Royal Caribbean First Impressions from a Disney Cruise Line Loyalist
We recently had the chance to cruise Royal Caribbean for the first time, and thought the experience was interesting. Especially as fans who have previously espoused an unwavering allegiance to Disney Cruise Line.
Our reason for choosing Royal Caribbean was simple: we wanted to visit Cuba. Disney Cruise Line does not sail to Cuba. Hence, DCL would not be how we traveled to Cuba. This is something that has been on our travel bucket list for several years, and after restrictions on Americans visiting Cuba were eased a couple years ago, we saw the perfect window. When that easing was subsequently rolled back, we knew we better move more quickly.
There was a bit more to our thought process than that, but this is a blog post about Royal Caribbean, not visiting Cuba (stay tuned for those posts on TravelCaffeine.com as soon as I get through all of our Cuba photos). Suffice to say, we’ve been monitoring cruise prices to Cuba for over a year, and when a stellar last minute deal presented itself that worked with existing travel plans to Florida, we decided to jump on the opportunity.
In terms of the basics: dining, entertainment, and daily activities, Royal Caribbean was a pleasant surprise. I wouldn’t put any of these things on par with Disney Cruise Line, but the rate we paid for this cruise was also far less than we’ve ever paid to sail with Disney, so it’s not exactly an apples to apples comparison.
In particular, the food was a bright spot, especially after hearing some negatives about it from friends. We have absolutely no complaints about dining aboard Royal Caribbean. (Although access to all-you-can-eat food when trying to eat healthy is not always the most “fun” experience!)
We also didn’t feel nickel and dimed with Royal Caribbean. The cost of soda and upcharge dining options are commonly cited as ways Royal Caribbean does this, but we just skipped all of these. Soda doesn’t work with the whole ‘healthy living’ thing, but if it did, I probably would’ve been okay spending ~$9 for unlimited Coke Freestyle on our day at sea.
Otherwise, I have to say it doesn’t totally bother me to not pay for things I’m not using. I’m not suggesting line-iteming everything, as that would get tedious and annoying, but it can make sense in some scenarios.
The casino also didn’t bother us. It’s prominently located off the main atrium, and we passed through it several times, but aside from people smoking, it did not have an appreciable ‘impact’ on the nature of the cruise. With the casino, we were bracing ourselves for the worst but it was no issue.
The logical part of my mind views the casino as a nice revenue stream for other cruise lines, and potentially one way of subsidizing costs for everyone else. So…it also can make sense in some scenarios. With that said, I remain glad DCL doesn’t have casinos. These are two very different cruise experiences and I don’t think the vibe of this cruise is something I’d want on a more family-oriented cruise line.
One thing that’s difficult to comment on is the quality of Royal Caribbean’s ships. We’ve heard plenty of positives about the amenities on the newer ships and the array of features they have, but that was not the case with our ship, the Majesty of the Seas.
Going in, we knew that we’d be on one of the oldest ships in Royal Caribbean’s fleet, which was christened in 1992. We booked the cruise it was cheap and because we’d rather do the ‘floating hotel’ thing than deal with an Airbnb or hotel in Cuba.
For us, the ship was intended to be nothing more than a means to an end, and we were bracing for the worst based upon what we had heard about Royal Caribbean’s older ships.
Supposedly, this is the largest ship that cruises into Havana, so the options for a cruise to Cuba are limited.
Initially, we were taken aback by the pronounced late 1980s/early 1990s aesthetic of the ship. It was basically an early 1990s mall in cruise ship form.
Once we got past the initial shock of just how little had been updated, we both commented on how well the ship had been maintained. It was as if the ship had been stuck in a time capsule in 1992, and reopened for our cruise with only the public restrooms and casino updated. For something so dated, it was remarkably pristine.
To be entirely honest, by the end of the cruise, the ship’s interesting aesthetics had really grown on me. It reminded me of the malls, hotels, and even EPCOT Center of my childhood.
