Just in terms of background, we have done 13 cruises on
Disney Cruise Line, all on the Disney Magic and Disney Wonder. We have just completed our first Royal Caribbean cruise on the Splendour of the Seas. This happened almost by default. We had hoped to get a nice deal for a
Disney cruise in early December, but this did not happen. A colleague then mention the cruise on the Splendour of the Seas. This left from Dubai, which is easy and cheap for us to get to so we decided to give it a go. We were not sure what to expect, but decided to go into this with an open mind. Here are our thoughts on how they compare.
Booking excursions before the cruise - Royal Caribbean
The website is more user friendly and you pay ahead of time by credit card which helps spreading the cost.
Online check in - draw
This is comparable for both in terms of user-friendliness and information required.
Cruise Documents - Disney
I have to admit I prefer receiving the documents in the mail rather than having to print them myself. This especially applies to the luggage tags. I was not a fan of the print your own tags at all.
Check In - Royal Caribbean
The whole process was really smooth. We cleared security and then were directed to a table to fill out the health questionnaire. From there we were directed to a check in desk. There were separate check in desks for suite guests, various levels of membership of the Crown and Anchor Society and everybody else. This spread out the crowds quite nicely and kept waiting time to a minimum. When it was our turn, the check in process was quick and efficient. Our documents and credit card were checked, the passports kept and our Sea Passes issued. The whole process took less than 5 minutes.
Boarding - Royal Caribbean
As check in started later than we are used to, we were able to board as soon as we were checked in rather than having to wait in the terminal. Graham also particularly liked that we were not announced.
Safety Drill - Disney
This is a bit of a difficult one, but on reflection Disney wins this one. The safety drill on Royal Caribbean seems to be a little bit more organised and the fact that there is more space on deck 4 helps, but this was unnecessarily drawn out by announcements in 7 or 8 different languages that do not have anything to do with the safety drill itself. Only once the last announcement was made were we dismissed.
Demographic - Royal Caribbean
We may not be comparing apples with apples here considering the itinerary, however, as major plus point for us was how cosmopolitan this cruise was. Guests came from 162 different countries. This created a completely different atmosphere.
Cabin Readiness- Royal Caribbean
Our cabin was ready as soon as we got on the ship so we could drop our hand luggage off as soon as we got on board and did not have to take our carry ons to lunch.
Cabin - Royal Caribbean
We had booked an interior guarantee cabin as this was kind of a last minute impulse. The size of the cabin was 142 square foot compared to 184 square foot on the Magic or the Wonder, but it still felt more spacious as the layout was better and there was more storage space.
Cabin (Bathroom) - Royal Caribbean
This was a big win for us. I prefer the single bathrooms of the standard insides on Disney over the split bathrooms in most of the cabins. The Splendour has a single bathroom. I also liked that it came with a walk in shower rather than a shower over a bathtub and the water pressure of this shower was amazing.
Embarkation Lunch - draw
That was the one thing I was really worried about before the cruise as embarkation lunch on DCL can be a bit of a zoo and on Royal Caribbean only the buffet and one of the venues on the pool deck were open. However, this worked really well. We were split on this. Graham feels that Disney provides more variety, but I was really happy with the selection and variety.
Adult area - Royal Caribbean
This is not even a contest. Royal Caribbean has an amazing adult area called The Solarium. On the Splendour, this area has comfortable loungers, tables with chairs, the Park Cafe with a bar and a drinks station plus a pool and two hot tubs. On the Splendour this is indoors and this is the only drawback as it could be a little chilly.
Spa - Disney
Again, this is not contest. In terms of treatments and cost, there is no difference and both spas are operated by Steiner Leisure. However, the spa on the Splendour felt cramped and a little dark and dingy. The absence of the equivalent of the Rainforest Room was also a big minus point for me. I may well have to reassess this after our next Royal Caribbean cruise as that ship has a bigger spa area and a thermal suite.
Atrium - draw
The atrium on the Splendour is stunning and has more of a wow factor, but on the whole, we did not feel there was much in it.
Public areas - Royal Caribbean
Overall, I preferred the public areas on the Splendour. The whole feeling was lighter, airier and more spacious although the Splendour is the smallest ship we have sailed on. I loved that pretty much wherever I went, there were comfortable seats scattered around. I also loved the touch screens around the area that provided an electronic copy of the Compass as well as interactive maps that helped you to find any location around the ship.
Casino - Disney
We give this to Disney for the absence of one. This is not something we have any interest in. Having said that, the casino on the Splendour was not as intrusive as I had feared and definitely less so than on the Norwegian Jade.
Theater - Royal Caribbean
The theater on the Splendour is the most visually stunning theater I have seen on land or on sea with stained glass and a stunning chandelier. The seats are like armchairs and a lot more spacious than on Disney.
