Making the switch from DCL to RCI

DCL has priced us out (as it has for many, it seems), particularly for the summer months when unfortunately us teachers are limited to traveling. We did RCI 10 years ago on the Mariner of the Seas and had a great time, so we knew that the only non-DCL company we'd be willing to go with would be RCI. My family is older and my parents are at an age when traveling is not easy. We live less than an hour from Port Canaveral, so when it came to budget vs. new experiences (we desperately wanted to do DCL's southern itinerary) we had no choice but to pick budget. To do DCL would've cost just as much as our Aulani vacation 2 years ago; and their fares seem to go up every year--making saving challenging for their special sailings.

What we have loved about DCL is how most of the charges are rolled into your fare; there isn't nearly as much nickel and diming on board. However, at over $3K less than our Fantasy cruise last June in a comparable stateroom on the Oasis, we're willing to compromise. What's been a journey is seeing how much some of the "extras" are on RCI compared to what it would've been on Disney. The biggest sticker shock so far has been the "water package" On the Fantasy once on board, we paid about $40 for a 12 pack of Evian and the soft cooler. This price probably included whatever delivery surcharge, if any. Expensive, but it was very nice to have; my family has a lot of carry-on baggage due to my father's multiple health needs so dragging around a pack of water isn't appealing.

For the Oasis, Evian is the only choice and the price is about the same without any kind of souvenir cooler. The cost of a 24 pack is crazy, but then after a Google search, that seems to be the going rate for 1 liter bottles. It would appear that while RCI does "not allow" you to bring water on board, the rule isn't really enforced if you bring it on board yourself (like Disney). What has everyone's experience been so far? To save a wad of cash, I'm willing to lug a 12 pack from home around in a wheeled bag.

We only drink 1-2 sodas a day, so the soda package isn't worth it for us and we are not really alcohol drinkers beyond maybe a glass of wine and a specialty drink per cruise. We're not big foodies either, but I'd like to try some of the specialty restaurants.

So, those of you who are DCL fans and have been on the Oasis--how was your experience? Did you feel roadblocked often if you didn't have a "package" for certain premium things? I've already had a dream in which I got hopelessly lost on this ship, LOL.

Since you would like the southern itinerary on dcl what about with royal? The flight to San Juan from mco is easy (we used southwest).

We were just on Adventure for the southern itinerary and it was very good. Jewel (Radiance class) does the southern route too.

OrcaPotter said:

The biggest sticker shock so far has been the "water package" On the Fantasy once on board, we paid about $40 for a 12 pack of Evian and the soft cooler.

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From what I recall the Disney package was 500ml bottles. Royal's package is 1L bottles.

And if you like Evian from what I've read dcl doesn't offer it anymore. It's Dasani. Bleah. If I wanted filtered municipal water I'd bring a brita.

Do you drink espresso? If so, the non-alcohol package includes...espresso drinks from the non-Starbucks espresso kiosk onboard, fresh squeezed on in the mornings and I believe some stuff at the juice bar I believe oasis class has, 500ml bottles of non-Evian spring water, sparkling water like San pellegrino, soda, and any virgin "cocktail" you can imagine.

Each person can buy any package or none at all. So if one person is a latte fiend and loves OJ and adores a sparkling water with their meals, and the money would be worth it for them they can get Refreshment for them and their cabin mate can get the water package and buy their tequila out of pocket etc.


I have not felt anymore nickel and dimed on royal than I do on Disney. For both i pay for espresso and alcohol. I can pay more for a specialty restaurant on both. On royal they do have upsell stuff in the mdr menu but if you don't want that don't order that I didn't even notice the box for it for two cruises lol.

(ETA, I don't drink soda, so I'm happy to not subsidize everyone else's soda on Royal like I do on Disney!)


Note! Many people find that they enjoy celebrity over royal. It's a sister line to royal but they are just a touch nicer. And if you like to gamble but are non-smokers, it's nice to know that celebrity has their casinos 100% non-smoking.

Thanks for the reply! My parents do not travel well at all now; we discussed doing itineraries that sail from other ports, but after a bad experience at Fort Lauderdale, my mother was insistent we stay with Port Canaveral. Carnival probably had something different, but we really want to stay away from their brand--we didn't have a good experience on Princess, either. Celebrity does sound nice but they don't go out of Port Canaveral (yet).

I'm bummed Disney doesn't do Evian anymore! I'm almost exclusively a water drinker, so I do detect taste differences in brands; while I don't normally buy Evian at home due to cost, it was nice for that trip. I hate Dasani.

I have taken 7 DCL cruises, 3 RCL, 2 NCL, 1 Celebrity, and 1 Carnival cruise. DCL was our first, in 1998. It was the sixth sailing of the Magic, so very, very early in their cruise life. At that time DCL charged for soda (except in the restaurants at meals) just like all the other lines. Eventually they installed the serve yourself places on deck 9. On the other cruise lines I have sailed since, none of them "nickle and dime" you for anything other than soda. Every line charges extra for fancy coffee drinks, even DCL. They all have some specialty dining restaurants that cost extra as well. In fact, some lines offer specials for the specialty restaurants, and the internet charges.

I am a musician, and I found DCL to be the worst for live music. There is not much live singing in the shows, most is recorded and lip synced. We watched a band play at the pool, and you could tell the music was recorded. They sang live but didn't really play their instruments. I prefer the shows and live bands on RCL and Celebrity. You can walk around those ships and find so many great bands, duos, piano players, singers, etc.

