Royal Cruiser Embarks on Disney Fantasy

[LisaT91403]

I posted this review on another website that is more "Disney-specific", but I thought it might also benefit some people over on this board.

 

Please feel free to ask any questions you may have!

 

 

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Greetings, fellow cruisers!

 

I’ve read many amazing trip reports here on these boards, and they were really helpful as I planned my recent voyage (January 3 – 10, 2015) on Fantasy. I hope that my report, while probably not as comprehensive or entertaining as others, might still be helpful for a few of you.

 

First, let’s start with the contestants on this trip: DS(6), Grandma (in her 70’s), DH and myself (in our late 40’s). We are all Diamond members on Royal Caribbean…except for Grandma, who is Diamond Plus. I only mention this so as to give you some perspective – we’ve all cruised quite a bit, and it’s all been on Royal Caribbean.

 

Our family loves Disney. We live in Los Angeles, and have had Disneyland annual passes for years. We’ve visited Aulani twice, and had fantastic vacations each time. So when we were planning our next trip and considering a cruise, we thought “Hey, we love Disney and we love to cruise. Maybe we should try a Disney cruise!”

 

I admit, I had no idea where to even start when planning a Disney cruise. I spent some time on the DCL website, and many hours on the message boards. I was worried that we wouldn’t enjoy Disney as much as Royal. After all, we were “used” to Royal…and new things are sometimes daunting. But the allure (no pun intended) of the AquaDuck and the Disney “magic” were calling us, so we decide to take the plunge.

 

For the purposes of this report, I am going to compare our trip on Fantasy to our most recent cruises on Royal’s Oasis and Allure ships. If you are looking at Royal for a different class of ship, then your mileage may vary quite a bit.

[LisaT91403]

Booking Process

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For our most recent cruises, we used Costco Travel to book our trip. I have found them to be pleasant and efficient to work with, and I really like the monetary incentives that they offer. On Royal, we received shipboard credit as our incentive. On DCL, Costco offered the incentive in the form of a Costco Cash Card (delivered a few days after we completed our trip). In both cases, the amount we received was equal to approximately 8% of the cruise fare.

 

 

Transportation to the Port

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Since we are coming from the West Coast, we need to fly in the day before the cruise. For our Royal cruises out of Fort Lauderdale, we stayed at The W Hotel and they provided us with complimentary car service to the port.

 

For our Disney cruise, we decided to go to Animal Kingdom the day before the trip. Therefore, we rented a car at MCO, and returned it in Port Canaveral the day of the cruise.

 

We rented from Budget. I had read on the boards that Budget was not great to rent from, but I figured “Oh, they are all the same. How bad could it really be?” Let me tell you, it was horrible. Do not rent from Budget. You will regret it. It took well over an hour at MCO to get the car, and the customer service rep tried to scare us into buying their insurance. I know that the rental companies always encourage you to buy their insurance, but this woman was a real piece of work. She even went so far as to tell us that our particular car insurance company has a $5000 deductible for rental cars (which is not true). It was crazy!

 

Even more crazy was the return process at Budget in Port Canaveral. There were 3 ships leaving that day, so the rental car lot was full. We were lucky to have gotten one of the last parking spaces at around 12:15pm. After that, Budget started asking people to park the cars across the [busy] street. The lot was so crowded that the shuttles could not come pick us up to take us to the port. After waiting in an orderly line for almost an hour, a couple of shuttles pulled up at the curb (not in the Budget lot itself, as there was no room)…and everyone made a break for it. This was really frustrating, as the orderly line had turned into an angry mob.

 

It was a terrible way to start the trip, and I strongly encourage you to stay away from Budget. If I had it to do over again, I might consider dropping the car back at MCO and then taking Disney transfers to the port.

 

 

Embarkation

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As I mentioned before, we are Diamond members on Royal…and we also travel in Junior Suites. Because of these factors, we are always whisked through the embarkation process and never wait in any lines at all.

 

There was no whisking with Disney. The line just to get through security was very, very long and slow. Once through security, we found another extremely long line to wait in. It was nice that they were showing movies in the waiting area so that DS had something to keep him occupied, but I think this speaks to the fact that Disney knows you are going to have to wait.

 

It was nice to be welcomed aboard once we finally set foot on the ship, but the greeting could not make up for the long waits that we had experienced.

 

Advantage: RCCL

[LisaT91403]

Cabins

******

 

When we cruise, DS and Grandma share a cabin. We always book cabins with a connecting door, as I like to be able to look after both my son and mother.

