ALaska???

[Mouse Mom]

We are Platinum ... All Caribbean cruises ... On all 4 ships ... Wanted to do something different but this could cause revolt amongst the family. We are from NY? My son will be going into middle school in fall of 2017 so I booked 7 day Alaskan cruise in the Wonder at the end of June 2017 as a "graduation" gift ... No pirate night I noticed ... No castaway obviously ... Need warmer clothes ... I thought it would be an adventure instead of the usual ... Any thoughts ? He's 11 and I have a 17 yo and 20 year at the time of sailing and a husband.

 

[KAS_73]

Alaska is absolutely breathtaking! Lots of amazing port excursions as well, have you checked any of them out? Ziplining, helicopters, dog sledding to name a few. I think you will all love it.

 

[lorimay]

We are Platinum ... All Caribbean cruises ... On all 4 ships ... Wanted to do something different but this could cause revolt amongst the family. We are from NY? My son will be going into middle school in fall of 2017 so I booked 7 day Alaskan cruise in the Wonder at the end of June 2017 as a "graduation" gift ... No pirate night I noticed ... No castaway obviously ... Need warmer clothes ... I thought it would be an adventure instead of the usual ... Any thoughts ? He's 11 and I have a 17 yo and 20 year at the time of sailing and a husband.

There are some many beautiful thing to see, I think they will enjoy it.
Constant scenery and as PP has said there are some really good excursions they will enjoy.
Its one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen.

 

[disfam3mi]

We are Platinum ... All Caribbean cruises ... On all 4 ships ... Wanted to do something different but this could cause revolt amongst the family. We are from NY? My son will be going into middle school in fall of 2017 so I booked 7 day Alaskan cruise in the Wonder at the end of June 2017 as a "graduation" gift ... No pirate night I noticed ... No castaway obviously ... Need warmer clothes ... I thought it would be an adventure instead of the usual ... Any thoughts ? He's 11 and I have a 17 yo and 20 year at the time of sailing and a husband.

We took our 11 year old son last summer. He liked it a LOT. We did dog sledding, gold panning & Mendenhall Glacier. He enjoyed Tracy Arm, the kids clubs an hour or so each day, the shows and all the family games.

I hope your 11 year old likes it as much as ours did!

 

[eeyorefanuk]

Can't wait hear more thoughts

 

[Mouse Mom]

I just feel like I can't do ANOTHER Caribbean cruise ... I would have loved a European but honestly that is beyond because of the airfare for 5 people. PLUS i have always wanted to go to Alaska but it is for my kids and I don't want to disappoint them AND it is STILL EXPENSIVE....What do you do pre-stay ???? I would love to go to Seattle - not sure that would be affordable for us ? It is all so new -- we got used to Port Canaveral and Miami !!! God, there is another universe out there?

 

[disneyfaninaz]

I would recommend you do a search of Alaska trip reports and you can read about experiences and see photos of what you'll find in Alaska. That might help convince you that Alaska is the right place to go for your family. We loved our first Alaska cruise so much, we booked our 2nd for 2017!

 

[Geomom]

I just feel like I can't do ANOTHER Caribbean cruise ... I would have loved a European but honestly that is beyond because of the airfare for 5 people. PLUS i have always wanted to go to Alaska but it is for my kids and I don't want to disappoint them AND it is STILL EXPENSIVE....What do you do pre-stay ???? I would love to go to Seattle - not sure that would be affordable for us ? It is all so new -- we got used to Port Canaveral and Miami !!! God, there is another universe out there?

We are doing our first ever cruise on DCL to Alaska this summer. As the cruise is out of Vancouver, we're staying 3 nights, so we'll have 2 full days to explore. There is so much to do in Vancouver. We're going to spend 1 day exploring Stanley Park--the aquarium, miniature train, and just walking around. The other day we're hoping to go to Lynn Canyon--they filmed part of the Disney Channel's Descendants movie there and my girls loved the movie...I also have one daughter not fond of heights--so the free, shorter suspension bridge will be much better for us than the Capiliano one. We typically do National Park trips every 2 years, so this is what we're doing instead this year--we'll all see Alaska for the first time. In Skagway, we booked Chilkoot Charters Yukon and Rail excursion with dog cart ride--it gets us multiple experiences on one excursion--dogs, train, bus, all kinds of vistas. In Juneau, I just want to visit Mendenhall Glacier. In Ketchican, we'll likely try to see Totems in some form, maybe the Lumberjack show. I consider the trip to be educational--our kids will have fun just being there.

