Any Disney cruisers ever take an Alaskan Cruise??

[stitchmom]

We took our very first cruise last November (Disney magic 7 day Western Carribean) and absolutely loved it ! We booked again on board for November 2005 (myself, husband and 2 sons, ages 7 and 10). We now want to book an anniversary cruise to Alaska (just me and my husband). Has anyone been on an Alaskan cruise? How did your cruise line compare with Disney? Knowing how great the Disney Cruise line is, are there any Alaskan cruises you would reccomend? This would be our first trip to Alaska. Any advice or feedback would be greatly appreciated!!

 

[cotomom]

We went on one. It was with Crystal and just fantastic.

Although my kids have also been on a Crystal Mexico cruise with us and received very personalized attention ... I wouldn't recommend Crystal for travelling WITH kids.

Without though, is another story. It is VERY upscale and was romantic and perfect all around. Alaska was beautiful and different than any place we've ever been. Glad to see it at least once in our lifetimes. Took a helicopter ride and landed on a glacier to feast on champagne and chocolate! Heaven!

Don't know if they're still doing Alaska, but if the funds are abundant and you're looking for first class, I'd recommend them!

 

[jgalecpa]

I look forward to any further info on this.

We are going to Alaska on Celebrity Cruise lines' Infinity this june.

Hear they can be quite formal...


Jim

 

[LisaGoeke]

We took an Alaskan cruise on Legend of the Seas and loved it!! I love the Caribbean, and wasn't sure if I'd like Alaska, but it was beautiful and I am so glad we went. I'm also a big fan of RCI so I loved the ship too.

 

[Itinkso]

There are many Alaska cruisers on the Cruise Critic boards. My family is hoping to cruise to Alaska next summer. Princess and RCCL have nice itineraries and Princess has a lot of cruise/tours. I am debating whether to do a cruise/tour to see Denali park since it will probably be our only time for Alaska. I've yet to cruise the Caribbean w/Disney!

 

[tvguy]

We did an Alaskan cruise 18 months before our Disney cruise on HAL's Amsterdam. Loved it. HAL has been doing Alaska cruises longer than any other line. They have kids clubs like Disney, but just like Disney, my kids decided not to join them. They found too many other things on the ship to do. HAL leaves out of Seattle, which can be an easier and cheaper city to fly in and out of as compared to Vancouver.
It is, however, a more adult cruise that Disney.

I've done 7 cruises, on (in order) Paquet, NCL, RCCL, HAL and Disney. Paquet is the only line I would not cruise again.

 

[airtime247]

Our first cruise was to Alaska on the Sea Princess in May of 2002. The Sea Princess is one of Princess' older ships but we had nothing to compare it to. We LOVED the cruise! It's what got us hooked!

We took another Princess cruise in 2003 to Mexico on one of their newer ships, the Star Princess. We really like Princess although I have heard fantastic things about Celebrity's cruises to Alaska too.

Princess pushes their Personal Choice dining. Instead of traditional dining with the same servers and tablemates each night, you just show up when you feel like it and you will be seated with new people each night. We liked it although you never get to know your servers or tablemates. The good part is if you don't hit it off with someone, you never have to see them again! You also don't have to eat when you aren't ready. I know they are trying to phase out traditional dining but I'm not sure if they still do or not.

The restaurants remind me of Lumiere's on the Magic. They had a fancy, elegant feel to them. They also have reservation-only restaurants like Palo that specialize in different ethnic foods.

The menus were a lot bigger than Disney's. There were a lot more choices and the food was very good.

Alaska was great although you will be trading the bathing suits for jackets! You may want to find out if there is a covered pool on your ship. Ours wasn't and was almost never used.

In Juneau, we took a whale watching excursion which included visiting the Mendenhall Glacier. Seeing those whales breach barely more than 100' from our boat was one of the most amazing things I've ever seen, ahead of even Sting Ray City in Grand Cayman which I loved.

