Alaska - which cruiseline if DCL prices us out!

[bas71873]

We are looking at June 2017 and am waiting for DCL to release pricing (hoping for March), but I want to be prepared with price comparisons....

 

[cruisehopeful]

While I decided to go with DCL again, my second choice was Celebrity Solstice.
There's a trip report here about one done last summer on NCL Pearl. Overall, it sounded fun for the price, but she had several customer service issues that I would have felt too extreme for spending thousands of dollars on an Alaskan vacation. You may want to read it if you are considering other lines.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

We are looking at June 2017 and am waiting for DCL to release pricing (hoping for March), but I want to be prepared with price comparisons....

It depends on what you want to see/do in Alaska. Holland America & Princess have the most Glacier Bay permits. If that's not important to you, then, really, any of the lines that go to Alaska are good.

The last I knew there were only 6 companies with Glacier Bay permits:
Princess Cruiselines
Holland America, Inc.
Norwegian Cruiselines
West Travel, Inc
Carnival Cruise Lines
Crystal Cruises

 

[gometros]

I can't speak for the other cruise lines, but we did Princess two years ago and loved it. We did the southbound from Whittier to Vancouver, which takes got into Glacier Bay and to Hubbard Glacier in addition to stops at Juno, Skagway and Ketchikan. For me, Alaska is about the itinerary, so this was perfect. The only real difference that stood out for us were the shows were not on par with Disney, but with long port times, that didn't bother us as much.

 

[DLgal]

Princess.

 

[codex57]

Glacier Bay was awe inspiring. For that reason alone, I'd say Princess or Holland. Overall, Princess just checks more boxes for me which is why I end up sailing with them most often, even though I always begin my vacation search intending to try another line.

 

[Lisa Lisa]

We're considering Alaska in 2017 as well, but we need a specific date because we'll already be near Vancouver for another reason in late July. I checked Princess and NCL (the Sun goes to Glacier Bay), but they're both running Southbound itineraries the week we need. We don't want to have to travel to Anchorage (over 2,000 miles away) to catch the ship. I'm waiting for both DCL and RCCL to release their summer 2017 itineraries. RCCL's Radiance of the Seas doesn't go to Glacier Bay, but does offer one-way itineraries that go to Hubbard Glacier. Explorer of the Seas has a round-trip (from Seattle) itinerary in 2016 that goes to Tracy Arm. In an ideal world we would have sailed Princess, but the timing just isn't going to work for us. Hoping that DCL's fares aren't in cloud cuckoo land...

 

[nikkistevej]

We did the Norwegian Pearl to Alaska a few years ago- it went to Glacier Bay which as the above poster said was awe inspiring. Also went to a few other port cities. That is the reason we picked it, it was cheaper and left from Seattle(flights were cheaper to there from here on the East Coast). We had about 12-14 people, really enjoyed it(I would have preferred Disney- but the others didn't want to). We loved it.

 

[cdhheidi]

Ok, so I have had a recommendation from a friend who also has similar special needs as my son to use RCCL for our Alaska cruise if we decide not to go with DCL... does anyone have experience with any other cruise lines and special needs? For example my young adult son is on the autistic spectrum (somewhat high functioning), tube fed, mobility needs, bipap, oxygen at certain elevations, needs refrigeration for his medication, etc.

If we can save enough AND travel safely (having had NO issues with DCL and his needs... ) we are contemplating using the same money we would have spent on DCL and extending the trip... for example what we would have spent on the veranda cabin on DCL I can get a 10 day cruise tour PLUS a 7 day cruise back down to Vancouver on RCCL instead of flying home... 17 days worth of vacation sounds sweet to me! Yeah, we probably will end up spending more just because there would be extra excursions to play around with, but this is a real dream trip... 35th anniversary for us, and shortly before HIS 21st birthday, when we were given only a 10% chance that he would be born alive. Pretty sweet double celebration, right?

Any ideas on who I can talk to about safety and experiences on other cruise lines for special needs most appreciated!

Heidi

 

[bas71873]

Princess.

So is Princess an "all inclusive" cruiseline? Meaning all food, soft drinks, room service, etc? Similar to Disney I guess. We don't drink a lot of soda, but if the urge hits I don't mind paying for one here and there. Same with alcohol. Just trying to compare to DCL being pretty much all inclusive...

 

[bas71873]

Thanks for all the scoop. It's very helpful!

 

[PrincessShmoo]

So is Princess an "all inclusive" cruiseline? Meaning all food, soft drinks, room service, etc? Similar to Disney I guess. We don't drink a lot of soda, but if the urge hits I don't mind paying for one here and there. Same with alcohol. Just trying to compare to DCL being pretty much all inclusive...

No, Princess is not all inclusive. Just like DCL, food (in the main dining room) is included. Soft drinks are extra cost, you can buy a soda card, or you can purchase drinks separately, but there is no 24/7 drink station.

 

[IBelieveInTheMagic]

Another option to consider as it will save a considerable amount, is going with oceanview vs. verandah with DCL. I know everyone has different opinions on what's needed or best liked but the price difference with DCL was at least $2500 for the 3 of us if you have your heart set on DCL. It's our 2nd cruise to Alaska with DCL and we'd rather stay with DCL and do oceanview instead of verandah on the others. That's what works for our family but in case you hadn't considered that - just throwing it out for consideration. We are adding in Vancouver once again prior to the cruise and using the extra savings from verandah $$ on great excursions.

Of course book opening day as the prices only go up more and more especially for the main sailings June-August. Ours has already gone up over $1100 since opening day for the 3 of us in a 9C.

