Disney Cruise Line v. Royal Caribbean's Anthem of the Seas comparison

[tidefan]

We much prefer the Fantasy over the Magic. Definitely NOT a fan of the Magic, which has turned me off of sailing on the Wonder.

We are the opposite. Have had better experiences on the Magic vs. the bigger ships.

 

[tidefan]

Actually, here were my complaints with RCI (Serenade):

1) there were only forward and mid elevators. Only stairs aft. I really did not like how RCI shut 4 of the 6 mid elevators on embarkation day to haul luggage up and down to rooms. Then, they'd leave it all out in the lobby before delivering it. On DCL, Princess, and Carnival, luggage went up via crew elevators.

2) Windjammer closed at 2pm and did not reopen until 5pm. There was nowhere open to eat during that time except "Park Cafe", which was in the adult-only solarium and had a very limited menu. Also, since ice cream was in the Windjammer, you could not get it much of the time.

3). No poolside grill or separate pizza restaurant. Those were only available in the Windjammer. Carnival is much, much better at this IMHO (Guy's burgers and Blue Iguana cantina are NOT extra charge)

4). Rock wall was only open 1 out of the 7 days of the cruise (we were told there was not enough staff). Also, the waterslide was only open from 1 to 4 daily.

5). Main pool bars only had 1 bartender, and since you had to get cokes there, it took forever.

6). RCI charges for the kids club after 10pm

7) MyTime dining IMHO does not work near as well as Princess' AnyTime dining. RCI kept bugging us each night to make reservations, whereas on Princess you just showed up when you wanted.

Now, keep in mind that this was our experience on Serenade of the Seas. I think that this would be very different on their bigger ships. I will say that it does bug me a bit about the charge for room service. When we sailed at least that was still complimentary.

 

[angelinaxox]

Yes, that is true. I think I meant that almost all of the DCL reviews are so positive (at least from what I read) and too many people drank the Kool Aid - and cannot even fathom that there is life outside of Disney. I honestly do not find those lala fluff reviews helpful at all. No cruise/cruise line is 100% perfect.

You must be talking about Yorkvillan....

I was talking about CruiselifeRick, but Yorkvillain is another one of my favorites. They banter with one another and their trip reports are great.

There are people who drink the Kool Aid with each line. But I appreciate your views based on traveling multiple cruises on multiple lines. It adds an interesting perspective. Most of the time I just read on the boards versus actually posting. But I felt compelled to add another perspective which is that of someone who has also sailed multiple cruises on other lines but migrated to Disney from them. But in general, I just love cruising.

BTW, I see the only ship we have in common besides Disney, is the original Royal Princess. There was a nice thread last week with pictures of the ship in its new life posted on the Princess boards. That was one of my favorites ships. I was fortunate to have sailed her twice.

angelinaxox, grea post.

Thanks!

 

[beccawes7471]

Thank you so much for your post and comparisons. We took our 1st RCCL cruise, for a variety of factors, but the too biggest being itinerary (southern Caribbean over spring break and cost) in March on Adventure of the Seas. There were a few things we missed from DCL ( we def agree about pool side snacks and ice cream) but our 7 year old also enjoyed the kids club more on RCCL. As parents, we def preferred them over DCL's. DCL's def look cooler and snazzier but for our family, it seemed all show and no go. We found RCCL to be much more controlled and organized and not too over stimulating. neither of my children spent much time in them on DCL and when I would go get them they were always just wondering around. On RCCL, our daughter went every night 7-10pm, and one afternoon on our sea day, the hours worked perfect for our family as we do a lot together off the boat during the day as we like port heavy itineraries. We def did not feel nickel and dimed on our boat, in fact, I don't recall anyone asking us to by anything nor does my husband. Our boat did have 2 new waterslides, the flow rider and we felt the pool area was much better than on Magic or Wonder (our only DCL comparisons). Now, we still love Disney, we've never had a better server than Sam on the Magic, we love the movie theater, the door decorations, fish extenders, Palo sea day brunch and of course Castaway Cay, I don't think anything can ever compare to Castaway Cay We hope to be on Disney again but bottom line RCCL def worked for us as well on this trip.