Shops - Disney
I suppose this should not have come as a surprise to me, but I was not really tempted by fairly generic branded merchandise and designer goods. We just got a model of the ship and a couple of discounted Royal Caribbean t-shirts.
Photography - Disney
In terms of quality both are comparable and the cost was lower on Royal Caribbean. Where Disney wins are that they have more space for photos. On the Splendour the areas were photos were taken were always kind of in the way. They also do not have the photo CD and the photos are still displayed on the walls and you have to find your photos. I like the system with the kiosks and folders better. On a plus point, the photographers were great and there was almost never a wait. Even for the captains photo, there were only a couple of families ahead of us.
Included drinks - Disney
This goes hands down to Disney. I like that soft drinks are included. On Royal Caribbean, there are three drinks stations all on deck 9 (buffet, Park Cafe and near the pool bar). Drinks that are on offer are filter coffee, tea, instant hot chocolate, water, lemonade, ice tea. The drink station at the Park Cafe also offered juice. I thought Disney coffee was bad, but the coffee on Royal Caribbean is even worse. What shocked me is that in the dining room in the evening, the only coffee available is speciality coffee at an extra cost.
On a side note, I got the soda package and with hindsight, I would not bother again unless the ship has the Coca Cola Freestyle machines.
Bring Your Own Beverage - Royal Caribbean
In terms of policies, there is now not much in it as both Disney and Royal Caribbean allow you to bring two bottles of wine or champagne on board at the beginning of the cruise. Disney has a slight edge that they also allow beer and that you can bring wine, champagne or beer on board at the other ports. However, where Royal Caribbean scores the winning points is that they do not charge a corkage fee if you bring wine or champagne into the dining room whereas Disney charges $25 per bottle.
Coffee Bar - Disney
The coffee bar on the Splendour is in the centrum area on deck 6. This looked cramped and not at all inviting. We never ended up going there for this reason. It definitely does not invite spending time relaxing as the Cove Cafe and Outlook Cafe do. The Park Cafe also offers speciality coffees and we made use of this. The speciality coffees were comparable in terms of choice and quality.
Deck Space - draw
This was comparable. Deck four on the Splendour was more spacious, but I was missing my comfortable loungers.
Bars - draw
The Viking Crown Lounge on deck 11 is a bit of a gem with a great view. I also loved the Schooner Bar, which is comparable to Keys/ Cadillac Lounge. On the whole there is not much in it.
Dining Room Experience - Royal Caribbean
This goes hands down to Royal Caribbean. Even though the dining room was bigger than the individual dining rooms at Disney, the noise level was a lot more pleasant. This cannot be explained by demography on board either as there were plenty of children and I think in terms of proportion, this was no different from Disney. Service was comparable as was the choice of food, but the quality of food was superior on Royal Caribbean. In terms of service, the head server only turns up when needed, which I think makes a lot more sense. We got to meet our head server the first evening as all of our table mates were muslim and Royal Caribbean seemed to have been caught a little by surprise by the need to provide halal food on a Middle Eastern itinerary. On some nights, our table mates got Indian food served family style. Graham partook of this, too and said it was very nice. We did traditional assigned dining with the second seating. Graham prefers being in the same dining room every day. I prefer rotational dining, but the fact that we were in the same dining room every evening did not distract from the experience for me. On a side note, we had fantastic table mates, which definitely helped as well.
Speciality Dining - draw
Out of the four speciality dining options, we only tried one: Chops Grill. Although the cuisine is different, in terms of service, quality of food and cost, this is comparable to Palo.
Buffet - Royal Caribbean
I much preferred the layout of this and with one exception, this never felt as busy as the buffets on the Disney ships. I also preferred the variety of the food that was available.
Alternative Dining Options - Royal Caribbean
I came to this cruise with some pre-conceptions about this and had them completely rearranged. On paper Disney should have won this easily on the variety available alone. The Splendour really only has two alternative dining options: Boardwalk Dog House and Park Cafe. However, we both really enjoyed the Boardwalk Dog House and the Park Cafe turned out to be a real gem. They offered a decent breakfast including fruit, yoghurt, pastries as well as some breakfast sandwiches and burritos. At lunch they served salads, sandwiches, wraps, panini, soups, hot roast pork sandwiches and a good variety of desserts and cakes. They also offered a cream tea in the afternoon and their cookies were to die for.
Entertainment - Royal Caribbean
We were kind of split on this with Graham feeling that this was a draw. However, I am the person who got more involved in this. I felt that Royal Caribbean had a wider choice of entertainment including the usual Bingo, dance classes, music and trivia, but also a wide variety of craft classes including jewellery making classes and sports competitions. I cannot comment on the shows as we did not attend any of them. One thing that surprised me is that there were no tasting classes with exception of a wine tasting on the sea day. It will be interesting what the entertainment will be like on an itinerary with more sea days.