Heather

 

[NancyIL]

We're considering Alaska in 2017 as well, but we need a specific date because we'll already be near Vancouver for another reason in late July. I checked Princess and NCL (the Sun goes to Glacier Bay), but they're both running Southbound itineraries the week we need. We don't want to have to travel to Anchorage (over 2,000 miles away) to catch the ship. I'm waiting for both DCL and RCCL to release their summer 2017 itineraries. RCCL's Radiance of the Seas doesn't go to Glacier Bay, but does offer one-way itineraries that go to Hubbard Glacier. Explorer of the Seas has a round-trip (from Seattle) itinerary in 2016 that goes to Tracy Arm. In an ideal world we would have sailed Princess, but the timing just isn't going to work for us. Hoping that DCL's fares aren't in cloud cuckoo land...

Princess has 3 ships doing one-way cruises between Vancouver and Whittier in 2017. The Coral and Star Princess alternate Saturday sailings each direction, and the Island Princess sails on Wednesdays. http://www.princess.com/find/cruiseDetails.do?voyageCode=9725

 

[Pens Fan]

We just booked the NCL Sun for July 2017. We've done Alaska on DCL before and it was wonderful in every way. But, having done that, we wanted a different experience this time. Our son is older (he will be 19 when we take that cruise) and we want to explore the interior of Alaska with him so we were looking for a one way cruise. We also were only considering cruises that included Glacier Bay, having been to Alaska twice but never seeing GB. NCL's freestyle cruising is appealing to our laid back, casual lifestyle and we have been wanting to give them a try for a while, so it seemed like a perfect time to try it out. We aren't going into it looking for a DCL replacement - it was our cruise line of choice when our son was younger, but are looking at this as a new type of cruising experience. DH and I are going on a DCL cruise next fall (without our son who will be starting college), and I don't see us ever giving up on Disney entirely, but we are definitely ready to branch out a bit.

2017 prices for Alaska are already out for both Princess and NCL (not sure about other lines, as those were the only two we seriously considered), so you can see what they are currently charging.

 

[Lisa Lisa]

Princess has 3 ships doing one-way cruises between Vancouver and Whittier in 2017. The Coral and Star Princess alternate Saturday sailings each direction, and the Island Princess sails on Wednesdays. http://www.princess.com/find/cruiseDetails.do?voyageCode=9725

My DH is doing a triathlon in Whistler on a Sunday, so we really want to embark on Monday or Tuesday. We would have considered pushing it to Wednesday, but only for a Northbound itinerary. I was disappointed as I've read such great things about Princess' Alaska cruises!

 

[Hundredacre]

If anyone has experience with the kids clubs on princess, are they any good?

 

[xlxo]

HAL has two advantages over Princess for me.

• Picture packages.... even without character pictures, I can spend too much for pictures on Princess
• HAL offers a Yukon-Denali option where you can cruise up halfway to Skagway, then over to Dawson City and rejoin another boat to return to Vancouver. Something I want to do in the future.

 

[bumbershoot]

Ok, so I have had a recommendation from a friend who also has similar special needs as my son to use RCCL for our Alaska cruise if we decide not to go with DCL... does anyone have experience with any other cruise lines and special needs? For example my young adult son is on the autistic spectrum (somewhat high functioning), tube fed, mobility needs, bipap, oxygen at certain elevations, needs refrigeration for his medication, etc.

If we can save enough AND travel safely (having had NO issues with DCL and his needs... ) we are contemplating using the same money we would have spent on DCL and extending the trip... for example what we would have spent on the veranda cabin on DCL I can get a 10 day cruise tour PLUS a 7 day cruise back down to Vancouver on RCCL instead of flying home... 17 days worth of vacation sounds sweet to me! Yeah, we probably will end up spending more just because there would be extra excursions to play around with, but this is a real dream trip... 35th anniversary for us, and shortly before HIS 21st birthday, when we were given only a 10% chance that he would be born alive. Pretty sweet double celebration, right?

Any ideas on who I can talk to about safety and experiences on other cruise lines for special needs most appreciated!

Heidi

I would ask over on cruisecritic.com personally. Bet you'll get more people who have been closer to your situation AND cruised some line other than Disney there.

 

[bas71873]

Another option to consider as it will save a considerable amount, is going with oceanview vs. verandah with DCL. I know everyone has different opinions on what's needed or best liked but the price difference with DCL was at least $2500 for the 3 of us if you have your heart set on DCL. It's our 2nd cruise to Alaska with DCL and we'd rather stay with DCL and do oceanview instead of verandah on the others. That's what works for our family but in case you hadn't considered that - just throwing it out for consideration. We are adding in Vancouver once again prior to the cruise and using the extra savings from verandah $$ on great excursions.

Of course book opening day as the prices only go up more and more especially for the main sailings June-August. Ours has already gone up over $1100 since opening day for the 3 of us in a 9C.

Heather

If you don't mind, would you care to share what you paid for your party of 3 of opening day? We too are a party of 3 (2A, 1C (she'll be 13 by the time we do this). I do plan to book opening day if we go DCL.

We did our first cruise this past April over Spring Break and I swore I'd never cruise again. I was so sea sick. I needed the verandah to be able to open the door for fresh air, but I could not step foot out there while sailing. I was shocked because I grew up on boats, am on them all the time now, but this was miserable. Although when I got home, a day later, I tested positive for flu, so I'm not sure if it was that coming on or real sea sickness. Everyone tells me an Alaskan cruise will be different because you aren't in open waters. So I'm considering it...