Alaska...DCL versus other cruise lines

[AquaDame]

I guess I should have checked here first ... we just booked a 2018 Alaska Cruise with DCL. Now having buyer's remorse.

Hey, I don't mean to be a downer! We really loved cruising with DCL too, its just that the glacier they go to isn't "the best". I don't regret sailing on them first one whit.

 

[Dug720]

Yup, exactly. Therein lies the problem and the remorse.

Oh... You booked concierge. Got it.

 

[jdg345]

Hey, I don't mean to be a downer! We really loved cruising with DCL too, its just that the glacier they go to isn't "the best". I don't regret sailing on them first one whit.

We did the 9-day thinking that we would get the better "Glacier Visit" ... for some reason, Glacier Bay didn't trigger in ours heads -- we just assumed it was part of the itinerary.

 

[Geomom]

I guess I should have checked here first ... we just booked a 2018 Alaska Cruise with DCL. Now having buyer's remorse.

We did DCL last year for our Alaska cruise. It was our first ever cruise, and really the only way to get us to go on a cruise was with Disney--DH has NO plans to cruise with anyone else. We LOVE Disney, so it was a perfect match for us. We loved the shows, movies, all the character interaction, and everyone was so friendly on board.

If you haven't looked at my trip report, take a look at all the pics we took. The Wonder has been completely redone since we went, but you can see some of the things we did on and off the ship.

 

[Dug720]

Hey, I don't mean to be a downer! We really loved cruising with DCL too, its just that the glacier they go to isn't "the best". I don't regret sailing on them first one whit.

But OTOH, RCCL can miss Hubbard Glacier on the Radiance southbound route if an accident shuts down the road between Anchorage and Seward. And HAL (or the other Glacier Bay lines) can have major fog on Glacier Bay day.

No guarantees of seeing really anything in Alaska. LOL.

 

[jdg345]

We did DCL last year for our Alaska cruise. It was our first ever cruise, and really the only way to get us to go on a cruise was with Disney--DH has NO plans to cruise with anyone else. We LOVE Disney, so it was a perfect match for us. We loved the shows, movies, all the character interaction, and everyone was so friendly on board.

If you haven't looked at my trip report, take a look at all the pics we took. The Wonder has been completely redone since we went, but you can see some of the things we did on and off the ship.

Thank you! Will take a look at the TR.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

No guarantees of seeing really anything in Alaska. LOL.

That's true of any cruise - there's no guarantee you'll make it into any ports on any cruise.

 

[cruisehopeful]

We did the 9-day thinking that we would get the better "Glacier Visit" ... for some reason, Glacier Bay didn't trigger in ours heads -- we just assumed it was part of the itinerary.

That itinerary looks spectacular to me. I am currently booked on it, but may change to Princess for Glacier Bay because I've already been on 2 DCL Alaska cruises. The DCL cruises are really great and that 9 night itinerary looks really good to me after comparing many different itineraries on many different cruise lines. I think you will love it.

If you are truly having regrets about not visiting Glacier Bay (you will read from many people who say you have to go there and many other people who will say that a Glacier is a Glacier and it doesn't matter if you miss it), is there a different Disney cruise you'd want to take at a different time of year? I know you cannot get a refund on concierge, but you can use that money to switch to a different cruise, even if the other sailing is not concierge. Just another thought if you are considering another cruise with Disney or even if you decide to take a quick weekend getaway with them.

 

[OrcaPotter]

I did my first Alaskan cruise on DCL back in 2013 and do not regret it one bit. It made me fall in love with the state and vow to go back. That being said, though, unless DCL changes up their itinerary, I'll have to use a different line so I can see more and different things. The state is too gorgeous to limit myself to the same itinerary again, as much as I love the ship.

I just checked what this and next year's prices are compared to what I think I paid in 2013, and for the same stateroom for the same # of people sailing the same date, is nearly $2K+ more. As it is, it's becoming harder to afford the typical Caribbean sailings out of Florida where I live. My family is trying the Oasis of the Seas this summer because it was substantially cheaper than DCL. I'm dying to do DCL for Europe, but coupled with the cost of travel I'm not sure when that'll happen.

I bleed Disney, but at the same time I want to travel. When I can afford DIsney I don't hesitate, but it's also not the be all end all for me.

 

[Broncho]

Anyone do Alaska with kids under 10? We have two boys, 6 and 9 right now, and are thinking about an Alaskan cruise. We love the Disney cruises and have been on two in the Caribbean. Our concern with an Alaskan cruise is that while we might be content to sit and watch the scenery go by for large stretches of time, the boys won't. On Disney we know they'll have fun in the clubs but having not been on another line we are concerned about there being enough things to keep them entertained on sea days.

 

[xlxo]

Been to Glacier Bay.... been to see Sawyer....

• some say a visit to Alaska would not be complete until you meet a glacier.
• seeing a glacier's indescribable blue with your own eyes does not justify the videos and pictures I have seen.
• Glacier Bay feels like it surrounds the ship. Sawyer is so tiny. Going to see Sawyer feels like you are going to see glacial extinction! The glacier has retreated 31 miles up the arm. Pixie dust did not make Sawyer look bigger.

 

[lovetotraveltx]

I have an Alaskan cruise booked for summer 2018 with DCL. Full disclosure, my husband and I (no kids) are big Disney fans and we've only sailed with DCL. I have no desire to cruise with any other line and if DCL didn't have a line, I doubt we would ever go on another cruise.

That being said, I did my research because most people will recommend another line for Alaska. Even now, I just went and looked up HAL again to see their itineraries, and every time I look, the ships just seem so old and run down to me. The rooms are nothing special and look old. I'm not into fancy dining or dining rooms or casinos.

So for me, DCL was the right choice, and we don't even have kids.

