Debating on which to book...

[ANGRebel]

we have been on 2 DCL cruises so far, western Caribbean on the fantasy and 7 night Bahamian on the wonder. Debating on what to book for summer 2017. We will have a 6 yo and 4 yo girls. Debating between Alaska or a dream double dip 5 nighter. We are wondering if the kids would get as much out of Alaska as they would out of all the fun beach time at CC. Any thoughts from you more experienced cruisers?

 

[Stitch'sCousin]

We were faced with making the same decision a few years ago and we elected to stick with the Caribbean/Bahamas cruises. Our kids are older than yours, but they would rather do stuff like go swimming with the turtles and visit Castaway Cay. Maybe some time in the future we will end up going on an Alaskan cruise.

 

[bksaffle]

It just really depends on the type of experience you want. We have done both. We love to hike so going to Alaska was amazing with a ton of nature moments (whales, sea lions, bears, mountain goats, eagles, otters, fishing, waterfalls, etc...). To us, a beach is a beach, but we have been more times than not to the Caribbean, so we must still enjoy that. But to us, nothing compared to the Alaska Experience. Kids of all ages will get a lot out of the Alaska experience....just my opinion.

I think it also helped that we were on DCL, where the kids have the Disney Experience. I have heard (but not experienced), that going on Disney does make it a whole lot better for the little kids vs. going on a different cruise line....but I could be completely wrong, so don't land blast me.

 

[tink1970]

I agree it depends completely on your daughters and their temperaments/preferences. Mine was a little older when we went to Alaska (9) but she loved it! Remember it's Disney so there is going to be other children around, dedicated Cast Members in the kids' areas, characters, family port adventures, etc. The pools are heated (I swam daily), although of course it can get cold, and powdered hot chocolate packages in the beverage station on the 9th (?) deck (although the did run out of the packets by the end of the cruise...don't know if DCL learned a lesson from that or not!). Honestly, if you and your spouse are happy, then chances are they'll pick up on THAT more than anything else. So where do you want to go and what will make y'all smile?

Good luck with this fun decision!

 

[ANGRebel]

Thanks for all your input. After talking things over with my wife, I think our preferred itinerary will be the 5 night double dip. We will check prices on both though just to compare, we will also probably compare a 7 night Eastern on the Fantasy just to see. We enjoyed our Western on the Fantasy so we would also like to try the Eastern with the extra sea day. I think the double dip on the Dream will be good for our girls who loved their first trip to CC. Having that extra day there would be great! We will just have to see how the pricing works out. Transportation to PC will be a lot less since we can drive versus flying to Vancouver, but we definitely have Alaska on the short list. My wife I think would like to let the girls get just a couple of years older before we head to Alaska though. I'm just excited the itineraries are out and we can start planning!