 

On Royal, we book Junior Suites (JS). These cabins are larger than a regular balcony cabin, and have a privacy curtain separating the bedroom area from the living room area. They also have walk-in closets and bathtubs.

 

DCL does not have a cabin comparable to the Junior Suite category. We booked the largest non-suite cabin available, which was a Deluxe Family Ocean View with Verandah (Category 4C on Deck 7).

 

The cabins on Oasis and Allure are some of Royal’s smallest. However, the JS cabins are 287 square feet with 78 square-foot balconies. So when we entered our 4C on DCL, it really took some getting used to. By comparison, the 4C is 256 square feet with a 43 sq-ft balcony.

 

I found the closet and storage space on DCL to be at a premium. Yes, we eventually got everything put away…but it seemed cramped when compared to the JS on Royal.

 

I was excited about DCL’s split bathroom concept. At first, it was a little confusing because DS and I couldn’t figure out which bathroom should be “his” and which “mine”. But we got the hang of it, and ended up liking the set up.

 

Some may argue that it’s not fair to compare a “suite” on Royal to a standard cabin on DCL. I will argue that it’s a fair comparison because the prices are comparable (meaning within a couple hundred dollars of each other for any given cruise). So when comparing the two, I have to say that I really missed the space and storage in the Junior Suite.

 

Both of our cabins on DCL had major problems, whereas we’ve never had problems on our Royal sailings. In one cabin, the “shower” bathroom had a terrible, horrible musty/mildew smell. DCL housekeeping and engineering tried their best to fix this problem over the course of 4 days. They did everything they could possibly think of, including replacing the pipes. Nothing worked, and having to deal with this problem throughout the course of 4 days really took away from the “magic”. Nobody wants to spend their vacation dealing with plumbing problems (we can all do that at home!) Eventually, DCL gave up on trying to fix the problem. We had to leave that door closed, and all 4 of our party had to use one shower bathroom for the trip.

 

The other problem was that there was terrible vibration in our cabins. I think there were only 3 nights where I had a good night’s sleep…on the other nights, the vibration made it impossible. The vibration was worse in the bed than it was in the living room area. It was noticeable when the ship was going long distances (for example, the first couple of nights at sea when we needed to get from Florida all the way to St. Martin). I have never experienced this kind of vibration on any other ship that I’ve sailed on. The Fantasy was also noisy – lots of creaking sounds at night, again something I have not experienced on Royal.

 

For both cabin problems, DCL offered to move us to a different cabin. However, there was only one cabin available to move to. I was not comfortable leaving my son and elderly mother alone, and there was no chance the 4 of us would share one cabin. So we had to live with the problems for the entirety of our trip.

 

Advantage: RCCL

 

 

Dining

******

 

Let me start by saying that we do not cruise for the food. It’s never been a highlight of our trips, and cruise food is not something we look forward to.

 

I did not enjoy the food on Fantasy at all. Cabanas had a good variety, and I think the food was a little bit better than the Windjammer on Royal. The main dining room food was a wash: better bread & dessert on DCL, better entrees on Royal. The food on the pool deck of DCL was inedible, so Royal definitely wins on this one. I enjoyed the meal while we were on Castaway Cay. We had dinner at Palo, and my meal was just okay. The service was great, but the lamb was over-cooked and a bit tough. I’ve been to Chops on Royal a few times, and have always had outstanding meals there.

 

You know what I really missed on DCL? Salad. The salad bars (Cabanas, pool deck) were not good. The one on the pool deck wasn’t even really a salad bar – it was the condiment bar for the disgusting, hockey-puck burgers. The one at Cabanas was “okay”, but really not great. I kept longing for something similar to the Park Café, where I could get a nice, custom-made, fresh salad for my lunch. I wish DCL had better options in this department.

 

DCL was much more low-key about pushing alcohol. On Royal, it seems that you can’t walk 5 feet without someone pushing a tray of drinks in your face. You could certainly get alcohol whenever you wanted on DCL, but nobody was pushy about it.

 

The iced tea on DCL was a million times better than on Royal. I was so glad to find a Starbuck’s on my last Royal cruise so that I could have a decent iced tea each day. On DCL, the iced tea in the dining room was perfectly acceptable.

