Booked on Liberty of the Seas! Will I miss my Disney boat?

[Aggiecruiser01]

Our family has been on two disney cruises and I can't say enough good things about our experiences. But.. We are looking at venturing out and trying royal Caribbean for a family cruise next May 2016 -7 nights- on liberty of the seas. Kids will be 6 & 8 (our private school gets out early May- so may not have many school aged kids (?)). Will we miss our disney boat? Thanks!

:D

[Clarea]

One difference is that soda is not included in the basic cruise fare on Royal. You would have to pay $4.50 per day for kids and $6.50 per day for adults (plus 18% gratuity) for the unlimited soda package.

 

Single cans of soda run around $2.50, so that should tell you if a package would be worth it to you.

[orville99]

We just got off of the Disney Magic last Friday (our ninth Disney cruise), and can't wait to get back on Enchantment of the Seas in July. Really disappointed in how far Disney standards have fallen in the last five years:(

[Aggiecruiser01]

We are not a soda family.. water, tea, lemonade is fine. Wondering if the kids will be 'entertained' enough on the boat. We loved the Disney shows at night.. I'm just happy to be on a cruise! :)

[cruisinwithmaandpa]

Freedom of the Seas has the Dreamworks Experience, that may be more suited for kids.

 

I don't think you will miss the higher prices of a Disney cruise.

[Clarea]

We are not a soda family.. water, tea, lemonade is fine. Wondering if the kids will be 'entertained' enough on the boat. We loved the Disney shows at night.. I'm just happy to be on a cruise! :)

There will be Dreamworks characters about. However, the shows will probably be much different than Disney. One aspect I enjoy about Royal's shows is that they use a live orchestra.

[orville99]

We are not a soda family.. water, tea, lemonade is fine. Wondering if the kids will be 'entertained' enough on the boat. We loved the Disney shows at night.. I'm just happy to be on a cruise! :)

 

 

We've taken our grandsons on both Disney and RCL when they were about the same ages as your two, and they enjoyed both kids programs quite a bit (we couldn't get them out most nights even to have dinner with us).

[cruisinwithmaandpa]

There will be Dreamworks characters about. However, the shows will probably be much different than Disney. One aspect I enjoy about Royal's shows is that they use a live orchestra.

 

 

Glad to see it is on the Liberty.

[orville99]

Glad to see it is on the Liberty.

 

 

My kids were on Liberty last month (5 night out of FLL) and there were no DreamWorks characters or parade. Are they adding these when they go to the new itineraries?

[Aggiecruiser01]

The Dream works crowd is suppose to be on board when they start out of Galveston... but if you want the Character breakfast it cost extra. We like our Disney friends better :)...

 

how did your kids like the Liberty boat overall? kids program?

[orville99]

The Dream works crowd is suppose to be on board when they start out of Galveston... but if you want the Character breakfast it cost extra. We like our Disney friends better :)...

 

how did your kids like the Liberty boat overall? kids program?

 

The older grandson (now 15) had his girlfriend with him so they rarely saw them, and the 8 Y/O lived in the kids club all week.

[N41EF]

Yes you'll miss Disney....

 

They do a Dreamworks parade down through th Promenade one night, and there is what I would call a dance party on deck after the Make-a-Wish walk as kind of a celebration. I have a picture of me and Shrek.

 

We did the Liberty twice with no kids, I'm sure there are other Dreamworks things, but that's all I saw.

 

The Ice show was pretty good, there are tickets in advance, but we walked in both times.

 

Saturday Night Fever is the broadway show. Loved it the first time, was OK the second, the cast changes about every 2 months.

 

We bought a drink package both times, Royal Replenish, and I think we got our money's worth.

[CP3o]

You may miss aspects of Disney, including service issues but remember the cost difference and lots should be fun just because it's new. And, as great as the DCL shows are, often one doesn't need to see them more than once or twice.

 

At age 6 and 8 there is a lot of fun to be had with friends in the kids club on RCCL too.

 

There will always be "enough" kids, be happy to be avoiding peak kid time. There will me more resources for the kids in the clubs.

 

Remember to bring on 2 bottles of wine per cabin, if you drink. It's not unlimited byob like DCL but that's fair. And there is no longer a corkage fee so ok to bring the bottle to MDR. I was happy to pay corkage on DCL and have them keep a bottle kept for me the next night but turned out to be a "bad" bottle and was a waste. I paid corkage but couldn't drink the darn thing!

 

Sometimes it's hard for kids to stay up for some of the parades. It's not DCL but try to embrace the change as kids are getting older and it's "new". My niece enjoyed having a PR cabin that overlooked the parade below. She sort of woke up for it and watched it from the window, which worked perfectly for her.

 

The soda card is a good deal and we often found ourselves at an entertainment venue when it was easier on RCCL to go to any bar for a soda than go to the pool deck for the free sodas there on DCL. If the kids liked sodas on DCL, I'd get the 4.50/day sticker for them.

[emeraldcity]

Take each cruise line and enjoy what's best while you're on it. My DD and I celebrate what's different about every cruise.

 

There was a couple at my table on a recent cruise who gushed every night about how much they missed Disney ... and the "attention to detail". It got pretty tiresome.

[hansolosmom]

We did a couple Disney cruises then did Freedom when ours were around the same age as yours. They had a great time. There are definite aspects of Disney you'll miss. The impeccable service, the cool dining rooms and the split bathroom. However there will be a bunch for the kids to do, plus there's the Flowrider and ice rink.

 

The big thing to remember is keep an open mind and try not to compare everything when on-board. Just enjoy it

[skyking]

My kids were on Liberty last month (5 night out of FLL) and there were no DreamWorks characters or parade. Are they adding these when they go to the new itineraries?

 

Well thats ODD, we were on the 4 day Liberty last month and saw the dream works characters plenty of times.

[notsomadhatter]

We just got off of the Disney Magic last Friday (our ninth Disney cruise), and can't wait to get back on Enchantment of the Seas in July. Really disappointed in how far Disney standards have fallen in the last five years:(

 

We were very sad to come to the same conclusion on our 5/3 sailing, although it was really true on our last two sailings with them. We've decided to take a break (extended? permanent? we're not sure) and continue sailing with primarily Royal/X. Our next 6 cruises are booked within the RCCL brands.

[Aggiecruiser01]

Thanks! Great thoughts.

[leftwriter]

Hi - tough question really. Disney is Disney and if your kids really love Disney characters they will certainly miss them. Also Disney's ships have a distinct look and feel along with their unique dining experiences.

 

Having said that there is so much for the kids on Royal Caribbean, especially on Liberty of the Seas. I saw the Dreamworks characters (from Shrek, Madagascar, and Kung Fu Panda) all around the ship. The kids programs are very good and the ship has a really cool kids pool and splash park. Also not sure if Mom and Dad are gamblers but will have a casino on board which you don't have on Disney ships.

 

Have fun!