Alaska Cruise Advice

[AC168]

For a family of four with parents, a 20 yo and a 10 yo, would you recommend the Disney Cruise Line event though it costs more than double what other cruise lines charge? The 20 year old has been to Alaska on a Princess cruise before and is happy to go again. The 10 year old boy is the one I wonder about in terms of Disney making it more fun for him than one of the other cruise lines ...

I'm planning to stay in a 2-bedroom with 1 or 2 bathrooms with balcony and the price differential between DCL and the others is quite large. Thanks for any advice!

Also, I'm thinking 7 day or 10 day ... any thoughts are much appreciated!

 

[Anna131517]

Actually price it out, based on what itinerary you want and what time of year you want to go. People always say DCL is twice as much but that hasn’t been our experience in actually pricing out cruises. Also, do you really need 2 rooms? DCL’s rooms are so large! Especially if you get a 5-person room with a pull down Murphy bed. You might want two connecting rooms on another line because rooms on other cruise lines tend to be smaller.

Disney offers round trip cruises. Is that what you want or do you want a land package on one end of your cruise to see interior Alaska? Princess and Holland America are really good for that.

What ports do you want to go to? Actually watch YouTube videos of the various ports because not all cruise ships go to the same Alaskan ports.

We cruised NCL to Alaska because we wanted a one-way itinerary so we could see some of interior Alaska. We also wanted to go to Glacier Bay, and only Holland American, Princess, and NCL go there. We had cruised NCL several times in other places so we had a higher loyalty status, as did the people we were traveling with. We did not like the actual cruise ship - poor service and food, smaller rooms (we had 2 connecting because were a family of 5), not the best food, but we went to Alaska for Alaska, not the ship. And we loved the ports and intinerary that our cruise offered - inside passage, Juneau, Ketchikan, Skagway, glacier bay, Hubbard glacier, start in Vancouver and end in Seward. We were also cruising with extended family. If we go back with just us, not extended family, we’ll try to do DCL since we haven’t been to some of those ports and we love DCL for its entertainment, service, and other rooms.

 

[BarlowFamily]

We loved our Disney Alaska Cruise with our 8-year-old. Out of 5 cruises, he spent the least amount of time in the kids club though. I'd probably go with Holland America if we were to do another Alaska cruise. Unless you have another cruise booked before their 11th birthday, this will be the last cruise for the 10-year-old to enjoy the lab and club. They move up to edge next. If the 10-year-old loves the club and lab maybe give them one last hurrah (although there are open house hours when they age up) and if the 10-year-old old feels "too old" for those clubs then definitely go with a different cruise line. Alaska is pricey. The cruise is expensive. The excursions are expensive. It sure is beautiful though.

 

[happycamper47]

We've done DCL and NCL to AK with grandkids and their parents and they said that they enjoyed both equally. The exception for everybody was the NCL stop in Ketchikan, (Ward's Cove) which is their private pier roughly 20 minutes from town. They do provide buses, but it still adds a bit of a "rush" getting to and from town. What we saw as the advantage with NCL was the fact that you don't need to go to Vancouver with the higher hotel and airfare costs

 

[o&smom]

You said you are staying in a two bedroom with one or two bathrooms. So are you looking at concierge on Disney. That is the only place to get two bedrooms, and I think that has three bathrooms. Are you aware that Disney has split bathrooms in most of its staterooms? One room has a sink and toilet and one has a shower/(tub in some) and a sink. It really works well for families. We last cruised with DS 20 and DD 13 in one room. We have only cruised once in connecting rooms and once in a one bedroom concierge. We are never in our room, so it has worked fine for us. Enjoy your cruise and your time with your family.

 

[tvguy]

I would at least look at HAL. They are the most experienced cruise line going to Alaska. They have the best docking locations and permits to visit glaciers and the best Naturalists on board. I guess it just depends what your priority is, Disney, or Alaska.

 

[AC168]

Thanks for all the great advice! Would you do 7 or 10 day? One way or round trip? Thanks!

 

[Chemist]

We did Princess to Alaska because it was SO much cheaper than Disney, (Whole trip, including airline tickets and very expensive excursions was cheaper than just a verandah stateroom on Disney.)

That being said... Our 11 year old son had problems finding other kids his age to play with and and got bored.

There was also a distinct lack of family activities to do together.

We are not sailing Princess again with the kids.

However, we wouldn't have done Disney to Alaska, just too much money.

 

[Intr3pid]

With kids, do a roundtrip Disney cruise out of Vancouver.

Vancouver is an amazing city to pair with your cruise. And after a couple of hours of seeing the mountains, your kids will want to know what else is there to do.

 

[sponica]

Thanks for all the great advice! Would you do 7 or 10 day? One way or round trip? Thanks!

Just from a how far I have to travel, I would go as long as my bank account could afford.

 

[DCLMP]

We've done DCL and NCL to AK with grandkids and their parents and they said that they enjoyed both equally. The exception for everybody was the NCL stop in Ketchikan, (Ward's Cove) which is their private pier roughly 20 minutes from town. They do provide buses, but it still adds a bit of a "rush" getting to and from town. What we saw as the advantage with NCL was the fact that you don't need to go to Vancouver with the higher hotel and airfare costs

In Juneau on Dcl we were at the dock that requires a bus. I think it's the luck of the draw depending on how many ships are in port that day.

 

[DCLMP]

We did Princess to Alaska because it was SO much cheaper than Disney, (Whole trip, including airline tickets and very expensive excursions was cheaper than just a verandah stateroom on Disney.)

That being said... Our 11 year old son had problems finding other kids his age to play with and and got bored.

There was also a distinct lack of family activities to do together.

