RCCL or Disney for cruise with 3 and 6 year olds?

[eskiemomo]

I posted this in the Disney forum but didn't get too many responses, so I'll repost here and hope to hear from cruisers who've recently cruised RCCL.

 

we had cruised RC about 5-6 times in the past (Monarch, Navigator, can't remember other ships names) but ever since kids we have cruised Disney because of the services available for young children such as a nursery, splash pool for kids in diapers, bus transportation to the ports, etc.

 

Kids will be ages 3 and 6. Royal Caribbean has a huge fleet, and we're open to different itineraries for 2016, so I need some help in narrowing down choices! Which specific Royal Caribbean ships would be good choices in terms of offering childcare for those ages, good kids clubs, adults only areas, and are there any cabins with bathtubs in the staterooms? A split bathroom with one that has a smallish bathtub is standard on Disney.

 

We are open to different itineraries so picking the right ship/cabin category is more important. Any suggestions?

[cb at sea]

ALL of the RCI ship's offer the kid's club for kids in your age group! Most kids prefer RCI's club to Disney's, because there's a bit more structure, and kids like that!

 

Only JS's and above have tubs.... And the "Solarium" is the only "adult " area, aside from the spa, so that could be a downer!

 

I would think that since your kids are too young for the Flowrider, or rock wall, etc....ANY of the ship's will do just fine....I'd save the larger (Oasis/Allure) for when they're older and can use those amenities! My favorite class is Voyager class....big enough to feel spacious, but not too big that you walk yourself to death!!

Edited April 8, 2015 by cb at sea

[njm5378]

Our kids love the Freedom class ships for amenities and their Adventure Ocean program. No that they are getting older, youngest is 9, we are going to try the Oasis class with them. Pools on the Freedom are very kid friendly with a splash pad and dedicated kid hot tubs. This setup would be perfect for 3 and 6 year olds.

[Gardeneroflove]

I posted this in the Disney forum but didn't get too many responses, so I'll repost here and hope to hear from cruisers who've recently cruised RCCL.

 

we had cruised RC about 5-6 times in the past (Monarch, Navigator, can't remember other ships names) but ever since kids we have cruised Disney because of the services available for young children such as a nursery, splash pool for kids in diapers, bus transportation to the ports, etc.

 

Kids will be ages 3 and 6. Royal Caribbean has a huge fleet, and we're open to different itineraries for 2016, so I need some help in narrowing down choices! Which specific Royal Caribbean ships would be good choices in terms of offering childcare for those ages, good kids clubs, adults only areas, and are there any cabins with bathtubs in the staterooms? A split bathroom with one that has a smallish bathtub is standard on Disney.

 

We are open to different itineraries so picking the right ship/cabin category is more important. Any suggestions?

 

we did disney twice, then RCI in jan with my 3 year old. it sucked. There just weren't any kid or family acitivities outside of the kids club (which we don't use, since it's a family vacation)

 

We're in the process of planning our next cruise, the price tag for Disney was a shocker but we feel doing RCL would be throwing money away.

 

To be fair, we did an older ship, full of old people. NOTHING was family friendly/geared towards kids, though the pool/slide was way better. Smoking is allowed so that was hard, I couldn't get pool towels with dd, had to deal with the smell of smoke.

 

On Disney we had family crafts, toddler time/wake up with disney jr and it seems all sorts of fun stuff! Plus no smoking.

 

On the Saranade of the Sea there was no adult only area, if there was it wasn't enforced and I didn't see anything. Solarium was not adult only. On the Disney, magic and wonder, there was (and it was enforced). I was told no the bathrooms and RCI didn't provide the potty seat like on Disney (we brought our own, way easier for my small butt kid). The kids club started at three, looked fun, and didn't have many kids, but again, we didn't use it.