RCCL 7 Night or DCL 4 Night

magicalcouple

Different Not Less
Joined
Mar 18, 2006
Greetings! I have never cruised before but it's always been something I've wanted to do and I'm ready to force my family to do it for 2021. Group at travel time will be Me, Hubs, High Function ASD son 11, DS 4. I have 9,000,000 questions on either line but I'll keep this short for this post.

May of 2021 I've narrowed down to:
4 Day Verandah on DCL Fantasy
or
7 Day Ocean View on RCCL Allure of the Seas
Both end up being the same $ within dollars.

Since we've never cruised, what would be the better beginner? The little one- will he appreciate DCL more? My ASD son struggles with peer groups and won't interact well in playgroup settings in a club where there is a lot of children running wild. He's better individual or one on one, if this gives any help in guiding me.

Fantasy is the one I WANT to choose but my brain is saying "but you get more days and places to see" on the Allure.
Please help!
 
My mind thinks this way--- 7 days cooped up as apposed to only 4 days for the FIRST TIME TEST CRUISE of maybe many more to come if things go well.
 
Which ports?
I'd always pick ports first over cruise line...

Whilst neither line would be able to provide 1-1 care, royal actually stick to their ratios much better than Disney and have a much more structured, age appropriate programme if you were to use it. The same staff are in the rooms throughout the cruise and the same 2 will be in there the whole session so get to know kids individual needs better/quicker.

(I have actually written a whole thread about my comparisons of working in the clubs on the 2 lines)

Also, Oasis class ships have many more options of family activities for entertainment of the kids clubs didnt work out.
 


Where is the thread on comparisons? I'd love to read it.
DCL is Nassau and Castaway

RCCL is Coco, Jamaica, Haiti, and Nassau
 
I would watch videos online for both ships and see what you like. That would give you a good idea of what would work for your family.

Also, RCCL are autism friendly and if you needed they can arrange different options for muster drill (e.g. youth staff sometimes go through it with you in a quieter/non crowded place) if you reach out to them beforehand, and they have autism friendly 'toy' bags you can borrow from adventure ocean.
 


My mind thinks this way--- 7 days cooped up as apposed to only 4 days for the FIRST TIME TEST CRUISE of maybe many more to come if things go well.
The way I see it is this:

Four days is enough for you to know if you like cruising or not.

Four days is also not long enough should you determine that you LIKE cruising.

Based on that criteria, the DCL cruise would better suit you. The cost is pretty high though so I'd suggest maybe looking at Independence or Navigator for a 5 night?

I would watch videos online for both ships and see what you like. That would give you a good idea of what would work for your family.

Also, RCCL are autism friendly and if you needed they can arrange different options for muster drill (e.g. youth staff sometimes go through it with you in a quieter/non crowded place) if you reach out to them beforehand, and they have autism friendly 'toy' bags you can borrow from adventure ocean.
Here's a vlog started by a guy working on the Royal ships:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxgWpP7nDIIS_NMiEVH0R1g
btw same last name and I believe same Chinese character as me but no relation.
 
Will you be ok if your son doesn't go to the kids club? From the itineraries, I would pick Royal. My son does not like Royals kids club, they tend to have a block of activities and he cant tell which they will actually do. So he refuses to go. But Allure would have a lot of activities for you guys to do together.
 
Another thing to consider (which matters to me, but not to everyone) is that RCCL has a casino on the ships, whereas Disney does not. I like getting to play the slots a little bit each night on my cruises.
 
We haven’t been on those particular ships but we have done a 3 night on the Dream and 7 night on Oasis which are the sister ships.
As a major Disney fan who would love every trip to involve Disney, I would pick RCCL. 4 nights go by quick.
My daughter was 5 on DCL and 6 on RCCl. She did prefer the kids club on Disney, but everything else she preferred RCL. More pools, slides, more eating options, carousel.
We actually have a 5 night on the Fantasy this year and a 7 night on the Oasis scheduled. The only way my husband (none Disney fan) agreed to go back on Disney is because he wants to return to Castaway Cay.

I agree with watching videos of both on YouTube. Either one is a great choice.
 
I would definitely select Allure - 7 nights over 4 nights. The ship is amazing and after the refurb, you'll have even more things such as slides, etc. Although it is big, it doesn't feel crowded.
 
Having done a 7 night RCCL and a 4 night DCL in the same year, I would take the 7 night for sure. In my opinion, the 4 night felt like 1 day too short to be a 'full' cruise (that said, I am taking a 4night RCCL this spring with family as that was what worked out for us).

I liked DCL a 'tad' more than RCCL but not significantly more. I would rather have the more nights on RCCL than a shorter cruise on DCL. The reasons I preferred DCL a touch more than RCCL being the little touches (moving paintings in the hallways, rotational dining, a nicer bathroom). Nicer, but not x2 the cost nice.

… and that's not even considering your son's needs. With your son's needs, you'll want RCCL's Kids Club by far. More structured, less chaos when compared to DCL.
 
Last edited:
Greetings! I have never cruised before but it's always been something I've wanted to do and I'm ready to force my family to do it for 2021. Group at travel time will be Me, Hubs, High Function ASD son 11, DS 4. I have 9,000,000 questions on either line but I'll keep this short for this post.

May of 2021 I've narrowed down to:
4 Day Verandah on DCL Fantasy
or
7 Day Ocean View on RCCL Allure of the Seas
Both end up being the same $ within dollars.

Since we've never cruised, what would be the better beginner? The little one- will he appreciate DCL more? My ASD son struggles with peer groups and won't interact well in playgroup settings in a club where there is a lot of children running wild. He's better individual or one on one, if this gives any help in guiding me.

Fantasy is the one I WANT to choose but my brain is saying "but you get more days and places to see" on the Allure.
Please help!

Easy choice: 7 nights on Allure! Your itinerary will be much better too. I prefer CocoCay to Castaway Cay as well.
 

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