I have to begin by saying that our first cruise ever was on RC's Oasis of the Seas. We compare everything to that. My husband and I were on the Disney cruise with our son and his two young sons (aged 4 and 7) I had bragged about how quick the embarkation would be based on our experience on 2 RC cruises. We arrived a half hour or so ahead of the assigned time. It was awful. There were long lines, we were in one room with no food or entertainment for the children, We boarded an hour and a half after the assigned time. We went almost immediately to the water slide and children's pool area. Of course, there was a 30 minute wait for the water slide. The big surprise was that there were only two overcrowded pools for the children. There was another small water slide for the younger children with an attendant at the bottom but nobody at the top to look after the children who were sometimes confused about when it was their turn. there were many small crashes and tears. The children's area was always overcrowded.

My travel agent had told me that some adults booked the Disney cruises. There was a large adults only area with pools, saunas and plenty of room. There were also a number of bars and "nightclubs" for adults only.

The eating venues were imaginative and changed nightly. The same servers (unfortunately) were with us every time. We were always the first to be seated and almost the last to be served although we made no special demands. Several times, one of my grandsons was ignored and we had to run after the waiter to place his order. Our waiter should not have been on the dinner time service. Read more