Perhaps it’s personal nostalgia, but I think there’s a certain warmth and reassurance in some of the now-derided designs of the late 80s and early 90s.
With that said, the Majesty of the Seas did not hold a candle to any of Disney Cruise Line’s fleet in terms of style, quality, amenities, and so forth. The aesthetic and thematic touches Disney does so well were not really present on the Majesty of the Seas.
The question is how well Royal Caribbean’s newer ships do in this regard, as the cruise industry has essentially been revolutionized since this ship debuted.
One thing that did slightly bother me about Royal Caribbean was how the ship pushed third party vendors. Several common areas were regularly overrun with handbag, jewelry, and art “sales” and there the daily itinerary was filled with seminars offering shopping “opportunities.”
To be fair, Disney’s hands are hardly clean in this regard, and I’ve been highly critical of Disney promoting Diamonds International. This strikes me as tacky, and it still baffles me that people go on cruises to buy these things. It just seems antiquated…but there must be a market for it, as this type of thing is common on cruises and in port cities around the world.
The other main point of apprehension with regard to Royal Caribbean before we sailed was in terms of service. Across all of the Parks & Resorts division, Disney Cruise Line is the gold standard of guest service. We don’t think that Royal Caribbean rises to this high bar, but we also think the service “culture” and goals are different with Royal Caribbean.
Nonetheless, we were very impressed with the service on Royal Caribbean, and it easily exceeded our expectations. There were several crew members in high-profile positions who would’ve been the creme-de-la-creme even on DCL, including the cruise director and culinary director. We’d even go as far as to say that service on Royal Caribbean is generally superior to Walt Disney World or Disneyland, so it’s hardly a slouch in this regard.
Overall, it was a good first impression of Royal Caribbean, but hardly a conclusive one. It’s not an experience that moves the needle away from Disney Cruise Line as our strong preference, but it was sufficiently positive that we are both open to trying Royal Caribbean again. We have zero regrets about cruising with Royal Caribbean (aside from not choosing the overnight Havana itinerary, but that’s on our schedules, not the cruise line) and if there’s a destination we want to visit to which DCL does not sail, or if there’s another steal of a deal on a future Royal Caribbean itinerary–hopefully next time in one of the newer ships for a fairer comparison.
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Your Thoughts
Have you sailed with Royal Caribbean? What did you think of the experience? How do you think it stacks up to Disney? Do you agree or disagree with our take? Any questions? Hearing feedback about your experiences is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
I just came back from a cruise to Cuba via Royal Caribbean Majesty of the Seas. We thought the food was not good at all. I would say it was just edible. Our cabin was very small and seemd really outdated. You could barely move when two people were trying to get ready for dinner at the same time. I had read reviews before I left and 90% gave this boat not so good reviews. I did realize it was a smaller, older boat because that is what goes into Cuba and we basically looked at it as a means to see Cuba. Cruising is the easiest way to get into Cuba. With that being said…….the crew was outstanding. We did not run into one bad crew member. Unfortunately, I don’t know that I would do another Royal Caribbean cruise only because this put a bad taste in my mouth. I will say we loved Cuba! If you do take a cruise on this boat don’t have high expectations and you won’t be disappointed.
I’ve done 4 DCLcruises and loved being in the Disney Bubble. We have debated taking another line do to prove and my travel agent friend recommends NCL or RCCL. Our last cruise was somewhat over run by kids, but it’s the first time that’s happened. Please take more cruises outside Disney; we trust your balanced reviews.
Glad to see you tried RC and equally happy you were aware of the nature of Majesty compared to the rest of the fleet. I did the same (or similar) sailing on Majesty earlier this summer. Up until then, I never cruised on Majesty because of her age, but we had a great time onboard, especially going to Cuba.
When your travel blogs you follow have a crossover post!! 🙂 Matt runs a wonderful Royal Caribbean blog. Matt is to Royal like Tom is to Disney.
