Disney Cruise Line vs. Royal Caribbean: Which family-friendly cruise line is for you?

When you’re planning a cruise trip with youngsters, you are possible centered on two manufacturers: Disney Cruise Line and Royal Caribbean.

Whereas different cruise strains cater to households, these two strains prime the charts. Royal Caribbean is understood for its humongous ships which are chock-full of family-friendly points of interest, from waterslides and ice skating reveals to very large youngsters golf equipment and adults-only solariums and solar decks. Disney is at all times prime of thoughts for a household getaway, and the characters, high quality of leisure and family-focused service you are used to in its parks and lodges carry over onto its cruise ships.

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How do making a decision when your trip alternative falls to Disney Cruise Line versus Royal Caribbean? The cruise strains are completely different in some ways — uncover what units the strains aside to find out which is the very best for you.

Measurement of ships

Royal Caribbean is understood for having a number of the largest cruise ships on the planet, together with the 250,800-ton, 7,600-passenger titleholder, Icon of the Seas. Its Freedom, Quantum and Oasis Class ships are not any joke both. Freedom Class ships measure roughly 156,000 tons and carry upward of 4,500 passengers at most capability, Quantum Class ships measure 169,000 tons and accommodate 5,000 passengers, and Oasis Class ships measure a bit greater than 225,000 tons and carry between 6,600 and seven,000 passengers.

As befitting their dimension, these ships are stuffed with points of interest and leisure choices, a spread of cabins and suites at various worth factors and a number of eating and ingesting institutions.

The fleet does embody smaller ships amongst its 28 vessels. The Imaginative and prescient and Radiance Class ships carry round 2,500 passengers when full. Nevertheless, these ships lack most of the family-friendly points of interest that Royal Caribbean is understood for, and are additionally the vessels the road sends on longer voyages or based mostly in secondary house ports, akin to San Juan, Puerto Rico, and Baltimore. On many of those smaller ships, you may discover extra adults, although all could have youngsters golf equipment and welcome households.

Associated: The 7 courses of Royal Caribbean cruise ships, defined

Disney Cruise Line has a a lot smaller fleet with solely 5 ships (quickly to be six by late 2024). These ships are available in three sizes: the 83,000-ton Disney Magic and Disney Marvel carry 2,713 passengers at most capability; the 130,000-ton Disney Dream and Fantasy carry 4,000; and the 144,000-ton Disney Want (and its soon-to-debut sister, Disney Treasure) can even accommodate 4,000. That places its bigger ships on par with Royal Caribbean’s Freedom Class.

In contrast to Royal Caribbean, Disney’s smaller ships nonetheless deliver all of the Disney magic, together with waterslides, family-friendly eating choices and all of the Disney character and princess encounters you possibly can want for.

Associated: The three varieties of Disney Cruise Line ships, defined

Cabins and suites

Each Royal Caribbean and Disney Cruise Line ships provide a spread of cabin and suite classes, so vacationers can select the quantity of house, structure and worth level that works for them.

Each cruise strains divide cabins typically into windowless inside cabins (on each strains, sure ships have digital screens that simulate home windows, displaying video from outdoors the ship), ocean-view rooms with porthole or image home windows that don’t open, balcony cabins with non-public verandas and suites with additional house and VIP facilities.

Each strains provide top-level cabins and suites with entry to unique lounges and deck house and the companies of a concierge. You will discover these Concierge-level rooms on all Disney cruise ships, however Royal Caribbean’s Suite Class is barely provided on its latest courses of ships (Icon, Oasis and Quantum).

All of Disney Cruise Line’s cabins had been designed with households in thoughts. Most have a break up tub design, with a sink and bathroom in a single room and a tub-shower combo and sink in one other. They’ve room-dividing curtains and loads of additional berths, with sofabeds and pulldown bunks. Royal Caribbean does have some household cabins fleetwide, particularly on Icon of the Seas, however the majority of its rooms weren’t created with households of three and 4 in thoughts.

