My thoughts having been on many Disney cruises

Full Disclosure: my wife is a travel agent who specializes in Disney.

Disney is very well-suited for families with children and Disney fans. Rather than a casino, Disney dedicates half a deck to kids clubs focused on the 4-12 age set. Our kids loved the clubs so much they would beg not to leave for dinner and shows with us.

Disney also has kids' clubs for the 12-14 and 15-17 age brackets that are generally well-attended.

For dining, Disney focuses heavily on the "main" dining rooms. Each dining room has its own theme and your servers rotate with you throughout the cruise. Unlike other lines, Disney does not do much specialty dining, aside from 2 18+ restaurants (Palo (Italian) and Remy (French) that are excellent. I put Remy up there with land-based 4* fine dining restaurants.

Part of your premium is Disney's focus on service. We've found the customer service, cleanliness, and onboard ship quality to be significantly better than other lines, despite every cruise being upwards of 40-50% kids.

What itinerary are you looking at and cabin type? $6,500 for a family of 4 for a 6 day cruise is a good price for a Disney cruise, which is probably due to the January timing.

For older families or those who are not Disney fans, I agree it becomes more difficult to justify Disney's premium vs. Royal Caribbean or Celebrity. I do not consider Carnival to be in the same demographic, although they're trying to be with their new ships.