Alaska vs. Panama Canal

[Off to Neverland 7]

Which would you choose?

7 Night Alaskan Cruise vs. 14 Night Panama Canal


The prices for both options are just about the same, maybe just a few hundred dollars off give or take. I'm having a tough time deciding between the beauty of Alaska or TWO WHOLE WEEKS on a DISNEY CRUISE!

 

[wilma-bride]

Speaking as someone who has only done Panama Canal, that is what I voted for. As much as I would love to do Alaska one day, I think the Panama Canal cruises are just the perfect combination of interesting ports, plenty of sea days, rest and relaxation together with the activities that you only get on the longer cruises, such as Officer Hide & Seek.

 

[jdb in AZ]

We've done both, and it's like comparing apples to oranges. We love the cool weather in Alaska. The Panama area is hot and steamy. Are you a beach person, or do you love mountain scenery? The Alaskan ports are quaint. The Central America ports have a lot of poverty. Have you "crunched the numbers" and included air fare in your price comparisons?

Both are great choices -- I vote for both. How old are your kids, and which would your family prefer to do first?

 

[Geomom]

Despite the fact that our first cruise will be the Alaska one, I chose Panama Canal--it's the thrifty side of me. If you can get 2 weeks of vacation for around the same as 1 week (and are able to take that much vacation time at once), it seems worth it. Cruising through the Panama Canal sounds awesome.

For us, we have kids still in school, so we're set to vacation schedules. We've never been on a cruise before, so don't want to do longer than a week as we don't even know if cruising is for us. And, Alaska is on our bucket list.

 

[Flossbolna]

I agree with previous posters who said that it really depends on what you want. PC is more about the ship unless you really really want to see the canal. It is more a cruise to enjoy DCL and less about the ports. On our PC cruise port times were rather short in some ports. I loved the PC cruise, all the activities on the ship that were offered specially for the cruise, all the different additional shows, the whole relaxed vibe. And at the same time some beautiful scenery and interesting ports. Alaska in my opinion is more about everything outside the ship. Beautiful of course, but I think the DCL experience is less important there.

I guess my vote would be to go on the PC cruise and then do Alaska a different year with another cruise line.

 

[Gilland18]

We've done both and that's really a tough one. Both are great cruises. I voted PC because I like the 14 day cruises and our PC was (for me) the most perfect vacation I ever had.

 

[GatorMomInNC]

I've done the EBPC a on DCL a a couple years ago and I just did Alaska last month-- but on Celebrity. If you want gorgeous scenery and lots of excursions, Alaska. For an interesting, hot and relaxing vacation I would do PC. If you can only do one with DCL, I would say PC for sure!

The longer cruises on DCL are awesome with lots of special things to do and special shows. To me a 7 night cruise goes by really quick, and on Alaska cruise you will probably spend half your time (not including sleep time) off the ship enjoying Alaska. So it seems you would be paying extra for the DCL experience without getting to enjoy it as much.

And just in case I wasnt clear --- I cannot say enough how much I LOVE longer cruise on DCL!! They are really special and you get your money's worth and then some.

 

[PrincessTrisha]

I voted for Panama Canal.

But I have no interest in doing an Alaskan cruise. I live in winter conditions for many months every year. I've been to the Canadian North (Timmins and Moosenee) and I have zero interest in the American North. Others see ice covering everything and say "Ooh, Aah"; I see ice and I think of destruction of property, downed trees and 7 days without power and heat in the middle of winter.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

I voted Panama Canal. Only because, to make the choice, I told myself I HAD to pick one.

We've done the Panama Canal on Disney as well as Holland America. Hard to pick between the two which was "better", as the Disney cruise was our very first cruise ever (on any line), and the HAL one had more/different ports. They were both good.

While I love cruising DCL, I wouldn't chose them for Alaska. At least until such time (if ever) they can include Glacier Bay and/or 7 night one way cruises to Anchorage. So HAL wins the Alaska choices. But seeing Alaska is truly spectacular.

Another factor, you don't have to pack as much for a warm weather cruise vs. a cold weather cruise.

 

[over50visits]

We have done both PC and Alaska, though Alaska was not on DCL...the absolute deal breaker for us was that Disney didn't go into Glacier Bay which was the absolute highlight of the trip. Sailing in, several hours parked next to a calving glacier, and the absolute "end of the world" feeling in that bay can't compare with any scenery we've seen on earth. And we've seen some.

