My recent cruise on RCCL. Comparison with DCL

[DynamicDisneyDuo]

Nowhere did @Club Disney Chandler say that the port said "just cause". They said they cannot remember what was said.

Did I say he said that? I did not. The OP of this thread made it sound like they were given little or no explanation. That is what I was referring to.

 

[Dug720]

Did I say he said that? I did not. The OP of this thread made it sound like they were given little or no explanation. That is what I was referring to.

Ok. Since you quoted them it did seem kind of like you were saying that. I apologize for misunderstanding your quotation.

 

[DynamicDisneyDuo]

Ok. Since you quoted them it did seem kind of like you were saying that. I apologize for misunderstanding your quotation.

S'okay. The internet can be a tricky place. I probably should have been a bit more clear.

 

[trvlgirlmq]

Cruise lines collect passports when they will docking in certain countries due to the laws of those countries. It has to do with their immigration policies. I know many cruises that go to Greece and Turkey do this (several countries in South America and Asia as well). Also, some hotels on land do this too (Italy most predominantly as all tourists must register with the local police department by law but they let the hotels do this by collecting passports and verifying the information and sending it in). If you travel enough it's not a big deal. If you don't want to hand over your passport then you should probably find countries that don't require this or do land-based vacations.

 

[JoieNsk]

Cruise lines collect passports when they will docking in certain countries due to the laws of those countries. It has to do with their immigration policies. I know many cruises that go to Greece and Turkey do this (several countries in South America and Asia as well). Also, some hotels on land do this too (Italy most predominantly as all tourists must register with the local police department by law but they let the hotels do this by collecting passports and verifying the information and sending it in). If you travel enough it's not a big deal. If you don't want to hand over your passport then you should probably find countries that don't require this or do land-based vacations.

Maybe. I haven't been to any of the regions you mentioned.

But the topic-starter explained what were the ports of their cruise. We had the same ports except for France. But we've been to France before - not on the cruise, and nobody ever TOOK our passports. I think we just showed them at check in - and even about that I am not sure, I think I was just using my driver's license at the hotel check in.

We even had St Petersburg as a port. That is Russia. And that was the only port they had border control and checked passports. But the passports were looked at, stamped and given back to us right there. And it was not cruise line - it was Russian border control.

 

[nyisles84]

We have done European cruises on Disney the last 2 years and doing the Med this year. First year was repo cruise from Dover to Barcelona, last year was 12 night Norway/Iceland/Scotland. Both times they took everyones passports.

The reason why we found out is certain countries would make non EU passengers go through customs. To avoid people having to lose time in port on lines going through this process, Disney (and it seems other cruise lines) do all the paperwork/customs for you in advance so you do not have to be bothered. As a matter of fact last year on the 12 night, when coming back from Iceland to Scotland we had 2 Scottish officers, I guess the equivalent of our Homeland Security on board and we went through "customs" with them then day before which was a see day. They were in Cariocos from 10:00am-4:00pm and you had to stop by when you could if you planned on disembarking in Scotland. The officers were happy. Said it was a sweet gig as they got to enjoy 2 days on board and just work about 6 hours. They told us they have only ever heard of DCL doing that.

 

[JoieNsk]

I don't know...

I guess I would be O'K with leaving my passport for couple days with cruise line if I am on the ship all this time.

But if I go to the port in foreign country - I want to have my passport with me. What if something happens and I would not make it to the ship?

Just recently I read a story of a man who had to stay behind in Jamaica as he was not sure his 16 yo son who was with other group made it to the ship. It was cruisecritics.com where I read it.

It was not the guy's fault, he was not late or anything. It was just miscommunication. So he sent his wife and younger kids to the ship and stayed late hoping that his son would somehow let him know.

He would have so much less trouble if he had his passport with him. Instead he had to go to US embassy or consulate to get new passport as he could not even fly out of Jamaica without passport. He was lucky the office was in the same city where he stayed behind (I forgot what city that was).

And one of his main take outs of this story - always-always have your passport with you when you are in a foreign country.

 

[JoieNsk]

When we were on the European cruise with our 18 yo who acts most of time like 15 yo - we let her wander by herself couple times when the ship was docked right in the city.