 

As for the dining experience, that’s a tough call for me as well. I really liked changing dining rooms each night on DCL. It was fun! It kept things fresh, and it was also entertaining at times (Animator’s, for example). On the other hand, I sorely missed My Time Dining on RCL. Early seating is way too early for us, and late seating is a bit later than I’d like. I really love My Time and getting to eat whenever I’m actually hungry (and/or when it fits into my schedule for the day).

 

The service we received on DCL was better than on our RCL trips. The servers were more friendly, and really tried hard to make sure we enjoyed our meal. One night, there was nothing I wanted on the dessert menu. I asked for a Mickey Bar because that seemed like the best option. The server was really upset that I didn’t like the choices on the adult menu, so he had the chef bring me a special dessert plate (chocolate dipped strawberries, petit fours, truffles, etc.)! This is the Disney magic and service that I had heard about, and it was really nice J

 

Advantage: Service advantage to DCL. Food quality – no clear winner. Royal is the clear winner on dining options. DCL is the winner on beverages (soda included, good iced tea, not pushing the alcohol).

[LisaT91403]

Entertainment

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This is a tricky section. If you ask my 6-year-old, he will tell you that DCL definitely has the better entertainment/shows/activities. Because to him, anything involving Disney characters is the best entertainment you can have. The adults in our group preferred the shows on Royal. Royal has a lot of variety (shows in the Aqua Theater, Broadway-style shows, ice shows, etc.), while DCL is a one-trick pony – shows with Disney characters in them. Don’t get me wrong…I do like shows with Disney characters. But I also like other types of shows, especially when I’m on a ship for a week.

 

DS absolutely loved the character meets on DCL. There is nothing to compare to this on Royal. He also loved the Midship Detective Agency, and did all 3 mysteries. Thank goodness DH was up for running all over the ship so many times! We enjoyed the animation classes, but found the game-show type entertainment to be similar to Royal (and not something we enjoy). Bingo was pretty much the same on both cruise lines. We definitely missed not having a casino on the DCL ship, especially at night/after dinner.

 

Pirate Night was a lot of fun, and there's nothing to compare on Royal. Disney really knows how to do a "theme", don't they? The activities, the CM's, the cruisers...everyone was into it, and it was fun! The show on the pool deck was great, and we all enjoyed the fireworks. How cool to have fireworks at sea, right?

 

One thing that we much preferred on DCL was that we weren’t constantly bombarded with announcements about activities. If you wanted to hear the announcements, you either had to go in the hallway or listen on the TV (I think that was an option, anyway). I think there is a way to turn down/off the announcements on Royal as well, but here’s the big difference – for DCL, you have to “opt in” if you want the announcements, and on Royal you have to “opt out” if you don’t want them. And it also seemed like there were WAY too many announcements on Royal, and I didn’t find this to be the case on DCL.

 

Advantage: Royal for the shows and casino, DCL for the character meets and pirate night

 

 

Pool Deck

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One of the main draws for sailing with DCL was the Aqua Duck. DS loves both rollercoasters and waterslides, so the Aqua Duck sounded perfect. It was fun! However, on our 2nd sea day it was closed due to weather. And on the days when it was open, there was usually a 15-20 minute wait. The novelty wore off after a few rides, and DS then decided that it wasn’t worth all of the waiting in line to do it again. He did not enjoy the Mickey slide at all, as he said it was too slow, small and boring.

 

The movie screen on the pool deck was really amazing. It was fun to have the Disney movies showing up on the deck, and we were amazed at how good the screen quality was. It was also fantastic to have all of the Disney movies on-demand in the cabin. DS was under the weather one day, and he got to watch a couple of movies that he’d never seen before.

 

But aside from this, we did not enjoy the pool deck on DCL. The pools themselves were ridiculously crowded. It really was like people soup. The deck itself felt extremely crowded, and it was not at all relaxing up there. Most of the chairs weren’t loungers – this really surprised us. How do you have a pool deck without loungers?!

 

Advantage: Overall, the edge goes to Royal because the decks and pools are less crowded, more relaxing, and have loungers. The food was also better on the Royal pool deck vs. the really gross food on the DCL pool deck.

[LisaT91403]

Kid’s Club

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One thing we were all looking forward to was the Disney kid’s club. DS had seen pictures and commercials, and couldn’t wait to go play. Mom and Dad were looking forward to alone time. Everyone was looking forward to it!

 

Alas, DS did not like the club at all. At other clubs (Aulani and on Royal ships), he enjoyed his time and asked to go back. But he really did not like the DCL club – he disliked it so much that he asked if he could have a babysitter on our Palo night instead of going to the club.