 

[HappilyEverAfter80]

ENTERTAINMENT & ACTIVITIES on Anthem of the Seas

It's actually hard to compare entertainment on Anthem with what DCL offers. Most of it is just so different.
They offer everything from Broadway caliber musical "We Will Rock You", stand-up comedians, tons and tons of live music, trivia (we did Seinfeld), Bingo, Casino Royale.
We watched a show in the Two70 called Spectra's Cabaret which was interesting and fun. No clue what it was actually about, but it was high energy and impressive with some circe-du-soleil (lite) moments. My DS watched it with his mouth open, it was so different from any production he had seen before. I sat on pins and needles wondering if at some point something kid inappropriate might happen.. It was fine. He actually loved it, and we enjoyed it. It was different to say the least, but if you go don't miss it. We did not see "We Will Rock You" as we don't like rock music and we are not fans of Queen, but supposedly this is a very good musical.

Aside from shows, there are lots of enrichment programs, such as cooking demonstrations, just like on DCL. Shopping seminars, fitness classes (Zumba in Two70 anyone?).
Some activities were extra $ such as cupcake decorating class, sushi making class, and scrabooking workshops. Certain fitness classes were extra too, this was also the case on DCL.
There were movies playing in the Royal Theatre, and since Royal Caribbean has partenered with DreamWorks, some were movies for kids such as Shrek, Madagascar, and KungFu Panda. They will also have first-run DreamWorks movies onboard, just like DCL has first-run Disney Movies.
Speaking of DreamWorks, the cruise compass listed several character appearances. We found the lines for those were short, but no real surprise as there weren't as many kids onboard.
Also, I think standing in lines for characters is something us Disney fans love to do. People don't go crazy for Princess Fiona like they do for Princess Tiana Still, seeing the characters from time to time was fun. Reminded me that Royal Caribbean is trying to cater to families more. It delighted the children that were present.

We watched a stand-up comedian, he was very good, but there was no Disney filter that's for sure. Even the late night comedy shows meant for adults on DCL were very mild compared to the ones on Anthem.
This is not a bad thing, just note not that many shows on this ship and possibly on other Royal ships are family friendly, and if it's actually meant for an adult audience... well they mean it.

DH and I did both enjoy various shows and entertainment meant for adults, and DS enjoyed watching Spectra's with us. He asked to go see another show later in the cruise and I had to tell him there are no other "family" shows we can take him to...

Everything DCL does has the entire family in mind. All bingo, trivia etc are Disney, or least ones I've done.
DS was just fine though, between Adventure Ocean, the SeaPlex and pools there was no complaining.

Couple of activities that are amazing on Anthem: the North Star and iFly.
We did the North Star and it was definitely a highlight for us. Beyond cool. It's sort of a ride in a clear pod that takes you 300 feet above the ship.
We had reservations for iFly, the skydiving stimulator, but it was cancelled as our last sea day was very rocky.

The Seaplex with bumper cars, roller skating, and even a trapeze school is also very cool and unique to Anthem of the Seas. There is really nothing to compare it to on DCL, but I could say Aqua Duck and Midship detective agency are amazing on the DCL dream class ships. Bottom line I guess, it's hard to compare the ships in terms of entertainment and activities.
They all offer something different.

I hope I at least gave you a idea of what you can expect if you cruise on Anthem. This ship has a lot of different activities and entertainment. I would say a larger variety than DCL, but again much less is actually entire family friendly.
There is no main Theatre production every night like on DCL, some shows you have to reserve and some you don't. This being our first Royal cruise, everything was a bit of a learning process.
The best I can compare the two is really to say most can't be compared. I didn't go on this cruise expecting Disney entertainment.

View attachment 242028

 

[HappilyEverAfter80]

I will do the night life/bars tomorrow... and I think that will be it Then just a summary.
I didn't visit the Vitality Spa on Anthem, and shamefully admit I didn't work out, so can't compare the fitness centres.
The running/walking track is better in my opinion on DCL, Anthem has it up on the 15th deck or something and it just got hot. By the way, on Anthem there is nothing like a Promenade deck that wraps around the entire ship. There is an outdoor space on deck 5, but can't walk around. Still, it's neat as you can see Anthem's life boats up close there.
They seem huge compared to the ones on Disney!
I will also briefly mention the mobile ship app Anthem has, called Royal IQ. It's very similar do Disney's app, but overall I liked Disney's better because you can review the days ahead, the menus, and for the chatting feature. Anthem has a chat feature too, but it's extra. The app works without an internet connection using ship's wifi.
One thing I did really like about the Royal IQ app, was the ability to reserve stuff and to check your account summary.
We had an internet package Voom surf and stream, and it was just as good as internet at home, so DH and I just texted each other. If you plan on getting internet, it was much cheaper to buy it prior to your sailing when they offer specials.