And every time I was coming back to the ship my heart was beating twice as fast till the moment I asked the ship security - can you please check that the cabin such and such made it back?

Luckily she always made it back on time. But every time I was thinking about the guy stayed behind in Jamaica

 

[Dug720]

I don't know...

I guess I would be O'K with leaving my passport for couple days with cruise line if I am on the ship all this time.

But if I go to the port in foreign country - I want to have my passport with me. What if something happens and I would not make it to the ship?

Just recently I read a story of a man who had to stay behind in Jamaica as he was not sure his 16 yo son who was with other group made it to the ship. It was cruisecritics.com were I read it.

It was not the guy's fault, he was not late or anything. It was just miscommunication. So he sent his wife and younger kids to the ship and stayed late hoping that his son would somehow let him know.

He would have so much less trouble if he had his passport with him. Instead he had to go to US embassy or consulate to get new passport as he could not even fly out of Jamaica without passport. He was lucky the office was in the same city where he stayed behind (I forgot what city that was).

And one of his main take outs of this story - always-always have your passport with you when you are in a foreign country.

OTOH, if the ship has them, it would make it so much easier for them to give it to the port agent - no having to go in your cabin and try to find it.

 

[MakiraMarlena]

Passport thing has to do with the itinerary and the country. I did a Baltic cruise on RCL last year. Our last port was in Belgium. We kept the passports all cruise and then before we got to Belgium, we had to surrender them. Was a requirement for porting in Belgium apparently. Possibly because we were coming from Finland, which is not an EU country, or maybe it was just a Belgium thing. We got them back the next day.

On a DCL med transitioning from Greece to Turkey we had to surrender our passports to be held by the cruise line. They said it was because we were going from a country in the EU to a country outside of the EU and then back to the EU. We got them back after departing from Turkey. So it was an immigration thing. As said, probably for the cruise line to process without the passengers having to queue up for a whole day to go through customs.

In both instances there was NO option to keep your passport. It was mandatory to surrender them.

 

[JoieNsk]

Passport thing has to do with the itinerary and the country. I did a Baltic cruise on RCL last year. Our last port was in Belgium. We kept the passports all cruise and then before we got to Belgium, we had to surrender them. Was a requirement for porting in Belgium apparently. Possibly because we were coming from Finland, which is not an EU country, or maybe it was just a Belgium thing. We got them back the next day.

Maybe something has changed since last year. But we also came to Brugge (Belgium) from Helsinki (Finland).

We got off in Zeebrugge and nobody asked our passports.

Like I mentioned - the only country where the passports were checked before going onshore and before coming back to the ship - was Russia. In Russia - yes we did wait in line a little bit on the first day out of two we were there as everybody was getting off at the same time. But it was not too bad. And whenever we were coming back to the ship we only had like one person ahead of us to see the border security.

I know that my husband would feel the same as me. But we travel a lot - maybe that's why. I want freedom of my own decision. I don't need any help with MY passport.

 

[JoieNsk]

OTOH, if the ship has them, it would make it so much easier for them to give it to the port agent - no having to go in your cabin and try to find it.

I hear you.

But I'd rather have my passport with me.

 

[maggie blossom]

Okay comparison RCCL to DCL Part Two:

Friendliness of staff/ customer service. I went in not expecting much. After all everyone knows Disney excels at customer service. People go to Florida to take courses on "the Disney Way". Apparently the staff on RCCL (or it appears it is now RCI) took the course. Everyone I came in contact was just as friendly and wanting to please as on DCL. If you passed a crew member on the stairs they smiled and said good morning regardless of their "position" or job title. I experienced no difference in the customer service here compared to DCL. Only thing I was aware of is that there weren't people calling the little girls "princess" all the time.