 

I’m not really sure why DS didn’t like it. He said that the activities in the Club were too babyish, and the ones in the Lab were too difficult. Since he’s almost 7, I’m wondering if maybe he’s just at an in-between age that Disney doesn’t cater to? He is also not one to sit and play computer games for hours, so that eliminated many of the free play options.

 

I tried talking to a couple of the CM’s to see if they had any suggestions to help DS have more fun at the club. I also asked if there were certain activities that kids his age really enjoyed. While both CM’s I spoke with were friendly, neither one was able to offer any real advice or recommendations.

 

Aside from the first night, the check-in and check-out routine was easy, and we never had to wait long to do either. Be sure to register online ahead of time, as it makes getting the wristband much easier once on the ship.

 

We used the Dine & Play option the first 4 nights on the ship, as we had late dinner. This worked really well. DS was easily done with his dinner and dessert in the hour that was allotted, and it gave the adults time to finish their last couple of courses in peace. We picked DS up after we finished dinner, so he was only in the club for about an hour on those nights.

 

I’m not sure that DS would have liked the club any better on Royal at this age. He enjoyed it when he was 5, but who knows what would have happened at almost 7?

 

Advantage: I can’t really say, as DS never spent much time in either club. The DCL club looked like more fun to me, but I’m not a kid ;-)

 

 

Technology

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On our last Royal Cruise (Allure of the Seas), we had “unlimited” Wi-Fi. I don’t recall the exact cost, but I believe it was $149 for the week. You could use one device at a time, but were allowed to use multiple devices as long as only one at a time. We shared a package. It was awesome. I could use iMessage to text my fellow iPhone users both at home and on the ship. I could play Words with Friends here and there. I could check my mail, and not watch the clock. I could post pictures for friends and family.

 

I realize that some people really like being “disconnected” as part of their vacation. I get it. I’m just not one of those people. I loved the Wi-Fi package – it really worked great.

 

DCL…where do I begin? At best, the Wi-Fi was slow. At worst, it wouldn’t connect at all. Having my data counted gave me anxiety (especially when it seemed like the counting mechanism was a big, fat liar).

 

I found the DCL app to be worthless in regards to keeping in touch with people. We weren’t able to text because the app was always offline. Even if it showed that someone was online, there was no alert when the text came in. I gave up after the 2nd day. It was only good for looking at the Navigators, restaurant menus, etc.

 

DCL provides Wave Phones. It’s nice that they give you 2 per cabin, and it’s also nice that they are “included” (I hesitate to say anything is “free” on a cruise). However, I really didn’t want to carry around such a bulky device. I already needed my iPhone so that I could take pictures and videos, and having a second phone was a drag. The texting on the Wave Phone was pretty awful, too.

 

Royal used to have Wave Phones (called DECT phones) for rent. If you had a young child in the kid’s club, you were given a phone at no charge. When I last cruised, they had iPhones (aka Royal Connect phones) for rent. I believe it was $25 or $30 for the week. They worked really well for both calling and texting, and I found them easier to carry around and use than DECT/Wave phones.

 

Advantage: Royal, hands down

 

 

UPDATE: I recently learned that Royal does not have the iPhones available any longer. So it might be back to DECT phones....

[LisaT91403]

Staff

****

 

I’ve been on a lot of cruises, and I can say that even within a particular cruise line, the staff members can be hit or miss. I’ve had great service on Royal Caribbean. But I would say that most of the time, the service has been adequate but unremarkable.

 

I was expecting a huge difference when sailing on DCL, but honestly, I didn’t really see it. Overall, I do think the CM’s seemed friendlier and happier than those on Royal. The random CM’s that we passed in the hallways were always smiling and friendly, and I found this to be refreshing. But was it an overwhelming difference? No. Guest services was top notch. Our cabin attendant was about a wash with the ones we’ve had on Royal. Our dining room team was friendly and efficient, but nothing earth-shattering. The CM’s in the clubs did not seem that attentive or concerned (about DS’s not enjoying the clubs) when I spoke with them.

 

So while the service was slightly better on DCL, the difference was not something that would sway my future cruise decisions one way or another. Maybe I was expecting too much from DCL after reading the message boards.