Royal Caribbean is your line in case you’re searching for over-the-top suites on the most important ships. The gathering contains beautiful two-floor suites, together with the Final Household Townhouse and Final Household Suite on Icon and Oasis Class ships that are a child’s dream lodging.

Royal Caribbean additionally has some quirky cabins you may discover enjoyable, together with ocean-view and balcony rooms that look onto the open-air, inside “neighborhoods” on Oasis and Icon Class ships, such because the fun-loving Boardwalk, leafy Central Park and kid-friendly Surfside. Icon of the Seas has new Infinite Balcony cabins, which have additional inside house and a glass wall that rolls down midway (like a automotive window) to deliver contemporary air into the room.

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Food and drinks

Neither Royal Caribbean nor Disney Cruise Line is understood for superb meals throughout the board; nevertheless, each have eating places that can wow you.

When evaluating Disney Cruise Line versus Royal Caribbean on eating, Royal Caribbean is your greatest wager, particularly on its bigger ships, if you would like plenty of eating selection and do not thoughts paying additional for sure meals. Disney Cruise Line is the winner for family-focused eating places and a few superb adults-only eating places.

All Royal Caribbean ships embody three meals a day in its multideck, banquet-style most important eating rooms and Windjammer Market buffets. Ships will even have a few extra included venues for snacks and fast-casual meals, akin to cafes (with extra-fee espresso), Sorrento’s pizza and El Loco Contemporary for Mexican fare.

When you’re prepared to pay, you may discover almost all the pieces you possibly can want for: sushi and hibachi, steak, seafood, Italian, Southern, Johnny Rockets, pub fare and ingenious dishes created utilizing molecular gastronomy. Suite Class friends have entry to an elevated, intimate eating room known as Coastal Kitchen.

Associated: The final word information to cruise ship meals and eating

Disney Cruise Line takes a totally completely different strategy to eating. Every of its ships options three included sit-down eating places, and passengers are given a schedule of which venue to go to on which night time. Your waiters rotate by means of the eating rooms with you, to allow them to get to know your preferences. The eateries are sometimes themed to Disney motion pictures or characters and might need a stage present or different leisure as a part of the enjoyable.

As well as, a buffet is open for breakfast and lunch, together with all-day eating at poolside, grab-n-go venues for issues like pizza, burgers and sandwiches.

Adults can search a quieter, extra romantic meal in Disney’s numerous adults-only, extra-fee eating places, together with the Italian Palo and the French Remy or Enchante. At $50 per particular person, Palo is a good worth for brunch and dinner with all-you-can-eat choices from an in depth menu, all of very prime quality. On the flip facet, Remy and Enchante are among the many most costly specialty eating places at sea.

Each cruise strains provide room service, however Disney’s is included within the fare, whereas you must pay additional on Royal Caribbean.

Children actions

Each cruise strains excel at entertaining youngsters (particularly on Royal Caribbean’s larger and newer ships), however the strains take completely different approaches right here as effectively. To start out, each Disney Cruise Line and Royal Caribbean have giant youngsters golf equipment on their ships, with separate areas for youths and teenagers, in addition to extra-fee nurseries for the littlest cruisers.

Disney’s Oceaneer Membership and Lab are expansive play areas themed to Disney, Pixar and “Star Wars” characters. You’ll be able to play in Andy’s Room from “Toy Story” or fly the Millennium Falcon in a “Star Wars” simulation. Actions vary from arts and crafts and science experiments (like making goop) to taking part in video video games or digital leisure on the Magic Play Flooring. Tweens and teenagers every have separate hangouts with a number of video games and hangout house.

On Royal Caribbean ships, teenagers and tweens share a hangout, and the cruise line is experimenting with new programming to host actions across the ship for this choosy age group. Children nonetheless congregate in Journey Ocean with multipurpose areas for sports activities, video games and crafts and loads of high-tech leisure. Newer ships have separate artist’s studios, theaters, science labs and recreation house.

