Should I change cruise for royal ?

[starvenger]

** I also want to add in that disney is about $1000 more plus drinks

royal is $1000 less and that’s all inslusive (offer in Uk)

we do like our cocktails too

I would kill for an all inclusive offer. Sadly I missed the day when they (Royal) had the drink package snafu.

Am shocked how many people are saying royal on a Disney board but glad everyone is been honest.... this feels like such a hard choice

I think the infant factor makes this a hard decision. I did expect a lot more DCL votes as well.

How did she cruise at 3 months?

Probably boarded the ship like everyone else?

Just curious, what would you have been doing on June on a Disney cruise under the same weather circumstances? Seems to me that the indoor activities are somewhat comparable between the two.

Yeah there are still differences between the two but I think at the end of the day no one really wants to be stuck doing the indoor activities.

Oh the pizza on royal is MUCH better. my Teensneven say this . Disney pizza is down right is horrible IMO, school cafeteria style . I don‘t even eat it and I love pizza. Now Sorenntos on Royal, that is yummy. But on DCL I have chicken tender addiction. .

Curiously I never had a slice on DCL. I can say that the pizza on Harmony was much worse than that on Allure. Not sure why that was. Allure's pizza was closer to "your local joint" while Harmony was more of a "mediocre chain pizzeria" taste. Still, don't expect to get the best slice you've ever had. It's not that good - but it is available late at night.

So I am more of a Royal guy. I do think that, given the age of your child, it doesn't make that much sense to take them on DCL, esp when they will be quite stimulated (and get their fill of the Mouse) at WDW. And not when you can save $1600 with the drink package included.

BTW. is that 1600 USD or GBP?

Whatever you choose, I'm sure you'll have fun.

 

[Garyjames220]

I would kill for an all inclusive offer. Sadly I missed the day when they (Royal) had the drink package snafu.


I think the infant factor makes this a hard decision. I did expect a lot more DCL votes as well.


Probably boarded the ship like everyone else?


Yeah there are still differences between the two but I think at the end of the day no one really wants to be stuck doing the indoor activities.


Curiously I never had a slice on DCL. I can say that the pizza on Harmony was much worse than that on Allure. Not sure why that was. Allure's pizza was closer to "your local joint" while Harmony was more of a "mediocre chain pizzeria" taste. Still, don't expect to get the best slice you've ever had. It's not that good - but it is available late at night.

So I am more of a Royal guy. I do think that, given the age of your child, it doesn't make that much sense to take them on DCL, esp when they will be quite stimulated (and get their fill of the Mouse) at WDW. And not when you can save $1600 with the drink package included.

BTW. is that 1600 USD or GBP?

Whatever you choose, I'm sure you'll have fun.

It's about 1600 USD I converted it across so it made it easier for everyone lo

 

[Garyjames220]

Going to try and decide this weekend
Royal is winning on the poll so far

 

[ahain]

To be honest we are easily happy. Last time me and my wife enjoyed relaxing in the adults only pool, love to have a few cocktails, enjoyed the rain Forrest room, watching films, going on AquaDuck, mini golf and eating lots lol the cocktails tastings would be fun too

we do enjoy the magic of the ship. But trying to decide if it’s worth 1000 more and not been all inslusive and have ocean view instead of a balcony is a hard one

Realistically, with a 9 month old baby in tow, you may not be able to do alot of these activities on DCL unless you want to pay big $$ for nursery. I'm guessing that you should save the $1000, (especially if your wife will be off work for a while) have a balcony so you can enjoy time there

 

[Garyjames220]

Realistically, with a 9 month old baby in tow, you may not be able to do alot of these activities on DCL unless you want to pay big $$ for nursery. I'm guessing that you should save the $1000, (especially if your wife will be off work for a while) have a balcony so you can enjoy time there

yeah we would be using the nursery quite often I think disney is 9 and royal is 6 per a hour

 

[mousefan73]

Your 9-month old will remember this trip for a long time.
[/QUOTE

Um sorry no. Baby won’t even know they are on a boat.

 

[Dug720]

For me, looking at a classic ship vs. a floating hotel, it's Disney easily. I like to feel like I'm on a ship. I do with Disney's ships and RCCL's smaller ships. I would not with a floating apartment block.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Your 9-month old will remember this trip for a long time.

