Alaska & Disneyland?????

[BosMan]

Thinking of booking a 7 night Alaska cruise for summer 2014? not sure if my kids ages 10,9,6 will be into it? has anone taken it? can you share your experience?
Also, does disney do any packages with Disneyland?

Most appreciative DisDad...

 

[jdb in AZ]

Haven't heard of any package deals for Disneyland/Alaska. When DCL offered land/sea with WDW it was cheaper to book the cruise and hotel separately so you could take advantage of any specials offered by either.

Alaska is my favorite place to cruise, partly because it gives us a chance to escape the Phoenix summer heat. We're planning our fifth Alaskan cruise next May.

If you're looking at a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Alaska, check out itineraries that include Glacier Bay, and exploring Denali, either through a cruise package or on your own.

 

[sambycat]

Also they haven't announced/confirmed that Alaska is happening in 2014 yet?

 

[Luv_Tink]

We did the Alaska cruise on the Wonder this past August with our three girls and it was the highlight of the year for them. They're still talking about it and begging to go on another cruise as soon as possible. They were 10, 7 and 5. My 5 year old still draws pictures of the ship and things she did. She even wears her hair just like our head server. We had a blast, definitely worth it and kids will love this cruise.

 

[meajuly5]

I am going this summer with a 10 and 7 yr old. What did you girls enjoy the most? We have cruised Dcl before and girls loved hairbraiding, swimming and talent show. Anything particular to the aka cruise that was fab? Did they do the junior adventurer with the naturalists? We're kids clubs active?

 

[Luv_Tink]

I am going this summer with a 10 and 7 yr old. What did you girls enjoy the most? We have cruised Dcl before and girls loved hairbraiding, swimming and talent show. Anything particular to the aka cruise that was fab? Did they do the junior adventurer with the naturalists? We're kids clubs active?

My girls were not huge fans of the clubs. They enjoyed some of the organized activities in the clubs, but mostly they wanted to swim. Yes, swimming on an Alaska cruise. We had amazing weather and the pools were heated so the kids weren't bothered at all. They spent a lot of time in the uncrowded pools and hot tubs. I would suggest bringing bathrobes for your kids if they plan to swim because getting out is really chilly, especially when the ship is in motion.

They did have naturalists on board and programs for the kids, but my girls did not participate in those.

Their absolute favorite port adventure was the summer sled dog camp in Skagway. It was so much fun. We also enjoyed the train ride in Skagway and the Lumberjack show in Ketchikan. We went gold panning in Juneau, but my girls were kind of bored. Juneau was the only port where I wish we had planned something else, like Mendenhall Glacier, whale watching or the Mt Roberts Tram.

 

[meajuly5]

Thanks! Good call on the robe! I know my girls will swim no matter what the temp. I am dining for the dog sled in Juneau and maybe the train in Skagway and something with bears (hopefully) somewhere. Hoping for enough time to do the team as well.

 

[pixarmom]

I haven't been on the DCL section of these boards for three months because we LOVED LOVED LOVED our Wonder to Alaska cruise and we miss it so much!

Our boys are ages 5, 12 and 13. They weren't much into the kids' clubs (they went a few times, but not much) or the naturalist stuff. But they loved the trivia and games, the Sail Away party, the shows, the Golden Mickeys after party, the dance parties, the dinners and our wonderful servers (yay Paula and Ajit!), the pools, vinylmation trading with Bailey in the gift shop, DJ Wendell, Pirate Sophie, JD (when you see JD, that means fun), Tracy Arm, the fish extender exchange, etc. - all things we could do together. As for the pools, our kids swam a ton and we have photos of them swimming with the Sawyer Glacier in the background.

And the excursions were AMAZING experiences for all of us. We did 4x4 Takshanuk Mountain Adventure in Skagway, Dog Sled Discovery and Musher Camp in Juneau and Rainforest Canoe Adventure in Ketchikan. We did Victoria on our own and had a great time. I wrote reviews of our amazing excursions on the excursions review thread.

This was seriously the best vacation ever. And we're beach people - I grew up vacationing at the beach and never imagined that a cold weather vacation could be so wonderful. We travel a lot and I'm wondering whether we'll be able to top this. Worth every penny. We loved it. The kids loved it. I have a photo of our 13-year-old on our verandah as we pulled into port in Seattle - leaning over the balcony and watching us dock in the early morning with tears in his eyes. I'm not sure I can recommend this highly enough!

 

[meajuly5]

Thank you for the tips! We enjoyed our past cruises a lot but I Am very excited about heading to Alaska as it will be so different. Considering the fe thus time but need to consider due to space! Will have to remember vinyalmations as we have some to trade