Royal with little kids?

[DizneyLizzy]

We are thinking of skipping WDW in summer 2020 to let the Galaxy's Edge crowds filter through for a year before we venture back. We are a family of teachers, and are DVC members, so we travel in the summer and plan our trips over a year out. Initially we thought we'd try a Disney cruise in June or August 2020, but then I saw the prices. YIKES! Hard pass. Our kids will be 3 1/2 and 6 1/2 in June 2020. We figured they'd be good ages for a Disney Cruise. What about Royal? How did your pre-schoolers/grade schoolers like Royal? It seems like we can get a lot more for our money on a 4 night cruise on Royal than Disney. And if we really felt like we were missing Disney, we could hit WDW for a day or two after the cruise and still come out paying less than we would have for a 4 or 5 night Disney cruise.

 

[ubish00]

I've been taking my niece on an annual cruise since she was two. We did Disney (ages 2-4) and Royal (ages 5-7). She's enjoyed them all and we'll continue to do both. She's asking to go on a Disney cruise (even though she's outgrown the princesses she still like Mickey and Minnie) how ever I think at this stage of her life she might be a bit bored as they do not have all the outdoor activities (trampolines, water slides,rock climbing wall etc) that she's now used to. I'm sure your kids will love Royal as long as you choose a ship that has a great kids pool/splash pad area.

 

[starvenger]

My kids love Royal. They loved DCL as well so perhaps they're not picky, but they are quite social so I suppose either kids club environment suits them well as they make friends easily, and if they don't, then they're fine doing their own thing.

In any event Royal - in theory - splits their Adventure Ocean club into three age groups - 3-5, 6-8 and 9-11, with 12-18 going to the tween/teen club. I feel like the larger ships like Oasis and Quantum can keep these age divisions. On some of the other ships, there seems to be more merging of the groups if there aren't as many kids going. So you could see that on a 4-nighter. I'll know for sure come next Jan when I'm on Independence.

Regardless, I think your kids will have a good time at the clubs. And if they don't, there is quite a few other things to do on a ship - all you really lose is some "me" time.