Alaska WWYD

[pinkxray]

We aren’t cruising in Alaska until 2022 but will face the same decision we we book. My kids will 17,7 and 5.
I am a huge Disney fan and love Disney ships. However since we are a party of five we will have to book an oceanview and inside across the hall in order to keep it within our budget.
After seeing the prices for 2021, I’ve moved my research to NCL/HAL/Princess.
NCL would be a great fit for my family however I do not want a mega ship of 4,000 in Alaska.
Princess has a very slight edge over Hal for me but barely. I can’t really say why. I think I just prefer the look of the ships plus I’ve heard they bring puppies on board. When choosing between the two I would have to decide by which itinerary each line was sailing on a certain date.If I was booking for 2021 I would most likely pick HAL bc it has the itinerary I want the second week of June while Princess does not.

I think no matter what you choose you will have an amazing time. We

 

[bobbiwoz]

I love DCL, but have travelled to Alaska twice on other lines, and will be going again on Princess this August.
I enjoy the food on Princess and like the fact that there’s always a buffet at dinner on Princess. I personally prefer most on board activities on DCL, but they detract from the Alaska experience IMO.

 

[MomOTwins]

Both cruise lines also offer great perks when booking, such as a drink package, shore excursion credits, Wifi, specialty dining, etc. Right now, we are really looking at the Norwegian Bliss which is a newer and larger ship that looks beautiful. The Observation Lounge alone is perfect for Alaska.

Just make sure you check the fine print! I was looking at booking Norwegian and the "free drinks" package came with a $700 "gratuity" charge.

My husband and I honeymooned in alaska on Princess. We thought the food was excellent, the excursions through the cruise line were great, and the pool was really excellent. The onboard entertainment, however, was "meh," I didn't appreciate having to walk through the smoky casino to get to dinner, and the room was so tiny it was comical (I could not make my entire body fit in the itsy bitsy shower at one time, so had to wash myself in pieces!). The verandah was nice. Service was good, although not near disney level, more what I would expect at a nice but not luxury hotel.

I am thinking Norwegian might be a good choice for us for Alaska, but it's hard to give up Disney. Am still on the fence.

 

[Sakura1017]

Debating between doing 7 day and adding ABD with it or doing 9 day. It's sad that the price of 7 day with ABD would be the same amount as a 9 day with no excursions added to it yet

 

[darwinsrule]

Just back from the Wonder repo from SJ to NOLA, love DCL and the Wonder, would not do her to Alaska because of the cost. As amazing as the ship is, you want those extra dollars to spend off ship on excursions. Our kids were 9 and 13 in 2017 when we did Carnival Legend RT out of Seattle. It is those experiences (whale watching, gold panning, hiking the rainforest and holding a banana slug) that stand out for them.

Glacier Bay is incredible, if you can get there definitely do it. We used our balcony more in Alaska then we probably did on every other cruise we have done combined. Sitting out there, regardless of weather, was amazing.

We have HAL Koningsdam booked for the end of August. Same itinerary as the Wonder (no GB sadly). Have never done HAL but we booked an extended verandah in October with $400 obc, free wifi, dinner at the steakhouse for $4000 CAD (so just over $3000 USD). Just looked and DCL wants $11,423 USD for a verandah at the same time. The difference pays airfare, excursions, hotel in Vancouver, taxi, crab legs at Tracey's in Juneau, etc.

 

[cruisehopeful]

DCL oceanview

I love deck 2 in Alaska. The window view is very low and you get a view as if you are in line with the horizon, which is very scenic! With kids that age, they will can likely become bored being on the ship and it can be cold, windy and rainy on the deck. Kids will probably be happier on Disney.

Princess/HAL/NCL with verandah + Glacier Bay stop

I'd do Princess with Glacier Bay over Disney. I've done it twice with Disney and planned to go on Princess, but it didn't work out for me. Look at the individual ships. Some of the Princess ships have indoor pools. None of Disney's have indoor pools.

Does anyone know: how does the food compare on HAL/Princess vs DCL?

I liked the food on Princess much better than on DCL. I have done a different Princess cruise and found the food options to be superior, but I wasn't traveling with kids that time.

 

[HookedOnDCL1]

We have only ever cruised Disney (7 cruises) but are finally branching out for Alaska 2021 (due to insane pricing). We've already done the Wonder 4 times, so there's nothing new there for us.

We booked the Royal Caribbean Ovation for a few reasons. Firstly (and mostly) we are travelling with a teen! Second, I poured over all the other lines, ships and itineraries. All the other ships (besides NCL Encore) just looked so meh and unimpressive, compared to Disney. If we're not doing Disney, I didn't want this amazing trip to be meh nor my teen to be bored. Everyone said pick based on itinerary but I know my family won't be happy on an older, boring ship no matter how amazing the itinerary.

I am considering the RCI Ovation to be an Alaska "lite" trip, since there are 2 sea days and 2 scenic cruising days. If I'm going to be 4 days on a ship, it better be good, lol. Watching the YouTube videos, the ship looks amazing and I can't see not enjoying it. NCL Encore came in close second in our search but we know nothing about NCL so Royal seemed a "safer" choice for us.

