Officially Cheating....and it feels good!

[Karlzmom]

After booking on opening day for 2016 I just flat decided to re-shop Alaska. At some point enough is just enough..so I decided to put down the Kool-Aid and back away.

I have now booked the grand family voyage -parents included, on the Celebrity Infinity, both in Concierge Aft Balcony Rooms for .....wait for it.... more than $4300 less than our 7A & 6A rooms once the OBC is taken into account. Yes, you read that right....$4300 less. For all the bells a whistles that come along with Concierge...add in the gratuites are all included as is a beverage package.....

No, we won't see Tracy Arm, we will go further north to Icy Point and Hubbard Glacier. But we will still go out of Vancouver, see Juneau and Ketchikan...oh, and get to go a week earlier in August. I thought I'd be more disappointed to cheat, but I'm really not. $4300 is a whole other vacation for pity's sake!

So, we will enjoy our goodbye to the Wonder in August 2015, at least until some balance comes back into pricing. If it doesn't, well there are new adventures to be had & I can smile knowing that I am not burning money just to cruise with a Mouse.

 

[bumbershoot]

I've been looking into Celebrity Solstice. I feel that the one we are looking at does hit Tracy, and it goes to Skagway, which we adored. This isn't instead of Disney (I could never pay what Disney wants and I have zero interest in Minnie-in-furs), but to do next year instead of Royal this year. Celebrity's smoking policy has officially hooked me (not indoors anywhere like Disney, AND they have a casino).

4300 less isn't chump change. It's another cruise for an average-sized nuclear family.

 

[Karlzmom]

I debated long and hard between solstice and infinity. I found tours on YouTube and infinity just felt more "us" if that makes sense? That and the appeal of seeing new places as it will be our third year in a row.......I don't think you can go wrong either way.

 

[DisneySisters]

We switched a few years ago on Alaska, mainly because, er, we had a couple DUIs in our large family group, and we were worried about getting into Canada, because I guess they can be strict. Anyway, we took Celebrity out of Seattle, and had the big Aft concierge suite. It was fine! It wasn't Disney, but it was fine, and we all had a good time. So, Karlzmom, good for you, have fun!

 

[darkwing818]

OP looks like you hit the lottery!! Hey $4.3K is a LOT of $$$'s!!!!!!!!
Enjoy your cruise...

 

[bond24seven]

My family was looking into an Alaska cruise. We have only sailed with Disney on a few other cruises in the past, and loved it.. We have only booked a balcony room. When we were looking into booking a Disney cruise to Alaska with a balcony, The price was 8000.00 for 3 people. Norwegian came out with a special 3rd and 4th cruise for free in the same stateroom, so we booked May 30 2015 with them for only 3035.00 for a balcony stateroom and the free ultimate dining package. We also were able to book an eight night vacation at Walt Disney World in October staying at Caribbean Beach Resort with free dining for 4700.00 for 5 people.
So now for about the same money, we will get 2 vacations this year!!

 

[jenny_nichole]

I did the same thing! I really wanted to move an OBB to an early June or late August cruise....and even those shoulder season cruises are more than I want to spend. So, I priced out Norwegian with their 3rd+ passengers sail free deal and was pleasantly surprised with their pricing. We are booked for an August 2016 cruise on the new Norwegian Escape in a FOV for 2 adults, 3 children for an 8 night Caribbean cruise for $3145(thru Costco)...this also includes free ultimate drink packages for dh and I and soda package for the kids. Pricing for the same week on the Fantasy in an 8C after OBB is $6693.....I love DCL but I just can't justify the price difference.

Thanks for sharing your decision to try another line. I wonder how many of us are going to do this b/c of huge price differences between DCL and other lines.

Jennifer

 

[iloverags2]

My mom sailed via Holland where they bypassed Tracy Arm and went to Hubbard Glacier instead...she absolutely LOVED it! You will not be disappointed.

We will officially be cheating on DCL as well...next summer. It will cost us half to sail the Caribbean, plus we can choose different ports which we have not seen yet. We haven't abandoned DCL by any means, but we are backing away from them outside of Bahamas jaunts. It's a shame really, but if I can squeeze out two vacations for the money spent then by all means I am doing so.

 

[tweis]

Congrats on all your savings OP! We too will be cheating on DCL next summer. We are going on RCL Allure of the Seas in an boardwalk balcony for $3500 where as an inside on DCL would've been $6600 for the same week. I'm happy to keep my 3K and book another vacation. We will be taking a short Dream cruise in December but I'm not sure after that.

 

[alldiz]

I will be doing a Princess Baltic cruise summer 2016.
I have sailed other lines and always have a great time!!
Happy sailing
Kerri

 

[jdb in AZ]

I don't consider it cheating, just good business sense. To the PP going to Icy Strait Point, they have a great whale watching excursion combined with bear watching in the wild. It was a nice change of pace from the usual ports that have several ships in port at the same time.

 

[NancyIL]

Good decision! Tracy Arm is a lovely fjord, but the Sawyer glaciers at the end are no comparison to Hubbard Glacier or Glacier Bay (on some other cruise lines).

 

[Love2Cruz]

Good decision. I am looking at the Celebrity Reflection for next year's Spring Break vacation....how do you feel Celebrity is with kids, I'll be going with my 6 y/o DD and am a bit concerned as I heard it's not very child friendly. It costs less than half than the Fantasy, with all the extra's you mentioned if we do Concierge.

 

[kstaack]

I'm thinking a Celebrity Alaska cruise will be in our future. I hear they are the most similar to disney in regards to design, quality, and service. I'm looking forward to being able to sail concierge with them since we are already used to the high disney prices other lines concierge will be a good value.

 

[ptcbass]

Yeah the Mickey goggles only work to a point and for that much savings I would have defiantly went with Celebrity! Enjoy your cruise - it sounds awesome!

 

[lucas]

Congratulations on your decision. Of course we love Disney, but we happen to also love Princess, sailing with them 8 times. You don't need to sail with Mickey to see Alaska - or any where else! DCL prices are out of control.

 

[tekaye]

We have officially decided that Disney will never take us to Alaska, sadly. It was our first choice but our budget told us no.

 

[NancyIL]

At the time of my first Disney cruise in January 2008, I had already sailed with Holland America, Royal Caribbean, and Princess. (I sailed with Celebrity the following year.) I have been on more Royal Caribbean cruises than any other, but I am not "loyal to Royal" - or any other cruise line. My upcoming Disney Transatlantic in May will be followed by cruises on Royal Caribbean (Oct. 2015), Princess (Feb. 2016), and Celebrity (Sept. 2016). I'll continue to choose cruises based on itinerary, price, and ship (usually in that order). If Disney has an itinerary I like at a price I'm willing to pay - I'll sail with the Mouse again. However, based on the prices of the summer 2016 cruises, including the Transatlantic, my May 2015 TA could be my last Disney cruise.

 

[jrabbit]

remember on Celebrity you won't be wearing shorts to the MDR's

 

[bumbershoot]

remember on Celebrity you won't be wearing shorts to the MDR's

Yay! Shorts on an Alaskan cruise...hmm.