So here are some final thoughts on our cruise as I close this TR.
We came into cruising not knowing a ton (all knowledge was gained from the DisBoards, which of course is a wealth of information!) and what some friends had told us (those who had sailed
DCL and those who had not). We came on and compared it to travelling to all inclusives; I don't know if this is fair or not but it is what it is.
...
With the memories of a crappy disembarkation fading, the memories of all the wonderful experiences we had are still alive and well. So while we probably will never make it to Platinum on DCL, we will enjoy a second cruise in 2016 (and possibly a 3rd....if I book a $200 placeholder on board lol).
Thanks for reading!
I was away from the boards for the last little bit (tending to life & work matters). Today, I am being lazy so I read your full TR, and Conor commented on the photos.
(He was keen on all except anything with princesses or Frozen references...)
Your debarkation day sounds about 30,000 times worse than anything I've ever experienced. At PC 3 times, the line ups to get off the ship were there but manageable, plus we had had our coffee & breakfast (though, fair confession, I will note we avoid the MDRs like the plague the last morning, preferring to order breakfast-y stuff the night before from room service, as it keeps the morning a bit more calm...) Customs was in the port, and again, other than line-ups, reasonable painless.
At Canada Place, it was more waiting inside (for your tag to be called) and a bit more of the line confusion than at PC, but nothing like what you described. Customs was hysterically quick- a short glance at our card and we were waved through.
We decided to do an all-inclusive this year for our winter trip, largely because of the horrid Canadian dollar. I'll be interesting to see how it goes in comparison to our unplanned cruise-a-thon in 2014/2015.
However, Alaska was outstanding for us- by far our best cruising experience. It's what you said plus, well, incredible scenery, super-nice people, and a huge wow factor.
Oh, and I love your "I will not dress up" child. I have a dress-up child, but he has many other things he WILL NOT DO (when he saw your photos of Ferris wheels and roller coasters, we got the " I am NOT going on those" statement). And right now, he's having a grand old time playing with the calculator mode of my handed-down ipod touch. Here's to not producing sheep.
Tx for your TR!