Anyone have regret about Alaska?

[Carrie in AZ]

Curious if anyone here regrets choosing a DCL Alaskan cruise? Was the experience all you hoped it would be? Was it worth the cost and value?

I know other lines cost less and have different itinerries that may be more desirable. Without thinking of those things, based on your experience on your DCL cruise, does anyone have regrets about sailing?

Anyone get back and say "sure wish we would have gone to XYZ on vacation instead"?

Thanks for sharing.

 

[jubjubrsx]

only regret I have is not doing it sooner. I didnt have very high expectations going into the cruise since I'm a warm weather person and hate the cold.

I had a good friend go on a princess cruise to alaska about a week after me...he said he did not find it near as enjoyable, thought it had alot to do with the cruise line. bunch of drunks and all about gambling and such. so I was told. the only good he said was it sailed from san francisco which is about 40minute drive from where we live. While we had to fly to vancouver canada.

 

[roobug]

I'm probably a minority but we will do every cruise on DCL except Alaska. Because DCL in newer to Alaska they can not do the desirable routes. Also the things we like most about DCL and what we pay extra for (characters, Disney themeing, shows and kids club) are things that we don't need in Alaska.

We choose Alaska for the scenery, glaciers and wilderness. We didn't want our kids to spend the whole time in the kids club and to be fighting them to enjoy Alaska. We actually went on princess this summer to Alaska and loved it. The kids enjoyed the kids club enough be didn't want to be there all the time. Plus being able to go to glacier bay was huge for us. I also liked how in glacier bay rangers came on the ship and did a junior ranger program with the kids in kids club. I will say we did miss the split bathroom and the space that Disney has.

The only downside was that some of the excursions on disney are more geared to kids then the princess ones but we did most excursions on our own so it wasn't a huge deal to us.

We did not notice drunk people and typically the casino was empty when we walked through it most times of the day and night for our princess cruise. There were not huge amounts of kids which made it nice for swimming in the pools and kids club but downside is not as many kids for them to play with.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

I'm probably a minority but we will do every cruise on DCL except Alaska. Because DCL in newer to Alaska they can not do the desirable routes. Also the things we like most about DCL and what we pay extra for (characters, Disney themeing, shows and kids club) are things that we don't need in Alaska.

We choose Alaska for the scenery, glaciers and wilderness. We didn't want our kids to spend the whole time in the kids club and to be fighting them to enjoy Alaska. We actually went on princess this summer to Alaska and loved it. The kids enjoyed the kids club enough be didn't want to be there all the time. Plus being able to go to glacier bay was huge for us. I also liked how in glacier bay rangers came on the ship and did a junior ranger program with the kids in kids club. I will say we did miss the split bathroom and the space that Disney has.

The only downside was that some of the excursions on disney are more geared to kids then the princess ones but we did most excursions on our own so it wasn't a huge deal to us.

We did not notice drunk people and typically the casino was empty when we walked through it most times of the day and night for our princess cruise. There were not huge amounts of kids which made it nice for swimming in the pools and kids club but downside is not as many kids for them to play with.

I'm in that minority, also. We've done Alaska twice (both times on Holland America). Definitely Alaska is more about the itinerary, than the cruise. For us anyway.

Our second trip was the 21 night land/cruise option, and we also got into the Yukon and more inland than a cruise experience can get you.

OP, the question is - do you want a Disney experience with some Alaska thrown in? Or an Alaskan experience?

 

[phinz]

I had a good friend go on a princess cruise to alaska about a week after me...he said he did not find it near as enjoyable, thought it had alot to do with the cruise line. bunch of drunks and all about gambling and such. so I was told. the only good he said was it sailed from san francisco which is about 40minute drive from where we live. While we had to fly to vancouver canada.

That's funny to me, but maybe it has to do with their cruise leaving out of SFO. I found our Princess cruise out of SEA to be incredibly chill and more relaxing than a Disney cruise. Very little drinking was going on. There were many times I had the entire bar to myself, no matter which bar it was. The casino rarely had very many people in it. My biggest complaint was that the crew wasn't nearly as friendly as we're used to on Disney, but for more than half off, with Glacier Bay included, we can take the bartenders not knowing our names.