As older adults I would never sail on a Disney ship. Why would anyone want all those screaming kids around ruining their vacation! Do us all a favor and keep your kids on Disney let the adults have their fun on a RCCL ship! Just say no to Mickey.
I was surprised to learn that on the Royal Caribbean cruise lines all 24 of those ships with all the bars they switched the drinks if you order Jack Daniels in many cases you don’t get Jack Daniels I have photographs and videos produced by a guy who was a bartender on the cruise lines for 3 years it’s very damning information so the major bootmakers Jack Daniel’s Grey Goose and someone have been notified by me it is a crime to do that to switch drinks
I sailed on RCCL Majesty of the Seas in 2005. This ship has been refurbished since then but I do recognize the pool area. Majesty of the Seas is a tiny ship compared to Horizon or Symphony of the Seas.
I think most would agree DCL has a slight edge on food quality, service, and entertainment (in some respects – adult entertainment is leagues better on RCL). As for design, the newest RCL ships are stunning so I can’t give DCL an edge there. As you pointed out Majesty isn’t in the same league as their modern (last 10 years) ships.
The price difference –often literally 100% more– is just not justifiable IMO. If it was perhaps 25-30% more expensive I would consider sailing DCL again, but it’s truly egregious in my view.
Hello,
We always Sail on Royal Carribean, Norwegian and Princess. We have never been on a Disney cruise line, and I probably would never go on a Disney cruise line, unless they put casinos on their ships. They would also need to update their nightlife / clubs. From what I’ve been told they are very boring and close really early. I have nothing against Disney, we just go on a cruise to have fun and without the casinos and the clubs seems like a very boring Cruise especially on sea days.
“We have never been on a Disney cruise line, and I probably would never go on a Disney cruise line, unless they put casinos on their ships. They would also need to update their nightlife / clubs.”
Then it sounds like you’ll never go on a Disney cruise 😉 And that’s ok. They’re serving a certain clientele and it’s not for everyone. They’re nightlife is very up to date, just not for every taste. And they’ll never put in casinos, just as sure as Royal Caribbean isn’t going to have a Mickey meet and greet.
Tom, congrats on getting us a non-creepy pool pic! How apprehensive were you as you loomed over the water?
My family of five has sailed twice on the Disney Dream in 2011 and 2013 and once on Royal Caribbean’s Freedom of the Seas in 2016. The Dream itineraries were both 4-day cruises to Nassau and Castaway Cay. The Royal Caribbean cruise was for 7-days to the Caribbean with stops at the Royal Caribbean private resort in Labadee, Haiti; Falmouth, Jamaica; Georgetown, Grand Cayman; and Cozumel, Mexico. All three cruises originated in Port Canaveral. We loved our trips on the Dream and originally planned to book on the Disney Fantasy for our Caribbean cruise. What led us to Royal Caribbean was the significant price difference for a comparable cruise itinerary, close to $4000.00. When comparing the cruise lines, we felt Disney was better in a few areas such as the rotational dining program, and the general cleanliness upkeep and food availability on the pool deck area. We also preferred Castaway Cay over Labadee when it came to the cruise line’s private islands/resorts. Castaway is hard to beat! Although we did miss a few of the DCL amenities, none added up to the nearly $4000.00 cost difference in our opinion. In fact, we were all very pleased with the Royal Caribbean experience and would cruise with them again without hesitation. I would only choose Disney over Royal Caribbean if the cruise itineraries and costs were close to being the same.
I just went on a RCCL cruise on the Oasis of the Seas. I was very impressed by the service and the quality of the food (our waiter we had every night for dinner was PHENOMENAL), and if the shows didn’t always come together, the technical achievements of many of them were quite impressive. The extra amenities TBH were a little much, to the point that it felt more like a fancy mall than a ship, but that’s probably just me. I can’t imagine what would necessarily be
I would love to do DCL some day to cross it off my bucket list, but I can’t justify it for the time being when I could go to the Disney parks or go on a cruise of comparable quality for much less.
