All Things Travel Podcast
Listen in each week with Wonder and Beyond Travel Co-Owners and destination experts Ryan and Julie.
He is your travel professor, teaching you everything you need to know to have a magical vacation. She is a Disney-loving, Maryland mom of 3 and a specialist in family travel.
Whether they're discussing incredible destinations, top vacation tips, or sharing personal stories…it’s always All Things Travel.
All Things Travel Podcast
Disney Cruise Lines vs Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines: Which is Better for Families?
Travel experts Julie and Ryan compare Disney Cruise Line and Royal Caribbean's family offerings after experiencing both cruise lines with their families. This comprehensive head-to-head analysis covers everything parents need to know when choosing between these popular family cruise options.
Entertainment Comparison
- Royal Caribbean: More adult-only options, ice shows, water shows, Broadway productions, live music at bars/lounges
- Disney Cruise Line: Broadway-style Disney musicals (Aladdin, Lion King, Moana), dedicated movie theaters with all-day showings, pool deck movies
Daily Activities
- Royal Caribbean: Packed sports decks with Flow Rider, bumper cars, laser tag, rock walls (newer ships only)
- Disney: More frequent family activities, themed experiences like Olaf's Picnic, Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique
Dining Experience
- Royal Caribbean: Excellent food quality on newer ships, extensive quick-service options, large main dining rooms
- Disney: Smaller themed restaurants, rotational dining with same servers, kid-friendly cups and service details
Staterooms & Accommodations
- Royal Caribbean: Limited family of 5+ options, tiny bathrooms, complex connecting room policies
- Disney: Better family room layouts, split bathrooms, easier connecting room bookings, bathtubs available
Pool Decks
- Royal Caribbean: Larger decks, Splash Away Bay waterpark, Perfect Storm slides, loud party atmosphere
- Disney: Smaller themed pools (Mickey-shaped), Nemo's Reef for toddlers, Disney movies playing
Kids Clubs
- Royal Caribbean: STEM/art focused activities, cool teen spaces
- Disney: Marvel/Star Wars themed clubs, character visits, phenomenal cast members
Key Takeaways
Choose Royal Caribbean if you want:
- Multi-generational travel options
- More thrilling activities for older kids/teens
- Louder, party atmosphere
- Newer ships with cutting-edge amenities
Choose Disney if you have:
- Children 8 and under
- Preference for family-appropriate content guaranteed
- Desire for immersive Disney theming
- Need for better stateroom layouts for families
Bottom Line
Both cruise lines offer excellent family experiences, but cater to different vibes. Disney provides peace of mind that all content is child-appropriate, while Royal Caribbean offers more variety for multi-generational groups and older children.
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Hello and welcome to All. Thanks Travel. Today we're covering a cruise topic. I get asked about at least once a week, Caribbean versus Disney cruise line, and which is better for families and why. After experiencing both cruise lines recently with my family, I'm excited to finally share my thoughts on both cruise lines, and Ryan is here to chime in once in a while.
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:Listen in with travel advisors and destination experts. Ryan and Julie. I'm your travel professor teaching you everything you need to know to have a magical vacation, and she's a Disney loving Maryland mom of three and a specialist in family travel. Whether we're discussing incredible destinations, top vacation tips, or sharing personal stories, it's always all things travel. You know what? I'll do a little more than chime in Julie.'cause I've had experience traveling with kids on Royal, on celebrity, on Disney. I will say I have never cruised with kids your age. my kids were definitely, junior high-ish. The first time we cruised. so I haven't had your experience with it,
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:so the reason I want to talk about this is because both of these cruise lines are heavily marketed as
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:yes,
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:family cruise lines,
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:yes.
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:Yes. And we obviously both had two very different experiences on our last Royal cruise. yours is very, not only mine was very family friendly, so now my family's done Royal. We've done Disney. And I'm excited to compare, contrast what's similar. And I don't know that it's necessarily like what's better, but I hope that listeners could gain what's better for their
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:Yes. I like the way you position that because I don't think there's a better, I think there's a better for you and what you're looking for.
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:and
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:what are the interests of your family? What are the must dos? What are the must not dos? because you're gonna find one of these cruise lines is perfect for you. absolutely.
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:mm-hmm.
