I am not sure, but if it still is the Grandeur of the Seas it was really nice.


PS Roll Tide!

[ErinC]

Hey ErinC,

This was actually several years ago & yes it was out of New Orleans.
It was the Grandeur of the Seas ship which is not as big as the Mariner class but was quite nice. I think it was in the 77,000 ton range as far as size.

As far as what is going out of New Orleans now, I am not sure, but if it still is the Grandeur of the Seas it was really nice.


PS Roll Tide!

Thanks Disneyfreak. We've only done a few cruises one carnival, 2 disney. I would never set foot on a Carnival ship again unless it was one of the bigger, newer ships (unlike the tugboat they are operating out of Mobile). Having a family of 5 makes the costs of DCL alot to chew on. I would like to try a RCL ship one of these days. They are a little more affordable for a family. New Orleans appeals since it is so close to us.

PS. Roll Tide! Auburn Stinks (just for Rozzie)!

[Disneyfreak]

I would never set foot on a Carnival ship again unless it was one of the bigger, newer ships (unlike the tugboat they are operating out of Mobile). Having a family of 5 makes the costs of DCL alot to chew on. I would like to try a RCL ship one of these days. They are a little more affordable for a family. New Orleans appeals since it is so close to us.

PS. Roll Tide! Auburn Stinks (just for Rozzie)!

I have to agree that the Mobile "Holiday" ship is not very tempting for us to try, even though they will have some very tempting prices sometimes!! When the Carnival Conquest was cruising out of New Orleans the DW & I checked out the kids area (we were without kids for that cruise) & it was quite nice & large.

Now lets not pick on Rozzie........... her being an Auburn fan is the only thing keeping her from being perfect!!!!!:lmbo:

[Rozzie]

Now lets not pick on Rozzie........... her being an Auburn fan is the only thing keeping her from being perfect!!!!!:lmbo:

I have a mother that would disagree with you on the perfect thing. :crazy: Erin's precious dd likes to tell me "Auburn's stinky". Don't worry, she'll see the light soon, I have plans in place to convert her. ;)

Anybody do Celebrity Cruises? :listen:

[jaysue]

RCCL showing Grandeur of the seas with last cruise on April 28th so not sure if RCCL pulling out of New Orleans. NCL has a decent ship doing cruises out of New Orleans - my TA and we discussed this option but we decided to go with a FL departure instead.

Interesting on Carnival older ships - my TA said she was comfortable with us going Carnival as long as it was one of the newer ships (for example the Valor)

Disneyfreak, thanks for the synopsis - we think thanks to cost and also looking for more adult experience, we will stick with RCL/Carnival for now - We will go on a Disney cruise at some point but I think it will be a one-off shot

Cheers
Jason & Susan

[bmalonef45]

We have cruised both RCL and DCL. We sailed the Soverign of the Seas (SOS great abbreviation for a ship) and the Wonder, both out of PC and both for 3 days. My wife and I did the SOS a few years back and had a good time, it was our first cruise so we had nothing to compare it to. We were away from the kids so that made it relaxing. The ship was nice but looked a little dated. I know they have remodeled it since, they did an entire show about it on one of the cable channels. I don't remember a ton of kids but I'm sure they were there. But there were plenty of rowdy college age groups to go around. RCL stops at an island similar to CC on the final day but they tender you in rather than dock. Their island was really fun. We had excellent weather and recommended it to others. All in all good time.

Last Nov. we took the kids on their first cruise on the Wonder. We had just joined DVC the year before so we used our extra points we received. I had done a lot more research on the DCL boats so I was pretty pumped. Even though we had bad weather for part of our cruise I was not dissapointed. The ship blows the SOS away. Its not even close. The rooms are bigger the staff was better and for the kids the "magic" factor was their from the time they announced us to the time we got off the boat. The food was just as good if not better but it was the little extras that made the difference. Not taking the kids on the SOS I can't claim to know if they paid extra attention at meals to the youngsters like our staff on DCL did but I can't imagine its the norm like it seemed to be on DCL. The shows were better but that is to be expected with the Disney name, all in all a great time. AND WE MISSED CASTAWAY CAY ON OUR TRIP. We hope to hit it on our next cruise in a little over a year.

