Been on Fantasy once and Allure twice. Going on Harmony in however many days it says in my ticker
Also did Princess once, before we had kids.
1. Will we feel the same kind of "Disney" service on a RCC as we do on DCL? The thing I love so much about Disney is that "Disney experience" and service.
You probably will not. I think the "9" and "7" ratings from an earlier post sound about right. It's not that Royal is bad, but Disney tries very hard in this department.
2. Will we get "nickle and dimed" on RCL like I have heard. I like free room service, free ice cream, free drinks, etc. Are you stuck with bottom of the barrel food in the MDR unless you decide to up charge? What differences are there in extra costs not included in the actual cruise fare? I know soft drinks are not complementary but what else? What extra costs need to be factored in?
As others have stated, it depends on your POV. There are many things that you can get upcharged for on Royal. But of course you are under no obligation to get those extras. Although I would not blame you one bit if you were to pay extra for a "real" coffee. Royal's free coffee is bad. Not as bad as Disney (which was worse than gas station coffee), but still, not very good. I'm bringing a bunch of Starbucks Via with me on my next cruise.
I would factor in at least one specialty restaurant. We never went on Disney because they were adults only, and it seemed unfair to leave the kids out of that experience. I think Royal charges $10 per kid for the specialty restaurants now, so you'd still get n&d, but at less of a rate
3. We most likely won't be taking kids next cruise but how to the kids programs differ? Are they included in the cruise price? Are there as many activities? I we brought kids would they enjoy themselves as much? If we didn't bring kids will there be more kids roaming the ship with no structured and supervised activity to keep them busy?
My kids are still young (6 and 9) and they loved both AO and Oceaneers. However, I was not a fan of the chaotic nature of Oceaneers, and preferred the more streamlined programs AO has. With that said, would not hesitate to leave the kids in either. Second time on Allure my younger one had a broken arm (long story... we almost missed the cruise because of it) and the AO crew did an amazing job keeping her involved in everything and working around her injury.
FWIW, I found there to be more kids roaming around on Fantasy than on Allure. I would chalk that up to Allure being a much larger ship.
4. How about the rooms, what are the differences in size, comfort, quality, amenities? Looking at pics on the RCL website the rooms don't look so appealing.
No complaints on either end, except that Royal doesn't offer shampoo, body wash or lotion. Love the storage space on Royal though.
5. How does the adult entertainment compare? We don't gamble so casinos aren't our thing at all.
I actually missed having the casino on DCL. But I like to challenge myself and see how long I can stretch $100 at the blackjack table. Not everyone's cup of tea.
Production shows were great on both. BUT Disney doesn't have a Cirque-style aqua show like the Oasis class ships do. Comedians are hit or miss, but you can't get adult comedy on Disney, so there's that.
The Royal "Headline act" has been... interesting. First time out we got an ABBA tribute band (hard pass). Second time out we got an impressionist, Jeff Tracta. He was pretty good, although about half of his material skewed older (Rat Pack, George Burns etc.)
6. If we do a Caribbean cruise will we be very sad we missed
Castaway Cay... I mean heaven?
You will miss Castaway Cay. Labadee is fine as far as private beaches go. Disney clearly put a lot of time and effort into making CC what it is, and Royal is playing catch up.
7. One big concern is not wanting to sail on a ship the size of the Wonder or Magic again because of motion sickness but we want to do a Alaska cruise someday, does RCL or another line have larger ships that sail to Alaska?
Any other info or suggestions would be great. I'm sure there are others with similar questions as mine so I hope others will add to the discussion as well. Thanks
I've not been to Alaska (it's on my list) so unfortunately I can't answer this.
Hope that helps. FWIW, I didn't enjoy DCL as much as Royal, but I'm glad I at least tried.