 

[Mouse Mom]

I am pretty much sold ! Thanks everyone ...now I have to find a way to pay for all of this .... any pre-stay hotels suggestion?

 

[Pens Fan]

Until our Iceland cruise last summer, our Alaskan DCL cruise when our son was 12 was without a doubt his favorite. He always loved being on a Disney ship, but there was just so many more interesting things to do in port in Alaska vs the Caribbean/Bahamas. We take an annual trip to the beach anyway, so even Castaway Cay is basically just another beach to us. All kids are different, but thinking about most of the boys my son has hung out with over the years, I believe it's safe to say they would be very, very happy with an Alaskan adventure.

We have another (NCL) Alaskan cruise booked for 2017. I tried to push Europe, but both of my boys - DH and DS (who will be 19 then) have their hearts set on Alaska. They are even plotting a land based trip in a few years after that! So, yes, I can honestly say that Alaska was a wise choice for us and our then 12 year old.

 

[Mouse Mom]

It all sounds wonderful!

 

[jetskigrl]

We did Alaska when my DS was 11 and it was by far his favorite cruise. So much so that we are going back for the 5-night in August 2017 (ohh, that reminds me, I need to change my ticker, LOL).
One of the benefits of being 11 was that he was able to go back and forth between the Oceaneers Lab/Club and the Tween club. DS loved being able to choose. He also really enjoyed the pools. Since they were heated, he swam pretty much every day (even Tracy Arm day when it was really cold outside). He rarely swam on our other cruises because it was so crowded.

In Skagway, he really enjoyed the train ride and dog sled ride (Chilkoot tours). Since Chilkoot was assigned the last car of the train, he spent most of the ride on the back platform. I kept having him come back inside so that other people could enjoy the view but as soon as a spot opened up, he would go right back out there.

 

[sdjen]

I did Alaska last August with my 9 year old. It is very different than Caribbean cruises but we loved it. We stayed in Vancouver (Hyatt on Burrard) for a couple of days precruise. I could have spent a week there- awesome city! We did all excursions on our own for flexibility and less $$.

In Skagway we did two through Alaska excursions- ziplining and dog sledding (on dirt). I absolutely cannot recommend the ziplining enough, it was amazing! In Juneau we used Rum Runner charters for a private whale watching excursion. They will drop you at the glacier if you want to see that too - you would have plenty of time. In Ketchikan we went to the lumberjack show - cheesy but fun. And our most expensive but AMAZING excursion , a tour with Ketchikan helicopters.

Alaska is beautiful and there are so many choices for awesome excursions. Those excursions are quite a bit more expensive than you will find for most Caribbean excursions so be prepared! You will have a blast!

 

[Masonmj84]

We just booked the new 5 night DCL Alaska cruise for 2017 while onboard the Fantasy last week (very lucky that the new iteneraries came out while we were still onboard).

One issue we have with Alaska is sticker shock (our 5 night Alaska cruise is over $1K more than the 7 night Eastern Caribbean cruise we just completed and that's with booking the Alaska cruise on opening day with an onboard discount). We're also not sure about how much we'll like cruising in colder climates. So we figured the 5 night cruise was a good trial.

The 5 night cruise also gives us more time in British Columbia, which I absolutely adore. As this particular cruise departs Vancouver on a Wednesday, we'll probably spend the weekend before the cruise on Vancouver Island (love Victoria and Butchart Gardens is one of my favorite spots on the planet) and then go back to Vancouver and bike the sea wall around Stanely Park (and maybe hit the aquarium) the day before the cruise.

