RCCL Alaska cruise because I can't afford DCL Alaska cruise

[halfmonkey]

We love DCL but when I price out a DCL Alaska cruise, I can't believe how expensive it is compared to RCCL. So with that, we're looking into cruising RCCL for the first time in June of 2019 to Alaska. It looks like during this time, they have the Ovation of the Seas available and I believe this is a newer ship that is quite large too.

I've been looking at some You Tube videos of the ship and checking out the activities but I haven't been able to find any reviews about the kids club/areas. My kids have been on 3 Disney cruises and they love the kids club and as a matter of fact, they prefer to stay in the clubs. I actually pull them out of the clubs at midnight because they love it so much. I'm wondering if the Ovation of the Seas kid club is the same. When we sail, my kids will be DS11 (turns 12 in August), DS10.5, and DD6.5. I saw there are outdoor water play areas but wondering how the indoor kids club area is.

For those that have been on the Ovation and had kids in the clubs, did they like the clubs? How would you compare the clubs on Ovation to the Disney clubs? Any information would be helpful. Thanks.

 

[alliecat523]

I haven’t been on Ovation but have sailed numerous times with RCCL and have done their Alaska itineraries.

Kids club has been great for my daughter but it depends on the mix of ships passengers. When more kids are present, it’s a much better experience for her. Disney tends to be very family/kid focused so this is never an issue. On our Alaska cruise with RC, there were definitely fewer kids onboard. This wasn’t an issue for us but it will be very different for you based on your previous DCL experience.

With that said, we still had a fantastic experience and my daughter loved the cruise. I will say we aren’t fans of the bigger RC ships like Ovation. Too many people and constant jostling for food, shows or access off the ship. Some folks love the bigger ships but we do not. Just something to consider.

 

[GZanta77]

Our kids have been cruising since the age of 4 and they love the kids clubs on RCCL - more than any other cruise line - we haven't done DCL though. Just like you experience with DCL clubs, my kids will more often than not stay in the kids clubs till midnight/ 1am when we allow it (They do need some sleep too!).

Haven't sailed Ovation but have done Independence (x2) /Liberty/Navigator and Oasis from the RCL fleet. Kids loved every one of them.

 

[Ciciwoowoo]

We cruised on Explorer of the Seas May 2017 to Alaska, from Seattle. We enjoyed it, but we went during school, so there were fewer kids. My son was 7 at the time. We put him in the kids club the first few days. Because there were few kids, they ended up combining the kids with the older kids.

The ship called up to pick up our son early because he was crying and wouldn't stop. We picked him up and brought him back to our cabin. He complained about his shoulder hurting. We took off his shirt to put on his pjs, and he had a very ugly bruise on his shoulder. We immediately took him to the Dr on board. What a mess!!!

I don't think the employees in the kids club have very good training. No one at the kids club ever told us he was hurt. I am not sure they even knew!

I would still send him to the club only IF we were on a cruise that had enough kids on it to ensure the kids were separated into appropriate age groups.

 

[HappilyEverAfter80]

Last May, after 4 Disney cruises we sailed on Anthem of the Seas which is Ovation's sister ship.
DS 8 loved the ship including kids club Adventure Ocean. He also loves the DCL kids clubs but I have to say he actually preferred Anthem's a bit. They had more organized activities, and my DS just loved to join.
They had separate rooms for ages 3-5, 6-8 & 9-11. Also teen clubs.
Couple of times they combined the 6-8 with 9-11 together but never the 3-5 with the older. It was during school year though.
The clubs were pretty much open all day, only closed for lunch. Open all day in ports. From 10pm to 2am there was an extra charge.
I think since Alaska is mostly during the summer months there will be lots of kids onboard and they won't combine the age groups.
Aside from adventure ocean, the ship has a great indoor pool for all ages, adult only pools in the solarium, bumper cars, roller skating, sky diving simulator, surfing simulator, venue called Two 70 with floor to ceiling 180 degree ocean views, and North Star which raises you 300 feet above the ship for spectacular views.
I think most of these would be awesome in Alaska.. indoor pools, bumper cars, North Star....
I did a detailed comparison of DCL and Anthem (its same as ovation) here last year, including a post on the kids areas.

We are currently booked on the Disney Wonder for Aug 2019. We have a deck 2 oceanview.
I am very tempted to change it to ovation for about $900 less for a balcony.
The only thing that is holding me back right now is the fact it sails from Seattle as opposed to Vancouver.
On the other hand ovation has a full day in Victoria Canada....
Oh what to do....

