In the event you’ve been a frequent reader right here, you understand that I’m an avid cruiser on the Disney Cruise Line. I completely love their lovely ships and unbelievable service and have been joyful on each single crusing I’ve executed. We’ve reviewed all of their ships right here and we’ve all the time had a optimistic expertise.
Nonetheless, this previous winter break, my household sailed on Royal Caribbean Cruise Line and in addition actually cherished it. Many individuals have requested for a Royal Caribbean vs. Disney Cruise comparability to allow them to select the best choice for his or her household.
We’ve got cherished our expertise on each cruise traces, and I plan to journey on each sooner or later. However there are some discrete variations which can be good to know, and you might be prone to have a distinct expertise on every line. Each are nice for a household trip.
Disclosure: I’ve been on cruises on each traces at no/discounted value, and have additionally paid my very own manner on each. All opinions are my very own. This put up comprises affiliate hyperlinks and a purchase order/click on by means of one in every of these hyperlinks could end in a fee paid to us at no extra value to you.
Royal Caribbean vs. Disney Cruise: The Most Main Variations
Examine costs – see Disney Cruise Line sailings right here, and Royal Caribbean sailings right here.
Variety of Ships on Royal Caribbean Vs. Disney Cruise.
There are presently 5 Disney Cruise ships in service, with an extra ship, the Disney Want, which started its inaugural season final summer season. These 5 cruise ships are in three totally different classes- with the Disney Magic and Disney Marvel being the 2 smaller ships and the Disney Dream and the Disney Fantasy being the bigger two ships.
The Disney Want is a brand new class – the Triton class. A further two ships in the identical class because the Disney Want have been ordered for the long run.
Royal Caribbean has twenty-six ships in service, with one other 4 introduced (together with three within the new Icon class). There are a variety of various lessons – together with the Oasis, Freedom, Quantum, Radiance, Voyager, and Imaginative and prescient Courses.
Due to the bigger variety of Royal Caribbean ships, you might be prone to discover an itinerary with ports of name that work in your busy schedule. Royal Caribbean sails in lots of locations that Disney Cruise Line doesn’t, together with ports in Asia, Australia, and Israel.
With the smaller variety of ships and lessons on the Disney Cruise Line, there’s a sense of familiarity when crusing. Each time I step onto a DCL ship, I really feel comfy, nearly like going residence.
However, Royal Caribbean ships, with their massive fleet, differ by class and have thrilling, energetic entrances. I don’t really feel the sentimentality however do get excited to discover the ship. There are some similarities among the many ships but additionally many variations.
Costs
For a lot of households, that is a very powerful issue. Cruises will be costly. Usually, I’ve discovered that the bottom fee on the Disney Cruise Line tends to be excessive than a similar-length cruise on Royal Caribbean.
Nonetheless, you’ll need to take a look at the inclusions. Some issues are included within the Disney Cruise Line that isn’t included in Royal Caribbean. These embody gentle drinks and room service charges (for supply of every part aside from continental breakfast).
Drink Packages
Each cruise traces supply complimentary primary drinks, together with faucet water, espresso and tea (excluding premium espresso), and customary juices. Different drinks can be found a la carte, and every cruise line has totally different beverage buy choices.
On Royal Caribbean, there are a number of beverage packages obtainable for buy upfront or as soon as you might be on board (you possibly can often get monetary savings by buying upfront). The choices embody the Deluxe Beverage Package deal, the Refreshment Package deal, and the Soda Package deal. Drinks on the Starbucks areas on the ships (for these with a Starbucks) should not included in any of the packages.
Disney Cruise Line doesn’t have a bundle that features all alcoholic drinks. They do, nonetheless, supply customary and premium wine packages. Beer packages are additionally provided. In addition they have an alcoholic and nonalcoholic drink of the day.
Remember the fact that gentle drinks are included in a Disney Cruise, so that you received’t must pay individually for these. Premium coffees are additionally provided on Disney Cruise Line for an extra price.
Actions
Each cruise traces have loads of actions to maintain you busy when you are at sea. The actions that you simply’ll expertise on these traces differ, nonetheless.
The Disney Cruise Line ships have plenty of Disney magic, as you’d count on. You’ll see Disney characters, Disney leisure, and Disney motion pictures. There are additionally enjoyable deck actions, together with swimming pools, a splash space for younger youngsters, a play space, water slides, sizzling tubs, a sports activities deck (with a basketball court docket), and out of doors motion pictures.
If you’re crusing on Disney Magic, you’ll get a chance to experience the AquaDunk, whereas the Disney Dream and Fantasy supply the AquaDuck. The brand new Disney Want a brand new attraction known as the AquaMouse.
Royal Caribbean ships are crammed with enjoyable actions, however these differ by ship. As an example, on the Royal Caribbean Odyssey of the Seas, totally different experiences embody an iFly, a climbing wall, a FlowRider, a North Star statement capsule, and bumper automobiles. On the Marvel of the Seas, you’ll see a FlowRider, two rock partitions, a carousel, Final Abyss slides, mini golf, zip lining, ice skating, and a sports activities deck. Be sure you examine the precise actions on the ship you might be reserving as a result of they do differ.
If you’re keen on gaming, each cruise traces supply bingo. Nonetheless, the Disney Cruise Line ships don’t supply casinos, whereas the Royal Caribbean ships do.
Leisure
The entire cruise ship leisure that I’ve seen has all the time been top-notch. Disney Cruise Line provides Broadway-style musicals within the Walt Disney Theater. On longer sailings, there are sometimes different entertainers, like magicians and ventriloquists, who carry out there.
You can even see first-run motion pictures from Disney-owned studios within the Buena Vista Theater. Singers and different musicians carry out at varied venues throughout the ships, all through the day.
