Our first cruise in 2006 was on the Disney Magic. Our son was 14 at the time, and he quickly became bored with the teen activities. Don't get me wrong...he still had a great time. He just hung out more with my wife and I, which is cool because we really enjoy his company and sense of humor. His young mind has an interesting slant to it.  We sailed this past year with RCI on the Explorer of the Seas, and for him there seemed to be far more to do for teens. When asked which cruise ship he enjoyed more the EOS won by a landslide.
Somebody mentioned Disney's island, Castaway Cay. We ALL agreed that Castaway Cay was head and shoulders above Labadee. 
We found the food and the service to be comparable between the two cruise lines. The shows were far superior on Disney, and the first run movies on the Magic were very cool.
All of this leaves me with the opinion that for families with young ones, Disney is well worth the extra dinero. For us and and our current life situation, RCI was a better fit. Money does play a role in the decision, and certainly did when deciding between RCI and Disney for our second cruise. For similar itineraries RCI was roughly $1,000 less than Disney. That was 1,000 little hash marks in RCI's "pros" column, or that many in "cons" for Disney. |