Anyone have regret about Alaska?

[xlxo]

Two issues....

• lack of Glacier Bay.
• on the sailing date I was on.... the competition was charging 66% less! I was travelling with a large group of pixie dust addicts who outvoted me.

 

[disneyholic family]

we were planning on DCL for alaska, but after doing some research, realized we wanted to do a one way itinerary so that we could spend some land time in alaska proper (the main area of alaska)....
since DCL doesn't do one ways, we looked at the other cruise line itineraries and ended up going with RCCL on a southbound cruise from seward alaska to vancouver..

we are sooooooooo happy that we did that....our week in alaska before the cruise was outstanding!!
if we're lucky enough to go to alaska again, we'll even extend the time we spend in alaska...hopefully to two weeks or even more, before jumping onto a southbound cruise to vancouver...

.

 

[lorimay]

Not being brave enough to get on a seaplane or helicopter to see the ariel views.

 

[clten]

We have been on 3 Alaska cruises - first was Princess with Land tour after and the last 2 with DCL. Absolutely no regrets in any of our choices. We did Princess before DCL was cruising Alaska. Very much enjoyed the cruise and land tour. When Disney started their Alaska cruises, we of course had to go. Absolutely fantastic cruise -- didn't miss Glacier Bay. The port calls were the same (although seemed Princess had better parking spots but that certainly didn't impact our enjoyment of the ports). In fact, on our second DCL Alaska cruise, it was the only time I seriously thought about booking the next cruise and staying onboard -- the cruise was that enjoyable. (Would have done it if we hadn't already done the repositioning cruise the week before.)

Now, if our intention was to do a longer Alaska vacation, we may have regretted doing DCL as it is not easy to extend a cruise that is round-trip from Vancouver to do additional places in Alaska. But if our intention was just to do a 7 day Alaska cruise and head home, we would have regretted our one way Princess cruise that ended in Seward. The scenery on the inside passage was no better on the one way than the round trip and the one way cruise would have had a lot of travel to get to Anchorage just to catch a longer flight home.

So I guess what I'm saying to have no regrets, first figure out what you want from your Alaska vacation and then see which cruise line would give you that experience.

 

[cruisehopeful]

I went twice with DCL and would do it again. If I could afford it, I'd probably go every year.

I did hear other passengers who didn't enjoy the cruise. They were used to the Bahamas or Caribbean, where you could stay warm on deck or on the verandah all day. That is not the case with Alaska cruises. If you are cruising because you want to see Alaska, you'll enjoy it. If you are cruising because you always cruise DCL and just want a different itinerary, you may not enjoy it as much - especially for the price.

 

[Jess_S]

I don't agree with choosing DCL if you want Disney vs. another line if you want Alaska. I have done Alaska on both DCL and HAL and I can confidently say that both trips provided as much of an Alaska experience as one can get on a cruise. (My husband and I did agree that we want to come back to Alaska for a land only vacation once my son is old enough to enjoy it.)

I was also happy with the value I got for my money. I originally booked a suite on NCL for our Alaska trip, but I switched to DCL once I researched which lines had the best activities for the diaper set. (My son was almost 2 at the time). The NCL suite was about the same as our DCL ocean view (one of the giant porthole rooms), but the service on DCL was superior to NCL suite level service in every aspect except the spa.

I have taken 4 vacations since my son was born and DCL Alaska was my favorite. So definitely no regrets.

 

[gotomu212]

I echo the other poster who said they were in it for the Disney cruise and Alaska was just a bonus. We wanted to sail on another Disney cruise and saw a great deal on Alaska (3 years ago) and said hey that might be fun to go there. It ended up being one of our favorite destinations and now we want to do Alaska by car just to get more.

We went in with no expectations and were just blown away. Taking off into the Yukon from Skagway gave us those iconic Alaska landscape that I wanted.

 

[MUN]

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.

No, life is too short for regrets.

 

[RedSox68]

I agree with some of the previous remarks -- we did not choose DCL because they didn't include Glacier Bay and that was a must have for us. And the DCL price compared to what we got on HAL was a no-brainer! We saved thousands for the same room type.

 

[IBelieveInTheMagic]

We've sailed to Alaska twice with DCL (2013 and 2016) and not a single regret. I did research other cruise lines and our oceanview cabin was not out of line with what others were charging, coupled with our 10% OBB. Our 9C was around $4400 which is *cheaper* than what we would pay on a 7 night Fantasy sailing (sailing during summer or school breaks) so for that - BARGAIN! LOL

Seriously, no regrets at all and we spent around $1100 in excursions, booked them all independently and loved every single one of them. I also planned for us to do different things in 2016 versus what we had done in 2013, and still we haven't seen nearly enough. I would choose Alaska (and Vancouver) over most other vacations (besides Europe) and if we were closer, heck I'd consider it every year I mentioned Vancouver as it's always a highlight for us and we absolutely LOVE it there.

Do what is best for your family whether it be the cruise line, the itinerary, the pricing, etc.

Heather

 

[Carrie in AZ]

mentioned Vancouver as it's always a highlight for us and we absolutely LOVE it there.

We LOVE Vancouver also! Huge bonus being able to embark from Vancouver!

I am so appreciative of all the responses. Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts and links to your trips.