 

[mevelandry]

ENTERTAINMENT & ACTIVITIES on Anthem of the Seas

It's actually hard to compare entertainment on Anthem with what DCL offers. Most of it is just so different.
They offer everything from Broadway caliber musical "We Will Rock You", stand-up comedians, tons and tons of live music, trivia (we did Seinfeld), Bingo, Casino Royale.
We watched a show in the Two70 called Spectra's Cabaret which was interesting and fun. No clue what it was actually about, but it was high energy and impressive with some circe-du-soleil (lite) moments. My DS watched it with his mouth open, it was so different from any production he had seen before. I sat on pins and needles wondering if at some point something kid inappropriate might happen.. It was fine. He actually loved it, and we enjoyed it. It was different to say the least, but if you go don't miss it. We did not see "We Will Rock You" as we don't like rock music and we are not fans of Queen, but supposedly this is a very good musical.

Aside from shows, there are lots of enrichment programs, such as cooking demonstrations, just like on DCL. Shopping seminars, fitness classes (Zumba in Two70 anyone?).
Some activities were extra $ such as cupcake decorating class, sushi making class, and scrabooking workshops. Certain fitness classes were extra too, this was also the case on DCL.
There were movies playing in the Royal Theatre, and since Royal Caribbean has partenered with DreamWorks, some were movies for kids such as Shrek, Madagascar, and KungFu Panda. They will also have first-run DreamWorks movies onboard, just like DCL has first-run Disney Movies.
Speaking of DreamWorks, the cruise compass listed several character appearances. We found the lines for those were short, but no real surprise as there weren't as many kids onboard.
Also, I think standing in lines for characters is something us Disney fans love to do. People don't go crazy for Princess Fiona like they do for Princess Tiana Still, seeing the characters from time to time was fun. Reminded me that Royal Caribbean is trying to cater to families more. It delighted the children that were present.

We watched a stand-up comedian, he was very good, but there was no Disney filter that's for sure. Even the late night comedy shows meant for adults on DCL were very mild compared to the ones on Anthem.
This is not a bad thing, just note not that many shows on this ship and possibly on other Royal ships are family friendly, and if it's actually meant for an adult audience... well they mean it.

DH and I did both enjoy various shows and entertainment meant for adults, and DS enjoyed watching Spectra's with us. He asked to go see another show later in the cruise and I had to tell him there are no other "family" shows we can take him to...

Everything DCL does has the entire family in mind. All bingo, trivia etc are Disney, or least ones I've done.
DS was just fine though, between Adventure Ocean, the SeaPlex and pools there was no complaining.

Couple of activities that are amazing on Anthem: the North Star and iFly.
We did the North Star and it was definitely a highlight for us. Beyond cool. It's sort of a ride in a clear pod that takes you 300 feet above the ship.
We had reservations for iFly, the skydiving stimulator, but it was cancelled as our last sea day was very rocky.

The Seaplex with bumper cars, roller skating, and even a trapeze school is also very cool and unique to Anthem of the Seas. There is really nothing to compare it to on DCL, but I could say Aqua Duck and Midship detective agency are amazing on the DCL dream class ships. Bottom line I guess, it's hard to compare the ships in terms of entertainment and activities.
They all offer something different.

I hope I at least gave you a idea of what you can expect if you cruise on Anthem. This ship has a lot of different activities and entertainment. I would say a larger variety than DCL, but again much less is actually entire family friendly.
There is no main Theatre production every night like on DCL, some shows you have to reserve and some you don't. This being our first Royal cruise, everything was a bit of a learning process.
The best I can compare the two is really to say most can't be compared. I didn't go on this cruise expecting Disney entertainment.

View attachment 242036 View attachment 242027 View attachment 242028 View attachment 242030 View attachment 242031 View attachment 242032

This is all so exciting! I can't wait!!!!

 

[cadien]

One reason I went with Royal for our upcoming Southern Caribbean cruise is because my son (currently 6) is far more enthusiastic about Dreamworks characters than Disney ones. (A Disney cruise wasn't even on our radar due to price and general lack of interest in the characters, until Marvel Day at Sea, but when that flyer came in the mail, we were booked in less than 24 hours.)

I'm fine with $15 for cupcake decorating or sushi making. I expect us to take advantage of both if on our own cruise. DS loves cooking classes.

 

[HappilyEverAfter80]

One reason I went with Royal for our upcoming Southern Caribbean cruise is because my son (currently 6) is far more enthusiastic about Dreamworks characters than Disney ones. (A Disney cruise wasn't even on our radar due to price and general lack of interest in the characters, until Marvel Day at Sea, but when that flyer came in the mail, we were booked in less than 24 hours.)

