17 Reasons Royal Caribbean is the BEST Cruise Line
Looking to book a cruise but not sure which cruiseline to choose? Look no further! We have extensive experience cruising with major lines and recommend Royal Caribbean and Disney Cruise line. Check out 17 reasons why Royal Caribbean is the best choice for your family vacation!
Best Cruise Line
If you are looking to book a cruise you are probably wondering what the big differences are in the major cruiselines. After all, we only have limited PTO and money, so we want to go on the best cruise line for our annual vacation! We have cruise extensively on all the major lines. With 6 kids in tow, we really focus on the best cruise lines for families – which in my opinion are Royal Caribbean com and Disney Crusie line. So which should you book? Let us tell you 17 reasons that Royal Carribean is better than Disney Cruiseline.
Although many of the included pictures are from our most recent trip on the Icon of the Seas, these reasons are vastly true fleetwide.
Learn more about how to plan a cruise and the best family cruise!
Royal Carribbean is Cheaper
You can get some great deals on Royal crusies! They have a huge fleet of 27 ships which means there is more inventory to sell. Our family loves to take advantage of the kids sail free offers, but they have a lot of different options all year long. Typically, if you get a deal and are not sailing on the newest ships, a Royal Carribean cruise is about 50% less than a Disney vacation in our experience.
More Itinerary Choices
With the larger fleet, Royal goes to more places giving you options! They tout heading to over 300 destinations world wide! I love that you can go pretty much anywhere in the world on a Royal Caribbean ship! They even have world cruises that sale once a year. I do want to point out that the newer ships with all the bells and whistles tend to stay in the Caribbean. So not all the European, Alaskan, South American, Africa, Australian, etc. cruises sail on the most impressive ships in the fleet.
Different Cabin Choices and Configurations
Disney has kept things simple with inside, outside, balcony, and 2 suites per ship. That makes it difficult for large families to book together or to make your trip especially memorable with a room upgrade. Royal Carribean room types does vary by ships, but they have a variety of different suite types and configurations. On many ships they have balcony rooms that face the ocean or that face the insdie promenade / central park. Plus families will love the large family ocean view room and family bunk rooms on many ships.
As you get closer to your sailing, Royal Caribbean will allow guests to bid on stateroom upgrades. This is a fun way to get a discount on an even bigger, nicer room!
Onboard Attractions
While Disney, Carnival, and Norweigan all have a waterslide or two on their ships, no one beats Royal for sheer scope of onboard waterparks and rides offered. Depending on the ship you can go on a 4-person tube water slide, zipline accross the ship, take free rides on a waterslide, try your skill at surfing, practice ice skating, and more! Royal Caribbean vacations are filled with non-stop options for excitement.
Food Options Galore!
Each cruise line has their spin on food, but none of them go ALL OUT like Royal Caribbean food, especially on their newer ships. We recently sailed on the Icon of the Seas and were delighted by the number of included food options all around the ship. No more made dashes with everyone to the Lido buffet, instead you can stay where you are and grab free food like pretzel bites, churros, burrito, nuggets, burger, pizza, panini sandwhiches, and more. The private island boasts more food options than any other, including complimentary funnel cake!
NOTE: While the drop in food places offer a wide variety, the main dining room is poor in my opinion. I don’t want to mislead anyone and want to make sure you realize there is a distinction in the variety of quick service food and the quality / variety of the main dining room.
Plethora of Seating Options
Nothing drives me insane more than people getting up early and reserving seats by the pool all day – that they may or may not use! On Disney ships there is rarely a lounger to be found to watch the movies on the funnel vision. While we miss the movies playing all day, because Royal does not have a large screen playing movies continuously people spread out more around the various spaces on the ship. We found there is always not just one chair, but groups of seating for all 8 of our family everywhere at all times of the day. Huge plus in my book!
Live Orchestra
Royal is not the only cruise line whose performances feature a live orchestra, but they do have the largest orchestra on any cruiship. It certainly elevates watching the Wizard of Oz with live instruments and vocals. Disney has great productions, but the track is pre-recorded.
Music Around the ship
Royal stands out with the huge plethora of live music to be enjoyed around their ships. Check your Navigator or ap to find where the strings quartet, brass band, dueling pianos, accostic guitar, big band music, and favorite vocals can be found. Norweigan also does a fabulous job with live music, just not quite as well as Royal. Disney is at the bottom in my books. They tend to only offer piano or guitar – you will be hard pressed to find a band or orchestra instrument on one of their ships with the exception of a violin for the dinner show.
