Disney versus Royal Caribbean comparison

[Iwannavacation]

After reading and benefiting from a number of reviews on this site on the general subject of cruising, I am returning the favor and hoping to provide insight for future cruisers by providing our detailed comparison of cruising on Disney versus Royal Caribbean (RCCL). What follows is designed primarily for people who’ve never cruised before, and who have children and wonder which company to cruise.

Background: My wife and young son cruised on the Sovereign of the Seas for 3 nights (summer 2005) to the Bahamas as our first cruise, then later went on a 4 night cruise on the Disney Wonder (Jan 2007) also to the Bahamas. In the first case, it was because my wife was reluctant to cruise for fear of getting seasick and wanted the shortest trip possible, and the second trip, as part of a longer family vacation, and although we’d been to the Bahamas, it was all that fit our schedule.

Here then, my comparison of the good and the less than good of each company’s product.

We had a rented car service for the RCCL trip and used the Disney coach for the trip on Disney. Either works fine, with the latter being less of a hassle from an arrangement standpoint; they do a pretty good job at the airport getting you moving.

1. Embarkation: Best: RCCL. Even though we embarked at about the same time on both boats, it was much, much faster on RCCL. Unless you are already a Castaway Club member on Disney (which you automatically get after your first cruise…it just comes in the mail), in which case you get preferential boarding, boarding is very slow on Disney. It was very fast on RCCL.

2. Room: Disney. We had a Grand Suite on Sovereign of the Seas RC (about 350 square feet) and a Family Veranda on the Disney Wonder (it’s about the same size as the RC Junior Suite). Because of the size, the baloney was much larger on the Sovereign, but the Disney balcony was fine. IMPORTANTLY, the larger suites on RC tend to be on the top room floor and directly under the restaurants. We had a great deal of worker noise all night on the Sovereign, which kept me awake every night, and considering the price, was most disappointing. As a result, we got a room on the Wonder between to decks that have guest rooms above and below, and that worked great on the Wonder. Very quiet. Disney has split bathrooms that individually are small, but particularly for families, works great because 2 can use the restroom at the same time. Our bathroom on the Sovereign, as others have reported, had a slight sewage smell. Otherwise, the bedding and room quality wasn’t very distinguishable between the two.

3. General overall ship shape: Disney. The Sovereign had been refurbished not much before we sailed and it was fine. On both boats, the swimming pool decks were so similar you wouldn’t know which ship you were on. Beyond that, the Disney Wonder was in amazingly good shape. Indeed, most of the boat looked brand new and was in typically Disney immaculate condition.

4. Service in general: We found the room stewards to be efficient if uninspiring in general on both boats. Dining attendants on both boats worked their tails off. In fact, we never ceased to be amazed at how great the service was and how hard the people in the dining rooms worked, especially when you consider how many people, day after day, they serve. Give the servers extra tips; they deserve it.

5. Food: RCCL by a mile. We were fairly impressed with the RCCL food, and we’ve been fortunate to spend time at 5 star resorts. I’d rate it 4 star. Disney, on the other hand, was consistently mediocre. The desserts were so bad, my wife and I simultaneously and spontaneously described ours as “frozen Sarah Lee,” at one dinner, and that might be an insult to Sarah Lee. Snacks were more accessible on RCCL. My wife is a Starbucks latte addict and the free coffee is bad on both boats. On RCCL you can go to a Seattle’s Best and get very good (Starbucks owned) coffee for extra. On the Wonder, you had to go to a small bar, and the selection and prices were not particularly good. Having said that, why do we have to pay extra for good coffee on either ship??

6. Entertainment. Disney. We were again pleasantly surprised with the evening shows on both ships. On both ships, one night a magician started it out and the same trick was performed on both boats! Still, Disney was head and shoulders above RCCL, due to the wealth of material Disney has to draw from. At one point, I asked “where in the world do they have room to store all those sets?” Both adults and kids were enthralled.

7. Kids clubs: Disney for younger set, RCCL for teens. On the first trip, our son was too young except for a parent supervised room in RCCL. RCCL didn’t do particularly good there. However, cousins who were near-teens and teens had a great time on RCCL (they immediately want to go again). The Disney Oceanner Club for 3-7 is very impressive, though very crowded. There were 1000 kids out of 2600 cruisers on our ship, so figure the odds! In fact, we were never comfortable leaving our young son there without us, though a great many parents did without concern. Good security systems are in place to keep track of the kids.

8. Private islands. Disney. In both cases, we were very impressed with the facilities and cleanliness of the private islands. Disney docks right at the island which saves lots of time and allows you to go back and forth (though you probably won’t), and has a train to move you to the beach if you don’t want to walk. Still, the RCCL Cococay Island was very nice, too.

9. Disembarkation: Disney by a mile. On both boats you put tags on your luggage the night before and they pick it up. RCCL is color coded and you leave based on the code and get your luggage in that time sequence. It was a zoo to get luggage. Disney gets you luggage off and puts in it areas segregated by your room number. It’s all there first thing and easy to find. The other lines really ought to copy Disney on this because it’s great service.