I'm fine with $15 for cupcake decorating or sushi making. I expect us to take advantage of both if on our own cruise. DS loves cooking classes.

I didn't do either of these classes, but the cupcake one booked up pretty fast. Which ship are you sailing on?

 

[ludari]

After 8 consecutive Disney Cruises last year I went on my first RCL (Anthem of the Seas) for an 11-day cruise last year. I had a great time and I really liked the technology around the ship and in my stateroom (I had a virtual balcony which was wonderful), all the various paid restaurants where great (I did not try Izumi) and enjoyed them all and all the activities around the ship for everyone (I hate to admit that as an adult there was more to do than on a DCL ship). However I didn't like the nickel and diming around the ship, the hoards of smokers, the continued shop sales everyday that everyone seemed to go crazy for and more importantly the customer service, dining service and entertainment was not up to what I was used to on DCL. The food in the MDR was nothing special and IMHO DCL was slightly better. Overall I'm glad I tried RCL and I would definitely do it again but my preference is and will always be DCL.

 

[cadien]

I didn't do either of these classes, but the cupcake one booked up pretty fast. Which ship are you sailing on?

Freedom

 

[HappilyEverAfter80]

After 8 consecutive Disney Cruises last year I went on my first RCL (Anthem of the Seas) for an 11-day cruise last year. I had a great time and I really liked the technology around the ship and in my stateroom (I had a virtual balcony which was wonderful), all the various paid restaurants where great (I did not try Izumi) and enjoyed them all and all the activities around the ship for everyone (I hate to admit that as an adult there was more to do than on a DCL ship). However I didn't like the nickel and diming around the ship, the hoards of smokers, the continued shop sales everyday that everyone seemed to go crazy for and more importantly the customer service, dining service and entertainment was not up to what I was used to on DCL. The food in the MDR was nothing special and IMHO DCL was slightly better. Overall I'm glad I tried RCL and I would definitely do it again but my preference is and will always be DCL.

I didn't like some of the same things you mention on Anthem. However the smokers, and the sales were easily avoided. I only looked down on deck 4 (from deck 5) saw the crowds around the "sales tables" and said no thanks...
Our customer service was excellent in the MDR's, even better than on DCL, but food was a definite step down from DCL (in the MDR's). I will summarize the overall customer service on Anthem soon...
The entertainment.. yeah we enjoyed some things but a lot of it was not my cup of tea either.
We personally did not experience any nickel and diming...

 

[ludari]

I didn't like some of the same things you mention on Anthem. However the smokers, and the sales were easily avoided. I only looked down on deck 4 (from deck 5) saw the crowds around the "sales tables" and said no thanks...
Our customer service was excellent in the MDR's, even better than on DCL, but food was a definite step down from DCL (in the MDR's). I will summarize the overall customer service on Anthem soon...
The entertainment.. yeah we enjoyed some things but a lot of it was not my cup of tea either.
We personally did not experience any nickel and diming...

I seemed to always walk by the wrong side of the ship when on the pool deck so I would walk right into the smokers. I too avoided the shopping crowds as well and a few times I grabbed a few drinks at Schooner's Bar on deck 5 and watch the shopping crowds go crazy. I even saw people start an argument about someone cutting in line. My server in the MDR was fine (DCL was better) but a few times during breakfast the server would never come around to take our orders, refill coffee or even asks how are meals are or if we needed anything. My friend complained a few times about this happening. I watched all the shows and they where horrible but I did like the screen shows ad the views from Two70. I also missed out on a paid port adventure even though I arrived at the meeting place 10-minutes before the meeting time. Unlike Disney they did not escort the group off separately so when they finally called for my port adventure I got stuck waiting until the filled the tender boat. By the time I arrived at the dock my port adventure had gone. They did reimburse me but that wasn't the point. I did explain to the Port Adventure Manager how DCL does it so hopefully they changed things.

 

[tinkerone]

After 8 consecutive Disney Cruises last year I went on my first RCL (Anthem of the Seas) for an 11-day cruise last year. I had a great time and I really liked the technology around the ship and in my stateroom (I had a virtual balcony which was wonderful).

I would love it if you could elaborate on this. I've been thinking it might be fun to try but I really feel the motion in an inside cabin. Wondering if having this makes a big difference. I also loved their technology and this just seems one step above the Disney portholes.
Thanks for any feed back.

 

[mevelandry]

I would love it if you could elaborate on this. I've been thinking it might be fun to try but I really feel the motion in an inside cabin. Wondering if having this makes a big difference. I also loved their technology and this just seems one step above the Disney portholes.
Thanks for any feed back.