 

[jahber]

We loved our Alaska cruise, but we got a steal of an IGT (~$2500 for four of us) three years ago. There's probably no way we would ever be able to do it again at current prices. But if we had the money to burn, we would consider it.

 

[Karlzmom]

Our 1st cruise was Alaska on DCL. We loved the experience and promptly booked to do Alaska on DCL again the following year. We looked at booking the same for the 3d year but I just couldn't quite swallow the price so we jumped over to Celebrity with a DCL run from Vancouver to San Diego as our *almost b2b.*

I can't say I regret going DCL but I was very pleasantly surprised to find that there is cruising life with kids beyond DCL . In fact when we completed the trip and asked our DS 10 what he thought he very clearly stated he preferred Celebrity's kid program to DCL as he thought the programed activities were better than Disney. He also really enjoyed the behind the scenes tours, etc. were available.

For me, I try not think of how much we could have saved if we had just started with Celebrity or one of the other lines (this year, we were in a top tier concierge balcony room - one of the aft room with the big balcony- w/tips, drinks and OBC for $2k less than a navigator verandah's base price would have been). Had we know we probably would have saved enough between the 2 years to have a 3d cruise in the same money spent.

Yes, DCL has the music in the hallways and the hidden Mickeys. Which I love, really. However, I found the staff on our Celebrity was warm and friendly. I found them to be very engaged and we even had card tricks at dinner!

Whatever you choose to do, have a great time and enjoy Alaska!

 

[xavier2001]

No regrets, was worth EVERY penny and I"m glad we did it on DCL. Before we went I thought it was a once in a lifetime trip, after having gone I am determined to do it again someday!!! Fwiw we ran into some DCL cruisers in port who went to Alaska on Holland America and they begged us to take them back to the Disney ship with them.

 

[xavier2001]

I'm probably a minority but we will do every cruise on DCL except Alaska. Because DCL in newer to Alaska they can not do the desirable routes.

This is changing, Disney has some itineraries including Glacier Bay in their 2017 line up. Personally I"m holding out for the one way cruise with a land based trip at the end, I'm a patient person

 

[Carrie in AZ]

I appreciate the replies so far. I have a lot of feelings. Our family: me, DH, DD12 and DD16. The girls and I absolutely loved our two DCL cruises. DH enjoyed them but did not love them as much as the girls and me. His number one destination is Hawaii, and we have gone pretty frequently. I want to go on one more cruise before our oldest turns 18 in her senior year so that she can still go to Vibe. She is allllll about the club.

Our youngest likes the clubs somewhat but she likes animals more so if we could see some wildlife she would like that more.

There is no chance of doing a heli excursion. Maybe whale watching. We are all about the views. I personally want to see and experience the majesty of it all. I wouldn't need to walk on a glacier or visit the sled dogs to make it a successful trip.

So, to answer the question, I would want more Disney with some Alaska. Hopefully this would not be our only trip. I would love to do a land trip at some point in the future but who knows!

 

[xavier2001]

There is no chance of doing a heli excursion. Maybe whale watching. We are all about the views. I personally want to see and experience the majesty of it all. I wouldn't need to walk on a glacier or visit the sled dogs to make it a successful trip.

So, to answer the question, I would want more Disney with some Alaska. Hopefully this would not be our only trip. I would love to do a land trip at some point in the future but who knows!

We don't do helicopters either LOL and had LOTS of majestic scenery and some great wildlife. My only regret is we didn't get to see more Bears, I think we were a little too early in the season, they usually don't start coming out until the Salmon run in late July/August.

You can read about our Disney Alaska adventure here https://disneyalaska2016.wordpress.com

 

[PrincessShmoo]

This is changing, Disney has some itineraries including Glacier Bay in their 2017 line up. Personally I"m holding out for the one way cruise with a land based trip at the end, I'm a patient person

Where are you seeing that DCL is going to Glacier Bay in 2017? I can see that the Wonder is doing a few cruises to Icy Strait Point, and Hubbard Glacier, but not Glacier Bay.

