Disney Wonder Vs. RCCL Freedom

[Shoobie1124]

Hello Cruisers!

 

We did our first Disney Cruise on the Fantasy last year and cannot wait to book another one. Because of school/work we can only go on Spring break which means crowded ships and extra costs!

 

We were considering the 5 night Wonder...but our TA suggested the RCCL Freedom for 7 nights, for almost 2k less!

 

We have a 7 year old son - who enjoys the characters but it wouldn't make or break him not to see them. And is not into the extreme sports at all (He wouldn't rock climb at all) But he LOVED the Lab on the Fantasy. (Basically the video games and interactive play floor etc.)

 

I asked on the disney board and they said there are a lot of craft type things that he is not into. He would do free play with other kids - but wouldn't be into organized crafts/decorating things/bingo all the time. Is there a place where kids can just play or any wii type things?

 

Would he enjoy the clubs on RCCL as much as the Fantasy? Are there enough adult only areas that we can enjoy? (Serenity Cove was pure BLISS! ) and any adult only dining options we could take advantage of that are as wonderful as Remy and Palo?

 

Disney was great because it was a vacation for us too - we would hate to resent going on a longer cruise if he hated the kids club and we didn't have time to relax because of meltdowns!

 

Again - 7 year old boy, likes video games, interactive electronics, but not extreme sports or characters.

 

Thanks!

Gillian

[parrothead brian]

Both of my boys enjoyed both Disney and RC. Their ages when we did Royal were 7 & 3, they really enjoyed the different kids clubs but they were there with their cousins so making friends was kind of a non issue. From what I remember they did have video games in my older son's club. They went crazy on our last Disney cruise(Dream). they loved the Aqua Duck. But they were 12 &8 at the time. Royal will have more "adult" areas such as the casino.

Both are great cruise to go on, I don't think you'll be disappointed in whichever you choose.

[ehfl]

RCI has the Dreamworks characters, so he'll be familiar with some of them.

 

They had some kind of video game in the kids area on RCI (not sure if it was Wii or what).

 

The Solarium on the Royal ships is a nice adults only pool area for peace and quiet.

 

Giovanni's and Chops are both good specialty restaurants.

[Shar27]

I have never been on Disney, but have been on Freedom many times and will actually be back on her again for our March school break. One good thing about that for you is that there will be a lot of kids on there to help entertain your son.

 

I'm not sure about the activities. I remember they had gagaball, which the kids love (kind of like dodgeball), scavenger hunts, some arts and crafts, movies. I do remember seeing video games centres. Maybe you could do a search or ask if someone can post the kids Cruise Compass for his age group.

 

My kids are getting older, but when they were younger, I couldn't tear them away from the clubs. They would even have late night events that they would beg me to attend. Sometimes I would have to beg them to come out if we wanted to spend some time with them.

 

Freedom does have an adult only pool that is lovely and relaxing and the casino of course.:) They also have an upsell restaurant that is kid free after a certain time. I think the cutoff is 6 p.m.

 

Hope this helps.:p

Edited January 9, 2014 by Shar27

[negc]

Haven't sailed on a Disney ship (lack of a casino is a dealbreaker for us) but have sailed on several RCI cruises with our grandkids and they were all devastated when it came time to disembark. ;) My daughter was especially dismayed when her 8 year old told her that she didn't want to go to the beach with her parents but wanted to stay in Adventure Ocean.;) They also enjoyed the various Dreamworks characters that they encountered on Allure and all loved the flowrider.

[orville99]

We've done both with our grandkids, and they enjoyed both kids clubs. When our oldest GS was 7 we did the Wonder, and couldn't get him out of the club. When our youngest GS was 7 we took him on Enchantment, and we couldn't get him out of that club either. As our GS got older, they started to nudge us more towards RCL and away from Disney.

 

Wonder is quite a bit smaller than the Fantasy, and there are fewer kids areas. However, the Quiet Cove on Wonder is much better than the one on Fantasy. Fantasy carries about the same number of passengers as Freedom, but Freedom has significantly more public and open deck space, so it never felt as crowded as the Disney ships. Freedom also has a great kids splash zone, and the adults-only solarium is about 3x the size of the Quiet Cove.

