My family and I have sailed on multiple ships and cruise lines, and the Disney cruises do not seem any more crowded than other family-friendly cruise lines. People often complain about the pools being super crowded on the Disney ships.  While it’s true that the swimming pools are small, my kids have always found space to swim and enjoy themselves onboard. I think when you see aerial views of the crowded pools, it sometimes looks worse than it feels when you are actually onboard the ship. If you go into the vacation assuming the pools will be crowded, you will feel a lot less shocked when you see so many other passengers at the pool. We like to go to the pools in the morning after breakfast to bypass the peak time at the pools. As far as the rest of the ship goes, the nightly shows may seem crowded until they open the doors for you to find your seats. Other than that, we have never found the hallways or main spaces to be super congested. I will note that we tend to take the stairs since the elevators can be difficult to snag, especially during peak times.