Space to Stretch out In
When my family boarded the largest cruise ship in the world – the Icon of the Seas – I expected it to be crowded. I mean the sailing was sold out and that meant over 7200 passengers. We were shocked that the ship never felt crowded, not once! There was always a chair to sit in, never more than a 7 minute wait for food, and easy to pass through hallways. With Disney funneling all guests to the same places for deck parties, parades, movies, buffet, etc. their ship feels crowded a LOT!
Inovative Spaces
On most ships you can expect the cabin and decks to be pretty much furnished the same way. Sure their decorations and theming on Disney ships can vary, but the chairs, layout, etc. is pretty common. Royal Caribbean has made some impressive strides in their last couple classes of ships. Their are different types of seating and areas to relax in, slides for kids to enjoy as they head from one level to the next, and interesting sculptures to amuse guests.
Enjoy some Shade
Along with Royal’s innovative spaces came a lot of careful thought into shade. The way the decks overlap or how elements were added creates a lot of shade throught the ship. We were very grateful for not only creative and fun places to sit, but the comfort of sitting in the shade.
Speedy Embarkation
While each ship and port does vary, the streamline process that guests board the new Royal Caribbean ships like the Icon of the Seas that sails out of Miami is extroardinary. We showed up at our assigned time and from the moment we walked to the line to the second we stepped foot on the ship, it took only 8 minutes. I kid you not, I timed it! We breezed through passport verification, lots of security lines, and even escalators to move lines when boarding the ship.
Buffet Upgrade
Over the years cruiseline buffets have gone downhill. I am old enough to remember the midnight chocolate buffets, ice carvings, and food sculptures and have longed for a return to elegant, creative food. Royal Caribbean’s new ships have hit the nail on the head. The buffet is no longer one long feeding trough but cleaverly organized pods that disperse the crods and organize the many food choices. Head to the bread station and be amazed at over 10 different types including my favorite breadsticks. Other options include seafood, glutten free, international, dessert etc. They had 2 carved meat stations plus soup / salad, bread, international favorites, grill, and more every meal.
The washy washy crew singing and entertaining as you entered and the ice cream sundae cart the moved around the dining space were fun. Even if you don’t get the drink package, you will find juice, tea, lemonade, strawberry kiwi, and other free options at all meals. And while no cruise has particularly fabulous dessert options at the buffet, I was thrilled that they had 3-4 cookie choices each meal. I still can’t believe that Disney ONLY offers chocolate chip cookies, and hard ones at that.
My favorite was on the final day for dinner they had chocolate fountains – white chocolate and milk chocolate with lots of fruit and cake options for dipping with the help of the servers.
No Muster Station Drills
While I can’t speak to all ships at all ports, in Florida Royal Caribbean no longer makes you head to the annoying, hot, and frustrating Muster station drills. You will watch a safety video and check in with your assigned crew – DONE! While Disney did do this shortened drill during C-ovid times, they have gone back to the drills that cut into your vacation and make everyone feel like cattle being pushed together around the ship and up the stairs to make it up in time for the deck party.
Shows to WOW!
Don’t get me wrong, Disney has fabulous shows. Norweigan not so much. But Royal has a fantastic variety of shows to delight everyone. You will catch broadway productions with live music, comedy shows, and on many ships aerial Aquadome performances and ice skating marvels. They can do this by not assigning everyone to the same show on the same day, but will rather allow guests to reserve the show they please on the day they please, but only once. If you don’t secure a reservation you will have to wait standby and hope you get in. Typically people did get in, but with seconds to spare and in undesired locations.
Pickle Ball
I dont’ understand why Disney hasn’t come up with an option for guests wanting to join the pickleball craze, but they haven’t. Royal on the other hand has equipment and daily designated times on the courts for pickle ball lovers of all ages.
Clean and Widely Available Public Restrooms
Disney does have VERY clean restrooms. But they tend to only have 2-3 stalls and are always crowded with lines, especially around the dining rooms. Royal Caribbean’s new ships have a plethora of clean bathrooms with 6 or so stall. You would be hard pressed to not find a close bathroom. In the 7 days we were on the Icon of the Seas, not once did I wait for a bathroom. And as a family of 8 with small children, we visited them a lot!
So is everything about a Royal Caribbean vacation better? No. But they sure do have some great things about their fleet, itinerary, and offerings. Leave me a comment and tell me some of the reasons you are Loyal to Royal!
Is Disney Cruise Worth the Money? Don’t miss what Disney Cruises does better than Royal Caribbean!