 

Advantage: DCL, but not by much

 

 

Fish Extender

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This isn’t a comparison, as there is no equivalent on Royal. We participated in our sailing’s Fish Extender group (when in Rome, right?), and it was a lot of fun. I’m not a crafty person, so I ordered my FE from a seller on Etsy. I thought it turned out pretty awesome, and DS absolutely loved his Sorcerer Mickey (his favorite character) pouch. DS also loved getting back to our cabin to see if we had any “mail”. It was really exciting for him. Note that you do get a lot of “stuff” when you participate, and I think it really helps to be in the Disney bubble to enjoy everything. We particularly liked all of the edible stuff, especially from different countries. DS also really liked the pins he got, as he likes to trade them when we go to Disneyland. If I were to sail DCL again, I am certain DS would insist we participate again.

[LisaT91403]

Private Islands

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Royal has two private islands – Coco Cay in the Bahamas and Labadee (okay, not really an island...but you get the idea) in Haiti. I have only been to the former, and it was many, many years ago. Therefore, I cannot compare in this category.

 

We enjoyed our day on Castaway Cay, but I was probably expecting too much based on what I read before visiting. Don’t get me wrong – it was a really nice day and we enjoyed it. The food was actually some of the best we had during our whole cruise! The beach was very crowded, and we had trouble finding empty chairs in the shade. Eventually, we found some…but they were quite far away from the water. There were no umbrellas, just a tree that we huddled under for shade. I guess it also seemed to me that there was a lack of “services” on the beach. I like having drink service when I’m relaxing, and if they have it on Castaway, I never saw it. Pelican Plunge was fun, but I couldn’t figure out how to “land” without getting water up my nose. Seriously, did anyone else have that problem? There was a line most of the day, but it moved quickly.

 

I honestly don’t think we got the most out of our CC day. We didn’t get there early, and that’s why we couldn’t find decent seats. And we didn’t take advantage of any activities (we opted not to snorkel, and there didn’t seem to be any sports going on the day we were there). If we were able to get a cabana, I think we would have liked our day much more. As it was, we all enjoyed our beach day in St. Martin much more than our day on Castaway.

 

 

Conclusion

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Let me start by saying that I enjoy cruising, and am really glad that I got out of my Royal comfort zone and tried Disney. I do not regret it, and we had a good time (and DS had a fantastic time). Grandma has said she would never sail Disney again. It was not her cup of tea. DS would do it again tomorrow, if he could. DH and I are on the fence. We didn’t enjoy DCL as much as we do Royal, but we know that DS absolutely LOVED Disney. So if we were doing it for DS, we would sail DCL again.

 

In a way, I’m sad that I didn’t love DCL. I really wanted to. As I said, we are a Disney family – we have 2 different trips to Aulani under our belts, and have Disneyland Annual Passes for about 4 years running. We visit often (both day trips, as well as weekend trips with stays at the Disneyland Hotel and the Grand Californian), and obviously spend a lot of our vacation dollars on Disney. I fully expected to love DCL, and figured we’d be booking our next cruise while onboard. But it just didn’t do it for us. We liked it, and had a great time. But we didn’t “love” it. If I had to put my finger on the main reasons why we didn’t love it, I would say 1) lack of variety in entertainment (I love Disney, but having a show with characters every night is a bit much…and there was no casino), 2) really bad food, 3) my son’s not enjoying the clubs, and 4) the inability to get a good night’s sleep (due to the creaking and vibration in the cabin). These are the things that would make me think twice about sailing DCL again.

 

As for Royal, it’s by no means perfect. I personally feel that it’s a better value for the cruise vacation dollar. There are more things that you can opt to pay for once you are on the Royal ship, but it never adds up to the premium that you pay to sail on DCL. And, as I said, you have the option of paying. Options = choices and variety, and I like that. There is a greater variety in entertainment, better food choices, and greater flexibility in cabin-type choices too.

 

Thanks for reading along, and feel free to ask any questions you may have!

Edited April 7, 2015 by LisaT91403

[madiaka]

Thanks for your review. I'm considering a cruise on the Disney Fantasy in May next year but have concerns about paying that much money for something all of us won't enjoy. We're in our 40s and our son will be 4 - almost 5. I love Royal but my husband doesn't want to cruise on anything but Disney because it's made for kids.

 

We've been on 2 Royal cruises and 3 Carnival cruises and a couple of other ships. Outside of water activities and the kids club, what family oriented activities are there on Royal for an almost 5 year old? Will we be able to keep him occupied or will he be bored and us miserable outside of water activities and the kids club?

