Family Cruisers

[tamsvaca]

All of you family cruisers out there. . . I have some questions. We have only been on one cruise - DCL - and it was wonderful. We are planning another - but not until 10/06. I, however, want to get some info, as we will probably have a big group and I want to give them comparisons to think about!

 

We loved Disney, but it is pretty expensive. Has anyone done both? What were the advantages/disadvatages to either.

How about the kids programs? We are looking at Navigator of the Seas which looks to have a large kids program. The one thing that I don't like about RCI is that you have to pay for babysitting at the end of the night whereas Disney is just part of the program.

 

On Disney, we were allowed to bring cocktails/beer onboard. Are you allowed to do this with RCI to save some money?

 

I am sure there will be more questions, but for now that is all I can think of. Thank you very much, in advance, for your imput.:rolleyes:

[normaxs]

All of you family cruisers out there. . . I have some questions. We have only been on one cruise - DCL - and it was wonderful. We are planning another - but not until 10/06. I, however, want to get some info, as we will probably have a big group and I want to give them comparisons to think about!

 

We loved Disney, but it is pretty expensive. Has anyone done both? What were the advantages/disadvatages to either.

How about the kids programs? We are looking at Navigator of the Seas which looks to have a large kids program. The one thing that I don't like about RCI is that you have to pay for babysitting at the end of the night whereas Disney is just part of the program.

 

On Disney, we were allowed to bring cocktails/beer onboard. Are you allowed to do this with RCI to save some money?

 

I am sure there will be more questions, but for now that is all I can think of. Thank you very much, in advance, for your imput.:rolleyes:

 

Our faimily reunion on DCL was terrific and so are the ones on RCCL. Especially on the Voyager class ships. Kids are very busy all the time & have a ball. Biggest advantage is price and the Voyager class has so many activities for all ages, kids & adults. We found DCL didn't have much for the adults who were travelling with out kids.

Can't answer about bringing drinks. None of are really drinkers so we just buy what we want.

Our whole family leaves again April 3 on Rhapsody.

Norma

[Onessa]

Disney is nice but, you are right, very pricey. DH had this idea that we were somehow or another depriving our DD by never having "done" Disney. So off we went 3 nights magic kingdom, 3 night on-board.

 

The cruise was nice, but the price always stuck in my craw - there were definately some cool "once in a lifetime" things on board and as a whole, I'm glad we did it, but I have no need to ever go again. I'm not a Disney kind a person so alot of the Disney stuff was lost on me. I was not comforatable having my daughter up much past 10:00 so the sitting fee on RCCL is not a factor for me.

 

I found RCCL overall a bit more relaxing (my idea of a vacation). DD liked both kids programs, but seemed to like the counselors at AO more than those on Disney -- She still talks about Dizzy, Giant, and the two guys from Australia (whose nicknames escape me at the moment)

 

I have no doubt the youngsters in your group would find much to keep them entertained - AO, pools, water slides, climbing wall, put-put golf. RCCL does give a bit better value -- if it is a case where you will be able to get more of your family together if it is more affordable, I would not hesitate to go RCCL.

[frugalfannie]

We have done 5 RCCL cruises with just hubby and I and we did two Disney cruises with kids (ages 6 and 10). I actually only paid 2400 (w/o air) last Nov. for the Disney cruise which I thought to be pretty decent. I am now looking into booking the Voyager for Feb. vacation 2006 and am getting quoted $4,000 (w/o air) for the four of us. Obviously school vacation prices get jacked way up. I loved Disney for the kids but found that there was not much for adults to do. RCCL has lots to do for both adults, kids and families.

[PlaneJoy]

With the $$ you save cruising on RCCL vs. DCL the late night baby sitting cost won't compare.

 

We've done Disney and Carnival and are planning RCCL for Thanksgiving this year. We'll just plan on a little extra $$ in case they stay in the kids club longer. This really hasn't be an issue for us in the past though.

[Corkle]

We sailed on the Adventure of the Seas last June with our 7 year old son. We never saw him! We had to bribe him to get him off the ship. That's how much he LOVED Adventure Ocean!! He outlasted us every day! We're sailing on the Mariner in October and he's just as excited, if not more, than I am!!

[kajohn]

We sailed DCL Magic in 2/03 and just got off the Explorer of the Seas last Sunday. My boys this time were 7, 9 and 11.

 

After sailing both lines, they say they preferred RCCL (and we are a Disney Family). We sailed DCL the first week of February, and I don't beleive that is a vacation week for many schools if any in the US, However there were 800 kids on board. The kids clubs on DCL were soooo crowded it would take 20 minutes in the evening to check my kids into the 5-7 age group.

 

On RCCL, with it being winter break in Michigan and other northern states, there were only 300 kids under the age of 18. I never had to wait to check my son into or out of the club, he got to know the other 25 or so kids in his age group and the coucelors knew him by name.

 

They also liked the pools better (although my 9 year old didn't like the salt water), they are much bigger than on DCL. My 9 year old loved the rock climbing wall, my 7 year old played many rounds of Putt putt and they all loved the inline skating.

 

When they went on DCL they loved it, but after the explorer, they said they want to stick with RCCL and not go back to DCL.

[bplazo]

I have to agree with Kajohn, my daughter loved the Disney (she was 11) but when we went on the RCCL Voyager there was no comparison. She will do nothing but RCCL now.

[NancyB84]

We have never tried Disney (too expensive). But our kids loved RCCL. As a matter of fact, the kids program was the one thing that will keep us loyal to RCCL. The late night babysitting wasn't an issue.... most nights we were all in the room by 10 or 11. And it really wasn't that much for them to stay until Midnight or so when we wanted to stay out late. Good luck and have fun on your cruise.

[Sunny AZ Girl]

We haven't done a Family Reunion cruise yet, but we have one coming up in May! I have ended up being the unofficial "group leader" & have done a lot of research prior to booking our cruise. I talked to 3 different travel agents, and they all told me that the Voyageur Ships with RCCL are the best ones for a large age span. (Our group ages are 16 - 75, so the kid's program wasn't really a factor.) However, as the other posters indicated, we wanted a program to appeal to ALL of our age groups. We will be on the Explorer in May. I'll let you lnow how it goes! :)

 

BTW, the Western Caribbean itinerary was also recommended as having "something for everybody"!

[unique]

We have Disney 3 times and will be doing RC Mariner in March. Disney was very expensive and I won't do it again. Twice we did the land/sea pkg... 3 night Disney/ 4 night cruise. My son didn't really enjoy any of the activities on Disney. For the money I think RCCL is the best deal! We are going on the Mariner and the price is less than what I paid for Disney.

[tamsvaca]

Thank you to everyone for all your help. I think RCCI is the way to go. The more I thought about it, I realized that even if we do pay for daycare at night, it would still be cheaper because of the huge price difference b/t the two.

 

My 9 yr old son was sitting here while I was reading through all the posts and his reply was, "mom, that's the ship I want to go on." When I told him about the salt water in the pools, I was expecting him to be bummed. Instead he said, "that is cool!"

 

After I talk with my husband about this, it sounds like this might be the way to go. Again, thank you to all!:D