And, after all, each cruise strains plan child and household actions across the ship, outdoors of the drop-off youngsters programming within the golf equipment. On Disney Cruise Line, households can take photographs with their favourite characters and princesses, take pleasure in household trivia and karaoke, and attend occasions like a Pirate Night time deck present or dance events in the principle atrium. Royal Caribbean may provide a household pageant with video games and face portray or area day-style competitions.

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Onboard points of interest

Disney could be a wiz at theme parks, however no cruise line does onboard points of interest higher than Royal Caribbean. Look to its largest, latest ships for wow-factor points of interest, together with a FlowRider surf simulator, waterslides (together with a six-slide water park on Icon of the Seas) and big dry slides, escape room, ice skating rinks, laser tag pop-ups, bumper vehicles (on Quantum Class ships), zip strains, mountain climbing partitions and sky diving simulators.

Nevertheless, its Imaginative and prescient and Radiance Class ships take a extra conventional, pared-down strategy to onboard points of interest, specializing in swimming pools and sizzling tubs, the on line casino and the spa. Select your ship rigorously when you have sure whiz-bang points of interest in your to-do checklist.

Disney Cruise Line ships could have a water journey or slide or two, indoor and poolside film theaters and a spa, however do not count on the over-the-top points of interest of a Royal Caribbean ship. The road focuses extra on actions than points of interest and lazy days by the pool.

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Leisure

Once you examine the leisure of Royal Caribbean vs. Disney Cruise Line, you are not going to get a transparent winner. Each strains excel at leisure however — this may not shock you — the 2 strains have completely different strengths in terms of onboard reveals.

Disney Cruise Line is aware of the way to end up high-quality reveals, and every ship will provide three unique Broadway-style musicals in its onboard theater. A few of them are musical variations of favourite animated classics, akin to “Magnificence and the Beast” and “Tangled.” Different reveals mix characters and songs from the Disney playbook to create unique reveals, like “The Golden Mickeys.”

Disney can be identified for fascinating top-deck occasions, akin to its Pirate Night time reveals, full with fireworks, rappelling pirates and Mickey and mates dressed of their pirate greatest. Its ships run basic Disney motion pictures on its poolside display and first-run reveals from all the Disney portfolio within the indoor film theaters. Grownup leisure within the lounges at night time may embody interactive recreation reveals, karaoke, reside music or perhaps a solo present from a solid member.

Royal Caribbean additionally will get excessive marks for its stage reveals, which vary from shortened variations of Broadway musicals to unique song-and-dance revues. Some ships have separate golf equipment the place visitor comedians carry out, ice rinks for unique Ice Capades-style reveals and AquaTheaters for progressive acrobatic-diving-dancing performances. Anticipate high-tech results, together with using robotics, to boost the leisure.

The cruise line employs quite a few musicians, together with pianists who carry out on the Schooner Bar, Dueling Pianos bar and even within the elevator and different sudden places (you by no means know the place the Stowaway Pianist will seem). Ships with Royal Promenades host festive parades, dance events and midnight balloon drops.

Who’s on board?

Disney Cruise Line unsurprisingly attracts plenty of households, particularly households with little youngsters in that princess-worshipping candy spot, in addition to multigenerational households. Nevertheless, the road additionally attracts its justifiable share of grownup {couples}, mates and households with grown kids. It isn’t unusual to search out {couples} celebrating an onboard wedding ceremony or their honeymoon.

What most of those Disney passengers share is a love of the model, whether or not that is the characters and flicks or Disney’s obsession with high-quality leisure. Additionally, Disney cruises do not come low-cost, so households are usually effectively off, or they’ve saved for years for a particular journey.

Associated: 5 the explanation why Disney cruises aren’t only for youngsters

Royal Caribbean sees a bigger number of passengers throughout its fleet resulting from multifaceted ships and a variety of cruise fares. You may discover households with youngsters of all ages (together with grownup ones), {couples} celebrating milestones from weddings to retirements, and plenty of bachelor and bachelorette events, spring breakers and girlfriend getaway teams. Who’s on board will range relying on the ship, the time of 12 months and the size and vacation spot of the cruise.