I would love to know as well since it's the type of cabin that I booked on the Anthem!

 

[ludari]

I would love it if you could elaborate on this. I've been thinking it might be fun to try but I really feel the motion in an inside cabin. Wondering if having this makes a big difference. I also loved their technology and this just seems one step above the Disney portholes.
Thanks for any feed back.

The virtual balcony extended from floor to ceiling and had a curtain you can draw back or close. You also had a remote control if you wanted to turn it completely off. The virtual balcony was a live camera feed and the live feed you get depends on your cabin location. My door was on the port (left) side and the back wall of my stateroom is starboard (right) so my live image feed was from the starboard. My friend had a virtual balcony room as well but their door opened towards the stern (rear) and the back wall of their stateroom faced the bow (front) so their live camera feed was from the front of the ship (which they didn't like). I would think seeing a live feed camera at the same time as you feel the motion would help if you get motion sickness or if you prefer to see what is going on. As for me it was great seeing ports from a live feed and not have to worry about people seeing inside your stateroom. Any other questions about the virtual balcony just asks. I would love if DCL incorporated this feature in their new ships.

 

[HappilyEverAfter80]

I seemed to always walk by the wrong side of the ship when on the pool deck so I would walk right into the smokers. I too avoided the shopping crowds as well and a few times I grabbed a few drinks at Schooner's Bar on deck 5 and watch the shopping crowds go crazy. I even saw people start an argument about someone cutting in line. My server in the MDR was fine (DCL was better) but a few times during breakfast the server would never come around to take our orders, refill coffee or even asks how are meals are or if we needed anything. My friend complained a few times about this happening. I watched all the shows and they where horrible but I did like the screen shows ad the views from Two70. I also missed out on a paid port adventure even though I arrived at the meeting place 10-minutes before the meeting time. Unlike Disney they did not escort the group off separately so when they finally called for my port adventure I got stuck waiting until the filled the tender boat. By the time I arrived at the dock my port adventure had gone. They did reimburse me but that wasn't the point. I did explain to the Port Adventure Manager how DCL does it so hopefully they changed things.

I wrote about our dining experience in the MDR's and we got lucky then because all our servers (we had different ones every time) were excellent. Always coming back to check on us. Did you do My Time Dining?
We did not do any excursions through Royal, that's too bad you missed out, I would have been upset too.
We did have a couple of very different experiences with Guest Services though, your post reminded me to mention it

 

[HappilyEverAfter80]

The virtual balcony extended from floor to ceiling and had a curtain you can draw back or close. You also had a remote control if you wanted to turn it completely off. The virtual balcony was a live camera feed and the live feed you get depends on your cabin location. My door was on the port (left) side and the back wall of my stateroom is starboard (right) so my live image feed was from the starboard. My friend had a virtual balcony room as well but their door opened towards the stern (rear) and the back wall of their stateroom faced the bow (front) so their live camera feed was from the front of the ship (which they didn't like). I would think seeing a live feed camera at the same time as you feel the motion would help if you get motion sickness or if you prefer to see what is going on. As for me it was great seeing ports from a live feed and not have to worry about people seeing inside your stateroom. Any other questions about the virtual balcony just asks. I would love if DCL incorporated this feature in their new ships.

I saw these virtual balconies cabins walking by when they were being cleaned, very cool. Just quite a bit smaller than our balcony room. Disney's interior cabins are smaller too, we liked them though. I believe Anthem has small and large interior rooms. Not sure what the difference is... sofa maybe?

 

[ludari]

I wrote about our dining experience in the MDR's and we got lucky then because all our servers (we had different ones every time) were excellent. Always coming back to check on us. Did you do My Time Dining?
We did not do any excursions through Royal, that's too bad you missed out, I would have been upset too.
We did have a couple of very different experiences with Guest Services though, your post reminded me to mention it

I did not do My Time Dining. I'm not sure what it's called on RCL but we had set timing times and rotated similar to DCL so we had the same server all the time. Our server was fine it was only when we ate breakfast or lunch in one of the MDR where we had problems.

 

[ludari]

I saw these virtual balconies cabins walking by when they were being cleaned, very cool. Just quite a bit smaller than our balcony room. Disney's interior cabins are smaller too, we liked them though. I believe Anthem has small and large interior rooms. Not sure what the difference is... sofa maybe?

Yes, the virtual balconies cabins are definitely smaller than your typical balcony room. I first booked a single's room on Anthem since I am a solo cruiser and that stateroom did not have a sofa. However after the price dropped for my cruise I upgraded my stateroom to a larger inside cabin with sofa and still pocketed some money.