Is Disney cruise line worth the price compared with Royal Carribean>

[Guest]

Hi

As the title says, I am looking into a 3 day Bahamas cruise in the middle of our 2 week Florida trip :-)

I have priced the Disney Cruise line and Royal Carribean for virtually the same trip the price on DCL is so much more expensive :-( Having never been on either I am unsure whether it is worth the extra expense?

Any advice would be appreciated. I am travelling with my Husband and eight year old daughter.

Thanks

[Bats]

WORTH ... There is no answer to this. What's worth it to me may not be worth it to someone else. I know that's a cop out answer, but it's an impossible one to answer.

For me, yes it's worth it. We have taken our 2 eldest wizards twice, the last time just a few weeks ago aged 7 and 10. They absolutely love it and we do too (clearly after so many of them!), but you'll also find people who have taken children on RCC and loved them.

Really you need to wait for a Dibber to come along who has sailed with children on both cruise lines. But even then, 'worth' is an individuals perception, not a fact.

I would say ... book DCL book DCL book DCL ... it's amazing (more so if you like Disney), the childrens spaces are included in your costs from 9am-midnight, free soft drinks, take some alcohol on board if you want, shows are Broadway quality and win awards, Castaway Cay, Disneys private island has just won best private island in the world (? .. don't quote me on the world bit)!

I'm no help!

[Love*my*hols]

We have cruised 6 times with Disney and a couple of times with other cruise line and are about to cruise again with Royal Caribbean.We have always said(and expect to say this time ! )"Disney wouldnt do this","its not as good as Disney" etc BUT as Bats says how do you quantify worth? Disney became too expesive and although we could afford it we decided it was not good value FOR US and chose an alternative.If you can afford a Disney cruise,do it at least once because its a great experience, but realise you can get cheaper cruises if you need to tighten your belt .

[tigger48]

We took our 1st cruise this August (Bats I blame you lol!) with our 2 kids aged 5&9. We have never cruised before and tbh weren't entirely sure what to expect. DH was worried he'd be seasick - he wasn't at all. We sailed on a 4 night Bahamian cruise on the dream from port Canaveral. Whilst I'm not sure that as a family we'd rush out to do a fortnight cruising (yet) we really enjoyed the Disney cruise but if budget allows I would absolutely do the 4night cruise since 3 nights is definitely too short plus they only do Palo brunch (our new favourite) on sea days!
We docked alongside other cruise lines but when you look at the ships side by side the Disney Dream certainly looked better maintained and gleamed. We haven't cruised before though so I'm not sure I've really helped. Having cruised Disney now though I think I'd struggle to cruise with anyone else iykwim.

[meboo]

For me, no ! We got a good deal on a European Disney Cruise in 2011 - 4 of us shared an inside cabin, for 7 nights for £2,400. My parents paid £3,200 for them to have a balcony cabin for 2. I priced up the same cruise a couple of years later and it would have been £6k for us. We can do the same intinerary on another ship for less than half that. For me, is it worth the premium, no! What has got 3 times better than I last sailed ? !

I'm not sure of your additional cost - I might pay a premium for the novelty factor, but there is a difference between a premium and extortion !

[Guest]

IMO Disney cruises aren't worth double, or triple, the cost of most other cruise lines.

[Leanne1977]

We have cruised with Disney and NCL and have enjoyed both for different reasons. In terms of service, Disney wins hands down, it's just amazing. But we really enjoy the vast size of the bigger ships with NCL, we've only ever been on the Magic and Wonder.
I have always found the shorter Disney cruises very expensive but the transatlantic ones are excellent value in my opinion.

We are doing a transatlantic with NCL next year though as for the 5 of us in a large ocean view room for 14 nights it was $3379 and that includes alcohol. So we couldn't turn it down.

[michelleminnie]

We have sailed Disney 5 times, RCCL 5 times and Carnival 2 times. TBH they are all very good and Disney/ RCCL compare well, slightly ahead of Carnival. There is a vast difference between ships in the same line however we have cruised both Disney types and Oasis/Freedom class on RCCL, along with the new Carnival Vista and if we had to choose one it would be RCCL Oasis class.

That said, Disney does have great service, shows, private island and great access to Disney characters. If you have very young children you may get more benefit from a Disney cruise, however if your children are teens they may like RCCL more. All of the ships have great kids clubs with marginal differences, the ships have great pools for all ages and comparable dining.

Look at the activities available on each ship to see what will suit your family most

[Guest]

thank you all very much for taking the time to reply

[Big Ears]

Hi we've been on Disney Magic, rci independence and adventure several times, princess, celebrity, Fred, p&o, NCL. Disney was the adults preferred ship and the children's when they were younger but as teenaged RCI def has more activities for them and cost wise you could have two of their cruises compared to Disney. The ice skating, climbing wall, surf, theatres, are excellent. Disney has the best service and its very magical. Comparing both and cost I would say RCI. Hope that helps.