Same opinion on the Disney operation. Unlike the world at the theme parks (where children are found just about everywhere, even at the ultimate high end restaurants (like the California Grill, or the Artist's Point), children are mostly walled off on a Disney boat. Unless you gravitated to the family pools (2 to one adult), the only time you saw the kids was when they were lined up to meet a princess (lotsa that, keeping the kids very occupied all of the time)
Seating at the meals is "segregated" so that the families with the small 'uns are seated separately from those with mature children, and both are segregated from the adult crowd.
Our table was quite interesting. We were seated with a group from Texas (not hard to understand, as we departed from Texas), with a business man (and his fiftyish (and smokin' hot) Baptist girlfriend, whose church employers apparently had no problems with her sharing a cabin with an unmarried man, since she got calls from them all of the time) and a government employee and his wife. We all melded quite well at the dinner table, and we had some additional interactions (mostly unsought) during the rest of the cruise.
On the shore expeditions (at least the two that we took) the families were otherwise occupied, so children were not a factor there. It shocked the hell out of me how that happened, but that's the way that it was.
On-board entertainment was similarly set up so that the "non-captive" shows (i.e., those where there was not a compelling stage show holding the attention of all) for the kids were separate. They had their own vast areas of the ship, full of kid-centric activities and a massive counselor to children ratio. Another area on the boat was set aside for intensive caretaking of very young children, with an even higher ratio of staff.
In summary, unless we frequented the upper deck snack bar areas during the day, we seldom saw children (other than those patiently waiting in the lines to meet Snow White). Hard to believe, but completely true.
The ship itself was first rate, at least compared to my prior experience. First, my contrasting experience with Cunard, a first class operation when I worked for them:
I spent a season on the old Cunarder, the Countess, as we worked our way down to Caracas, then up the Windwards to the Virgins, and then back to Puerto Rico. While a "modern" boat (dating to perhaps the early 1960s), she was no picnic in a decent seaway. And, she was one cramped mess, both in the public spaces, and in the hotel crew quarters. Later, with a prior wife, I sailed on her as a passenger, and the cabin (while better than what I had to endure as a member of the hotel staff) wasn't anything to write home about. The food was abysmal, the outdoor rec spaces were limited to sunning, bathing in the pool (none for the crew, though), and watching the sky and sea roll by. The library was laughable, and the shore visits (while more interesting that what we saw on the Disney operation) were bland and very "history oriented".
The Disney boat (the Wonder, one of four that they were operating at the time) was (above all) spacious. Our cabin, near the bottom of the cost tier, was roomy for a bargain such as it was. An adequate king-side bed, large veranda, sitting area with sofa and chairs, separate bathing/toilet areas and a wash station - at least double the size of the cabin (high tier) that I occupied on the Countess when I rode as a passenger.
Disney has accomplished this by, above all, a massive increase in size. I've got a book around here somewhere that lists the gross and deadweight tonnage (they are different figures, figured differently) for all ships launched after 1900 and up through 2005. I don't think that the Wonder made the cut, but I would estimate that she was easily five times the size of the old Countess. More space translates to more facilities, and Disney crams them in with a vengeance.
First, the important stuff. The Wonder rode like a dream, with zero pitch and roll, and only a slight amount of yaw (which was more noticeable where we were in the ship - nothing that would make you seasick or anything like that. Even though a Diesel boat (the Countess being steam turbine), she was vibration free, even low down in the back of the ship by the screws. This was done by having the Diesels on vibration rafts, and the motors that drove the props isolated in pods outside of the hull. If the Countess were a land vehicle, she would have been a city bus; the Wonder a luxury sedan.
A massive live theater (but without a pit or a live orchestra), where theatrical performances equal to the Broadway touring operations I have worked were put on nightly. A massive movie theater where movies (Disney ones for the most part) were continuously shown during the cruise. At least ten different night clubs/comedy clubs/dance clubs, all scattered along one of the lower decks. They even varied the content, so that an excellent ventriloquist would work family shows on some nights, and then do "blue" on others.
The hotel service on both ships was impeccable, but the food on the Wonder was several magnitudes better than on the Countess, and she was considered to be one of the better cruise liners back in the day. As a more modern ship, the Wonder offered a few more options in the food department. Our ship had a "reservations/adults only" Italian restaurant that was first rate, equal to any other Italian operation at which I have eaten (and I hail from Saint Louis, which used to be crammed with excellent Italian facilities).
One new (for me) wrinkle was the constant availability of non-alcoholic beverages and food. On the Cunard Line, the way that they got you was to charge for everything not in the bare-bones, basic meal plan.
Want something other than coffee, water or tea? (I hate coffee and tea, and the water on the Countess was nasty.) Sure, we'll bill you for it. Booze? Same only at a higher rate. Snacks? Sign here, we'll put it on your tab. I don't drink at all, but my week's drink tab when cruising as a passenger totaled up to over $100, and this was in the early 1970s.
Not so on Disney. The food was all free, part of the meal plan, including room service - all of it. (The only charge area was the separate Italian place, set up on a deck above the rest of the ship with a spectacular view.) Soda, lemonade, limeade, fruit juices, milk shakes (in short, all non-alcoholic beverages) and ice cream (real ice cream) sundaes, and sandwiches, and pizza - all of it free, and all available 24 hours a day. (Tipping, of course, was extra.)
And, the hot dogs that they served were great. (And, they would grill the buns in butter if I asked them to do so.)
The service, as I mentioned, was first rate. But, the Disney boat was cleaner (and more modern, but you would expect that as it was thirty five or so years younger), the attention to contagious disease was rigorous (hand sanitizer when moving into meal areas, both passenger rooms and public rooms completely sanitized every day), and the staff (more international than back in the 1960, with a lot of folks from the former eastern block countries) was every bit as good as the fabled stiff upper lip British folks (actually, quite a few weren't British, but never mind) that Cunard fielded.
In short, Disney does the same here as they do at their theme parks world-wide, only with more attention to segregation of the kids from the adults. If you go on a boat for a swinger experience, or a nudist experience, or a young couples only experience, or an over 65 experience, you will probably get a slightly more "exclusive" trip but of much lower overall quality. On a Disney boat, you will share it with some non-adults, but they will be kept separate from you almost all of the time, and it will be a gold-plated operation, with no cut corners.
And, you can still drink yourself into a stupor if you want. One of the features of the adults-only pool was a pair of stainless steel hot tubs (which promptly emptied themselves every night at 12:00 midnight ship time - it was weird as hell when it happened). Invariably, as we wound down at the end of the evening by soaking in one of them, some drunken woman would show up and climb in, fully clothed. If they can do it, so can you...