 

[cdoc29]

I feel your pain when it comes to price. We are sailing on Explorer of the seas in August in a junoir suite (Slightly bigger cabin and Verandah) and it was 4k less than the Deluxe Family Oceanview w/ Verandah on Wonder. With shore excursions being so expensive in Alaska this allowed us to do more. I plan to sail Disney again unless my kids fall in love with Royal then we’ll have to see.

 

[kkmcan]

We sailed Radiance of the Seas in 2014 and loved it. Our kids are older so I can't comment on that too much. We had teens and one who was 18 and too old for the teen club since she had graduated high school. The younger teens loved the teen club and spent tons of time there. We couldn't afford the Alaska Disney Cruise but it worked out fine because we didn't care for the itinerary anyways. We did the one way southbound out of Seward and flew home from Vancouver. We got lots of time in port and sailed the Hubbard glacier fjord. It was too cold for outdoor swimming but the Radiance has an adults only indoor pool that they open up to kids/families twice a day. We loved it there. It was our hangout. Glass on all sides to sit and watch the scenery, table and chairs lined the area next to the glass. Nice and toasty warm in there and they had a cute food and drink stand. We'd get a breakfast sandwich, coffee and pastries every morning and avoid the hassle of the buffet. Sit in the warmth and watch the scenery. Just gorgeous. Kids are allowed in there just not in the pool unless its family hours.

I do agree with the posters who mentioned that it depended on the amount of kids on board. There were lots of families with kids but not crazy amounts like on Disney. Also, we were off the ship 5 days, I think, in port so there really wasn't that much time for clubs until evening or the last sea day. The first day we were sailing the glacier so lots to see.

We can't wait to go again. That cruise was all my 15 year talks about. He loved every second of it and keeps asking when we get to go back.

 

[brent02139]

Hi, sorry for bringing back an old thread. But I've booked a DCL balcony for Alaska for summer 2022 for $12k.... But RCCL is $5k for something comparable. I did some basic research so I know what each cruise line brings to the experience. If money were no object, I would just stick with DCL, but $7k difference is quite a lot and hard to ignore. We could book the excursions that we want and still have enough left over for another RCCL cruise. So for the people who went to Alaska, and experienced it, did the cruise line you choose matter all that much, for the purpose of experiencing Alaska? For background, we're a young family with 2 toddlers, cruising for the first time, living here in the US.

 

[OKW Lover]

Basically both RCL & DCL do very similar itineraries. You'll get pretty much the same Alaska experience no matter which you pick.

 

[chamberlain]

We have only sailed DCL but are going to book RCL for an Alaskan cruise out of Vancouver. No doubt about the price difference. The cruise we are looking at is on the Serenade of the Seas. Our kids have grown so just the husband and I. Has anyone sailed on this ship to Alaska?

 

[tidefan]

Hi, sorry for bringing back an old thread. But I've booked a DCL balcony for Alaska for summer 2022 for $12k.... But RCCL is $5k for something comparable. I did some basic research so I know what each cruise line brings to the experience. If money were no object, I would just stick with DCL, but $7k difference is quite a lot and hard to ignore. We could book the excursions that we want and still have enough left over for another RCCL cruise. So for the people who went to Alaska, and experienced it, did the cruise line you choose matter all that much, for the purpose of experiencing Alaska? For background, we're a young family with 2 toddlers, cruising for the first time, living here in the US.

We did the Alaska DVC Member's Cruise back in 2016 and it was our favorite cruise we've ever done, but a lot of that had to do not only with Alaska (which is awesome in itself), but all the extras that were on the DVC MC.

That being said, when we went back to Alaska, we chose to go on Princess. We had a great time, and actually, that was our DD's (15 at the time) favorite cruise. She really liked the teen club/center on the Princess ship. There's no bumper cars or skydiving, it's a completely different experience, but we all loved it. The food was fantastic and there are lots of little things (like when they bring the Iditarod dogs on the ship and the kids gets to interact with them) that we really enjoyed. Also, it was cheaper than DCL or RCCL...

 

[Fellowship9798]

I too my family on an Alaskan cruise out of a Seattle on RCCL in August 2018. This was our first RCCL cruise after 3 prior DCL cruises but they had progressively gotten more and more expensive and I just couldn’t justify the price difference anymore.

For my family of 4 (wife and kids who were 13 and 11) the Alaska cruise on RCCL was great. I did miss Disney a bit but found lots to enjoy. The shore excursions made the cruise and I spent a lot of money on the most memorable ones for my family (zip lining through mountains at one stop and later a helicopter ride to a glacier followed by dogsled ride) which I could because of money saved by going to RCCL. I would recommend giving it a try.