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:we get into all of that, Julie, if you have not gone back and listened to last week's episode, we concluded our off the Beaten Path series by talking about five Caribbean locations that you may not have on your travel radar screen.
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:Okay, so let's get into it. Right off the bat, the first kind of things we're gonna talk about are those standout differences and similarities. we've done shows on Disney Cruise Line. We've done shows just a couple weeks ago about Utopia the Seas and our
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:Mm-hmm.
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:there. We've covered our cruise on Freedom of the Seas, but this is gonna be like a head to head, various categories.
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:Great.
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:The first one I wanna talk about is entertainment. Both of these cruise lines offer family friendly and adult only options. I definitely think that Royal is gonna have a lot more adult only options.
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:Sure.
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:I really thought the shows on Royal were great, and thought they had more variety in their entertainment, right? They had ice shows. Water shows. It wasn't just production style shows.
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:Well, not even those, but at the different, bars and lounges, having singers and bands, even families could take advantage of that because it's out in the open.
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:Correct. Did you feel like, we went to the ice show and my kids
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:Yeah.
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:obsessed with it. They loved it so much. we did not make it to the water show. We had been on the boardwalk a couple of times in the evening when the water show was starting and they were like, it's so loud.
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:Yeah.
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:that just wasn't really gonna happen for us. But you thought that, I mean, it's would be family friendly
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:Oh, absolutely. Um, especially if your kids enjoy watching. I mean, my kids have always grown up watching theater. and that would be right up their alley, you know, going to stuff like Cirque de Soleil
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:right
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:musicals and things like that, they enjoy all of that, especially my daughter. I know when cruising with them before even when they were younger, we always attended all of the shows.'cause that's something that our family enjoys,
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:And what about the Broadway show? did you feel like it child appropriate?
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:Yes, it was kind of a, rock anthem show, like different vignettes. if you knew the music, it was good, but it was also interesting to watch. I've also been on, both Royal and Disney, where they have more of a musical, as the production show, and kids would obviously enjoy that.
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:Yeah, I agree. the one thing I noticed is I didn't feel like there was a lot of movies. There wasn't a dedicated movie theater.
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:No.
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:a movie, it was on the pool deck, but there was only one showing per night.
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:Yeah.
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:and so that was definitely different for me. One thing with Disney is they have a significantly smaller fleet of ships compared to Royal, so you're bound to see the same production shows. there's no problem with that. It's just, you know, you can probably recite the Believe Show by the time you've seen it for the third, fourth, fifth time. I will say their production quality is outstanding.
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:very good.
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:yeah, the musicals, like the Broadway Style Productions really, are Broadway style. Productions and you know, they're Disney movies. It's the Aladdin, the Lion Kings Moana. Kids are gonna be excited about that. Whereas on Royal, I think that they enjoy it. I think maybe not all kids, but most especially little kids, would be excited to go to the Disney shows.
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:I did see when I was on Icon, I saw the Wizard of Oz and it was absolutely fantastic the way that they did it.
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:And again, this is something I bring in later. the newer royal ships are a very different recommendation than the
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:Yes.
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:royal
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:agreed.
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:speaking of movies, Disney has movie theaters and they play movies all day long, back to back. I really enjoyed that because If you needed to get away from the crowds a little bit, you could just go to the movie theater and wasn't always super popular movies. It was sometimes older movies, sometimes first run movies, you just check the app to see what was playing. They almost always had movies on the pool deck, which was great. When we were on the Disney Dream recently we got our breakfast from Cabanas and sat on the pool deck and watched, Mickey's once upon a Christmas time that was really cool for my kids. So, I think entertainment, I don't think somebody, you know, either one wins one or the other. But if your are younger, I think Disney is gonna win on entertainment value there.
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:Agreed,
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:really love that you can always go to the movies. Daily activities. Ryan, you thought there was a lot going on in Utopia when we were on there, right? That calendar was pretty full,
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:yes.
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:yes,
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:I will say from my experience on Disney cruise lines, that was also very full.
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:I really felt like when I was on Disney, there was a lot more variety of activities going on and they happened more frequently. Whereas with Royal, it seemed like a lot of the things that we wanted to do that were termed family activities like family bingo or family scavenger hunt. They happened right around the time of early dining, which didn't make a lot of sense to me.
