Let's first compare the pricing... For basically the same itineraries... 4 night cruises from Port Canaveral...
Port Canaveral - Nassau - Coco Cay (RCCL), Castaway Cay (Disney), Freeport (Carnival) - Day at Sea - Port Canaveral
The ships are comparable in size as well..and these are sail dates for February 2014
Royal Caribbean $159 Inside $209 Oceanview
Carnival $219 Inside $229 Oceanview
Disney $499 Inside
So looking at the prices of these, clearly Disney is the best because it costs more? False.
I have officially cruised this itinerary on all 3 of these cruise lines now... (yikes!) I need to broaden my destinations! ;) I read a WHOLE BUNCH of reviews about Disney before I decided to go, and people were writing about how they go without their kids, and how it out does all other cruise lines, blah blah blah. Why you would subject yourself to everyone else's kids and not take your own on a Disney Cruise is pure evil. So anyways... here is my list of Pros, Cons, and what was simply the Exact Same as my experience on the other cruise lines.
Disney Pros:
- Our room had a separated bathroom - toilet in one, bath in the other. Loved that!
- The daycare was obviously Disney themed and the kids did ok in it.
- Dinner at the Animators Palate was exactly what I thought the whole cruise would be! Luckily it was our last restaurant so we weren't disappointed the rest of the cruise.
- The attention to Mcki's nut allergy was 100% phenom!
- The Adult only areas were nice, and peaceful :)
- Even though the dining was nothing special, the daycare peeps came around after an hour and gathered up the kids that were done, so the adults could finish in peace.
- I don't know if it was the water or the ship, but the first 3 days that baby sailed like we were sitting on land. You would have never known you were even on a ship it was so smooth! The last night was really stormy so it got a little rocky, but for the most part it was smoooooth sailing.
Disney is the same because:
- The food was the same, I wouldn't classify it as better or worse, just cruise food.
- The ship itself is very similar to the others
- The "games" they played were all very similar to the other cruise lines, maybe with a little Mickey twist, but sometimes not even that. They were lame to say the least.
- Everyone talked up the private island, like we would never go anywhere like that again! Well, I've been there... 3 times before to be exact. RCCL's Coco Cay and Disney's Castaway Cay are almost identical! The only difference that I can come up with is one overly crowded water slide that Disney has for the kids. And I guess you can drop your kids off at the Kids Camp on the island... but that was our beach day with the kiddos, so they stayed with us. And both Castaway Cay and Coco Cay are AMAZING FYI!
Disney Cons:
- My biggest peeve was the times of everything! Family Karaoke 11:00 PM, Pirate Deck Party 10:00 PM are a few examples. We wanted to experience more things with the kids, but they were EXHAUSTED! They weren't about to go do karaoke at midnight, they were falling asleep in our laps. It's a family ship, come on Disney, there are tired kids on board!
- The kids pools were packed! And the line for the slide was 30 minutes easily, sometimes longer.
- When I booked this, I thought it was going to be an exclusive Disney experience. We just paid all this money, why wouldn't it be? The kids would be able to be more up close and personal with the characters, more than Disneyland anyways. No. No. No. There was maybe 2-3 characters out at a time, and they always had lines SOO long! There were way more princesses than other characters, and so our kids were completely uninterested. I had this image in my mind that every meal would be like character dining in Disneyland, no characters at meals at all. :( The dining experience was exactly the same as any other boat. I wasn't impressed at all.
- There was no Casino... that was a huge bummer for Ryan and I's gambling problem ;)
- The only Sports Bar was constantly having 18-21 Singles mixes... so we couldn't really go there, unless we wanted to be creepos! I mean I'm sure I could snag myself a 21 year old if I wanted, but... ;)
My Summary:
It was fun, I would never take it back. But I also will probably never book a Disney cruise again. We were only 4 nights on that boat and by the last day the kids were asking not to go to the daycare. They are 3 and 5, so the older they get, the less daycare they want to do anyways. The Pirate night was very hyped up, but to me didn't end up being "all that". It was just a bunch of people dancing on the stage, and then fireworks after. It was cool, but not what the hype made it out to be. The shows were ok, but the same things we can see in Disneyland. Other than the Animator's Palate Dinner Show, I wouldn't say I walked away with anything that made me think Disney is worth $300 more per person. RCCL is my go to from now on.
A few other things...
Why Anaheim is better than Orlando... The transportation to the parks in Orlando is ridiculous. Our resort offered "free transportation" to the parks. The bus left at 7:00 am and picked up at 7:45 pm, so in order for our "free" we had to commit ourselves and our small children to 13 hours at the park. The one day we decided not to get up so early it was $75 one way. I would go to Disneyland any day over Disney World!
Can Atlantis make someone who hates water, love it? No.
Atlantis is seriously the best money I have ever spent. I love that place so much, and it's what keeps drawing me back to the Bahamas. But poor Ryan hates water and water slides, and I thought I could force him into loving it. Couldn't do it. Total Bummer, lol.
So decide for yourself if this is something you think is worth the extra moolah! :)
