Alaska . . . is it really that great?

[Agent 86]

We greatly enjoyed our Disney Alaskan cruise in 2016.

We didn't find the ports to be purely "tourist" stops. Sure, they could be. But, it was easy enough for us to avoid the tourist traps and instead set off on various hikes and other sightseeing by ourselves. As for getting tired of the gorgeous vistas ... well, I guess that varies from person to person.

That typed, if we do it again, we'd probably choose a "one-way" cruise and spend some time in ... now I can't remember the place. It's somewhere ... I think in a national park, which everyone raves about. And it's close to one of the available ports for the "one-way" cruises. Maybe it was Denali National Park? Or somewhere outside of Fairbanks? But, that would really be so that we have an opportunity to do longer hikes and experience even more of the natural beauty of Alaska.

 

[jeffbeardreams]

We greatly enjoyed our Disney Alaskan cruise in 2016.

We didn't find the ports to be purely "tourist" stops. Sure, they could be. But, it was easy enough for us to avoid the tourist traps and instead set off on various hikes and other sightseeing by ourselves. As for getting tired of the gorgeous vistas ... well, I guess that varies from person to person.

That typed, if we do it again, we'd probably choose a "one-way" cruise and spend some time in ... now I can't remember the place. It's somewhere ... I think in a national park, which everyone raves about. And it's close to one of the available ports for the "one-way" cruises. Maybe it was Denali National Park? Or somewhere outside of Fairbanks? But, that would really be so that we have an opportunity to do longer hikes and experience even more of the natural beauty of Alaska.

Yeah ... it's Denali that everyone raves about. Generally accessible for cruises that port in Anchorage.

 

[ofcabbagesandkings]

I live in hot Central America, and you couldn't pay me float from beach to beach around the Caribbean or Bahamas on DCL or any other cruise line. But Alaska (we got off our cruise last week) was spectacular. You can't see the Inside Passage in that way unless you are on a boat, and it's ever-changing, with waterfalls, glaciers, mountains, and wildlife such as whales, seals and schools of dolphin. My husband bundled up and spent many hours on our verandah with an audiobook just watching the scenery go by.

As to the touristy-ness of the towns, we hardly spent any time in them. We drove to Yukon/rode a helicopter to glacier in Skagway, went whale watching in Juneau, and went flight seeing to Misty Fjords in Ketchikan. I think Tracy's Crab Shack is overrated/overpriced with too long a wait, and that the Mount Roberts Tram in Juneau was likewise a ripoff because the raptor center was closed (they only let us know that once we had paid and were on the tram). I visited only a few shops, Alaska Knifeworks in Juneau for a Ulu knife/bowl set made by a local woodcarver, and a few on Creek Street in Ketchikan where I got locally made glacier soap, salmon spice, and a few other gifts made by local leatherworkers and craftspeople. They all have the Made in Alaska bear so you know it's not mass imported from somewhere else.

I would do an Alaska cruise again in a heartbeat, especially with tweens/teens who could do more active excursions like kayaking and hiking. We did manage to bike around the entire seawall in Stanley Park using a rented toddler trailer for my youngest and a tandem bike for my oldest, but that was the extent of truly active things we could do.

I think it's worth paying for DCL, but YMMV. My kids adored the nursery/kids clubs, and meeting all the characters. The food and shows that we went to were awesome, and DH and I got to watch a couple first-run Marvel films we had missed because there is no movie theater in our town.

I am hoping we can do Alaska again, maybe the longer itinerary with the Hubbard Glacier if it's offered, in the next 3 years.

 

[ofcabbagesandkings]

I agree with this. As much as we love Alaska (we've been there 3 times now for a total of about 5 weeks), we didn't enjoy Fairbanks that much. The scenery was lacking compared to other areas of the state, and it just seemed so staged and hokey, if you know what I mean.



We loved Denali, but we stayed at a wilderness lodge inside of the park (Camp Denali), so avoided the congestion at the entrance. It's truly a magical place if you go about it the right way. I'll never forget waking up to the northern lights in the middle of the night, then walking down to Wonder Lake the next day and finding a moose feeding in the misty morning. One day, my husband and I were hiking and a caribou pretty much followed us for about an hour, just slowly meandering along. When we left the lodge, we flew back to the entrance instead of taking the bus. Flying over Denali is an incredible experience - not to be missed.

One of our favorite towns is Homer - right on the far, far southwestern tip of the state. We fell in love with that little town a couple of years ago and definitely plan to return. Probably the coolest thing we've ever done on vacation was a helicopter tour from Homer to Lake Clarke National Park to look for Alaskan brown bears (spoiler alert: we found them - lots of them!!)

If we ever take another Alaskan cruise, we would only consider the one way itineraries that either end or begin in mainland Alaska. There is just so much to see there.

What time of year did you go to Denali to see the Northern Lights?