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:I remember you saying that is really odd.
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:yeah. that was a little bit frustrating, if you had older kids it would've been fine. It just didn't work for our family. we tended to do the activities up on the sports deck. the sports decks are very similar between Royal and Disney. They both have, mini golf and playgrounds. Royal does have a lot more for teens like the flow rider, bumper cars, laser tag, rock walls. It's gonna vary from ship to ship of what's on your, specific ship. And the older ships for Royal are not going to have those activities.
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:Right.
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:So I feel like the indoor activities like Disney kind of blows royal outta the water for those family friendly ones. But as far as outdoor activities or teen activities, royal really steps up their game with those immersive activities they offer. I remember on the Disney ship it felt like there was a trivia going on, every 30 minutes that you could go to
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:Yeah.
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:I felt like the schedule was really packed. I also really liked on Disney. Royal can't really do this, so it's kind of like an unfair comparison. But they had some really themed and immersive activities you could go to. Now they weren't included, they weren't extra cost, but activities like Olaf's Picnic, Royalty and Bippity, Boutique, those are things you're not gonna find on
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:Sure.
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:Sure.
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:I mean, that's the competitive
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:Competitive.
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:advantage of Disney is part of why you're paying the premium that you're paying, is you have access to that Disney theming and the Disney properties. The Disney Magic.
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:Dining. I felt like the food was really good
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:Yes.
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:especially when I'm comparing Utopia versus the Disney Wish. With both of those being really newer ships, I do think Disney Edge is a little bit in the Quick Service department. I don't remember when you were on the dream. That was the one you went on, the Disney
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:Yes,
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:I'm trying to remember what that
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:I remember, going to the buffet. I remember doing some of the pickup.
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:but
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:I would,
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:I,
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:I think the newer ships on Royal were better than the dream, but I haven't been on the newer Disney ships, especially with the icon in Utopia,
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:mm-hmm.
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:quick service options are phenomenal.
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:They are really good. I don't like how spread out they are, but I do think that's just Royal's style versus Disney's style. Royal has the neighborhood, so there's kind of like a quick service in each neighborhood. whereas Disney, it's kind of like a food court.
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:Mm-hmm.
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:I really enjoyed the main dining room on Royal Caribbean more than I thought it would. I thought the food was really good. However, and this is a personal preference I really liked the smaller themed restaurants better on Disney. I thought for my kids to keep kids engaged. With, being part of that dinner experience and that main dining room, I kind of felt like they're just floundering around,
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:It is, absolutely. there is not that immersive theming in the Royal Maine dining Room that's absolutely true.
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:And the main dining room is three stories
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:Yeah.
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:if you're on a much smaller ship, but it's still huge.
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:I.
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:so you just walk in and it's this massive room. Whereas on the Disney ships, it's like a regular sized restaurant almost. And you're just assigned one. I do wish that you had a little more say in which one you went to, which night on Disney.'cause you don't know that until you show up,
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:Right.
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:That's when you find out which restaurant you're going to, which evening. the other thing is with going to the different restaurants, yes, Royal Caribbean offers different menus every night, but the kids' menu stayed the same every night.
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:That's a really good point.
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:for them. Granted you could order something for them from the adults menu, but most of that is not something that any kid is going to eat. Whereas I do think that Disney's kids' menu, if I remember correctly, changed night to night. your kid might still order chicken tenders every night, but I
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:Sure.
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:Any other thoughts on food, Ryan?
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:No, I've been impressed with both of them, on my experience the feedback that I get from my clients.
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:Agreed.
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:I will say
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:Go.
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:I remember dining with your family and. The anxiety that I had when they would hand your mia just an open cup of milk. And I'm like, this doesn't make sense.
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:they
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:she only spilled it once and it was fine because that happens. our server was phenomenal with the kids, but there were just a couple things like that where I'm like.
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:where I'm like,
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:you're not paying attention to what the kids need,
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:And really what
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:and things like that.
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:I had to bring a sippy cup to dinner with us
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:Right.
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:her not a sippy cup, but like a cup of the lid and a straw.
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:Right.
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:even like Luca, you know, he is four, but they're giving them glasses of milk and glasses of water I kind of completely forgot until you brought that up. But that was, just one of those things that's like, okay, now I have to think about this.