Every cruise line has something to offer, but don't assume DCL is the best just because it is "Disney".

Denise

Oh, thought of something else.

Royal does have Ben&Jerry's ice cream shops for extra.

Until recently DCL didn't have this; their ice cream was free!

Yeah, same cheapie ice cream as Royal has for free; the stuff at dessert and the "soft serve" on the pool decks.

so for me it was a bonus that Royal had something that DH and DS could eat, and it wasn't much of a line item in the budget.

But now Dream (and maybe Fantasy?) has Vanellope's, which is an ice cream that they charge extra for.

So now something I pay extra for (good ice cream with good ingredients...though I can't get the ingredients for Vanellope's, so I don't KNOW that the ingredients are good for my family) is on BOTH lines.

we recently cruised RCL for the first time. It isn't for us. That said, the clientele did skew "older" so that may be a plus. I did the unlimited alcohol deal, my husband had the soda package so i can't say what it's like if you didn't have the package, but i felt that there seemed to be lots of drink options available easily. We did not like the constant push and upsell everywhere we went for the food! even waiting in line to go into a restaurant, they try and convince you to eat elsewhere. i had people come into lounge areas and start trying to sell tours and meals.

anyway, we liked the idea of the oasis ship, but not the actual experience so much. but we are with you on the whole pricing thing. i had hoped we would be overwhelmed by RCL, but, like i said, it wasn't for us. it is definitely worth a try and that ginormous ship is neat!

I've heard that Oasis/Allure are overwhelmingly large. I personally can't quite imagine sailing either one of them. Freedom class is a really nice size, and actually we were just on Adventure (Explorer class, maybe?) and THAT was a nice sized ship.

No one has ever come up to us in line to sell us on another dining experience, but if you look at it a different way, at least they had space. Palo almost never has space! We've been on Vision and Freedom class, and Adventure, now. Also Radiance but it was 2003 and I can't really speak to the experience nowadays.

I've enjoyed on Oasis, Freedom and the Fantasy- honestly we loved Oasis as much as the Fantasy- I could go on for hours, but need to get to sleep- things we loved about the ship- lots of live music, Central Park, lots of activities, the pools!!, we actually felt like the Fantasy felt more crowded...

I have completed 8 Disney Cruises before I tried RCL last year on the Anthem of the Seas. My travel agent (TA) had been telling me to try RCL for a couple of years and when my friends booked a 12 day cruise on the Anthem I decided to book the same cruise. My TA was very helpful explaining the differences between DCL and RCL. The RCL price compared to DCL was great and I even saved more after my cruise price dropped and my TA called me with a refund. The Anthem is a beautiful ship with a lot of activities for everyone but the two most important things to me when I cruise are service and entertainment which I felt RCL lacked compared to DCL. I attended all the shows on the Anthem but in my opinion they where bad or even worse bad and too long. I did like the various bands in the bars or pool areas. I don't think I will ever sail on another cruise line unless my friends where going to be on the same cruise. I'm a DCL fan and if the cost makes me reduce the number of cruises I do than that's just what I have to do.

Thank you for all the replies! I'm excited to try something different and am preparing myself for that. It seems this is definitely something one must judge for themselves, as perceptions seem to vary.

I am a little worried that it'll be hard to see the ocean from public areas. Was this the case?

OrcaPotter said:

It seems this is definitely something one must judge for themselves, as perceptions seem to vary.

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Totally. Our service on Royal has been equal to and in many ways better than Disney. And half of our Disney cruises have been concierge, while none of our Royal cruises have been. So....

OrcaPotter said:

I am a little worried that it'll be hard to see the ocean from public areas. Was this the case?

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I haven't been on Oasis, but I'm sure there are plenty of places to see outside. I'm trying to remember the places on Dream where I could look outside from a public space, but alas two of our cruises were Halloweentime when those ridiculous jackolantern clings were all over the windows, and I couldn't see outside even when I tried!

Obviously if you're in that space where people zipline over, unless you look aft you're not going to see outside. But I'm sure there are other spaces. I would look up trip reports on cruisecritic!

Did you read this thread? http://disboards.com/threads/i-just-did-oasis-of-seas-vs-disney.3554286/ I didn't see you respond in it, so I don't know. Maybe you could ask your ocean-views question there?

We've been on the Oasis and it was the only ship my then 6 year old ever asked to go back on. She loved it. I thought the shows were very good - family friendly. Loved the pools and live music! Food was good and loved the many dining options. For us, we really love having the option of a dinner buffet. We never got lost but I'd get a cabin mid-ship if you think that may save some walking. We didn't feel nickel and dimed any more than on any other ship. It's easy enough to avoid the shopping as well as the casino if they don't interest you. I also had concerns about being away from the "sea" and yes, in some places it will feel like that. Having an ocean view balcony eases that a bit. We don't drink alcohol and don't really drink soda so that wasn't a concern of mine. We were on the Disney Magic in November and they did have Evian (which I hate) and it was insanely expensive! We're doing the Allure in a few weeks and we're looking forward to that. Love the option of new shows. Oh...speaking of shows - you did need to book your shows in advance and I'd suggest booking your dining reservations if you're doing My Time Dining. It's not as big of a a hassle as you might think. Since you can only travel in the summer, you can expect some crowds. Some places are more crowded than others (definitely breakfast buffet) but there are other good options. Spend time in the adult only areas as well - they are pretty good about keeping kids out.