Number of children and make up of other passengers. OK so I don't have hard facts. I heard someone say that there were 4200 passengers onboard. On more than one occasion I was at an activity when someone asked for show of hands for where people were from. Each time the group was at least half American. There were also clearly very many British people. I would estimate 80- 85% of the passengers were either British or American. The remaining appeared to be an eclectic mix.
There were WAY less children on board than on DCL. Particularly less younger children as I saw plenty of teens. Obviously there were kids, and babies. But no where near the amount you have on DCL. When I was sitting with my daughter waiting for the afternoon performance of Grease to begin I told her that although I thought there were so few children on board; at that moment it felt like every single one of them was in the theater to see Grease.

Although there were over 4000 passengers truly I never felt it. Not during embarkation, not walking around the ship, not at restaurants or shows. Okay maybe the night we tried to see Grease and ran around crazily and couldn't find two seats together that weren't behind a pole. That night was frustrating; and the theater was crowded. But no other time. The ship was huge and absorbed the masses well.
We have avoided the larger Disney ships because we love the small ones and didn't think we would like the large and crowded ships. Now we get it about a large ship and wouldn't hesitate to try one of DCL large ones. BTW Grease ran again in the afternoon of the next sea day and that day we were able to get in no problem.

One more thing about the passengers, and I don't want to anger anyone, this is just my observations and opinions. But I felt like I saw less people complaining and acting "entitled" than I have seen on DCL. I wonder if it has to do with paying so much to cruise DCL and then feeling angry if something doesn't live up. On one cruise with DCL I was at guest services on Day 1 and next to me was a man who was just completing going off because he didn't like his stateroom and wanted to be moved to another. They were kindly telling him that the ship was full and there were no other rooms available but he wasn't stopping and was letting it rip. Another example on DCL was the woman who was insisting she was supposed to board before anyone else (I wasn't close enough to hear why) and the crew member was explaining that "family of the day" went on first etc. This same woman set out a jigsaw puzzle on a prime table on pool deck by the window. Sometimes she was there with one or more of her kids working on the puzzle or sitting in the sun by the window. But whether she was there or not her puzzle was there saving her spot for her for THE DURATION OF THE CRUISE.
On this cruise with RCI I felt like we were a melting pot of ages and races and nationalities but I never saw anyone acting like they deserved to be treated, shall we say, "special".

Since I mentioned Grease let's talk about the shows. I didn't go to many. I went to Grease, the ice show- Strings, and the magic show. All top notch. I have no complaints. Before going I had read about the ice show "it's amazing what they can do on a rink that size" and I couldn't agree more. Really, really good. My expectation with the shows on DCL were high. I expected a lot from Disney and by and large they delivered. My expectations on RCI were not as high and they exceeded them. I would say that for the shows I went to the quality was equivalent.

Entertainment that was not equivalent: the sail away party. Much, much better on DCL. From the dancing on deck, characters dancing on stage, to countdown to the blowing of the horn as you start to sail away, that makes it all really special. Other thing that was lackluster on RCI was the parade. On night 1 there was a parade on deck 5, Promenade. The costumes, the dancing, the flow and/or script was, in my opinion, cheesy and lower quality. Would not go to that again.

Formal night: way, way more people dressed up in formal attire on RCI. I had read that we would see everything on formal night, from formal to not formal but dressy to shorts, and we did. We didn't bring true formal attire; it's not our thing. We went with "dressy". But many, many people did which was fun to see. I wondered if since so many people bring clothes for pirate night on DCL less also bring formal wear. You can only schlep so much and still fit the necessities. Just a wild guess. We saw groups of people, families maybe, dressed in formal attire native to their countries which was lovely. Lots of lots of tuxes and beaded gowns. Again not my thing but I enjoyed seeing others enjoy themselves in that way.

Couple of random observations:

General ship upkeep: more on DCL. On every cruise I have been on with DCL there were times when I would pass someone painting or sanding or polishing something. It looks like a labor of love to always keep her looking her best. On RCI I saw them cleaning, vacuuming stairways etc, but not doing larger upkeep things.

