Staterooms are subjective. I found my balcony rooms on Royal a similar size to what we have sailed in on DCL previously. I find that the split bathroom on DCL takes up a lot of space, which makes the room size comparable. The inside rooms are generally smaller, but some of the ships also have larger inside staterooms. It is going to vary ship by ship also. Royal has floor plans of MOST of their staterooms on their website and you should be able to view them when you select one of their ships.We were wondering about how the dining & staterooms were compared to Disney & are there any hidden fees we should know about..Thanks!
Comparing DCL to RCL is virtually impossible unless you know which ships you're comparing. DCL has 4, RCL has 25. Disney has nothing to compare against Freedom, Oasis, or Quantum class ships, so I toss those comps out whenever I see them. IMSO, DCL's Magic and Wonder are comparable to RCL's Radiance class (passenger capacity, tonnage, amenities). DCL's Fantasy and Dream are comparable to RCL's Voyager class. We're Platinum on DCL, and Diamond+ on RCL, and we've sailed every class except Quantum. If I had the choice between a Magic class ship and a Radiance class ship from RCL, the RCL ship would win on overall quality of the cruise experience every time. If I were choosing between Dream class and Voyager class, it would be a draw - itinerary would be the only swing vote. (I avoid doing any comparison on price - it wouldn't be a fair fight )
Comparing to any other class is apples to aardvarks
The thing that stops us from booking ROYAL cruise is the overall look and feel of the ships, it seems as though they are a cross between a las Vegas resort with lots of tacky neon lights, concrete flooring on the top decks to walk on / sit in a lounger, and a shopping mall feel inside. The MDR seems like a cavernous banquet hall . The number of activities seem like they would appeal to a larger cross section of people which is good but the ship's just seem tacky. Add events like hairy chest contest and belly flop contest in the pool area and that tells you abit more about the variety of clientele they cater to.
If you haven't already done so I suggest the OP go on YouTube and check out the videos of the ship's before deciding if it's for you
I'm really scratching my head on this one. I can only presume you've never actually been on an RCL ship. We've been on every class of RCL ship other than the new Quantum class, and I can't think of a single ship that comes even close to matching this description. If I didn't see your RCL reference, I'd swear you were describing Carnival. In 35+ cruises on RCL, we've never witnessed a "hairy Chest" contest; the pool decks are covered in a composite surface preferred by runners; the main dining rooms are better appointed than most 5-star land restaurants (and sure a heck of a lot better than the vinyl cafeteria chairs in Disney's Animators Palette. One thing I will say, I'm always amazed at the number of passengers we see on the pool deck with Castaway Cay beach bagsThe thing that stops us from booking ROYAL cruise is the overall look and feel of the ships, it seems as though they are a cross between a las Vegas resort with lots of tacky neon lights, concrete flooring on the top decks to walk on / sit in a lounger, and a shopping mall feel inside. The MDR seems like a cavernous banquet hall . The number of activities seem like they would appeal to a larger cross section of people which is good but the ship's just seem tacky. Add events like hairy chest contest and belly flop contest in the pool area and that tells you abit more about the variety of clientele they cater to.
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Agree. If Princess would keep any of its ships in the Caribbean year round we'd probably sail them a lot more frequently than we do now.no hidden fees. soda is extra, so decide in advance if you want to buy a soda package or just buy a soda as you want it. My kids drink little soda, so they do not miss it. DH and I get a diet coke or just drink free iced tea. our ending bill on RCCL is very similar to DCL--a few drinks, bottle of wine, souvenirs, usually under $200 for the week.
We also really like Princess. Ifyou have athletic/adventurous kids, then RCCL with rock climber/flo rider is a good choice. If your kids won't use those, then you might also consider Princess--a bit larger rooms, better MDR food. During EAster, they showed kids G movies in the AM at one of the pools and had a fun (clean) lip sing at the main pool during the day. They also show a movie outdoor every night--but the are PG-13/R usually. My teens liked Princess a lot. It is #2 after DCL for us now.
I've been on three Royal ships - three different classes of ship too - and didn't feel like this on any of them. The Promenade is a bit mall-ish at times but there are tons of activities and characters there and the characters are so much easier to meet than on Disney since the lines are so short. The ships themselves are actually beautiful inside and although they are differently themed than Disney it doesn't make them less gorgeous.The thing that stops us from booking ROYAL cruise is the overall look and feel of the ships, it seems as though they are a cross between a las Vegas resort with lots of tacky neon lights, concrete flooring on the top decks to walk on / sit in a lounger, and a shopping mall feel inside. The MDR seems like a cavernous banquet hall . The number of activities seem like they would appeal to a larger cross section of people which is good but the ship's just seem tacky. Add events like hairy chest contest and belly flop contest in the pool area and that tells you abit more about the variety of clientele they cater to.
If you haven't already done so I suggest the OP go on YouTube and check out the videos of the ship's before deciding if it's for you
This one's easy - every pool on any RCL ship is bigger than any pool on any Disney shipPools - a bit unfair since Oasis class is so much bigger but the kids could swim in the Oasis pools. There was no room to do so on the Fantasy.
Hope that helps.
I wasn't sure. my dad aka grandpa was really unhappy about it as well.This one's easy - every pool on any RCL ship is bigger than any pool on any Disney ship
Very true.This one's easy - every pool on any RCL ship is bigger than any pool on any Disney ship