 

[bksaffle]

Alaska = Wonderful. My twins were 11 when we went to Alaska, and by far it was their favorite cruise. The scenery while you cruise is just amazing, so different from an open ocean Caribbean cruise. We saw so much wildlife right outside our balcony...and it is nonstop beauty. We also, booked our excursions outside of DCL and saved $. We went zip-lining in Skagway, so much fun. We went on the Aleutian Ballet (Deadliest Catch) crab boat in Ketchikan, and then in Juneau we just went up to the tourist booths and bought tickets for the various tours, and ate at Tracy's Crab Shack.

We will definitely go back to Alaska some day.

 

[Racer X]

Oh i have a few thoughts alright, but they would probably get me banished...

 

[bcwife76]

We did Alaska when my DS was 11 and it was by far his favorite cruise. So much so that we are going back for the 5-night in August 2017 (ohh, that reminds me, I need to change my ticker, LOL).
One of the benefits of being 11 was that he was able to go back and forth between the Oceaneers Lab/Club and the Tween club. DS loved being able to choose. He also really enjoyed the pools. Since they were heated, he swam pretty much every day (even Tracy Arm day when it was really cold outside). He rarely swam on our other cruises because it was so crowded.

In Skagway, he really enjoyed the train ride and dog sled ride (Chilkoot tours). Since Chilkoot was assigned the last car of the train, he spent most of the ride on the back platform. I kept having him come back inside so that other people could enjoy the view but as soon as a spot opened up, he would go right back out there.

Woohoo, we are on the 5 night, feel free to join our cruise meet thread Would love to have some 'insider knowledge' from someone that's already done DCL to Alaska!

@Masonmj84 feel free to join our cruise meet thread too!

 

[AussieNSW]

I think we may be going on the same cruise the 26th of June. We will be a family of 6 ranging in age from 16- 50. I am giving this cruise to myself as a birthday present and letting our kids and hubbie tag along. We have done 2 Caribbean cruises and 1 in the med. This will be the first cruise that i will be able to get everyone together. I loved the Caribbean but for me after the last one is was a bit more of the same maybe thats because beaches and swimming and water activities are part of our lifestyle normally. Alaska is something we would never get to experience here at home the activities and the scenery.

 

[The Notorious RIC]

We are heading out on 8/15 for our second Alaskan cruise (first w/ Disney) and the first to Alaska for our kids. Flying into Vancouver a couple days early and looking for recommendations on hotel. I looked at the hotel right at the cruise terminal. Wicked expensive but looks really nice and convenient. Anyone stayed close to the terminal for a reasonable price? I am also thinking of renting a car to tour. We are wicked excited!!!!

 

[xlxo]

Thoughts.... where do you plan to go? Parking for a car rental downtown and tourist attractions can quickly add up. If you plan to use the free shuttles and hop on services for the compact city... you don't need a car. $35 ($28 USD) for a cab carload ride from airport to downtown.

You didn't specify your room budget. Looking at one day price (Aug 14) of popular downtown choices on booking.com (in USD).

• $456 Pan Pacific (you are sleeping above the cruise terminal)
• $366 Fairmont Waterfront (you are across the street from the cruise terminal)
• $379 Westin Bayshore
• $355 Hyatt Regency
• $332 Grade Residence at the Sutton
• $323 Sheraton Vancouver Wall Centre
• $320 Sutton Place Vancouver
• $305 Marriott Pinnacle
• $300 Hamptonn Inn and Suites Vancouver Downtown (popular with Hilton fans)
• $287 Auberge (2 blocks from cruise terminal)
• $284 Georgian Court
• $270 Pinnacle Vancouver Waterfront
• $255 Westin Grand
• $223 Delta Vancouver Suites (6 blocks from cruise terminal and bigger rooms!)
• $216 Holiday Inn
• $189 Blue Horizon (very popular for budget travelers and lots of shops & restaurants nearby)
• $158 Empire Landmark
• $138 Days Inn Vancouver Downtown (4 blocks from cruise terminal.... check online reviews for potential issues)
• $83 YWCA

With a rental car.... I like the Radisson Vancouver airport for $145.

• free parking... downtown can add $30 for parking
• subway across the street can have you downtown in 25 minutes
• lots of Asian restaurants around
• 2 nearby super markets