Alaska

[dato63]

I know this isn't Disney related - but I know a lot of you have cruised other lines and are a wealth of information.

We are set for our first cruise, with Disney, in 2010. My DH has said he would like our next vacation to be to Alaska. That is a dream of his.

Being a lot of you have children and/or are young at heart. I was hoping for your input on a good family cruise line to visit Alaska with.

I did use the search function to try to see where people have mentioned crusing to Alaska - and read some people felt Carnival was not family-ish as it was a party ship. And some ships were more geared toward retired people (like HAL). But I didn't find any posts (through search) that mentioned what cruise line someone loved for Alaska.

Anyone have a cruise line they would recommend for a family? That has a good youth center?

Thank you for any input you can share. And I hope this non-Disney post doesn't bother anyone.

Deb

 

[kcashner]

There are rumors of Alaska for DCL in/after 2011. It has been discussed for a long time, and has recently been hinted at during the captain's talk at the Castaway Club reception.

In 2011, the Wonder will go to the port of Los Angeles.....it has about 20 weeks where it does not have to sail out of Los Angeles (per contract) and no one knows yet where it will be. We know that DCL pulled out of the competition for Glacier Bay permits--that doesn't rule out Alaska, only Glacier Bay!

 

[tigergrad]

My DH and I sailed w/ Carnival for our 20th Anniversary to Alaska a few years ago. It was mainly older people. There were some families onboard and seemed to be enjoying themselves. I wished we ahd taken our kids along with us. They would have loved it. I haven't sailed with RC but I hear they have lots to do for older children. Disney would be an awesome Alaskan experience. They could do some awesome nature activities/excursions for children. That's the teacher in me coming out.

 

[TexDisneyMom]

We cruised to Alaska last year on NCL's Pearl. It was fabulous and it was a dream trip! I cant even describe how awesome it was. My kids were 11 and 8 last year and had a blast on the Pearl. Lots of family activities to do.

 

[outahere]

We have also sailed on the Norwegian Pearl and it was one of the best cruises we've taken. The ship is only a couple of years old and is very nice, but the decor is kind of a complete opposite of the DCL ships (think very contemporary). Our DS was 13 at the time, but didn't really participate in the kid's programming, so I'm no help there. There were a lot of families on board, and it was a very casual atmosphere. We would definitely sail on the Pearl again.

A couple of things to keep in mind about Alaskan cruises - the odds are it will be cool (and probably damp/showery) no matter when you go, and the cruises are port intensive. So if you want to see Alaska up close, plan on taking several excursions (or booking on your own). We did at least one excursion in each port, and two in a couple of the ports. NCL had a LOT of excursions to choose from.

 

[dato63]

Thank you everyone for taking the time to respond.

I did go google the Norweigian Pearl - and it had some wonderful options. I have requested a brochure, and have it bookmarked to watch for when 2011 comes out.

We would plan on doing excursions. My DD Maddie wants to do the dog sledding, and DH wants to go fishing. His dream vacation is fishing in Alaska. And since he has gone to Disney twice and going on a Disney cruise once, seems only fair he get to pick something too.

Deb

 

[yitbos96bb]

There are rumors of Alaska for DCL in/after 2011. It has been discussed for a long time, and has recently been hinted at during the captain's talk at the Castaway Club reception.

In 2011, the Wonder will go to the port of Los Angeles.....it has about 20 weeks where it does not have to sail out of Los Angeles (per contract) and no one knows yet where it will be. We know that DCL pulled out of the competition for Glacier Bay permits--that doesn't rule out Alaska, only Glacier Bay!

I'm hoping this is true... If so, then Alaska will be what we rebook for while on board for the Podcast cruise.

 

[awoltoday]

Most of the major cruise brands are trying to recruit families these days. I think the feeling of family orientation may be more directly correlated to the time of year you sail. If you sail early or late in the Alaska season, which are generally the cheapest times to go, you will probably feel that you are sailing with an AARP convention (This is an exaggeration). This is partially because it is cheap, and partially because school is still in session in many places.

You might consider finding an itinerary FIRST and choose your cruise line second. This is the general consensus from seasoned Alaska cruisers. You'll have to choose from one way or round trip cruises, one of several glacial destinations (usually Glacier Bay, Hubbard Glacier, or Tracy Arm), and a departure city choice. Then find which cruise lines are doing that itinerary.

Don't expect any of the kids clubs security to measure up to DCL. DCL does that better than anyone. But, your kids will be at a great age to enjoy themselves on most of the cruise lines. And Alaska is so port intensive, they won't have THAT much time to spend in the clubs anyway.