[jagwebb]

We have been on Freedom, Oasis, and Disney Dream with our now 7 year old daughter and will be going on Freedom again for this spring break. My daughter has enjoyed all ships equally. I will say that she prefers the kids club on Disney much more than on RCCL. She would have stayed in the kids club on the Dream from the time she woke up until midnight had we let her. On both Freedom and Oasis - she only wanted to go for specific things. The difference that I have been able to gather from her is that the kids club on Disney was much more free play type of activities although there were opportunities for structured play but you did not have to participate and could do other activities if you wanted (dress up, computer, etc....). On RCCL, it seems that most of the activities are structured and everyone must participate. However, she prefers the H2O Zone on Freedom and Oasis to the pool deck/Aqua Duck on Dream. So it kind of evens out. As adults, we prefer RCCL. You won't be disappointed with the Freedom!

[DragonOfTheSeas]

I have never taken kids to Adventure Ocean--so I can not give you any information first hand. The people I have talked to say their kids really like it.

 

There is a "Family cruising" message board on Cruise Critic. I did a search on that and found this thread about Freedom of the Seas. There were several other threads that would give you information. You might want to try that.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1913455&highlight=freedom+of+the+seas

 

 

Have fun on your cruise.

[travelplus]

I would go on Royal. While Disney is nice Royal has different dining venues such as the Park Cafe, Boardwalk Dog House(hot dogs). You also have the Solarium for Adults and various areas for you to relax while your kids are at the kids club.

 

I think the Royal Caribbean ship would offer you more in the way of mixing adults and children.

 

If you have been on Disney then try Royal and compare the two.

[Jiffymom]

We have sailed both. Our granddaughters 7 and 9 loved both. So for my choice I prefer Freedom not as many kids but enough to keep a great experience for the girls. Truthfully I got tired of tripping over high chairs on Disney cruise. They will love the freedom I'm sure and so will you.

[rstout]

I would definitely give the Freedom a try:

 

- It's a longer cruise

- You are saving money

- It really is a GREAT ship for kids. The pool area/splash zone are really fun. Plus there is ice skating, etc. The kids clubs are fun. My kids have been on three different cruise lines (including Disney and RCCL) and always like the kids clubs. They are also very into video games. They would have been thrilled if we left them to play on the computers on the Dream for hours. There is less of that on the RCCL ships - I seem to recall them actually playing more. But they also made more friends and interacted with other kids more, and begged to go every day.

- Activities for adults are great, too. For ex., if you sign up for Anytime Dining, the Adventure Ocean counselors will take your son directly to Adventure Ocean when he's done eating so you can enjoy the rest of your dinner, go to a show, etc.

[orville99]

I would go on Royal. While Disney is nice Royal has different dining venues such as the Park Cafe, Boardwalk Dog House(hot dogs). You also have the Solarium for Adults and various areas for you to relax while your kids are at the kids club.

 

I think the Royal Caribbean ship would offer you more in the way of mixing adults and children.

 

If you have been on Disney then try Royal and compare the two.

 

 

Neither of these venues are available on the Freedom of the Seas.

Edited January 9, 2014 by orville99

[04mach1]

The Freedom does have a big video arcade with games for the kids and adults. I think the kids will enjoy the Freedom.

[hansolosmom]

We've been on Magic a few times & on the Freedom. My youngest (now 15) sounds like your ds, he's into electronics & hates doing anything crafty.

 

As someone else said there is more free play on Disney then on RCCL. They do have video games, but they only do them at certain times - the kids can't just come in & play them, it's usually like Wii Sports from 1-2 or something like that. They do more free style activities when you get to the 10-12+ range.

 

Freedom has an arcade. The only thing on the RC arcades is they use your sea pass to play the games. On Disney I liked that you bought an arcade card for X, so you knew exactly I how much $ was being spent.

 

With that said, we had fun on have Freedom. I really don't know how much time my son spent in the kids room he spend some, but he's never been one to stay there all the time. As he's gotten older he seems to enjoy them more.

[4biegelboys]

We were in the same situation. We chose the freedom because it was so much cheaper. Traveling with 6 tends to get pricey and we used what we saved on the cruise and are staying a couple extra days in orlando at universal studios. Kids can't wait. They are all pretty active though and are looking forward to the rock wall and flow rider. A little nervous about my 12 yo son who has autism (verbal, non aggressive and getting more and more social by the day) so we are trying to prepare him for what he can expect on board. At least he'll have 2 big brothers there too. We're pretty tight so I expect us to do a lot of stuff together.