Sports and Recreation - draw
I have to go with a draw there. The Splendour has more facilities including a mini golf course and a rock climbing wall and the pools are bigger. However, the Solarium pool is also freezing. Neither of us tried the family pool. Where Disney does score points to even this up is that the gym is bigger and more inviting and the location of the running/ walking track is less disruptive. On the Splendour it is on deck 10, which is the main sundeck. The running track was often partially obstructed by sun loungers. I was never tempted to walk a mile there for this reason.
Excursions - Royal Caribbean
There was a good variety of excursions available and at very fair prices. When I looked at outside excursions before the cruise, I could not really find anything significantly cheaper. This may be specific to this cruise, but I am sure we will find out in due course. The meeting process for an excursion was much smoother on Royal Caribbean.
Excursions Trouble Shooting - Disney
Disney wins on this one. Our excursion in Muscat was cancelled due to lack of participation. They just refunded us the money and invited us to stop by the Shore Excursion desk to book an alternative excursion. We had two days in Muscat and when we went to the Shore Excursion desk, it transpired that the same excursion was available on the second day and we had nothing booked for that day. When something like this happened on Disney, the just rebooked us and left us a note asking us to contact us if the new arrangements were not suitable.
Crew - Draw
I had to think long and hard about this, but in the end came to the conclusion that this is a draw. This was the second area where I had my pre-conceived ideas very much rearranged. Again, based on what I had heard from other people, I had expected Disney to walk this. Not so. I was actually wondering if this would swing in favour of Royal Caribbean. The crew members we met where friendly and sociable. We spent time getting to know and talking with people from all kinds of different departments and from all over the world. This played a big part in making the cruise special. They also went out of their way of helping you, which is why I was temporarily leaning towards giving this to Royal Caribbean. It happened quite frequently at the buffet that one of the passing servers offered to get our drinks for us and one afternoon when we were on deck 4 and passing crew member realised that I did not have a chair, he made it his business to find one for me. However, we also met some amazing crew members on the Disney ships.
Service - Royal Caribbean
This was another revelation for me and came as a complete surprise. Nothing was ever too much trouble and pretty much everything on Royal Caribbean seems to be a team effort. It was pretty normal for officers to help clear tables, etc. Our stateroom host was probably the best one we ever had. Although I most certainly do not wish to take away from the great service we have received on Disney, service on Royal Caribbean seemed to be more natural and also more consistent. I wonder if this has something to do with the fact that the contracts for the crew on Royal Caribbean are longer. Their contracts are 9.5 months and I suppose with less turnover, things just settle down easier.
Disembarkation - Royal Caribbean
This was the smoothest disembarkation we experienced on any of our cruises. We were given a disembarkation letter and our luggage tags the day before. This showed us our estimated debarkation time. There was no assigned breakfast. We could go to any of the breakfast venues that were open when we wanted. I think this is a major advantage. For Crown and Anchor members, they had departure lounges that served continental breakfast. Even though we will be entitled to this next time as we now have our Gold status, I think we still do general debarkation. There were to separate waiting areas for debarkation and which one you ended up going to depended on your tag number. We were assigned to the theater. They had set up refreshments there. When our tag number was called, one of the crew members escorted us downstairs. When we got to terminal, the luggage was well organised and we found our luggage very quickly. I think the process from our Sea Pass card being swiped for the last time and us being on the bus back to the airport was about 10 minutes.
Other comments
One thing that was a bit of an irritation was that the Sea Pass cards seem to get demagnetised extremely easily. Both Graham and I had have our Sea Pass cards reprinted at one point as they stopped working and Graham's stopped working again the last evening. This has never happened to us on any of out Disney Cruises.
I much prefer the way they handle the customer satisfaction surveys. They don't give them out on the ship, but send out a link to an online survey to your registered email address after the cruise.
I like the fact that they have done away with tip tickets. Tips get applied to the stateroom account like on Disney, but rather than getting envelopes and tip tickets for everybody, we were just provided with a couple of envelopes in case we wanted to give somebody a little extra.
It is not just Disney that adds little magical touches. On departure from Muscat, the captain took a detour so that we got some views of the Sultan's palace.
Conclusion
This truly has been a revelation for us and we will definitely be back. My goal now is to achieve diamond status. This has opened all kinds of possibilities for us. With Royal Caribbean having such a big and diverse fleet, this has opened up itineraries for us that previously I could only dream about. The next cruise on the to do list is a repositioning cruise from Beijing to Singapore in November. It does not seem fair to include the itineraries in the comparison as this feels a bit like comparing a goldfish with a blue whale, but Disney could do with becoming a bit more imaginative when it comes to itineraries. They could do a lot more with their 4 ships than they are currently doing, especially during the winter months.