10. Other. 1. If you are an adult with no kids, I’m not sure why you’d go on Disney. Some adults did though, and because there were relatively few, they had their adults-only facilities (e.g., pools), mostly to themselves. But, 1000 kids! I described our Jan 2007 cruise as a germ factory, so many kids had a cold. I guess there are dedicated Disney adults, but I’m not going on that boat with just my wife! 2. Disney has another advantage in that they have lots of clothes washing machines you can easily and cheaply access. Since we were in the midst of a 10 day trip, it was really nice to be able to wash our clothes without spending a small fortune. 3. Also on Disney, if the Disney characters are important to your kids, the characters are very accessible and were a HUGE hit with our son.

Summary: Both lines do a pretty good job overall and you probably won’t go wrong with either. Having said that, if food is what you are after, go RCCL. Entertainment, Disney. Young kids, Disney, and older kids (11 or so up), RCCL. Of course, price is an issue too: Disney is much more expensive on a room size basis. BTW: my wife never did get seasick on either trip, including the January trip when the seas were rough enough that, while sleeping, you literally rolled slightly back and forth in the bed! So, don’t let concerns about seasickness concern you (unless you hit a hurricane!).

[bajathree]

Thanks for the review....I just wanted to add that maybe you had a bad day boarding Disney Wonder.....I was on her back in May and we got to the terminal at like 11AM....they started to board at like 11:30-11:45 and we were on the ship in less than 15 minutes with NO preferred boarding.

[firefly333]

You're scaring me lol. I have a back to back on the Soveign fall 2007 and Disney Magic fall 2008. We are two adults....as you said you can't imagine why two adults would enjoy Disney :(

 

I go mostly to relax, get away, love the shows, we dont swim or gamble and rarely drink.

 

Should I cancel Disney and do another back to back on RCI and get to platinum? Who knows. I think everyone still has to go and decide for themselves, no one else has the exact same tastes.

 

btw, the travel channel is doing an hour on Adventure of the Seas...nice to see a cruise and its a ship Iv never done.

[Desert Cruizers]

Very detailed summary,thank you. My husband and I having no young children, tend to go with Princess or RCCL. We feel they are both reliable cruise lines. My self personally, I try not to fault a line because of service from one ship. For us food is not the main reason for deciding on a line. Itnerary & price are, along with service.

[PantherFan]

Very detailed summary,thank you. My husband and I having no young children, tend to go with Princess or RCCL. We feel they are both reliable cruise lines. My self personally, I try not to fault a line because of service from one ship. For us food is not the main reason for deciding on a line. Itnerary & price are, along with service.

 

We don't have children and we loved Disney they pampered us for the whole 7 days. It was fun seeing the characters and having our pictures taken with them.............we don't have to be serious all the time:)

 

We thought food was great and they offered a wonderful variety. RCL's windjammer seems to always have the same food all the time.

 

Good review of each ;)

[xoxoalexandra]

thanks so much for that. i've only been on a disney, and me and my family have been a little reluctant to try something else. im looking into RC right now.

[firefly333]

We don't have children and we loved Disney they pampered us for the whole 7 days. It was fun seeing the characters and having our pictures taken with them.............we don't have to be serious all the time:)

 

We thought food was great and they offered a wonderful variety. RCL's windjammer seems to always have the same food all the time.

 

Good review of each ;)

 

I thought so far RCI had the food I liked least, but this is the RCI board, so most everyone would disagree. I liked Princess best for food so far. I dont like beef or steak and Princess had lots of fish and the seafood buffet the first night and unlimited shrimp cocktail for one of the lunches. We actually got tired of shrimp we had so much great shrimp on Princess.

 

Disney's private beach has a adults only area where they will cook steaks for the adults, no children allowed.

 

I dont feel I need to conform or like a cruise for the same reasons as everyone else. I dont go for the food, so its no biggie.

[we b cruzin]

You're scaring me lol. I have a back to back on the Soveign fall 2007 and Disney Magic fall 2008. We are two adults....as you said you can't imagine why two adults would enjoy Disney :(

 

I go mostly to relax, get away, love the shows, we dont swim or gamble and rarely drink.

 

Should I cancel Disney and do another back to back on RCI and get to platinum? Who knows. I think everyone still has to go and decide for themselves, no one else has the exact same tastes.

 

btw, the travel channel is doing an hour on Adventure of the Seas...nice to see a cruise and its a ship Iv never done.

 

DW and I did a Disney cruise without any kids. Just the two of us (another couple was with us, in different cabins) and we had a great time. While Disney does cater more to the families, there is still plenty for adults to do. Castaway Cay is fabulous with their adults only beach.

 

Having said that, as you can see we are trying RCCL this time for our 10th anniversary (no kids this time either). I'm sure we won't be disappointed...We can't wait!!!

[rsinj]

btw, the travel channel is doing an hour on Adventure of the Seas...nice to see a cruise and its a ship Iv never done.

 

It's an old documentary, just like the other they run on Radiance.

 

Check the Travel Channel listings (or program your Tivo to do it) - they'll eventually re-run the ones on the Disney ships.

 

Howard

[Desert Cruizers]

We don't have children and we loved Disney they pampered us for the whole 7 days. It was fun seeing the characters and having our pictures taken with them.............we don't have to be serious all the time:)

 

We thought food was great and they offered a wonderful variety. RCL's windjammer seems to always have the same food all the time.

 

Good review of each ;)

Panther, my only fault with Princess, they really need to do something about the Horizon Court. That galley set up is terrible, everyone going back and forth between stations, you don't dare turn fast with your tray. Other then that, we have always had a wonderful cruise on both Princess and RCCL. We should try others to get a good perspective.