[flhokie]

With RCCL it depends on the ship. Some of the smaller ships may not have as much for the younger ones, but the larger ones certainly have plenty to keep them occupied. On the larger ships there are things like miniature golf, Dreamworks characters (including free character breakfasts), parades, shows, ice skating, etc.

 

We sailed Allure on RCCL two years ago (DD was 2) and can't wait to sail again. The shows (except for Chicago & comedy club) were enjoyed by all of us including DD. On Oasis Class, in addition to the things mentioned above, they had a carousel and had several family events on the Boardwalk (games, face painting, etc).

 

We sailed on Disney Fantasy last month (DD was 4). She did not like the children's program because of "the big kids" and spent very little time there (ages 3-12 are grouped together). DD did several character dance parties and liked seeing the characters (no character dining unless you pay a lot of money for a tea party) and liked Pirates Night. There was miniature golf and the shows were good for all ages too. Family Karaoke seemed popular, but we did not try it.

 

I would say that as long as you sail a Voyager, Oasis or Quantum Class ship on RCCL there is more than enough for a family to do (just not sure about smaller ships as we never sailed one with a child). Personally, except for the Disney Characters & Pirates Night (and excellent service), I feel like RCCL offers our family more than Disney.

[madiaka]

Thanks for your response. This is exactly the information that I was looking for - types of daily activities for small children. I don't want my son in the kids club for more than 2 hours a day or so and was wondering about other activities.

 

I too am concerned about the age range of the club on the Disney Fantasy and might not leave him there at all - depending on how I feel.

[Queen of Oakville]

Great Review!

 

I'd agree with most of what you said, except with respect to dining, but that is very subjective.

 

When we sailed Disney Dream, we already had a sailing booked on Fantasy. If we didn't we might not have done a second.

 

at 7, your son might be pushing the "ideal" age for Disney. While we had two really good cruises, but with my kids being 7 and 9 now, I would not do it again. I have friends with pre-teens and teens and they ONLY sail DCL. I don't get it, it's not for me.

 

 

 

 

The one thing I will add to your review is that the larger Royal Ships which have the "DreamWorks" sailings have characters - but the character experience on Disney is so much better. On Oasis and Freedom, I recall being lined up to meet Shrek, and then having the character "switched" out, regardless of how long you've been waiting. Disney does a much better job of this and you know as soon as you get in line who you will meet - no surprises. To me, the best part of a Disney cruise is the character experience.

[kitkat343]

Thanks - this is very helpful. I'm pregnant with our second, and think we will need to stick to lines that provide care for children under the age of 3 for awhile, which means we need to seriously look at both Royal and Disney and it is very helpful to see what families think of both lines.

[LisaT91403]

Thanks for your review. I'm considering a cruise on the Disney Fantasy in May next year but have concerns about paying that much money for something all of us won't enjoy. We're in our 40s and our son will be 4 - almost 5. I love Royal but my husband doesn't want to cruise on anything but Disney because it's made for kids.

 

We've been on 2 Royal cruises and 3 Carnival cruises and a couple of other ships. Outside of water activities and the kids club, what family oriented activities are there on Royal for an almost 5 year old? Will we be able to keep him occupied or will he be bored and us miserable outside of water activities and the kids club?

 

I think it depends on which Royal ship you are on. With Oasis & Allure, I think there is a lot to do with a 5 year old. We did Oasis and Allure when my son was 3, then 5, respectively. He had a blast both times. He loved the shows (in the Aqua Theater, ice skating, Dreamworks stuff, etc.) The carousel is running, and there are "family activities" on the Boardwalk. The other thing is that he spent A LOT of time at the pool. A ton of time, really. The splash areas were awesome for him. On Fantasy, the pool deck was not fun. The Aqua Duck was a novelty a few times, but the line was long and the whole thing got old after a while. The pools were like "people soup"...no fun.

 

My son much preferred the kid's club on Royal vs. Disney. As mentioned elsewhere, DCL has kids ages 3-12 together, and it's a free for all. Royal separates by age, and has age-specific activities going on. We only took my son when we knew there was a specific activity he wanted to do.

 

DCL really shines with character interaction, and DS really enjoyed that. He also loved the Midship Detective Agency, and did all 3 mysteries. He enjoyed Aladdin, and 2 of the other shows...but on Royal, there was at least one show a day for him to enjoy. Not so on Disney.

 

I'm sure you will have a blast no matter which cruise line you pick. Have fun!