Uh, probably not.

 

[Intr3pid]

Um sorry no. Baby won’t even know they are on a boat.

Indeed, that's what they remember after all - that 'we were on a boat'.

 

[Garyjames220]

Indeed, that's what they remember after all - that 'we were on a boat'.

that’s very true

I think what’s making it harder is the fact we probably may not be able to do disney again

if we done disney again it would mean we wouldn’t have a place holder which is saving a lot and the cruises will go higher. So I expect we would be priced out

that’s why it’s so hard deciding do we pay the extra one last time while we still can

 

[Garyjames220]

Going to decide what we go for over the weekend, I’ll let you know

 

[aliceinvunderland]

As much as I like the appeal of some of the activities on RCL, the #1 reason I cruise is because I love being on a ship at sea. I like to be able to look out any window and see the ocean and feel like I’m on the water. RCL ships are like giant floating malls, and I hear “I keep forgetting I’m on a ship at sea!” a lot when I watch YouTube videos. Are the RCL ships huge and flashy and high tech? Yes. Am I looking for a 7-day vacation to the mall/carnival/casino? No. DCL wins every time for this very reason.

 

[Garyjames220]

As much as I like the appeal of some of the activities on RCL, the #1 reason I cruise is because I love being on a ship at sea. I like to be able to look out any window and see the ocean and feel like I’m on the water. RCL ships are like giant floating malls, and I hear “I keep forgetting I’m on a ship at sea!” a lot when I watch YouTube videos. Are the RCL ships huge and flashy and high tech? Yes. Am I looking for a 7-day vacation to the mall/carnival/casino? No. DCL wins every time for this very reason.

yeah that’s a good point

 

[BCV23]

We're DCL people but recently went on a Royal Caribbean cruise with our 11 month old at the time. I must say, we were QUITE annoyed with the times that the nursery was open and when you could drop your child off. 10am-12pm on sea days? Not open on port days except for people with excursions? Nope. That was very irritating. Other than that, the nursery staff was very good. We have a DCL cruise in December, and I have already booked our daughter for 10 hours over the course of the cruise. We had an oceanview room on Royal and found that even if we had a balcony, we couldn't use it because the pack n play was blocking the door. We also found that the day entertainment on the pool deck on Royal was so overpowering that we couldn't stay in the splash pad for more than 10 minutes. Way too loud.

Since the OP wants to use the nursery extensively, I hope he saw your post. Only two hours on sea days and none at all on port days unless one is on an excursion is certainly limiting.

I didn't vote because I've never been on a RC cruise.

Good luck with your decision!

 

[Garyjames220]

Since the OP wants to use the nursery extensively, I hope he saw your post. Only two hours on sea days and none at all on port days unless one is on an excursion is certainly limiting.

I didn't vote because I've never been on a RC cruise.

Good luck with your decision!

so I can’t use the royal nursery on evenings like port days

and even days We do use it there will only do two hours max even if that have more availability ?

 

[starvenger]

I don't know if this article will help you any wrt nursery questions?
https://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=3231

I've never used the nursery on Royal so I can't really comment on it. My brother has used it with no complaints but again, I've no firsthand experience with it.

 

[Garyjames220]

So I understand you can book so many hours with Disney before hand but I herd if they have spare they will try to give more hours if needed is that right

 

[Garyjames220]

It says on that royal website babies must have an adult with them in the nursery
Does this mean you can't leave them

 

[starvenger]

From what I have seen there is an unsupervised nursery area., and an adult must be there to watch the infant/toddler.

There is also a supervised nursery area, which - at least on RCL - you need to pay a fee for, if I'm reading the article correctly. Matt at RoyalCaribbeanBlog (another good resource) has said you can book a limited number of hours in advance or on the first day, but at some point it becomes FCFS.

 

[Garyjames220]

From what I have seen there is an unsupervised nursery area., and an adult must be there to watch the infant/toddler.

There is also a supervised nursery area, which - at least on RCL - you need to pay a fee for, if I'm reading the article correctly. Matt at RoyalCaribbeanBlog (another good resource) has said you can book a limited number of hours in advance or on the first day, but at some point it becomes FCFS.

Ok thanks

Does anyone know if that's a max of two hours only a day