There are additionally different leisure choices on the Disney Cruise Line ships, together with animation lessons, trivia, sport reveals, and extra. The schedule for these will be discovered within the Private Navigator or the Disney Cruise Line Navigator app.
Royal Caribbean additionally boasts unbelievable onboard leisure. Their reveals showcase great expertise however aren’t particularly family-friendly. In addition they have some very distinctive venues, together with an ice-skating rink, an aqua theater, and smaller theaters like Two70. Remember the fact that these venues do differ by ship. Like on DCL, performers will be seen in bars and different venues all through the day.
In addition they supply karaoke, sport reveals, trivia, laser tag, and different programming every day. There’s no lack of leisure. I’ve discovered that the reveals on Royal Caribbean are particularly distinctive, revolutionary, and gratifying, and infrequently have nice particular results.
Eating places
Disney Cruise Line provides rotational eating. Every evening, you’ll go to a distinct restaurant of the three choices, and your serving workforce travels with you. I’ve all the time cherished this since you by no means get uninterested in the restaurant, and it’s nice to have the identical workforce touring with you, particularly when you’ve got dietary restrictions. The eating places are closely themed, typically with leisure and typical Disney magic. For longer cruises, you’ll go to the identical eating places once more, in the identical rotation.
There are two premium restaurant choices on the Disney ships. Remy and Palo are adult-only eating places which can be obtainable on the Disney Fantasy and the Disney Dream, whereas the Disney Magic and the Disney Marvel solely supply Palo. The Disney Want has Palo and a brand new restaurant known as Enchante. These are provided for an extra price.
Along with the eating rooms and eating places, there are many quick-service choices obtainable all through the ships. Complimentary room service can also be obtainable.
Royal Caribbean sometimes provides one most important eating room, though some ships have two. There are two seatings, in addition to “My Time Eating”. You’ll have the identical servers in the principle eating room all through the cruise.
Not like DCL, Royal Caribbean ships supply many specialty eating places that aren’t included in your cruise fare. These specialty eating places embody different choices comparable to Johnny Rockets, Izumi Sushi and Tepanyaki, Chops Grille, and Hooked Seafood, and they could be a nice add-on to your cruise.
Themed Cruises
Not like Royal Caribbean, Disney Cruise Line provides themed cruises all year long. These could make your cruise expertise much more thrilling, with particular occasions, decor, and characters. A few of these included:
- Halloween on the Excessive Seas
- Marvel Day at Sea
- Pixar Day at Sea
- Very Merrytime Cruise
In case your cruise is one in every of these special-themed cruises, it is going to be clearly labeled.
Laundry Services
I usually don’t love to do chores on my household holidays, however generally I do have to clean garments. Disney Cruise Line has a number of self-service laundry services onboard. There may be an extra price for utilizing them, however they’re very straightforward to make use of and also you’ll get an alert in your app when the machine stops.
Royal Caribbean doesn’t have any self-service services. Nonetheless, there’s a full-service laundry possibility should you want garments to be cleaned throughout your journey. Generally, there’s a promotion the place you’ll obtain a bag in your stateroom, and every part that matches within the bag is washed for one flat price.
Non-public Islands
A personal island or island resort will be among the finest cruise ship excursions. Each Royal Caribbean and Disney Cruise Line supply these experiences.
Disney Cruise Line’s Caribbean and Bahamian itineraries sometimes cease as soon as at Disney’s Castaway Cay, a non-public island within the Bahamas. Castaway Cay is stunningly lovely, with excursions, character interactions, seashores, a youngsters’ membership space, and far more. It’s often my favourite cease on the Disney Cruise Line. There’s a brand new non-public vacation spot within the works.
Royal Caribbean has two non-public island/resort areas. Excellent Day at CocoCay is a newly-renovated Bahamian Island providing a water park, sizzling air balloon, non-public seashore membership, excursions, and extra. It actually has one thing for everybody, and after a number of journeys, there are nonetheless so many issues I haven’t explored there.
Along with Excellent Day at CocoCay, Royal Caribbean additionally has a non-public resort space in Labadee, Haiti. Labadee provides an inflatable water park, an alpine mountain coaster, an overwater zip line, together with lovely seashores. Each of those non-public properties are provided on choose, however not all sailings within the Caribbean.
Children’ Golf equipment
If you’re touring with youngsters, youngsters’ golf equipment could also be a giant a part of your cruise ship expertise. Each cruise traces supply youngsters’ golf equipment with nice programming.
On Royal Caribbean, ships supply the Journey Ocean Membership – which is break up out into infants, juniors, and children. The Journey Ocean Membership is free and provides “edutainment” programming for youthful youngsters, together with expertise reveals, artwork programming, science initiatives, and far more. There’s additionally an space devoted particularly to teenagers.
The Disney Cruise Line provides the Oceaneer Membership and Lab. These revolutionary youngsters golf equipment have some unbelievable theming and actions, together with Star Wars and Toy Story-themed areas. Children have so many various areas to play in. Disney Cruise Line additionally provides devoted teen and tween golf equipment together with their youth golf equipment.
Extras
Each Royal Caribbean and Disney Cruise Line supply paid WiFi entry. Royal Caribbean has two ranges of web access- a regular and one that permits steaming and is paid by the day. Disney’s web entry, nonetheless, is paid for by the quantity of information used.
Each cruise traces supply apps which can be free to make use of whereas on the ships. Disney’s app permits totally free messaging to others on the ship, whereas Royal Caribbean expenses a nominal price for that service (though they’ve not too long ago been waiving that price). Disney Cruise Line additionally provides complimentary iMessage entry for all friends on the ships.