I also thought the Pearl was a great ship. We had an aft mini-suite (in between a cat 4 and 5/6 and not a real suite) and loved it. Our kids enjoyed the club, but I doubt many of their lasting memories are or will be of their time in there.

It will be interesting to see how DCL sets it up in 2011 and/or 2012.

 

[tvguy]

Holland America has been cruising Alaska longer than any other cruise line. They have very good kids clubs, and the service and food is on par with Disney. We cruised Alaska on HAL's Amsterdam out of Seattle a year before our Disney cruise with our kids. I would highly recommend them.
We've done 3 NCL cruises, the first two before Freestyle were top notch, and the last after, a huge disappointment. To make it work, if you plan to eat in the regular dining rooms, make sure you make a reservations 24 hours in advance, or you face a long wait to eat. It is very difficult to get the same servers with Freestyle. With HAL, you will get the same server team every night just like Disney. Given how much we loved NCL, DW and I really could not believe how much Freestyle ruined the experience for us.

 

[Sailingpartyof10]

We cruised from Seward to Vancouver two summers ago on Celebrity and had a great trip. DCL is of course more family-friendly (also less smoky -our Celebrity stateroom smelled of stale smoke), but Celebrity was pretty accommodating, and the older kids with us (who were 5 and 9 at the time) loved the kids' club. I highly recommend booking excursions independently for an Alaska itinerary. I got great suggestions from the Alaska forum at cruisecritic.com and was very happy with all our excursions. To give one example, I went whale watching on a small fishing boat with about 5 other people, as opposed to the cruise line excursion which had many times that number on its whale watching trips.

 

[Mickey_loves_Minnie]

I'm looking into Alaska myself. I'm most interested in Celebrity, Holland America and Princess. Still deciding. But then, I have no children and I'm not a partyer. So an AARP convention sounds like a nice peaceful cruise!

 

[skylynx]

We got tired of waiting for Disney to decide to go to Alaska, so we're on the Norwegian Pearl June 28. I'm glad to hear so many other Disboarders have had good experiences with NCL. Eating is not a focal point for us on this cruise, so I'm hoping the Freestyle issues won't be troublesome...with all those daylight hours, our family is more likely to grab food from the food court or buffets at odd hours and plaster ourselves to the balcony railing.

After 10 Disney cruises, it was hard to venture off to another line without some apprehension about how different (read: not as good) it might be. One immediate pleasant difference was the price, though. The price of our cruise dropped $1000 incrementally for the same balcony stateroom from initial booking to final payment and it was effortless to keep changing it.

Overall, we're going to try and avoid making constant comparisons. I'm sure there will be things we like better and things we miss. At least we don't have to worry about Magic pulling up next to us at some Alaskan port...that would be hard to take!

 

[dato63]

We got tired of waiting for Disney to decide to go to Alaska, so we're on the Norwegian Pearl June 28. I'm glad to hear so many other Disboarders have had good experiences with NCL. Eating is not a focal point for us on this cruise, so I'm hoping the Freestyle issues won't be troublesome...with all those daylight hours, our family is more likely to grab food from the food court or buffets at odd hours and plaster ourselves to the balcony railing.

After 10 Disney cruises, it was hard to venture off to another line without some apprehension about how different (read: not as good) it might be. One immediate pleasant difference was the price, though. The price of our cruise dropped $1000 incrementally for the same balcony stateroom from initial booking to final payment and it was effortless to keep changing it.

Overall, we're going to try and avoid making constant comparisons. I'm sure there will be things we like better and things we miss. At least we don't have to worry about Magic pulling up next to us at some Alaskan port...that would be hard to take!

I hope (if you remember) you'll come back and share your thoughts post cruise.

I've gone through the different cruise lines comparing costs, excursions and departure city and have to admit I am leaning at either Royal Carribean or NCL based on what I think our needs are.

I think where room service & food courts are an option - the dining won't be a make/break deal for us either. I'm more interested in what we can do/see off the ship. I just wanted to make sure there was a good kids club for when DH and try for some adult alone time. Our goal is memories.

 

[skylynx]

Hi, Dato63

You can be sure I will be posting a trip report.

Like many cruisers who are fortysomethingish, I grew up watching the Love Boat, including the episode where the Pacific Princess goes to Alaska, and cruise director Julie has some really bad luck with a love interest. Wow! So when I first looked to book an Alaska cruise, out of sentiment I called Princess first for a quote. I think I got a really junior person, because according to this agent, unless I booked the grand poobah suite (or equivalent) there was no way my husband and I could share a bed if my two teens (boy and girl) each had their own beds. This agent claimed we'd have to have four bunkbeds due to "safety and fire regulations." I'm like, four BUNK BEDS? This is the LOVE BOAT, for crying out loud!