 

[dad of 3 addicted to DCL]

We saw the Northern lights from Skagway late last August

 

[MsOnceUponATime]

Everyone that I know who has done the Alaska cruise say it is one of their best trips. We are finally booked on one next year June 2020 on the Royal Princess. (Tour 2 nights in Anchorage first).

We are definitely looking forward to it. Even if I/we love it, I can see it being a one time trip. I don't like flying and it is a long flight. I also like to go swimming/see the ocean - but we shall see.

We just returned from Anchorage on Saturday and we saw the Royal Princess in port in Whittier!! ❣

 

[MsOnceUponATime]

My wife wants to go to Alaska but I'm not sure I get it. I understand that there is beautiful scenery: mountains, waterfalls, and some wildlife - a glacier. But only while you are looking, right? I've been in the mountains before and after a while it can sort of begin to look like wallpaper - you don't even notice it anymore. The ports also seem to be purely tourist stops. Charming and beautiful tourist stops but still. What am I missing? My wife and I are in our late 40s, we've cruised 8 times with DCL. We have two boys but they would likely not join us on this trip (unless someone says this is a fun trip for tweens/teens).

It really is that great. My husband is from Anchorage - born and raised there - he moved away when he went to college. We go to Anchorage (and the surrounding areas) almost every year - not on a cruise mind you, but we go to Alaska to visit family and see the sights. I must say that it is different to experience Alaska by cruise ship than it is to see Alaska by a land vacation, but I would honestly highly recommend seeing Alaska at least once in your life. I'm from the Northeast and we've traveled to Switzerland and Austria, France and Germany and have seen some mountains (!), but the Chugach mountains (and all of the other mountain ranges that you're bound to see) are definitely worth seeing and trekking on. Think less of just viewing the mountains and the land and more of immersing yourself... Try it, you might just like it!

 

[allashore]

I live in hot Central America, and you couldn't pay me float from beach to beach around the Caribbean or Bahamas on DCL or any other cruise line. But Alaska (we got off our cruise last week) was spectacular. You can't see the Inside Passage in that way unless you are on a boat, and it's ever-changing, with waterfalls, glaciers, mountains, and wildlife such as whales, seals and schools of dolphin. My husband bundled up and spent many hours on our verandah with an audiobook just watching the scenery go by.

As to the touristy-ness of the towns, we hardly spent any time in them. We drove to Yukon/rode a helicopter to glacier in Skagway, went whale watching in Juneau, and went flight seeing to Misty Fjords in Ketchikan. I think Tracy's Crab Shack is overrated/overpriced with too long a wait, and that the Mount Roberts Tram in Juneau was likewise a ripoff because the raptor center was closed (they only let us know that once we had paid and were on the tram). I visited only a few shops, Alaska Knifeworks in Juneau for a Ulu knife/bowl set made by a local woodcarver, and a few on Creek Street in Ketchikan where I got locally made glacier soap, salmon spice, and a few other gifts made by local leatherworkers and craftspeople. They all have the Made in Alaska bear so you know it's not mass imported from somewhere else.

I would do an Alaska cruise again in a heartbeat, especially with tweens/teens who could do more active excursions like kayaking and hiking. We did manage to bike around the entire seawall in Stanley Park using a rented toddler trailer for my youngest and a tandem bike for my oldest, but that was the extent of truly active things we could do.

I think it's worth paying for DCL, but YMMV. My kids adored the nursery/kids clubs, and meeting all the characters. The food and shows that we went to were awesome, and DH and I got to watch a couple first-run Marvel films we had missed because there is no movie theater in our town.

I am hoping we can do Alaska again, maybe the longer itinerary with the Hubbard Glacier if it's offered, in the next 3 years.

was your Misty Fjords flight thru DCL or booked on your own? We are scheduled for excursion KE52 this summer, any feedback would be helpful.
I did find information online and called the flight company

 

[ofcabbagesandkings]

was your Misty Fjords flight thru DCL or booked on your own? We are scheduled for excursion KE52 this summer, any feedback would be helpful.
I did find information online and called the flight company

We booked through Alaska Seaplane Tours, their Bears of the Misty Fjords tours. It was beautiful but too hot that day for the bears. I would go with them again.

 

[jeffbeardreams]

I live in hot Central America, and you couldn't pay me float from beach to beach around the Caribbean or Bahamas on DCL or any other cruise line. But Alaska (we got off our cruise last week) was spectacular. You can't see the Inside Passage in that way unless you are on a boat, and it's ever-changing, with waterfalls, glaciers, mountains, and wildlife such as whales, seals and schools of dolphin. My husband bundled up and spent many hours on our verandah with an audiobook just watching the scenery go by.

