Disney vs. Voyager of the Seas

[kajohn]

Originally posted by callahanjulie10
We have seriously thought about going on RCCL Navigator of the Seas and actually almost booked instead of DCL BUT the only draw back for us is that we hate to drive to Miami- it is 11 or 12 hours away for us. I am spoiled by driving 7 hours and being home before dark on the day we get back into port! Do you think that RCCL would consider moving 1 of these ships to Port Canaveral for me?!!!!

Sometime this fall the 5th Voyager Class ship, the Navigator of the Seas will debut sailing out of Port Canaveral. They are already booking cruises. Not sure of the itinerary, but you could check RCCL's website.

This ship was supposed to sail out of San Juan, and actually the RCCL brochures still have it as sailing from there, but I think they had a hard time getting people to sail from San Juan, (It is much more expensive to fly there), so they decided to have it sail from Port Canaveral instead.

 

[callahanjulie10]

You have made a girl very happy!! I will go check it out now-

As for Souverign (sp?)- it is not in the same class and the Navigator, Explorere, and Voyager- these have the ice rinks, rock walls, etc.

This is a wonderful thread- 5 STARS!!

 

[kajohn]

callahanjulie10,

I mispoke on my prior post, it's not the Navigator sailing out of Port Canaveral it is the New Mariner of the Seas, which is the last Voyager class ship, which is the sister ship to the Voyager, Explorer, Adventure, and Navigator.

All these ships have the promenade, ice rink, rock wall, roller blading Johnny rockets etc. etc.

Sorry for any confusion.

 

[TootyJane]

Originally posted by Rita1965
....TootyJane: Try to get to the terminal before noon. I don't care what the documentation says, get their early and you will be able to get on quicker. I would try for 11am. I hope your cruise is as wonderful as ours was....

Rita, thanks for the heads up.

 

[dianthus]

Thank you for such a concise and unbiased report. Sounds like the Voyager class has alot to do besides clubs for the kids!

The adult solarium sounds good. Is the new Serenade one of the Voyager class ships?

Thank you soooo much! Great job!

 

[kajohn]

Originally posted by dianthus

The adult solarium sounds good. Is the new Serenade one of the Voyager class ships?

No, the Serenade is a Radiance class ship, with the Radiance of the Seas being the first and then the Brilliance and the Serenade are sister ships.

They are smaller ships, I believe around 90,000 tons, which is still slightly larger than the DCL ships. They do have the rock climbing wall and the miniature golf, but no ice skating rink or Promenade.

I sailed on the Radiance, and it is probably the most beautiful ship I have ever been on. Glass everywhere. The main bank of elevators are glass to the outside, so you see the ocean and scenery all the time! The solariums on this class of ship are beautiful themed areas as well.

 

[callahanjulie10]

So do you pay for Johnny Rockets? What are the additional costs for RCCL?

 

[mac_tlc]

Almost everything at Johnny Rockets is included. You pay extra for soda and milkshakes.. all food is included. Plus the waiters usually give you a hand full of nickels for the juke boxes that are at every table.

As far as other "extras", its the same as other cruise lines.. alcohol, pictures, shore excursions, gratituties... When the Voyager-class ships first came out, they charged for the rock-climbing wall, mini-golf and inline skating track, but now there is no extra charge.

mac_tlc

 

[Rita1965]

As I reflect on my cruises, I came up with one thing that was definitely better on Disney than on Voyager. The kids club hours, and pager system

Voyager
9-12
2-5
7-10
After 10, $5 per hour for group babysitting

On Disney
Open all Day

Things were better on Voyager on port days
9-5
7-10
After 10, $5 per hour for group babysitting

I always picked my daughter up at 10, so I never had to pay for the babysitting. It was inconvenient to always have to pick her up for lunch though. On Disney I learned how nice lunch is in the Dining room, so I always try to eat lunch in the dining room. But it is very hard for a little girl to not only sit through a sit down dinner, but also have to sit through a sit down lunch. So on port days I left her in the club until I was done with lunch. On sea days I ended up eating with her at the buffet or at Johnny Rockets.

On Voyager only children 3 and 4 years old are guaranteed a pager. If there are any pagers left after parents of 3 and 4 year olds have received them, then the parents of 5 year olds get the last pagers. Families with older kids do not get a pager.

Again, do not think for a second that these are serious criticisms against either cruise line. These are just comparisons and observations. I would be ready to go on any of these ships tomorrow if I could. I had the best vacations of my life on these wonderful ships. I'm just afraid of sounding really critical, as if I didn't have a good time, which is not the case. I'm already trying to figure out how I can come up with some more money to go on another cruise this year, but then there is the Disney fantasy package, so I want to go to WDW, then I would like a trip to Norway to see my family, then I would like to..... Never enough money or time for all the things we want to do.