If you would like a extra grownup surroundings, search for smaller or older ships, longer itineraries and off-peak journey instances. If you wish to discover households, search for weeklong cruises crusing throughout college breaks. The celebration crowd and youthful buddy teams gravitate towards the super-short three- or four-night or weekend itineraries.

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Itineraries and pricing

Disney Cruise Line ships primarily sail to the Caribbean and Bahamas on weeklong or shorter sailings. Three- and four-night cruises from Florida house ports, particularly Port Canaveral, are perfect for tacking onto brief visits to Disney World in Orlando.

Disney Marvel is the cruise line’s Pacific-based ship. It sails to Mexico, Alaska, Australia and New Zealand, the South Pacific and Hawaii (the latter as repositioning cruises). Disney Dream is the road’s transatlantic ship. It sails to the Caribbean and Bahamas from Florida, but additionally crosses the ocean to supply European cruises (Mediterranean, Norwegian fjords, Western Europe).

Disney has beforehand provided Bermuda and Canada/New England cruises from northeastern U.S. house ports however doesn’t at present have any on its schedule.

Associated: The final word information to Disney Cruise Line ships and itineraries

With a a lot bigger fleet, Royal Caribbean has a way more various itinerary roster, however its focus is principally the Caribbean, the Bahamas and Europe. In the summertime, the road may base a dozen ships within the islands, half as many in Europe and 4 in Alaska, with the remaining crusing to locations like Bermuda, Canada and New England, Mexico and Asia. It could provide ship and itinerary choices inside one cruise area on the identical time, whereas Disney may solely have one ship crusing one route.

Royal Caribbean additionally presents cruises to the South Pacific, Pacific Northwest, Australia and New Zealand, Hawaii and Panama Canal, in addition to transatlantic and transpacific crossings to maneuver ships to new house ports.

You may even have a wider collection of departure ports within the U.S. with Royal Caribbean. Its ships sail from secondary house ports, akin to Baltimore, Boston, Cape Liberty (Bayonne, New Jersey), Galveston, New Orleans and Tampa, in addition to the main Florida ports, Los Angeles, Seattle and Vancouver.

Associated: The final word information to Royal Caribbean cruise ships and itineraries

Maybe as a result of Disney Cruise Line has far fewer ships to fill than Royal Caribbean, its costs are typically a lot greater on comparable itineraries. For instance, at press time, the most affordable seven-night Caribbean cruise you may ebook on Disney Cruise Line begins at $1,449 per particular person, based mostly on double occupancy and never together with taxes and costs. Royal Caribbean’s least expensive weeklong cruise begins at $377 per particular person.

Nevertheless, Royal Caribbean’s latest ships are very a lot in demand, and pricing can rival Disney’s. The most affordable seven-night cruise on the road’s lately debuted Icon of the Seas begins at $1,723 per particular person; its 2025-arriving sister Star of the Seas is not far more reasonably priced, with charges beginning at $1,677.

Backside line: Disney Cruise Line vs. Royal Caribbean

When you’re taking a look at Disney Cruise Line versus Royal Caribbean in your subsequent trip at sea, you may’t go mistaken with both line.

Select Disney Cruise Line in case you’re an enormous Disney fan or are touring with youngsters who’re. Select that line in case you desire smaller ships which are nonetheless kid-focused however provide loads of adults-only areas. Lastly, ebook a Disney in case you can afford the excessive fares and in case your most popular vacation spot and journey dates match up with the road’s extra restricted schedule.

Select Royal Caribbean in case you like massive ships and cruises that enchantment to all ages and pursuits or in case you’re searching for smaller ships and are superb with older ships and extra conventional onboard actions. When you want all kinds of itineraries to select from, need to cruise to extra far-flung locations or want choices for reasonably priced rooms or a big selection of suites, Royal Caribbean is the road for you.

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