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:Yes.
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:cups with lids anywhere on the ship.
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:And I'm assuming on Disney Cruise line, your daughter would've been given a cup
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:from what I remember, I don't remember having that issue.
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:Okay.
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:on Disney cruise line, With the rotational dining, you have those same servers moving with you, In the main dining room, we had the same servers moving with us. when we sat down at our table on Disney Cruise line, the kids' drinks were there ready to go for them. The bread was there waiting for us before we even got to the table. Like things like that, they kind of pick up on a little bit quicker saying, you know, know the kids are like, let's go, let's get our stuff. And they used to offer, and I think they're bringing it back a program where if you're at early Dining for Disney Cruise line. let the servers know, what is it called? dine and play or something
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:something like that.
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:them to the kids
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:Royal has done that in the past as well, but I think that is also paused along with Disney's, program
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:Onto rooms, and
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:okay.
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:I'm going with this. We have a family of five and rooms for families of five are very limited on rural Caribbean. You can't even search for a room for five online. Now if you have family of four, great. That's nice and easy. Until you see the bathroom that all four of your family is supposed to share,
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:Yes.
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:no bathtub for your kids. It's a tiny stand in shower. the other issue I have with the rooms on a rail. Now granted the room itself is lovely, the bed area, the living room, the balcony. Lovely. The bathroom is a problem. also, I look for connecting rooms a lot for clients and they are challenging,'cause Royal is very specific on their capacity restrictions.
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:Yes.
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:a room for four might only connect to a room for two, that doesn't mean that if you have three you can put them in that room for four.
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:Yes, you're absolutely right.
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:So the rooms fit a set number, not more, not less. if you need, connecting rooms for a family of five, there's only a couple categories that we'll do a three and two connecting. Some of them are four, two, some of them are tutu, it always takes me forever to find connecting rooms, whereas on Disney, it's kind of like. The state room capacity is four. The state room capacity is five. Put up to that number you want in there. I could book my family a five into a deluxe family room and I could book my parents a party of two into a deluxe family room. They don't really care either way,
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:Yep.
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:it's a lot easier to find those connecting rooms. the bathroom is that split layout,
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:Which makes a huge of course it is. yeah.
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:in some of the state rooms on Disney, there's a bathtub. It's not a big bathtub, it's like a round circular bathtub
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:Yeah.
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:of a rectangle bathtub, but it's a bathtub, which is helpful if you have really little ones. Holding slippery babies in showers is not fun. So anywho, my rants on the rooms. That's kind of the one where I do get a little ranty about.
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:Well, and I think Disney too, just with their options for sleeping, you know, with the dropdown birth and, different things like that. I think for smaller kids, they win the state room conversation.
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:yeah, they have a dropdown, Is it the Poolman?
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:Yeah.
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:They do
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:upper birth.
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:when we were in the Deluxe Family Ocean View balcony room, it also had a Murphy bed that came down, which is a nice option if you don't want a kid on the upper bunk
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:Yep.
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:All cruise ships have pool decks. These pool decks are very different.
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:They're not created equal. Yes, that's true.
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:I'm not gonna say that one is better than the other. This is really what fits your vibe Similarities, everyone had life jackets, so that's important. towels on rural Caribbean do need to be checked out. Sometimes people are a little surprised by that. They scan your key card if you don't. Re-scan to return your towel, you are charged newer ships on royal, this is where I also think the newer versus the older ships on Royal comes into play. If you have kids, there are a lot of times I'll be working with a family and they will bring a cruise to me and I will say, I don't think this is a good fit. this is a good price because the ship is really old and I really think your kids are gonna be bored.
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:Yep.
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:They see Where, they've got all these slides, all these great pools, and they don't quite realize that the shit they're looking at is much older and has none of those things.
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:Yes.
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:So a lot of the newer ships are gonna have Splash Away Bay, which is the waterpark four. I don't know, I would say ages like four or you know, three maybe through what, like 12 ish And then they're also gonna have the perfect storm. Those huge slides you see on the Icon class, they're also gonna have Baby Bay, where toddlers in swim diapers can go. I have seen so many different versions of Baby Bay. it terrified me before we went on Utopia, that I like Rush Potty, trained my 2-year-old so that she could go into the larger area. I have seen on some older ships I've toured literally no section for toddlers with swim diapers at all, nothing. And I've seen some that are like. A couple steps and then a slide down with a little sprinkler, maybe very, very small on Utopia. I actually thought it was a really great sized section. I would've been perfectly fine with her playing in that area.