 

[kajohn]

Rita1965

Thanks for the info on the pagers. Could you tell me, do they allow kids to bring two way radios with them to call their parents? My kids will be 7, 9 and 12 when we sail on one of the Voyager class ships, (unless like you, I can come up with money to take another cruise sooner!). I would like them to be able to call me if there is a problem, and I think the two way's would work even better than the pagers since I can talk to them immediately, and don't need to walk all the way there to find out what is wrong.

Kelli

 

[Rita1965]

Kelli, I do not know if they allow the kids to bring the radios etc. They are really customer focused, so I would be surprised if they did not allow them.

 

[mac_tlc]

All,

Well I finally finished it .. my personal comparison of the Voyager-class ships to DCL is on my web site ... Hope people find it useful.

www.new-horizons-travel.com


Rita, great job... We did get "stuck" paying $5 for "leaving" our son past 10:00.. about 15 minutes, becasue the show got out late and the theater is on eck 3/4 front and the Adventure ocean is aft deck 12.. a long haul when a lot of people are going the same way.. They would have waived the $$ if I pushed it, though....

mac_tlc

 

[musical2]

I went to the RCCL website, but I couldn't find a cabin that would allow 2 adults and 3 children. DCL has at least a couple of class of cabins that allow us to have our 3 children with us in our cabin. Did anyone find anything different than what I found?

Bart

 

[mac_tlc]

musical2,

At least on the Voyager-class vessels, they have "Family" staterooms, that can fit 6 . Only a small number of them. though, located extreme front and/or back. Details are as follows :


Two twin beds (can convert into queen-size), sofa and/or Pullman beds, sitting area, private bathroom, vanity area, hair-dryer, mini bar, closed-circuit TV, radio and phone.

Capacity: 6 guests
Stateroom Size: Category E: 265 square feet
Window Size: 24 inches
Configuration: Two lower twin beds (can convert into queen-size)
Two upper Pullman berths
One double Sofa Bed

Amenities:
Hair dryer, mini-bar, shower, vanity, sitting area, sofa and/or Pullman beds, TV, radio, phone


mac_tlc

 

[Rita1965]

The price on the large family stateroom never dropped, but the balcony statrooms price dropped, so we ended up getting 2 balcony stateroom on deck 9 and $160 back for what we had paid for the large family stateroom. The two balcony rooms we had were connecting, so it was like having a 2 bedroom suite.

In the future I will try for a statroom towards the aft. My perfect location would be next to the centre elevators. Most of the food services and childrens services are in the aft of the ship, and I spent most of my time there. Forward you will find La Scala theatre, Adult Solarium, the spa and Cleopatra's Needle (lounge). Since I spent most of my time dropping off/picking up my daughter and eating, a stateroom towards the aft would be better.

 

[Rita1965]

Mac_tlc: That was a great comparison. The only thing I would add in the kids program for Voyager, there are pagers available for 3-4 year olds. I got a pager for my 5 year old since there were some available, not being used by 3-4 year olds.

I know what you mean with getting stuck paying the $5 for babysitting. I came close some nights, but they do say if you are late because of a ship excursion or ship activity running late, you do not have to pay.

During jackpot bingo the kids club was letting the kids trace in their credits for toys and t-shirts etc. I did not want to miss the bingo, so I brought my daughter to bingo, (it was the $11000 jackpot), and then the counselors let me trade her credits afterwards. For her credits she got a stuffed Inky (octopuss), a Ocean Adventure visor and a t-shirt.

Ok, you may all flame me now for taking my daughter to bingo.

 

[Mjasp]

Rita...How do the kids get in touch with you if they want to leave the club or aren't feeling good etc...If they don't give beepers.

I guess they could call your stateroom, but you probably wouldn't be there. Do you know how they handle that?


Thanks
Joanna

 

[Rita1965]

Unless you have a beeper, the kids can't get in touch with you. If there is an emergency, medical etc., they could track you down, but if the kids just want mom/dad, they have to wait. The big difference here is the opening hours. In the morning they are open from 9-12, so the longest amount of time the kid will have to wait would be 3 hours. For a 5,6,7 year old that could seem forever though. When we go again I will just make sure to check in on my daughter more frequently, or see if it is ok if she has a two way radio I will bring from home.

My daughter is little miss social, so she never wanted to leave the clubs. If you have a shy child I would recommend checking in frequently. Again, 3 and 4 year olds have pagers issued to the parent. Because 5 and up go to school, they probably figure it to be less of an issue for them.

 

[mac_tlc]

Rita,

I would never flame you for bringing your daughter to bingo ! Our son, 8, loves it ..... Just wish he could bring us a little luck !!!

Thanks for the pager update .. I'll add it to my comparison.

mac_tlc

 

[westjones]

Thanks for the report. We have thought about trying this ship out. We all love Disney so much, but it would be nice to try out something new.

I would love to see some price comparisons, does anyone know of a site that lists prices for RCCL the way they do on All Seasons for the DCL?
DJ