We booked a Junior Suite with balcony and still saved over $4000CAD over Disney navigator's verandah.

 

[ALK$Disney]

We have only ever cruised Disney (7 cruises) but are finally branching out for Alaska 2021 (due to insane pricing). We've already done the Wonder 4 times, so there's nothing new there for us.

We booked the Royal Caribbean Ovation for a few reasons. Firstly (and mostly) we are travelling with a teen! Second, I poured over all the other lines, ships and itineraries. All the other ships (besides NCL Encore) just looked so meh and unimpressive, compared to Disney. If we're not doing Disney, I didn't want this amazing trip to be meh nor my teen to be bored. Everyone said pick based on itinerary but I know my family won't be happy on an older, boring ship no matter how amazing the itinerary.

I am considering the RCI Ovation to be an Alaska "lite" trip, since there are 2 sea days and 2 scenic cruising days. If I'm going to be 4 days on a ship, it better be good, lol. Watching the YouTube videos, the ship looks amazing and I can't see not enjoying it. NCL Encore came in close second in our search but we know nothing about NCL so Royal seemed a "safer" choice for us.

We booked a Junior Suite with balcony and still saved over $4000CAD over Disney navigator's verandah.

The prices have skyrocketed recently. We went to Alaska on DCL in September 2018 and for 3 guests with balcony was $7500, now the same itinerary for 2021 is $8900. Ours actually went to Icy Strait point instead of Dawes glacier.

 

[pinkxray]

We have HAL Koningsdam booked for the end of August. Same itinerary as the Wonder (no GB sadly). Have never done HAL but we booked an extended verandah in October with $400 obc, free wifi, dinner at the steakhouse for $4000 CAD (so just over $3000 USD). Just looked and DCL wants $11,423 USD for a verandah at the same time. The difference pays airfare, excursions, hotel in Vancouver, taxi, crab legs at Tracey's in Juneau, etc.

Will you please come back after your cruise and post your experience on the HAL Koningsdam? This is one cruise that has made its way to possible if we don’t pick DCL.

We booked the Royal Caribbean Ovation for a few reasons. Firstly (and mostly) we are travelling with a teen! Second, I poured over all the other lines, ships and itineraries. All the other ships (besides NCL Encore) just looked so meh and unimpressive, compared to Disney. If we're not doing Disney, I didn't want this amazing trip to be meh nor my teen to be bored. Everyone said pick based on itinerary but I know my family won't be happy on an older, boring ship no matter how amazing the itinerary.

I am considering the RCI Ovation to be an Alaska "lite" trip, since there are 2 sea days and 2 scenic cruising days. If I'm going to be 4 days on a ship, it better be good, lol. Watching the YouTube videos, the ship looks amazing and I can't see not enjoying it. NCL Encore came in close second in our search but we know nothing about NCL so Royal seemed a "safer" choice for us.

We booked a Junior Suite with balcony and still saved over $4000CAD over Disney navigator's verandah.

Royal is the only cruise line we have done besides Disney. It is always my go to. (Most times before Disney) I would love to chose the Ovation as I think it has so much to offer for our family. However once I looked at the schedule I am very unsure. It seems a little too light on Alaska for me. I can overlook no Glacier Bay to make the whole family happy but really wish they had another port day. If they had a quick stop at Ketchikan like most lines this would most likely be my choice too. We have been on Anthem which is Ovations sister ship and know we would have a great time on Ovation.

 

[darwinsrule]

Will you please come back after your cruise and post your experience on the HAL Koningsdam? This is one cruise that has made its way to possible if we don’t pick DCL

Certainly. As excited as we were to get back on the Wonder last month, I came back and couldn't wait to dive in to planning for August.

 

[MinnesotaMouseketeers]

My wife and I are Gold CC members. If there was a way to view prices for the 2021 summer itineraries before Gold CC members could book, we could not figure out how to find them and had our TA book two staterooms for the June 21, 2021 Alaska sailing. We were stunned by the cost!!!!!!!

We immediately got back to our TA and had her cancel that cruise and we are now going on a 7 night Mexican Riviera cruise in April instead. We had a placeholder from our last cruise that was quotedat $9,900.00+ and the second stateroom was quoted at $10,900.00+. There is NO WAY I would pay that much, even as much as I love DCL!!!

 

[SamFaniam]

My wife and I are Gold CC members. If there was a way to view prices for the 2021 summer itineraries before Gold CC members could book, we could not figure out how to find them and had our TA book two staterooms for the June 21, 2021 Alaska sailing. We were stunned by the cost!!!!!!!

We immediately got back to our TA and had her cancel that cruise and we are now going on a 7 night Mexican Riviera cruise in April instead. We had a placeholder from our last cruise that was quotedat $9,900.00+ and the second stateroom was quoted at $10,900.00+. There is NO WAY I would pay that much, even as much as I love DCL!!!

when they have the next release of cruises, there is a thread here on this board where people report their price quotes. So you can check out what the platinum cruisers have posted to get a sense of prices before gold booking day.

I agree that Disney’s summer rates for Alaska 2021 are ridiculous, so we’re sailing in September to Alaska when the prices are reasonable.