Royal Caribbean or Disney?

[LuvAllPrincesses]

Here's the question: 10-night Western Caribbean Royal Caribbean cruise or 7-night Western Caribbean cruise? The kids are DS 15, DD 7, and DS 2 and we have never taken any of them on a cruise before. We're planning on including extended family, too. The prices are just about the same. So, 10 nights in the same dining room without Disney entertainment, but with a casino, or 7 nights of rotational dining, and the Disney "Magic". Help!!

[LuvAllPrincesses]

Whoops - I meant to ask about a 7 night Disney cruise or a 10 night Royal Caribbean in my original post (forgot the word Disney...how dare I?)

[CPT Trips]

Well, you won't have the "magic" on RC . . .
Disney's entertainment and kids programs are superior. RC will have better food (that's one of DCL's weaknesses).
15 yo DS might like RC better if he isn't a real Disney nut. DD likely will like Disney better . . . 2 yo DS is young for many of the cruise activities and will be with one parent or another just about all the time.
If you haven't already, wander over to cruisecritic dot com and look around their RC and DCL boards to get a less "disneyphile" sense of the comparisons.

[em-n-mia's-mommy]

I have never been on a disney cruise, but i just returned from a royal caribbean cruise a month ago. Loved it and would do it again! Lots of entertainment. Room service was nice. Food was yummy!!They also seemed to have a lot of activities for kids of all ages. I highly recommend RC from my experience. I like the drink package they offer on board also! $6/day for unlimited drinks and a mug.

[CPT Trips]

That drink package mentioned above is soft drinks . . . an adult beverage will cost you at least that much on any line.

[Advnt05]

Never have been on a cruise. My coworked just returned and he said the entire ship was smoking. Is this the same on Disney or other cruise lines?

[benny]

I can't answer re the Disney Cruise Line, but I did a Royal Caribbean 7 night cruise in January and smoking was restricted to very limited areas. It certainly wasn't all over the ship.

Jenny

[RobWreck]

When I went on the Wonder last October, smoking was restricted to just a few outside areas... generally the restaurants and clubs/bars were non-smoking.
Of course, being 'forced out onto the smoking deck', where you have no choice but take in the sights of deep blue of the sea, wasn't all that bad. :)
Rob

[ISLE39]

been on the disney cruiseline it is NOT to be missed cruise. but this year or actually next year oct 2008 i plan on taking the rc cruise. i think for you its a win win. disney cruise is the best i have been on so far service was superior food and restaurants awesome and the adults really do have their own entertainment

[Cinderelley]

I would check out the ships that you are contemplating to see which ship offers more amenities that would fit your family. I've been on Royal Caribbean and loved it for a 4-day cruise to Mexico. In 2009, we're taking an Alaskan cruise with Royal Caribbean because the ship Radiance of the Seas has so much that my family would enjoy. But I don't think Royal Caribbean would let the 2-year-old into the kids' adventure club, but I do think that Disney does have a place for little ones.

[Hair_Razor]

I've done both and feel like that for an extended family cruise more people would appreciate the Royal Caribbean route. Plus you get 3 more days what's the question? Royal has a really good children's program. You can also have options with dinner you don't always have to do the dining room if that is too hard. I love both and fully suggest doing DIsney I think it would be better suited for a large group to do the RC this time around. But that's just my:twocents: :D

[LCPZA]

We went on a RC cruise in August for 10 days and I HATED IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
THey allowed the children to run wild on the cruise ship. My DS is 12 and the group he was to be in never did one thing all week because the children in the group never showed up in groups of 5 or more. THats what was needed to have a session they said. YOu were lucky if 2 kids showed. From 12 and up they were free to run free on the ship. THere would be times you could not walk down the steps because the kids were sitting on them and would not move. THey would not allow my son to sit in the room and play video games because the yonger kids would be in there. He would just have to spend time on the arcade that cost $$. Thanks GOd he took he portable hand held games.(YES I COMPLAINED) Now the little kids had a great time.
We went with 84 people on this trip and everyone had a bad time. The food was fantastic. THe room service (maids) were super. THe HEad server never came to our table until the next to last night and the last night looking for his tip. MInd you the half the week our group ate dinner with no a/c and complained. SOme nights we just got up and left.
This was my first RC cruise and my last. I even had a guard grab my son one night when we got on an elevator and accused him of pushing the buttons and playing on it, however it was not him because his had just got on the elevator with me. It was the other kids on the elevator who were playing. I made a report at the front desk and was just blown off. HE was lucky that I did not go off or that my DH was not with me. If I was the type of person that sued people they would have seen a lawsuit from me however what they wont see is 84 people from our family again. We are going on a family cruise again 2010 and RC will not be an option. WE are looking into a Disney CRuise.

[PAYROLL PRINCESS]

I've been on RC & Disney cruises. I think the Disney would be more fun for the kids. I thought RC was very laid back. The food is better on RC but I found the service on both cruise lines was great. The cabins on Disney are also much larger than RC. I don't gamble so I didn't miss the casino.
I don't have kids of my own but I still found lots to do on Disney's ship. And my nephews found plenty to keep themselves busy on the Disney ship.

[WelshieLover]

I was on Royal's Jewel of the Seas Dec 1 - 8 and had a fabulous time. I found the Jewel had something to offer everyone. I felt it was more kid friendly than Princess.

I also think the timing of when you take your cruise will impact if there are a lot of other children in your child's age group. In other words on school vacations there would be more kids than in session times. In early December there were quite a few pre-schoolers but almost no school age children. On a Disney cruise I would bet there would always be lots of children. We were told by a couple we met that they do not serve alcohol on Disney cruises, I am not a big drinker but on a cruise I have a cocktail a day. I am not sure if they were telling us the truth or not, but they said with so many kids on board they needed a few cocktails.

My understanding is that Disney cruises are quite a bit higher priced than other lines and you are really only paying for the "Disney Magic". So I guess that it what you have to weigh. Me, while I love Disney, I would prefer my magic at WDW or DL and not on a ship. My vote goes with the longer cruise. The longer you are away from home he more relaxed you become. I noticed it after doing a 7 day cruise on Princess in June and an 8 day one with Royal this December. An extra day does make a difference.

Do check out cruisecritic.com. It is a wealth of information. I wish I had found it before the cruise we had taken last June.

[Mackflava99]

I have not found RC to be as kid friendly as something like NCL- who does a great job with kid programs and activities- DCL and NCL are much more kid friendly than RC

If you said 7 day DCL vs 7 days RC - it would be DCL hands down- yes cost would be more but i think worth it-
10 days vs 7 days does sway the vote tremendously - BUT
when you pick a cruise- you really need to look at the places it goes and the ship itself- Some RC ships are great- others are clunkers. Where are the ports? where do they dock ? I have learned the hard way that some cruise lines get preferential docking in some ports while others dock in ghetto areas.
I agree with Cruise Critic or maybe WWcruises to see what the ship size is, ratio of staff to crew etc-
Write it all down and then youhave all your cards for a better decision.
i think if everything is equal- 10 days would win- BUT I am not sure they are all equal. Y