As to the touristy-ness of the towns, we hardly spent any time in them. We drove to Yukon/rode a helicopter to glacier in Skagway, went whale watching in Juneau, and went flight seeing to Misty Fjords in Ketchikan. I think Tracy's Crab Shack is overrated/overpriced with too long a wait, and that the Mount Roberts Tram in Juneau was likewise a ripoff because the raptor center was closed (they only let us know that once we had paid and were on the tram). I visited only a few shops, Alaska Knifeworks in Juneau for a Ulu knife/bowl set made by a local woodcarver, and a few on Creek Street in Ketchikan where I got locally made glacier soap, salmon spice, and a few other gifts made by local leatherworkers and craftspeople. They all have the Made in Alaska bear so you know it's not mass imported from somewhere else.

I would do an Alaska cruise again in a heartbeat, especially with tweens/teens who could do more active excursions like kayaking and hiking. We did manage to bike around the entire seawall in Stanley Park using a rented toddler trailer for my youngest and a tandem bike for my oldest, but that was the extent of truly active things we could do.

I think it's worth paying for DCL, but YMMV. My kids adored the nursery/kids clubs, and meeting all the characters. The food and shows that we went to were awesome, and DH and I got to watch a couple first-run Marvel films we had missed because there is no movie theater in our town.

I am hoping we can do Alaska again, maybe the longer itinerary with the Hubbard Glacier if it's offered, in the next 3 years.

Yeah ... I love this reply. I've been to the Caribbean so many times and since I live near beaches in NC I'm over that stuff. Alaska is different. The excursions are awesome, largely nature based and we spend very little time in the actual port cities themselves ... and I've found that cruise port cities all over the world, outside of possibly the Med, tend to be very "touristy" so I don't really get that criticism anyway. It's cool and beautiful and whether you port out of Vancouver or Seattle you get a great city to extend the trip if you want. I love it, and it's in our rotation every 4-5 years and will be so long as we're mobile enough to pull off the trip.

 

[AquaDame]

was your Misty Fjords flight thru DCL or booked on your own? We are scheduled for excursion KE52 this summer, any feedback would be helpful.
I did find information online and called the flight company

Im not the person you were asking but I want to give a shout out to http://www.islandwings.com/misty-fjords---glaciers-flightseeing-tours.html - they did cancel on us once due to fog - I appreciated it though as we would not have seen anything - but the second time were able to go and had a great flight.

 

[Pens Fan]

What time of year did you go to Denali to see the Northern Lights?

It was late August. It was really a wonderful time to visit Denali. It was basically their Fall, and the tundra had turned this gorgeous red color. It was cold at night and the early mornings, but nothing a few layers couldn't handle.

 

[pinksand]

OP, I'll be honest - I didn't love Alaska and it didn't fit my definition of "beautiful." I'm actually surprised Alaska cruises are as popular as they are. I would never have picked it, but my DH wanted to do an Alaska cruise and I wanted to take a Disney Cruise and it was the perfect way to combine both of our interests. We found some fun excursions in port and activities on the ship and I absolutely loved Tracy's Crab Shack in Juneau, so we had a really great trip. There's far worse ways to spend a week than with the love of your life on a Disney Cruise.

 

[PrincessTrisha]

Living in the Great White North, I have no desire to do an Alaskan cruise.

I've seen the sheer destructive force that ice can cause.

I get enough cold weather on a regular basis; if I cruise it's to get away somewhere warmer (even though I'm not a sun person - with my fair skin and strawberry blonde hair, I'm a sunburn waiting to happen).

I also love the bright blue-green waters of the Caribbean / Bahamas. Looking at those calm, wide-stretched waters is my happy place.

 

[jdb in AZ]

Living in the Great White North, I have no desire to do an Alaskan cruise.

I've seen the sheer destructive force that ice can cause.

I get enough cold weather on a regular basis; if I cruise it's to get away somewhere warmer (even though I'm not a sun person - with my fair skin and strawberry blonde hair, I'm a sunburn waiting to happen).

I also love the bright blue-green waters of the Caribbean / Bahamas. Looking at those calm, wide-stretched waters is my happy place.

But in Alaska you don't have to worry about hurricanes.

 

[MonaMN]

Living in the Great White North, I have no desire to do an Alaskan cruise.

I've seen the sheer destructive force that ice can cause.

I get enough cold weather on a regular basis; if I cruise it's to get away somewhere warmer (even though I'm not a sun person - with my fair skin and strawberry blonde hair, I'm a sunburn waiting to happen).

I also love the bright blue-green waters of the Caribbean / Bahamas. Looking at those calm, wide-stretched waters is my happy place.

I live in MN so get my fair share of winter... but I still want to see Alaska!

 

[Dug720]

But in Alaska you don't have to worry about hurricanes.

Not in the sense of the Bahamas/Caribbean/Mexican Riviera/Bermuda/TransAtlantic/East Coast ones do, but Alaska can get remnants of Pacific storms - and can get big storms of their own (though not hurricanes). Haven’t you ever watched Deadliest Catch?