We’ve done Royal Caribbean cruises in Europe and Western Caribbean. We absolutely loved them (we were in our 20s and 30s).
There’s a website called Cruise Critic that has great port reviews and you can join their message board to see experiences of shore excursions and look at where you can arrange your own. Definitely look at arranging your own in the Caribbean. We did a snorkelling one where we fed stingrays. The cruise arranged excursion was rammed wit people all vying for space. We did one with 3 other couples and it was so relaxed and fun.
The ships are extremely large and full of entertainment. They have a deck for kids clubs (normally up near the pool decks). There are basketball courts, table tennis, rock climbing walls and a flow rider surf machine. So much for children to keep them entertained during days at sea.
Every day you’ll get a cruise compass newsletter with all the information of events, docking and activities so you can plan ahead.
The buffet will be open as soon as you board on your first day. We used to grab a cruise compass from the reception desk, head up to get some food and take a look at what was going on before heading out to explore.
There are free ice cream dispensers up on the pool deck, so don’t feel you need to pay for the Ben and Jerry’s for the kids.
There’s an adults only pool area (normally called the Solarium) which fills up fast but is lovely if you have a kid free moment.
There are 2 performance’s of each evening show in the main theatre depending on your dinner sitting. It’s normally a good mix of shows, magicians or musicians so you can pick and choose what you feel like.
If your ship has an ice rink they do a show there which you need to request tickets for. It’s well worth going to this. They also do free skate time so take jeans/warmer clothes if you want to do this.
All the shops are priced in US dollars so be ready to convert prices to see if it’s worth the price!
Take a US plug converter as all the plug sockets are 2 pin ones.
At dinner in the main dining room, if you love something and want more, just ask. They will normally bring you another if possible (especially if you’re eating in the later sitting). You can also look at your allocated dining table on the first day. If you’re on a big table and you’d rather a smaller, you can request a change with the Maitre’d and they will try to accommodate you.
Final thought: if you’re not back to the ship on time after a day in port, it will leave without you! (Only exception is if your ship arranged excursion gets delayed they may wait or arrange to transport you to the next port to catch up). So get back in plenty of time.