We are not sailing Princess again with the kids.

However, we wouldn't have done Disney to Alaska, just too much money.

I've done Disney a couple of time in Alaska, but I'm fine with an inside room. The cost was in my range.

 

[holula]

In Juneau on Dcl we were at the dock that requires a bus. I think it's the luck of the draw depending on how many ships are in port that day.

If it’s the same dock we docked at in Juneau (AJ Dock) then you can walk or do a bus. Its just not right in town like Princess/Royal were.

Ward’s Cove is not at all walkable.

 

[DCLMP]

If it’s the same dock we docked at in Juneau (AJ Dock) then you can walk or do a bus. Its just not right in town like Princess/Royal were.

Ward’s Cove is not at all walkable.

Do they dock there every time? I don't think I would make a cruise decision based on where a ship docks. In icy point there is a dock that requires a bus or long walk too.

 

[holula]

Do they dock there every time? I don't think I would make a cruise decision based on where a ship docks. In icy point there is a dock that requires a bus or long walk too.

I am pretty sure NCL always dock at Ward’s Cove, I did look at their itineraries but it seemed like all the 7 night itineraries that I looked at have very short port times in Ketchikan. That plus a bus made it a no for me. Disney has docked right in Ketchikan both times I’ve been there and you’re right in town.

I’ve not been to ISP.

 

[MomOTwins]

We did Princess to Alaska because it was SO much cheaper than Disney, (Whole trip, including airline tickets and very expensive excursions was cheaper than just a verandah stateroom on Disney.)

That being said... Our 11 year old son had problems finding other kids his age to play with and and got bored.

There was also a distinct lack of family activities to do together.

We are not sailing Princess again with the kids.

However, we wouldn't have done Disney to Alaska, just too much money.

This was pretty much the same as our experience when we sailed on princess when our boys were 10 and 7. They called the kids club "kid jail" and it kind of was--nobody wanted to spend time there, and we were all bored on the sea days and in the evenings because there were very few family friendly activities/entertainment around the ship. It felt like 90% of the "activities" revolved around alcohol, casino, shopping, and weird "medi-spa" or weight loss scams, with only one or two family activities each day like trivia, karaoke or games that were always massively overcrowded because every single family with kids on the ship beelined to that activity.

The one thing I will add is we could have had connecting oceanview rooms on Disney for about the same price as the connecting verandah rooms we got on Princess. I wish we had done that as we would have gotten a lot more enjoyment out of the disney family activities, shows, and ship amenities than we got out of our verandahs.

 

[tidefan]

This was pretty much the same as our experience when we sailed on princess when our boys were 10 and 7. They called the kids club "kid jail" and it kind of was--nobody wanted to spend time there, and we were all bored on the sea days and in the evenings because there were very few family friendly activities/entertainment around the ship. It felt like 90% of the "activities" revolved around alcohol, casino, shopping, and weird "medi-spa" or weight loss scams, with only one or two family activities each day like trivia, karaoke or games that were always massively overcrowded because every single family with kids on the ship beelined to that activity.

The one thing I will add is we could have had connecting oceanview rooms on Disney for about the same price as the connecting verandah rooms we got on Princess. I wish we had done that as we would have gotten a lot more enjoyment out of the disney family activities, shows, and ship amenities than we got out of our verandahs.

Dissenting opinion. Our Teen (at the time) actually liked Princess more than our DCL Wonder cruise to Alaska (full disclosure, we loved that cruise as well!). Princess Teen club had its own hot tub and dedicated deck area attached to the teen area. Said that the group on that cruise was the best on any of her cruises.

So... it may just be luck of the draw. Princess will be a very different experience, though, between the different ship classes. I would stick with a Royal class ship instead of a Grand class ship. They will be very different. Also, it may be that there are more "teen" kids than kids in the 3-12 range, but we certainly saw them on our sailing.

All this said, now that DD is in the early 20's, we'll be going back to Alaska in 2026 on our new favorite line, Virgin Voyages!

 

[DCLMP]

Dissenting opinion. Our Teen (at the time) actually liked Princess more than our DCL Wonder cruise to Alaska (full disclosure, we loved that cruise as well!). Princess Teen club had its own hot tub and dedicated deck area attached to the teen area. Said that the group on that cruise was the best on any of her cruises.

So... it may just be luck of the draw. Princess will be a very different experience, though, between the different ship classes. I would stick with a Royal class ship instead of a Grand class ship. They will be very different. Also, it may be that there are more "teen" kids than kids in the 3-12 range, but we certainly saw them on our sailing.

All this said, now that DD is in the early 20's, we'll be going back to Alaska in 2026 on our new favorite line, Virgin Voyages!

My son did about 25 cruises in the teens clubs and it really is the luck of the draw. Even more so with 18-20 club. One thing about DCL though there will usually be kids on the ship year round.

 

[Annabell]

With a 10 year old, I would choose DCL over the other lines. So much more fun to sail with Mickey in Alaska.

 

[ofcabbagesandkings]

Will your 10 year old still be 10 when you sail? 10 is now the age cut off for the kids clubs, if that impacts your decision at all. We just sailed on the Wish with an 11 year old who was not comfortable going to Edge (even with friends she knew in our group) and she was not allowed in Oceaneers despite turning 11 just the week before the cruise. It was sad because the younger kids could go and the older ones went to edge. That said, my son was 7 when we sailed to Alaska on the Wonder and he absolutely loved everything about it. With a smaller ship and less kids on board, he got so much attention from the characters that by the end of the week he felt like they were friends. They remembered his name and previous interactions in the clubs or at character meets. The Frozen show is great and Animator's Palate is fun for kids too. I would sail the Wonder again in a heartbeat.