Luggage tags: On DCL prior to departure date you get nice luggage tags in the mail. Helps you get excited for your upcoming cruise. On RCL you get a page to print out on your computer and directions on how to fold it and to use tape or staples to secure it. Was I disappointed at first? Yeah sure. Was it worth extra $2000? Nope. Did it do the job and get our bags to us? You bet

Food location: There is large buffet, Windjammer, on deck 11; three Main Dining Rooms and Promenade on Deck 5 which has all kinds of food, and snacks. Oh and there is Johnny Rockets on deck 12, for a fee, and frozen yogurt on deck 11, free. What was lacking on Indy was a place to get "snacks" by the pools. We did not spend too much time at the pools; most days it was too cold and windy. But our first sea day we did. When we wanted a snack there was no where right there to just grab something. You would have had to go down from 11 or 12 to deck 5. On DCL classic ships on pool level there is pizza, hot dogs, desserts in coffee area etc. Easy to stay up by the pool, grab a quick bite and return to your lounger.

Will stop here. I have left the biggies: teen programming and activities and stores/sales. Will get to those in next installment

 

[mcd2745]

Although there were over 4000 passengers truly I never felt it. Not during embarkation, not walking around the ship, not at restaurants or shows.

Having done 4 DCL cruises & 3 cruises on RCCL (2 on Freedom & 1 on Oasis)...I can totally agree and say this is the one area where RCCL really excels. It just always seems on DCL that most of the passengers end up at the same activity or at least the same area of the ship. Whether it's the pool deck or the atrium, etc., it always seems like you're battling crowds. On RCCL, everyone seem to spread out so much better. I don't know if that is a function of any singular thing or multiple factors. I tend to think the latter. Probably a function of multiple things like better design of ship's common areas, greater selection of activities (such rock wall, flow rider, etc.) to spread people out, and as you observed, the more diverse family compositions on board as opposed to DCL where families with young children make up a solid majority.

 

[JoieNsk]

...On RCCL, everyone seem to spread out so much better. I don't know if that is a function of any singular thing or multiple factors. I tend to think the latter. Probably a function of multiple things like better design of ship's common areas, greater selection of activities (such rock wall, flow rider, etc.) to spread people out, and as you observed, the more diverse family compositions on board as opposed to DCL where families with young children make up a solid majority.

I agree too.

Our cruise was sold out on about 3000 people capacity ship. And the ship never felt crowded - anywhere.

 

[JoieNsk]

Okay comparison RCCL to DCL Part Two:

Friendliness of staff/ customer service. I went in not expecting much. After all everyone knows Disney excels at customer service. People go to Florida to take courses on "the Disney Way". Apparently the staff on RCCL (or it appears it is now RCI) took the course. Everyone I came in contact was just as friendly and wanting to please as on DCL. If you passed a crew member on the stairs they smiled and said good morning regardless of their "position" or job title. I experienced no difference in the customer service here compared to DCL. Only thing I was aware of is that there weren't people calling the little girls "princess" all the time.

Totally agree. I had two RCI experiences - one was the European cruise I mentioned before, another one was on the oldest and smallest RCI ship.

The staff was great!

 

[HappilyEverAfter80]

Enjoying this as well, thanks! We took our first Royal cruise in May after 4 with Disney.

 

[cruiser21]

DCL kept our passports in Europe. I don't know why didn't ask.

 

[cruiser21]

Having done 4 DCL cruises & 3 cruises on RCCL (2 on Freedom & 1 on Oasis)...I can totally agree and say this is the one area where RCCL really excels. It just always seems on DCL that most of the passengers end up at the same activity or at least the same area of the ship. Whether it's the pool deck or the atrium, etc., it always seems like you're battling crowds. On RCCL, everyone seem to spread out so much better. I don't know if that is a function of any singular thing or multiple factors. I tend to think the latter. Probably a function of multiple things like better design of ship's common areas, greater selection of activities (such rock wall, flow rider, etc.) to spread people out, and as you observed, the more diverse family compositions on board as opposed to DCL where families with young children make up a solid majority.

This is something I've noticed on the few non DCL ships I've sailed on. Crowd control seems to much better. People are spread out more. On DCL everyone always seems to be in the same place at the same time.

OP- Thanks for the great review. I'm looking forward to your next post on teen programming.

 

[LeslieG]

Following your trip report with great interest. Was booked on this same cruise but ultimately decided to cancel in favor of a land based trip of Paris and Normandy.