Jumping ship from Disney to RCI

[boulders]

Biggest adjustments coming from Disney are the kids clubs not being open full days and the charge after 10 PM (and the lack of kids there) and of course, the soda and tea available for free. If you want a drink other than coffee or water on RCCL, buy the soda package.

 

The above is not quite true regarding drinks available on RCCL ships. There is tea, coffee, milk, and chocolate milk available at all times for free. Juice, lemonade and iced tea are available in the Windjammer. Some ships have specialty coffee bars where you can get cappuccino etc (for a fee). You can get milkshakes at Johnny Rockets or Ben and Jerry's (for a fee). There are plenty of regular bars around the ship as well. There are probably many more options available. I haven't cruised them since 2011 or been on the Oasis class ships.

 

I prefer to get the soda card on RCCL - it's not a separate card, it's embedded in your sign and sail card by the way - so that I can get a drink wherever I like around the ship rather than having to schlep up to the pool deck to get a self-serve on Disney.

[Jimnbigd]

3. Entertainment: Disney did awesome, but always related to Disney! We like the increased variety on Royal and adult-orientated stuff (Love & Marriage, Quest, comedy.)

Looks like Disney used to do the quest. I wonder if they still do?

And does Disney still do "If I Were Not Upon the Sea"?

These both seem adult oriented.

Edited November 20, 2013 by Jimnbigd

[xxHadleyxx]

Looks like Disney used to do the quest. I wonder if they still do?

And does Disney still do "If I Were Not Upon the Sea"?

These both seem adult oriented.

 

The Quest that disney used to do (still do so far as I know) was a family activity and VERY tame--not at all like the ones on RCI.

 

As of our last two cruises (last one being September 2012 on the Fantasy) "If I Were Not Upon the Sea" was no longer. A LOT of people missed it and commented, so maybe they have brought it back :confused:

[xxHadleyxx]

I stand corrected!~ I had not clicked on the link before. We have not had that on our cruises--but it would be a nice addition.

[makunc1]

And while the children's programming as a whole is still fun and all (at least on Royal,) it is very much not Disney... Details and customer service, even (and often especially) for the little ones, is what Disney does best.

 

I could not disagree more. While I certainly respect everyone's opinions and experience, I felt a billion times more comfortable with my kids in the RCL kids club on the Allure than on the Disney Fantasy. The counselors were more knowledgeable about the kids and never appeared hassled, as the Disney people did. On more than one occasion, Disney called us to pick up our crying child when he or she wasn't even in the program at the time. That was a big concern for us. Don't get me wrong, the Disney kid's club was huge and had tons of stuff to do, but I felt way more comfortable with my kids in RCL and I think they enjoyed it more as well.

[TwinPrincessMermaids]

Two years ago we sailed on the Disney Magic, got off, walked to the RCI Liberty of the Seas and got on for a cruise of the same length visiting mostly the same ports. Being so close together made comparing/contrasting easy. I wrote the following up then if you are interested in seeing how we thought those two stacked up at the time:

 

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2803659

 

That was after only our second RCI cruise, BTW--so some of what I felt then may not be equal to what I said above after several other cruises.

 

Enjoying that thread. Just wanted to say that Topsiders is gone on the Magic now with the reimagineering and has the Cabanas set up. If that was the only draw back (a single station line) to DCL for that, than perhaps points will go back to DCL for that one.

 

To add to the other posters, while its been some times since I was on RCI, and I haven't been on the mega ships, if you cruise a regular ho-hum ship, you should make sure the ports are unreal. Case in point, our last one was Hawaii. I can't hardly remember anything about the cruise except that the soup came as a clear broth and my husband wasn't thrilled. We did a scavenger hunt and won, that was cool. I couldn't remember anything else. Not even the name of the ship. I just remember Hawaii (got engaged on it) and the incredible excursions RCCL offered. Turns out the ship was the Legend, and as others might have noted any of these that I have been on (See signature) are all Vegas style floating hotels, period. A good cruise line, decent service, but DCL is THE most 'magical' cruise I've ever been on, the one that has wowed me the most and also the shortest (3 day!) I've ever been on. The other cruise lines are just missing 'that'. (Same way that 6 Flags or a local water park make for a fun getaway, but a trip to WDW is far above that, or at least to us.) I don't remember any shows on that cruise, nothing about the cruise ship was memorable.

 

I think after we get a DCL or two under our belt (may MAgic will only be our 2nd), we will go back to RCI and try some of the Allure or Oasis class (assuming they fix the propulsion) because my honey would love all the Flowrider keep you busy all the time stuff. Draw backs include hating to reserve shows. I might struggle with that with him, not wanting to plan everything by a schedule. Also the upsell items. I've been cruising since I was 11 on RCI. Back then, the MDR WAS the fine dining. And paying for a cheeseburger on a cruise? And my honey is a big soda drinker. Paying almost $2 for a coke really gets old, and we didn't have to do that or buy a soda card on DCL. We enjoyed that immensely.

 

It's my dream to some day sail on DCL Fantasy. But at these rates, sheesh! So unless a *GT of amazing proportions drops out of the sky (not impossible with the rate hikes and people not wanting to book), I may end up on RCI before that. I know one thing. Even my husband agreed, no more CCL. We are building a lot of Disney rewards thru our cards to take down the price of the cruises, but I imagine we may try something different for 2015 if we cruise. RCI or DCL, but probably not anyone else. I'm not a fan of casual dine-when-you-want and don't think NCL is that interesting. RCI seems more fun than X so I think either RCI and DCL are bound to be winners. As long as you aren't looking at the Legend of the Seas... or whatever it's name was?

Edited November 20, 2013 by TwinPrincessMermaids