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:Yeah,
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:with that.
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:I think you would've been blown away by icon.
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:by their baby bay
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:the whole family neighborhood I think would've been so nice For your family. Absolutely.
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:And that's where I kind of say every newer class that comes out for a royal, they are really upping their game for families. And I just want, listeners to know the ships are not created equal
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:Yeah.
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:fleet. And that's not a bad thing. You just have to know what you're looking at and what you're looking for. Utopia also had three main pools in the pool deck, and I did appreciate that there was a variety between them. One was quite a bit deeper and two were shallower. I appreciated that variety. as we mentioned on our utopia episode, the music on the pool deck was so loud all day. It was a party all day long. And that's fine if you would like to. Go to a party all day long. on Disney, the pool deck is much smaller because the ships are smaller. the newer Disney ships, I'll say, have smaller multiple pools. they'll say like, oh, this is the Mickey pool, and it's in the shape of a Mickey head, but it's actually three small pools, which is nice because if anyone has an accident in the pool, they don't have to shut down like every pool on the
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:The entire pool. Yeah.
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:on some old cruise ships. a lot of these are not deep. They're like two to three feet, which shocked me when I first went on my first cruise. But it was actually really, really great for kids. It's easy to sit on the side and interact with them and feel pretty safe They also have Nemos Reef or Toy Story splash zone for kids under four, which is a great option and that's where your toddlers in swim diapers are gonna go. It's very themed, really interactive, really great. There's also Disney movies playing all day long on the pool deck, and I loved that.
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:Yeah.
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:Any thoughts on pools, Ryan, before we scooch on?
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:no. I think, honestly, the Disney, I'm thinking of when I traveled with my kids.
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:Mm-hmm.
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:and the weather. it was Thanksgiving, Christmas, Alaska. So the pool decks really did not play that much other than, my kids enjoyed.
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:with Disney.
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:I did it with celebrity, so I kind of put royal, and I'm thinking of when, yeah, when I traveled with my kids. the pool did not play that big of a factor. for us. but man, there's just,
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:just,
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:there's nothing cooler than the pool deck on Royal, Just for the vibe.
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:I think older teens, even like 10 and up or eight
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:Yeah.
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:I think it is great. I mean, splash Away Bay is amazing. I really love that option, but man, it is a big pool deck, so just be
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:Yeah.
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:for that.
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:there's no comparison in this next category.
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:Kids clubs, so Royal Kids Club did not have a lot of open house time, but they did have an area that you could go to any time of the day to hang out with your kids. It was just like a separate section of the kids club. my kids are not kids club kids. They don't go to daycare. They're not used to being
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:And my kids are not either, so I don't have a lot to add. I've seen them. Caleb certainly took advantage of the Disney one, but I have no personal experience with the kids clubs.
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:Yeah, I do think that for the elementary age on Royal, the activities are really, Focus or really like specific activities like a STEM activity, an art activity, a theater room, things like that. I can really appreciate that they're trying to set up that type of routine. I also think the teen spaces on foil are really cool, There's like a social teen club. That has a indoor section and then like a patio section, and I think that's really cool. I can appreciate how fun that would be for older kids for that elementary age crowd though, the Disney Kids clubs are top notch, kids literally step into the world of Marvel, star
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:yeah.
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:Characters are coming in, going throughout the day. There's dance parties, cast members are. Phenomenal. you cannot believe your eyes when you see these kids clubs.
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:Absolutely. hundred percent. And again, I think that's the Disney competitive advantage that you're paying for is access to all of those things. and what kid would not want to do that during the cruise?
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:like I mentioned this briefly when I talked about the Royal Kids Club, but Disney typically has an open play hour or hour and a half, almost every morning of the cruises I've been on, which means you and your family can go to different sections of the kids club, and parents can go with their kids. that's also like a nice activity to be able to build into your day. and just a way to spend some time.
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:Okay, great.