Tom,
Thanks for the review of the Majesty. I agree with all that you said. I have sailed on RCCL (and her sister, Celebrity) at least ten times and every one of them has been outstanding. I am a registered lecturer for a company that provides talent for the cruise lines as well as a Disney Cast Member. I have only sailed DCL once because even with cast discounts it is far more expensive than RCCL. We did the Very Merry Bahamas Christmas Cruise from Galveston in 2016 and enjoyed every minute of it even though the ship was late getting to Galveston on embarkation day and luggage handling was a nightmare (I blamed the port, not DCL…we’ll never sail from Texas again). I don’t know if DCL was worth the price difference though my daughter, now 12, loved the kids’ program, especially when Princess Tiana walked her to the check-in spot when she got confused. We’ll probably go again when a good deal comes up for us since we are just an hour from Port Canaveral but right now we’re already booked on RCCL to Aruba next year.
Brent
PS: If you have any interest in lecturing about the ships I can give you the details. They often seek experts in photography to teach guests how to take great photos. You can cruise very inexpensively if you’re willing to sail in an interior stateroom.
Thank you for the detailed account of your trip. We are a DCL family having sailed on both the Wonder and the Dream but have often heard that if you can’t cruise Disney, sailing Royal Caribbean is the next best option. Like you, the casinos are not a draw to our family and I was glad to hear about the great service you received on Royal Caribbean. I would like to hear about the entertainment on your ship or any account for any future trips on one of their larger ships for a better comparison to DCL.
We will be sailing Carnival this spring break (not our choice) to accompany our oldest on a school trip. It will be our first non-Disney cruise and have no expectations going in for that trip. It will give us a chance to experience something other than Disney and be able to have more than just one cruise line to draw experience from. But, we are looking forward to our Alaskan cruise scheduled on the Magic a few months after the spring break Carnival trip. I really enjoyed the article you shared of your Alaskan cruise.
The majority of a cruise is spent getting from place to place, so the time on ship outweighs the time ashore. If you’re not spending that time in your cabin or verandah, then it’s being spent somewhere else onboard. For us, cabin size, entertainment, amenities, and activities for all ages is what’s most important in deciding which cruise line we book.
I’m glad you had the opportunity to experience something other than DCl and share it with us. Someday, like you, the opportunity will present itself to cruise Royal Caribbean, and then I hope to have three different cruise line experiences to compare.
I was going to post my love of RCCL too… but everyone else beat me to it.
so in the spirit of the 1990’s time capsule called Majesty of the Seas…
“Ditto”
You should try a 4 or 7 day Caribbean itinerary on RCCL on one of the newer ships as this would be a better comparison with the Disney ships. Having cruised both, I think there are pros and cons with each line, but overall I have found that food and service has been similar with both. As much as I love the Disney ships, there is often huge price difference that I can’t necessarily justify. We’re a “Disney” family but just like how every vacation doesn’t need to be at WDW, every cruise doesn’t need to be with Disney.
Interesting review. You are correct you simply cannot compare an old RCL ship with the newer Disney Cruise line ships. That said, I would love to hear your opinion on the Oasis class cruise ships from RCL.
They simply BLOW Disney ships out of the water.
We (family of four) are going on a cruise this coming May for 8 days from Miami on Symphony of the Seas (the world’s largest cruise ship). My son will turn 12 during the cruise plus it will be our 20th anniversary so I was willing to spend a little more for a better cabin. I wanted the experience of sailing with a balcony (I’ve heard there is nothing like drinking morning coffee on a private balcony as the sea rolls by) so I priced out a Disney cruise with a standard balcony room first and it was around $8,000 for the week (not counting tips and extras).