We did Alaska in late June, and it was warm, short sleeve shirt weather for the whole trip. It was certainly not a cold weather cruise. We did take one jacket, and wore it on deck at night (as we sometimes do in the Caribbean in the winter). And the trip along the inside passage is pretty cool.

PC was a relaxing cruise, with beautiful scenery (there are a lot cheaper lines than Disney for that so look at your options) with a lot of ports, and it should be on your bucket list, but since we've done both I feel good in choosing Alaska for your first one of those two options.

As for room choice, if you are trying to decide that, you'll really want a balcony for Alaska. Lots to time to spend outside early morning and evenings for the entire trip. Not as important at all for PC, since the sightseeing is all a single day of transit, and there are lots of great locations around the ship and on the decks to relax, read a book, watch the scenery go by and look for wildlife.

 

[scm]

As noted earlier, it is an apples to oranges choice. Having done both, I would choose a longer cruise without a compelling reason not to.

 

[lbgraves]

We have done both on DCL and I would choose the PC repo based on the fact that you get twice as long on the ship with special menus, shows and opportunities. The Alaska cruise was definitely at the top of our list of favorite cruises with the PC.

 

[twopeasonepod]

We have done both with DCL. Alaska was our first and was amazing. Great videos of calving, orca, nature.... But PC was by far my fave cruise. Going through the canal was one of the best experiences of my life. And I've been all over the world, lived in Italy, etc etc. The engineering and learning about the history and all the info is just so cool. The length of the cruise is also very special. Getting to know the entertainment staff, the extra shows, etc. are all a huge benefit. I would do PC again in a heartbeat (DH has vetoed for 2016 since the boys missed 21 school days last year for DCL cruises oops). Although it was a majestic place and a wonderful trip, I'm not in a rush to go back to Alaska.

 

[TXAKDisneyFan]

As a born and raised Alaskan, I'd personally choose the PC trip. Generally, we tell friends and family from the Lower 48 to combine their Alaskan cruises with a land element (so they can go to Denali National Park, sightseeing and halibut fishing in Seward or Homer, salmon fishing, etc). There is so much to do in AK that cruises don't cover. Obviously adding a land element would also add significant cost, and therefore make the PC cruise much more cost effective.

Additionally, idk what the port adventures on the PC cruise are like, but AK activities can be very expensive. Flight seeing tours can cost hundreds to over a thousand dollars per person; a single day halibut fishing charter is a few hundred per person (plus the cost of freezing and transporting fish); etc.

 

[jiminyC_fan]

We cruised with HAL to Alaska and DCL on the 2005 EBPC. We love longer cruises but we both agree that canal day got boring. After you've seen one lock, you've seen them all. The scenery is gorgeous tho. We would choose Alaska over PC.

 

[bcwife76]

I chose Alaska because we live in Vancouver and don't have to pay for airfare ;-) Plus I don't think my husband would ever agree to a two week cruise, he'd think it was way too long. I'm the one who's pushing for the Alaska cruise this coming August; don't get me wrong, he wants to do it but not as much as I want to do it I think.

 

[MunFam]

Speaking as someone who has only done Panama Canal, that is what I voted for. As much as I would love to do Alaska one day, I think the Panama Canal cruises are just the perfect combination of interesting ports, plenty of sea days, rest and relaxation together with the activities that you only get on the longer cruises, such as Officer Hide & Seek.

Exactly this...plus Alaska on DCL skips Glacier Bay National Park.

 

[Ofinn]

I've been debating the same thing for next year....well I'm also thinking about a TA. Alaska would be my first choice, but I feel like Panama is a better value on DCL. IMHO DCL Alaska cruises are really over priced. I would love to do one of the sea/land vacations offered on RCI or NCL, and I don't think they cost more than a DCL 7 day Alaska cruise.

 

[xlxo]

We've done both, and it's like comparing apples to oranges. We love the cool weather in Alaska.

Yes which month you choose to cruise will offer different temperature and rain experience. The warmer and dryer July is my preferred time to go.

 

[GooniesAndy]

This was exactly the choice I had to make last year. It was take an Alaska cruise just a few months out or wait a full year and do the Panama Canal. The Alaska was actually going to be slightly more expensive since the PC ended in our home town, meaning we only had to book one-way flights. We decided that we would rather have two weeks on the ship, since the ship was the main draw. I think we will do Alaska on another line, because it isn't worth the extra money to us when we are going to be spending so much more time ashore. The Panama Canal cruise was totally amazing and we are hoping to do it again in 2017, along with like half of our meet-up group. I am 100% sure we made the right choice!