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:And this last comparison can be a big deal for some people Royal has a casino, Disney has characters. This is a really big difference in the vibe it brings to your ship. I don't have a problem with casinos. What I don't like is that as a young family, you have to walk through that casino to get to the main dining room or to get to one of the performance, studios depending on the layout of the ship. I don't love that,
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:I guess I don't feel that,
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:casino.
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:I always felt on the royal ships I've been on that they were down below.
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:mm-hmm.
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:The promenade, so you can always walk along the promenade to get to those places. the only thing I'd say, at least on our experience with Utopia that you'd have to really,
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:really
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:go through the casino to get to studio b, the ice show for your family. Other than that, I, kind of feel like the casino was tucked away.
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:Yeah, it was more tucked away than what it was on freedom. I feel like on freedom, it was the same as the main dining room from what I remember. I just don't love that, that like becomes a part of the cruise I didn't really. Want to expose my kids to that part of the cruise because then they're like, what's that? They think they're arcade games
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:Right,
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:They don't understand why they can't play, and it's a smoking section, which is different from the rest of the ship. So it's just a, an area I'd rather not have to take
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:Yeah.
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:kids through. It just, felt kind of stressful. other people probably feel completely different than me and I'm probably just being weird about it.
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:I think you're saying this is what works and doesn't work for my family. those are the conversations we have with clients every day. So, no, I think it's,
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:think
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:if it's one of those things where your family,
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:is
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:It's either, Cruise on a ship that has that, or do you know you just are gonna avoid that section of the ship?
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:On the other hand if you're doing a big multi-gen trip, that's where I say that casino is nice because the older adults, that really gives them something to do if they're into that. Whereas maybe on a Disney ship, the older adults are like, what am I gonna do?
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:Yes.
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:and bingo every half hour. Then on Disney you have characters a lot of people are probably like, I do not wanna see characters, and a lot of people are probably like, that's amazing, We saw characters every single day on our Disney cruises, and sometimes they were just walking around you could kind of walk with them, but it wasn't like a meet and greet situation. Other times it was a set meet and greet and you had to go and form a line. It did not feel obnoxious or overwhelming though if you didn't wanna part in the characters, you didn't have to take part in the characters. They were kind of there if you wanted them to be there.
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:Agreed.
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:but I know that that's a concern I get sometimes. Like, I don't wanna go on a Disney cruise'cause there's gonna be Mickey Mouse everywhere. And I'm like, he is there. He is there.
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:Yes, he is the you. You will not avoid Disney by cruising on a Disney cruise line ship, It really is, how much do you want to get immersed by it? And you can really control that. Kind of like going to Alani. Disney is there if you want it. It definitely is there. The theming is there. If you really are not interested in that aspect, there's plenty that you can focus on that doesn't have to do with Disney.
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:We started this episode out by saying which is the better cruise line. I'm not gonna really say like, one is better and one is worse. let's talk about what vibe you want on the ship. I do think Royal is overall a louder vibe for the newer ships, for the ships that we're gonna be recommending for families. I kind of keep coming back to those newer ships because I'm not gonna recommend my young families sail on the older ships unless it is purely destination focused.
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:Yep.
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:I do think Royal very clearly caters to all ages and highlighted in our Utopia of the Seas episode that I was just listening to earlier today. Um, how Ryan had a completely different cruise than my family and we only saw each other at dinner. That's A perfect example of why Royal Caribbean is great for multi-generational travel because there is literally something for everyone and then you all meet up at dinner.
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:And I do have to ask a question. As I went back and listened to that episode and you talked about a multi-generational experience, were Jasmine and I, the grandparents in that example, I kind of felt that way as I was listening.
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:no, that's not at all my intention. this is the first time that I have thought about it in that context.
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:Yeah.
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:no, that was not my intention. I'm just saying you could have a complete adults only experience, or you could have a complete. Family experience, it's easy to also do something in the middle as when I deserted my children and left them at golf with you.
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:Yes,
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:Yes,
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:the invoice is in the mail.
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:Oh man.