One of our best memories was sitting on our balcony bundled up with jackets and blankets, and watching the ice float by. We saw countless bald eagles and several sea lions in the inside passage. Many people even saw bears.

I hope that helps! Please let me know if I can answer any more questions for you!

-steve

 

[MariettaC]

We did an Alaskan cruise 18 months before our Disney cruise on HAL's Amsterdam. Loved it. HAL has been doing Alaska cruises longer than any other line. They have kids clubs like Disney, but just like Disney, my kids decided not to join them. They found too many other things on the ship to do. HAL leaves out of Seattle, which can be an easier and cheaper city to fly in and out of as compared to Vancouver.
It is, however, a more adult cruise that Disney.

I've done 7 cruises, on (in order) Paquet, NCL, RCCL, HAL and Disney. Paquet is the only line I would not cruise again.

Thanks for the info. We have done two Disney cruises and when we booked the HAL Amsterdam for Alaska I wasn't so sure it was a good idea. We leave out of Seattle on July 3. Thanks again.

 

[MariettaC]

I have a question for those who cruised to Alaska the beginning of July. What type of clothing do most people wear during the day? We're so used to cruising to warmer climates and packing shorts that this trip has me stumped. How much warm weather clothing do we actually need in early July? Thanks for your help.

 

[MrsMork]

I have a question for those who cruised to Alaska the beginning of July. What type of clothing do most people wear during the day? We're so used to cruising to warmer climates and packing shorts that this trip has me stumped. How much warm weather clothing do we actually need in early July? Thanks for your help.

You won't need shorts. Take a jacket.

 

[kajohn]

We cruised alaska the first part of July in 2002. The weather was in the low 70's during the day. We dressed in layers, with short sleeve Tshirts, then a fleeces jacket and a waterproof jacket over that and jeans.

In juneau we kayaked, and it was so nice we were just in our short sleeve t-shirts and jeans.

In Ketchikan we salmon fished, and during the trip were again in our t-shirts by late morning.

In Skagway we took a helicopter to the glacier and we wore both layers of the jackets, the helicopter company provided big waterproof boots. We were warm enough with all the layers on.

Although the weather was great as far as Alaska weather is concerned I don't think we wore shorts at all the entire week.

I highly recommend a waterproof jacket that can be folded up into itself for storage. Ours had a loop that could fit on our belts when not being worn, so as the weather got warmer during the day we could take it off and not have to carry them.

I always cruise the Carribean during the winter, so I just thought of the summer Alaska cruise as the same thing, bring out the off season clothing for the trip, it is a little weird to pack warm clothes in July, but it is such a glorious trip!

Don't forget the gloves and hats, it gets very cold on deck when cruising through the glaciers and on glacier landings!

 

[NCRedding]

We cruised RCCL Radiance of the Seas in late July of 2003. Loved Alaska and found it amazing. Didn't really care for RCCL's staff. The first day of the cruise was extremely warm as we waited in the RRCl "warehouse" terminal. No AC, 80 degree+ and a hugh number of pax packed into a small amount of space. They were serving hot chocolate, though--just what we needed. I wish I had had shorts that day. After that, it was definitely jeans, and turtlenecks, a few days were warm enough for short sleeves. I was so glad I had a Columbia windbreaker. The temperature got down to 44 degrees when we cruised Hubbard Glacier.

In Juneau, we took a ship's tour whale-watching--totally worth every penny we paid. We saw tons of whales, seal, otters, eagles. Saw Mendenhall Glacier from the bay--absolutely wonderful.

In Ketchikan, we went to the lumberjack show, and toured the town.

Skagway, I regret we didn't do an excursion. I had planned to rent a car, but it was rainy and windy so we didn't.

It is a great trip, even though I didn't care for RCCL.

 

[afoss]

My husband I went went on a cruise/land tour with Princess for our honeymoon 3 years ago. If you have the time and money, do the combo. It was wonderful seeing the parks, riding the train, stopping at little towns, etc. The cruise was the last part which was wonderful. We had a balcony and would recommend that ...it was cold (Aug) so we would sit on our balcony and watch whales vs being on the decks with the wind.