For $1,800 LESS ($6,200) I was able to book a Grand Suite on the Royal Caribbean ship. The Suite level allows us to sail like Kings. Free unlimited, VROOM internet at sea for all four of us, suite level dining and free drinks from 5-11pm in the lounges, free one day spa treatment, VIP seating at shows, priority boarding/embarking, private suite deck pool seating (no fighting for a chair), private breakfast seating or in room breakfast dining option, free in room fruits & chocolates daily, free bottled water, plus we each get a $200 credit for excursions! The suite is two rooms so my wife and I can actually have our own private area and the kids get their own TV and room to stream Netflix/Amazon.
But the option that made it a slam dunk was this … RCL provides free kids babysitting all day long. The kids are broken up into groups based on age and then every kid in the program does fun activities all day long from 9am to 5pm. You drop them off in the morning after breakfast and then have all day to relax with your spouse. You pick them up at 5pm and get ready for dinner!
Here is the link to the RCL kids program:
https://www.royalcaribbeanpresscenter.com/press-kit/2/youth-and-teen-program/
I’ve never sailed Disney but I don’t think child care is complimentary like RCL. For cruisers with kids, that alone makes the choice simple!
The final piece is RCL new island. It’s much like Disney’s but with a huge water park to boot that rivals any water park in Disneyworld.
When I added all those things up the choice was simple.
I’ll be sailing on Symphony of the Seas in December, can’t wait! I have also sailed on Allure and Anthem of the Seas and both were spectacular. Agree about the ocean balcony rooms, that’s all we book and it is worth the extra cost. I have great memories of pulling into some ports early morning and being greeted by a Disney-like chorus of seals and jumping dolphins while sipping my coffee.
Disney Cruise Line does include child care at no extra cost for any child who is either potty trained or over the age of five (not sure of exact details) which is a HUGE benefit and well worth the cost as the Disney themed kids clubs blow any other kids clubs out of the water. My kid could care less about Dr. Seuss, Minions or whatever the other cruise line kids clubs are branded, but she will happily spend all day at a Disney kids club filled with Star Wars, Disney, Tinkerbell, Toy Story, etc. We had to drag her out of there every night! Plus, the Disney themed entertainment and live shows are worth the extra cost to me, as well. YMMV, but I will happily pay for the “Disney Difference” when I cruise.
Marnie- This will be our first cruise with kids but from cruisecritic.com forums I’ve talked with people who have sailed both Disney and RCCL and said those two are the best. For those thinking about cruising those forums are the best spot to find answer to any cruising concerns.
RCCL’s counselors are all college educated and certified. I heard the same types of comments on the Cruisecritc boards that people had to drag their kids out of the programs because they were having so much fun. As far as branding you are probably correct but you don’t need marketed characters to have fun as a kid. Finger painting is finger painting and so forth whether the character is tinker bell or not. And as someone else pointed out Disney lumps kids 3-12 together where RCCL breaks them into three additional age groups so they can focus on age appropriate activities. I have a 11 and 5 year old so they clearly like different things. My 11 year old would be bored finger painting but my 5 year old is going to love it.
Either way I don’t think you can go wrong with either line. You just get so much more for your $$$ on RCCL.
Child care is free except for the littlest littles on DCL. I’ve gone on over 30 cruises on DCL, RCCL, Celebrity, NCL, and Princess. For kids aged 3-8 or so, DCL is hands down the best for child care. The facilities and the cast members are outstanding. However, as our kiddo gets older, I can see her preferring RCCL to DCL’s form of entertainment (a Disney vs Universal type distinction). I have to say that Disney is still my favorite line, but we don’t hesitate to go on other lines when the destination and price dictates. But, dude. Majesty?? That’s OLD school. I went on it I think in 1995. But Tom, I’m gonna say you won’t like the massiveness of the new ships. Something tells me that you will prefer the quaintness of the smaller ships.