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:when we went on Royal for the first time, my daughter said, well I miss Disney cruise line. And I said, why? And she couldn't articulate why, except she just likes Disney stuff
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:the vibe. I think
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:and,
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:about
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:I understand that. Now, I will say neither of my kids have been on a newer Royal Caribbean ship, and I think they would both be blown away by that. their favorite cruise line, at least from the experience when I've been with them, has been celebrity. And I put royal and celebrity together, they're very, very similar. So I think for my kids now, Royal would win out even though they're definitely Disney kids.
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:Absolutely. I would agree with that. So I really just think it's like parental preference, and likely depends on the ages of your kids. If royal is the better cruise line for you. this is the best way that I can sum up when clients come to me and say, which is better for kids? And with my clients, they're usually talking about kids that are like eight and under.
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:Yeah.
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:say as a parent, you board a Disney cruise, You know that everything on that ship is appropriate for your child, and I can provide countless examples of this after cruising on both. You know that any movie playing on that pool deck is going to be a kid friendly movie. I don't really have that comfort necessarily on the royal ships of what movies they're playing in the evenings. same with music. I know any song that they ever play on a Disney cruise ship is going to be a song that's appropriate for my child. Everyone probably feels differently about that, and that doesn't mean that the music I'm playing in my car when I'm riding around with my kids is the most appropriate music for my kid, but I don't necessarily want it lasting all day on a cruise ship. whereas on a royal ship. the soundtrack that they're playing is not the soundtrack that the Disney
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:Perfect day. Perfect day. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:with that song. I really enjoyed that. Um, and I shared this experience with Ryan. There was a time on the royal ship where I wanted to check out Central Park. on Utopia of the Seas. so, I wanna say it was our NASA all day, which was a day that a lot of people stayed on the ship. we walked into Central Park which I thought was gonna be like this serene, lovely experience. And we literally walked back out because the music from the pool deck was overflowing into Central Park. You could look up above you. And there was some plexiglass there, that was part of the pool deck. And there was like. A large, like bachelor style group just in Speedos and dancing. And I was kind of like, we're just gonna turn around and go. You're not gonna see anything remotely close to that on a Disney cruise ship. so again, parental preference and really, really, really depends on ages of your kids of which way you wanna go along that line, like the smoking section on a Disney cruise ship. We're not a smoking family. The smoking section on the Royal Caribbean ship is In the middle of the pool deck the Disney cruise ship. I've never even seen the smoking section. It's there, but it's so tucked away that no one who's not going to the smoking section is ever going to see it.
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:so you've gotten back now, a couple weeks after Royal, your family, has obviously done multiple Disney cruises. Feedback from your husband Steven, or feedback from your kids as far as how this stuff plays out.
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:my kids had an absolute blast on Royal Caribbean,
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:Well, of course.'cause they They had dinner with Mr. Ryan and Ms. Jasmine. I mean, how could you not?
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:they ask me about you all the time. every vacation they're gonna be like, where's Mr. Ryan and Mr. Jasmine? Why are they not here? they had a blast. But also remember they're little, they're 6 4 2. So mom and dad are kind of leading the charge of like, well, we're not gonna go in that
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:Right,
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:area for kids. I don't really have to play that like gatekeeper on a Disney cruise. So the mental load for a parent on a Disney cruise is a little bit better. And I think that's kind of where Steven sits. we are gonna go on a royal cruise, hopefully just the two of us in a couple of months. we're really excited for the activities offered when it's just us and we don't have to think about stuff for the kids. they had a blast because they loved Splash Way Bay. the mini golf, the playgrounds, the carousel, the Ice show. They had a great time. if your kids are little and rural Caribbean is what works for you, it works for your destination, your dates, your budget. You're not gonna have a bad experience.
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:Absolutely not.
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:I'm just saying there's two very different vibes. So think about what your family would prefer
ryan_2_08-15-2025_140521:The world is full of wonder and your next vacation is waiting. At Wonder and Beyond Travel, we work with you to create a one of a kind journey, taking the stress off your plate so you can focus on the joy of exploring and the memories That will stay with you forever. If you're ready to start planning or you just wanna dream a little bigger, head on over to Wonder and beyond travel.com. We would love to help you get started. We look forward to talking to you next week on All Things Travel. When we pull back the curtain a little bit and talk about our jobs as travel advisors and what the heck do we do all day?
j_1_08-15-2025_140521:I wonder that about Ryan all the time.