Glacier Bay only allows 2 cruise ships a day, and the cruise lines bid for the permits every 10 years. The ships with senority get first choices. Holland America and Princess usually draw most of them. With Carnival and Crystal holding a few. I believe the next time for drawing permits isn't until 2019.

https://www.nps.gov/glba/learn/news/2009-01-14.htm

 

[Geomom]

No regrets! We just went this past August with DCL, as our first ever cruise.
DH and I thought an Alaskan cruise might be something we'd do in retirement--in15+ years. But last spring, I was looking for someplace new to go with the kids in the summer of 2016, that includes nature--as we were doing national park visits every 2 years. I discovered that Disney does cruises to Alaska. Our family LOVES Disney, so this really was fantastic for us. I am SOOO happy that we went now, while there still are glaciers! The kids were a great age to experience everything (12 and 16). It was a fantastic cruise!

 

[Agent 86]

My only regret about the Disney Alaskan Cruise was not being wealthy enough to do all of the extreme / extravagant port excursions! But, that's just a good reason to save, save and SAVE and to return one day in the FAR future.

 

[jiminyC_fan]

We are platinum DCL cruisers and have zero regrets cruising with Holland America to Alaska. For us it was about Alaska and not about the ship. Loved the land/sea tour because Alaska isn't just Glaciers and Fjords.

 

[tnshsms]

No regrets going to Alaska on DCL. Now, to be fair, I've not done Alaska any other way. We also had a 7 yo with us and that made us lean DCL for sure. We plan to go back and like others have said, I'll consider other lines. The kid will be older next time and we've done the Alaskan characters already so I'm not sure I'd go again BUT I don't regret choosing DCL at all. Yes, we could have saved money going on a different line, but we couldn't get the Disney difference either. I'm about to go on a RCCL for the first time in 10 years so I'll be interested to see how my 4 DCL compare but if you can afford DCL and you want the character and Disney difference, book DCL for Alaska.

BTW, we did whale watching and saw moose on our trip...you can read about it here.....since you mentioned seeing animals on your trip and all. We did all our excursions thru DCL.

http://www.disboards.com/threads/a-...ise-in-all-carry-on-luggage-may-2016.3515261/

 

[Pens Fan]

Our first cruise to Alaska was on DCL. I don't regret it for one single second. At that point in our lives it was the perfect vacation - definitely our favorite that we had taken with our son (until Iceland 3 years later!) at that time. However, in planning the trip we were primarily looking for a Disney cruise and the Alaska part was just a bonus. We went 4 wheeling in Skagway, whale watching and Mendenhall glacier in Juneau and flight seeing and bear watching in Ketchikan. Alaska was amazing, the Wonder was amazing, it was just perfect.

Now, flash forward to 2017, and we are going back to Alaska and are not sailing DCL, as we want to see Glacier Bay. We also want to do a one way itinerary so that we can explore the Kenai Peninsula for a week afterwards. DH and I spent 2 weeks on a land (only) trip many, many years ago to Denali and the Yukon, so we are choosing Kenai for the upcoming trip as we haven't spent much time there before. I'm rambling, I know, but the point I'm trying to make is that Alaska is magnificent and it is overwhelmingly large. You aren't going to "do Alaska" in one trip, no matter what cruise line you take.

Take the cruise you want and can afford. It sounds as if that's DCL from your last post, but only you really know that. Don't look back. Just enjoy. I'm betting you will be back to Alaska again at some point (it's hard to stay away) then you can branch out and do something different.

 

[anricat]

I think it depends on the interests of you and your family. We love Disney and for us this was a vacation for the Disney experience AND Alaska. If you want Alaska, go with another line. If you want Disney coupled with Alaska, choose Disney. We didn't regret it for a moment.

 

[mmouse37]

We loved our DCL Alaskan cruise in 2011. I still want to go back and do a land/sea Alaskan trip so will probably be on another line but we still loved the cruise with Disney to Alaska.

MJ

 

[RatherBeInAK]

I haven't done any Alaskan cruises on any lines, however I worked in Alaska at a cruise destination/port and spoke with many people about their experiences on the various lines. The one recurring theme was that Alaskan cruises tend to attract an older crowd. There were few children on the cruises and several of the kids/teens I spoke with didn't like that aspect. For that reason, DCL is the only line I would use to cruise Alaska. That being said, I would recommend that you do a post-cruise tour on land so you can get up to Denali and see some of the amazing things that are inland.