I hung up, called NCL, and shortly afterward had a balcony cabin booked with beds correctly configured for all the people who wanted to be in them. I've since learned on Cruise Critic threads that there are, in fact, cabins for a family of four on Princess where such severe romantic intervention was not in force. Then as NCL kept sending me emails with new price codes on them, I kept calling my NCL agent and she kept changing our price (downward.) Which is a good thing, because Alaskan shore excursion prices are, well, scary. I reserved an Avis car for a couple hours in Skagway ($100), and that was still a screamin' deal compared to what the excursion to the same locations would have cost for four of us booked through NCL.

I think a lot of other people who have cruised Disney a bit and been on a lot of itineraries are tempted to "stray" for a new location. Panama wasn't a big draw for us, and if I was going to spend that much $$$ to go to Europe, it wouldn't be see the port cities. Will be interesting to see what changes when the new ships are added to the mix.

 

[awoltoday]

Holland America has been cruising Alaska longer than any other cruise line. They have very good kids clubs, and the service and food is on par with Disney. We cruised Alaska on HAL's Amsterdam out of Seattle a year before our Disney cruise with our kids. I would highly recommend them.
We've done 3 NCL cruises, the first two before Freestyle were top notch, and the last after, a huge disappointment. To make it work, if you plan to eat in the regular dining rooms, make sure you make a reservations 24 hours in advance, or you face a long wait to eat. It is very difficult to get the same servers with Freestyle. With HAL, you will get the same server team every night just like Disney. Given how much we loved NCL, DW and I really could not believe how much Freestyle ruined the experience for us.

Okay, here we go (again)... We need to differentiate between NCL and NCL America.

NCL America is not the same as NCL. NCL America has struggled with all aspects of customer service. It has not been representative of the rest of the NCL fleet. This is also why there is only one ship left in Hawaii. Luckily, Alaska isn't in Hawaii.

NCL has one of the newest fleets in the industry. The newer ships are designed for freestyle. Freestyle is perfect for an Alaska cruise.

If you are looking for the same server each night, you are missing the point behind freestyle. Several of the port stops in Alaska coincide with the evening. A sit down formal dinner at a pre-specified time isn't what a lot of people want when there are ports to explore. The Pearl's Alaska itinerary only has 2 sea days and 3 days where you aren't in port at 6pm. There might be a long wait at some of the restaurants on those days. But, you are free to try one of the other 12 restaurants. Reservations are never a bad idea. Especially on Glacier Bay day. It's common sense really. If you plan on eating at a peak time, plan ahead (reservations), being flexible, or a long wait.

Oh, and Freestyle is implemented on almost every cruise line now. Including Holland America (HAL), which calls it's program "As you wish dining" where you get "Your choice of traditional pre-set seating and dining times or a flexible open schedule." I wouldn't even be surprised if DCL has many more specialty restaurant options on the new ships and some sort of anytime dining. It seems to be the way the industry is headed.

I'm looking into Alaska myself. I'm most interested in Celebrity, Holland America and Princess. Still deciding. But then, I have no children and I'm not a partyer. So an AARP convention sounds like a nice peaceful cruise!

And cheaper too!


Finally, I have to say that the Norwegian Epic is going to be the ugliest thing on the ocean, if not the earth. Totally off topic, but it is hideous. Just thought I would throw that out there.

 

[dato63]

Hi, Dato63

You can be sure I will be posting a trip report.

Like many cruisers who are fortysomethingish, I grew up watching the Love Boat, including the episode where the Pacific Princess goes to Alaska, and cruise director Julie has some really bad luck with a love interest. Wow! So when I first looked to book an Alaska cruise, out of sentiment I called Princess first for a quote. I think I got a really junior person, because according to this agent, unless I booked the grand poobah suite (or equivalent) there was no way my husband and I could share a bed if my two teens (boy and girl) each had their own beds. This agent claimed we'd have to have four bunkbeds due to "safety and fire regulations." I'm like, four BUNK BEDS? This is the LOVE BOAT, for crying out loud!

I hung up, called NCL, and shortly afterward had a balcony cabin booked with beds correctly configured for all the people who wanted to be in them. I've since learned on Cruise Critic threads that there are, in fact, cabins for a family of four on Princess where such severe romantic intervention was not in force. Then as NCL kept sending me emails with new price codes on them, I kept calling my NCL agent and she kept changing our price (downward.) Which is a good thing, because Alaskan shore excursion prices are, well, scary. I reserved an Avis car for a couple hours in Skagway ($100), and that was still a screamin' deal compared to what the excursion to the same locations would have cost for four of us booked through NCL.