In short I would have to agree. If I were going without the kids I might save the money and go on another cruiseline. Seeing some of their ships (especially the bigger ones) they would be a great adult vacation. But as long as we are with the kids I can't see us taking another boat. DCL will be our choice for the family. Besides the fact that I take the time to post and read on these boards means I'm a certified Disney nut so I'm obviously biased towards the mouse.

[ripleysmom]

I've been on DCL, RCCL, and CCL. While DCL does have bigger staterooms and their kids club hours are awesome, the additional cost of the cruise line makes it very difficult to justify. As far as I'm concerned both RCL and Carnival have a quality product for half the price that is very difficult to ignore. I also think that they have better food options hands down (especially Carnival).

[AZeno]

Our first cruise was a three day on the Magic, we didnt have any children, but felt that since we had never cruised before, that we would put our faith in Disney since they typcially do things correctly. The shorter cruise was a nice way to see if we could handle cruising without being sea sick. We had an inside stateroom and had a wonderful cruise.
We followed that cruise with a seven day carribean cruise on the Wonder, this time we had an outside room with a window. Again, the cruise experience was great, and the crew was wonderful. We did feel slightly out of sync since we did not have any children with us, but there was programming and activities for couples without children.
We felt good enough about cruising to risk a cruise on Royal Carribean, and we've never looked back. For us, since we cruise without children, the RCCL cruises seem to have a more adult theme, however, there is still children programming available. The RCCL cruises, and we've done several out of Port Caneveral, are a lot less than a comparable Disney cruise, and for our tastes, the food offerings tend to lean on the higher side. RCCL does offer the standard buffets, etc, but they also offer sit down opportunities, some at a slight upcharge that are very nice.

[bavaria]

I have to agree that the Mobile "Holiday" ship is not very tempting for us to try, even though they will have some very tempting prices sometimes!! When the Carnival Conquest was cruising out of New Orleans the DW & I checked out the kids area (we were without kids for that cruise) & it was quite nice & large.

Now lets not pick on Rozzie........... her being an Auburn fan is the only thing keeping her from being perfect!!!!!:lmbo:

I had to look at that thing from my window for two weeks (the Holiday, not Rozzie!) and I agree - it's not very luxuorious looking.

I did notice that the NCL ship on which I sailed for my big 2 day cruise last year sails out of New Orleans. I like NCL 'freestyle' cruising as it was very unstructured, and great for someone with my tastes. It wasn't as high end, though, I suspect, and NCL doesn't get the best ratings. (Although my balcony cabin was perfectly fine! and I miss the chilled banana soup - I may need to do another 2 day cruise this year just for that)

[bavaria]

. NCL has a decent ship doing cruises out of New Orleans - my TA and we discussed this option but we decided to go with a FL departure instead.


JaySue, that's the one I cruised on last year. It does NO in the winter and Pacific Coast/Alaska in the summer. My 2 day cruise could have been booked as a turnaround, starting in Seattle and ending in New Orleans.

[diver323]

Trying to get some comparison between the two lines and thought there might be some people who have cruised RCL (we did so in March of this year on the Mariner of the Seas) and Disney - if so would you kindly share your comparison of the two and your views?

Thanks in advance
jaysue

It really depends on what RCL cruise you choose and the age of your children. My son is a teenager and disliked all the younger children on the last DCL. RCL has far more 15-17 year olds, and good organized activities for them. There is an enforced 1am cerfew for all children on RCL which is nice. Some RCL cruises cater towards the more senior crowd. As was the case when we traveled on the Jewel of the Seas. Still had a great time. Check in with cruisecritic for member reviews before you book. Staterooms are small on RCL but we had no complaints, because we were only there to sleep great activities. We haven't been on Princess or Carnival yet.