The thing is with Alaska it's not about the ships or the pixie dust it's really about alaska. I really wanted a one way trip so we can tour on land and see interior alaska, Disney only does roundtrip vancouver. I also liked the itineraries, the rangers on board at the glacier... We did celebrity. I love Disney and am doing it again in September but for some Itineraries, I would go another way.

 

[TinkerbellLuvr7]

We just booked Alaska on June 16th, 2018 on Golden Princess. I just returned from my 3rd Disney cruise yesterday and although I will miss the familiarity of DCL, we are looking forward to traveling on a longer cruise (I've only done 3 and 4 nights.) and to visit new places of the world. Because of Glacier Bay and lower costs, we decided to go with Princess. It seemed to check off all of our wants/needs boxes. Besides the fact that it's not DCL, I've only had a verandah when cruised and we are booked in 3 inside staterooms instead of me having to share with my other family members so that will take some getting used to!

 

[TinkerbellLuvr7]

We are also looking into cruising AK in 2018 but will likely go with Princess for a couple of reasons:
1) They have itineraries that leave out of Seattle (where we're from, so no additional transportation)
2) Significantly less is $$. For 3 adults and 2 kids we would book adjoining mini-suites with balconies and for the 2 rooms it was still way less than the family verandah rooms on DCL.
3) My kids will be 14 and 12--the last time we cruised DCL, they have had NO desire to be in the Edge club at all. They are happy hanging out at the pool or just exploring the ship with their parents (aren't we just so lucky). So no real need for the kids club on this cruise.
4) Glacier Bay!!
5) My parents are as high up in the Princess cruise tier as you can get (I've only cruised with them once); they'd likely go and we'd have them book all our rooms and we'd be under their reservation, giving us all the benefits that go with that (this is not a real reason to go with Princess over DCL as we'd book even without the folks going).

I just can't get past how much the AK cruises are on DCL! It makes those European cruises oh so much more tempting (and an easier argument to present to DH on why we should do Europe instead)!

We are on the June 16th out of Vancouver...if you decide on that one, we should set up a Fish Extender group! hehehehehe

 

[jlmarr]

We had a great time on the Royal Caribbean Radiance, and especially the land tour afterwards. We bussed from Seward to Anchorage, flew to Fairbanks, then bus and (mostly) train travel from there back to Anchorage. RCI and a couple of the other cruise lines have private cars that they attach the the Alaskan Railway trains. Overnight stays in Fairbanks, Denali, and Talkeetna.

 

[DisneySince1967]

We're planning an Alaskan cruise in 2018 and, after looking at itineraries, will go with RC. DCL's itinerary just didn't match what we wanted.

 

[Shanti]

We're sailing the 9-night Alaskan on DCL in 2018. My young son and I love Disney and wouldn't enjoy the cruise as much on another line. Looking forward to seeing the Hubbard Glacier.

 

[owensamo]

After 11 DCL cruises, and having booked 1 RCL and 2 Celebrity cruises before cancelling (all in favor of either DCL or WDW) - we finally sailed Celebrity on a Nortbound itinerary last summer. Alaska is beautiful, and in my opinion, more amazing than the ship - and since we weren't on a DCL ship, I think we enjoyed the ports and the scenery that much more because we weren't worries about missing something on the ship itself! Alaska is very port-intensive, and while we've done other port-intensive cruises on DCL (12n Baltic), there was often still the "have to get back in time for dinner/show/etc" feeling when in port - that wasn't a problem on X because for us, on this cruise, dining was less important! No shows during dinner, anytime seating so servers wouldn't miss us, and a buffet open for dinner - where we ate most evenings. Some shows were fine, but since they weren't Disney, we didn't feel like we had to see them. Instead, most nights we sat in the sky lounge watching the scenery go by and enjoying the events.

Since it was a summer cruise, there were a fair number of kids, but we didn't see them because they seemed to spend their time in the fun factory. The tweens/teens were more visible (teen club isn't very big on the Millenium) but had their own events and honestly didn't really cause problems in general. Service and food were very similar to DCL (one of the reasons we chose X) and the itinerary and price were much better as well. We wanted to add some time in Anchorage/Denali, so a one-way cruise fit our plans perfectly, and went to some ports DCL doesn't usually stop at - Icy Strait Point was probably our favorite port.

I would love to cruise Alaska again, but it probably won't be DCL unless they start doing one-way itineraries. We liked Celebrity so much for such a port-intensive cruise that we have another booked in the Med (though we do have another DCL cruise booked as well). I feel at home on DCL cruises, but would not hesitate to book RCL/Celebrity if they have a port-intensive itinerary we want, especially when they both book for less than DCL!

 

[soniam]

I too am curious about what the other cruise lines offer in Alaska for kids. I guess it would be tween or teen by the time we do it though. We have done RCCL, but DS was 4. I have been thinking RCCL, since we have some prior sailings with them for the loyalty program. Plus, I really want to do the one way with land and sea. I think we would miss the movie theater a lot in Alaska. Has RCCL been using their ships with movie theaters yet in Alaska? Any feedback on HAL, NCL, or Princess as far as tween/teen activities? Thanks

 

[2manyx2count]

Our dcl cruise to Alaska was our best of 12 cruises. It was our 10th DCL cruise. We took our 3 and 8 year old kids. They had a blast and we had a blast. We have gone on NCL for a med cruise and Bermuda and had a great time on both. This time I think we wanted the Disney experience as much as the Alaska experience. I will say that going out of Vancouver was a plus. Also, captain Gus was amazing on the cruise. His narration of the trip was exceptional and nothing like we have experienced on other sailings. We hadn't been to Alaska before, so we didn't know any better about missing out on Glacier Bay.

We went earlier in the season, had an onboard booking and booked opening day. We sailed a lower category than we usually do. These all helped keep the price down.