I think a lot of other people who have cruised Disney a bit and been on a lot of itineraries are tempted to "stray" for a new location. Panama wasn't a big draw for us, and if I was going to spend that much $$$ to go to Europe, it wouldn't be see the port cities. Will be interesting to see what changes when the new ships are added to the mix.

That is too funny. I'm in the same age range - so remember Love Boat very well. LOL, I think we all dreamed of cruises back then. And Gopher. LOL

 

[tvguy]

Okay, here we go (again)... We need to differentiate between NCL and NCL America.

NCL America is not the same as NCL. NCL America has struggled with all aspects of customer service. It has not been representative of the rest of the NCL fleet. This is also why there is only one ship left in Hawaii. Luckily, Alaska isn't in Hawaii.

NCL has one of the newest fleets in the industry. The newer ships are designed for freestyle. Freestyle is perfect for an Alaska cruise.

If you are looking for the same server each night, you are missing the point behind freestyle. Several of the port stops in Alaska coincide with the evening. A sit down formal dinner at a pre-specified time isn't what a lot of people want when there are ports to explore. The Pearl's Alaska itinerary only has 2 sea days and 3 days where you aren't in port at 6pm. There might be a long wait at some of the restaurants on those days. But, you are free to try one of the other 12 restaurants. Reservations are never a bad idea. Especially on Glacier Bay day. It's common sense really. If you plan on eating at a peak time, plan ahead (reservations), being flexible, or a long wait.

Oh, and Freestyle is implemented on almost every cruise line now. Including Holland America (HAL), which calls it's program "As you wish dining" where you get "Your choice of traditional pre-set seating and dining times or a flexible open schedule." I wouldn't even be surprised if DCL has many more specialty restaurant options on the new ships and some sort of anytime dining. It seems to be the way the industry is headed.



And cheaper too!


Finally, I have to say that the Norwegian Epic is going to be the ugliest thing on the ocean, if not the earth. Totally off topic, but it is hideous. Just thought I would throw that out there.

I can only speak to NCL Amercia, (and regular NCL before freestyle) but my mom has cruised on both the Pride of America (NCL America) and Norweigen Pearl (NCL) and found Freestyle dismal on both. She actually found NCL America a little better because when you made a reservation for dinner, they would actually let you ask to be seated with a certain server, which they did not do on the Pearl.
Both were huge disappointments compared to the standard set during our 2 cruises on NCL's Norway.

 

[NancyIL]

We did a northbound cruise on the Coral Princess in 2007, and a northbound cruise on HAL Veendam in 2008. Each one-way cruise was followed by a 9-day land trip with a rental car, and the land trips were as enjoyable as the cruises. I wasn't planning to return to Alaska in 2009, but Princess had such great prices early this year that I booked the Golden Princess roundtrip from Seattle for this weekend! The first 2 cruises were chosen for the itinerary, and the 3rd was chosen mainly for the price of the cruise and lower airfare to Seattle. The itinerary was still a consideration, and I liked the Golden's itinerary better than that of sister ship Star Princess - with a different order of ports and port times. (In 2010, every other Alaska cruise on the Golden Princess will go to Glacier Bay instead of Tracy Arm Fjord.) I plan to spend more time enjoying the ship this time around, and the Golden Princess just finished a major drydock earlier this month. (http://www.princess.com/learn/ships/np/index.html)

 

[NancyIL]

We cruised from Seward to Vancouver two summers ago on Celebrity and had a great trip. DCL is of course more family-friendly (also less smoky -our Celebrity stateroom smelled of stale smoke), but Celebrity was pretty accommodating, and the older kids with us (who were 5 and 9 at the time) loved the kids' club.

Celebrity now has one of the strictest smoking policies of any cruise line. Not only can't you smoke in your cabin, but you can't smoke on your balcony. HAL and Princess still allow smoking in cabins, and I hope they change to a non-smoking policy in cabins in the near future.

 

[disneylove69]

Holland America has been cruising Alaska longer than any other cruise line. They have very good kids clubs, and the service and food is on par with Disney. We cruised Alaska on HAL's Amsterdam out of Seattle a year before our Disney cruise with our kids. I would highly recommend them.
We've done 3 NCL cruises, the first two before Freestyle were top notch, and the last after, a huge disappointment. To make it work, if you plan to eat in the regular dining rooms, make sure you make a reservations 24 hours in advance, or you face a long wait to eat. It is very difficult to get the same servers with Freestyle. With HAL, you will get the same server team every night just like Disney. Given how much we loved NCL, DW and I really could not believe how much Freestyle ruined the experience for us.

When we went on HAL there were about 7 kids. I was in my 30's and we were pretty much the youngest on the ship except for two other groups.