We’ve never cruised on Disney either as we think it’s not worth our DVC points. Maybe one day we’ll lay down lots of cash and experience it. But recently we enjoyed the eastern Caribbean on Harmony of the Seas. I was Wowed by how big this ship is. Service was awesome (except for one incident) but it turned out great. We saw the captain and other officers out and about. One of the officers even gave us her personal number asking us to call her if we had ANY issues. We did use her to solve the incident we had and she went over and beyond having us treated like “royalty”. What a great feeling it was! The only other cruise we did was our honeymoon when we cruised the Baltic Sea on one of NCL’s smallest which allowed us to navigate under the bridges in the Kiel Canal. In no way could this be compared with the Harmony service and amenities.
I was kind of nodding along and thinking “that doesn’t look too bad” until I got to the picture of your stateroom. Maybe it’s the angle of the photo, but it just looks so much tinier and less attractive than the DCL ones. Think I will stay a DCL loyalist for a while longer….
I also noticed the stateroom looked really blah, and there didn’t seem to be any commentary about it. Tom, would you please comment on the room – comfort, quality of bedding, and perhaps include bathroom photos & comments please? Thanks!
I am a Royal Caribbean loyal cruiser, I have cruised with them over ten cruises, big and small ships old and new, and prefer the big and new! I was on the recent October 15th sailing to Key West and Cuba, and this was my 2nd time on Majesty of the Seas. It had some remodeling done over Spring of this year that’s why it looked so nice. First time we sailed on Majesty was last December out of Port Canaveral – naturally, we piggybacked that cruise with a weekend at the Magic Kingdom for Mickey’s Christmas Party! – and the ship was literally stuck in the 1990s, so it was nice to see the improvements. I doubt I will ever choose that ship again, and doubt I will ever want to see Cuba again, which made me sad because I wanted to love Cuban more than I did. Agree that RCI has the best service at sea, I have always had a great experience with their crew. Norwegian Cruise Line is also very nice. I have not sailed on Disney Cruise Line yet, because we like the casino action and Disney does not have casinos. When our granddaughters are a bit older we will take them on a Disney cruise.
Have never been on a Disney Cruise. We have done Royal Caribbean but that was in 1986 when we could eat all we wanted and “get away” with it. My memories, albeit from 32 years ago, are very good and the food and service were exceptional. Don’t know that I will ever get my husband on another cruise, as being at sea a couple days does not appeal to him….he likes to keep moving
My memories are even older- trips in 1966 to Europe on the Nieuw Amsterdam and return on The France. We had a table for 5 in the restaurant, but there was just my parents and myself. At all 3 meals, even breakfast, there were initially 5 new bottles of wine, 3 white and 2 red, IIRC. (After a couple of meals they realized there were just 3 of us at the table, so they removed one bottle and we just got 2 of each type of wine.) We were free to take any bottles with us after each meal if we wished. This was included in the trip cost.
Food (and it was excellent): Breakfast, anything you can think of as breakfast food, plus a serving of fish. Lunch- start with what would be considered a full dinner and then add a second main course, fish again. Dinner- 8 courses, roughly similar to V&A’s menu. Midnight buffet- all sorts of dishes and a minimum of 50 dessert offerings. Still hungry?- “morning tea” included pastries, fruit, and finger sandwiches, while at “afternoon tea” they were full sandwiches. And you could order as many items as you wished from the menu, and get seconds/thirds/whatevers on any item. At dinner, no matter what you had ordered every item on the menu was brought to your table with the waiters pleading with you to take some.
Drinks at the bars weren’t free, but not far from it. Beer was a nickel for a 22-ounce glass, while most mixed drinks were a quarter. I know there’s been a lot of inflation since 1966 but still, adjusted, prices were incredibly cheap, they weren’t making the bars a profit center.
What you didn’t get (at least on these ships)- stage shows and casinos. And placing a radio telephone call was unbelievably expensive.
I’m not longing for “the good old days”, but things were different half a century ago.