We went late Aug and I wore a shirt with a sweater plus rain gear every day.
I've been on many tropical cruises so it was odd to have the servers walk around serving hot coco instead of fruity drinks

It was the best cruise of my life...go with the plan of being adventurous.

 

[georgina]

I have a question for those who cruised to Alaska the beginning of July. What type of clothing do most people wear during the day? We're so used to cruising to warmer climates and packing shorts that this trip has me stumped. How much warm weather clothing do we actually need in early July? Thanks for your help.

It was very warm last July in Alaska - 80º the day we were in Juneau, and we used the outdoor pool on the ship. I would take a few warm weather clothes. I made the kids take jackets on our excursions, and we didn't need them. Our weather was atypical, but you never know what you'll get!

 

[tvguy]

Thanks for the info. We have done two Disney cruises and when we booked the HAL Amsterdam for Alaska I wasn't so sure it was a good idea. We leave out of Seattle on July 3. Thanks again.

You'll love the Amsterdam. They have 2 pools, a big one with a retractable roof over it, so it can be used in any weather, and one at the back of the ship outdoors.....both are heated. I have great photos of all of us in the outdoor pool, steam rising up, and the Hubbard Glacier in the background.

We went in mid-June and they were having a "heatwave".....72 degrees in Juneau. I took both shorts and a coat, but I was comfortable in long pants and a Tee shirt on deck most of the time. Did wear shorts a lot inside on sea days, or when hanging around the covered pool.
And when you cruise by the Glacier, they serve hot soup out on the deck and always have blankets on hand outside.

 

[PrincessJasmine53]

We went on a cruise to Alaska last August -2004. We went on the Sapphire Princess - out of Seattle. We had already been on the Disney Wonder - so it was hard not to compare them. First impression of the warehouse check-in, didn't thrill me, or the mile walk to the ship uphill...and entering the ship at an elevator. No Welcome Aboard! But the cruise was very nice and the ship too. The Sapphire set sail for the 1st time in May, 2004. We lucked out with 3 handicapped rooms -obstructed view large porthole - they were huge! We had 16 in our family that went. The other 2 rooms were veranda ones. I was glad we didn't spend the money for that. They were smaller than Cat.6 DCL, except the veranda was longer. And you couldn't sit out there much, since it rained on many of the days - they're not covered & everyone can look down at you.
Food was good - we did the dinearound dining - had reservations each night, so we never had a wait. We felt the servers on DCL were much better & nicer - especially since they followed you from dining room to dining room. We were worried about the formal nights - well, anything goes! You don't need gowns or tuxedos, although some people dressed up, but basically anything nice for ladies, and a jacket & tie for men, there was even some men without that too. We were on the inside passage. All the stops were very touristy - and excursions are a must - I would go on more if I went again, I would also go up and do a land package to see Denali Park, etc. I felt I missed out by not going up to the Anchorage area.
The weather was pretty nice -our 1st day at sea was in the 80's - after that we encountered almost daily showers - spotty not all day . I wore shorts the entire trip. I brought jeans & a sweatshirt for Tracy Arm morning. That was the only time I wore them. I had a sweater for the night time.This ship has an indoor pool which we used alot - it was never crowded, but we did use the outdoor ones too. Entertainment was more adult than for kids - like Disney. They really didn't have much for the kids - we had 5,6,10,15,16,17 &21 year olds with us. The kids program was terrible - not many activities, so the 5&6 year old went for about 2 hours & never went back. My niece cried, she thought she was being punished! The 10 year old said the activities were lame, so she didn't stay.
The opportunity knocked for us to go on the Alaska trip and I'm so glad we went, I highly recommend the Sapphire Princess, but I do prefer DCL - I'm booked for 7/22/2006 - for a week - we went on the 3 day our first trip, and I felt I missed out on half the things the ship had to offer! Disney just does everything better!