How much more would you pay for Alaska?

[aurorae]

This year we are going on a 7 night Alaska cruise from Seattle.

In the future, we would consider a Disney cruise to Alaska.

We've never been on a Disney cruise, but I noticed that they tend to be more expensive than the other lines.

How much more would you be willing to pay for a Disney cruise, as compared to another cruise line? Where would you draw the line and switch? Would it matter whether you were going with kids (we will not be).

In Alaska, we now have Carnival, Celebrity, Holland America, Norwegian, Princess, Regent Seven Seas, Royal Caribbean, Silversea, plus some small ships. And, soon, Disney.

 

[smb6]

Well, I'm booked with Disney to sail to Alaska next year. I try to avoid thinking about the price comparison. I know we will have a blast, and I purposely have not priced out the other cruise lines- I don't even want to know the difference. There are several reasons I'm "set" on going w/Disney. One of them being the kids clubs, not only are they top notch, but it's really important to my kids to stay together in the clubs and that would not be possible for other lines. I think it boils down to your priorities; for some families it makes since to pay more and for others it does not...

 

[justmestace]

Going to Alaska on the Norwegian Pearl in just 24 short days!
I wouldn't pay any more at all to go on Disney. The kids clubs on the other lines are just as good, if not better in some instances. (They do, by the way, allow you to let your kids stay together if you want).
The itinerary, in my opinion, on NCL is better....no flying to Vancouver (we sail out of Seattle) and an extra port, and larger glacier viewing.
Not only did we get an awesome price in a great suite that Disney can't even touch, but we also got a $600 OBC....from the cruiseline, not our TA.
Rock climbing wall, bowling alley, more restaurant choices, covered pool...

I DO love Disney, but you have to draw the line somewhere.

 

[NancyIL]

I have cruised to Alaska on Princess and HAL, and will return in 2011 on a 14-night roundtrip on HAL. I wouldn't cruise to Alaska on Disney at any price - given the current itinerary and the many kids that will be on their ships.

 

[aurorae]

I have cruised to Alaska on Princess and HAL, and will return in 2011 on a 14-night roundtrip on HAL. I wouldn't cruise to Alaska on Disney at any price - given the current itinerary and the many kids that will be on their ships.

Do you find the smoking on HAL to be bad? I was going to cruise this year on HAL, but went to my second choice, RC, when I found out that HAL allows smoking in the staterooms. But the HAL itinerary looked better, and the ships are somewhat smaller which I like.

 

[NancyIL]

I didn't smell smoke in the cabins or hallways on either of my HAL cruises, nor on Princess, either. The casinos were usually smokey, so I tried to avoid going through them when possible. (Kudos to Celebrity for having smoke-free cabins, balconies, and casinos.)

HAL's smaller ships have great outdoor viewing areas, and they are especially good for cruising in Alaska. When I was on the Wonder in December, I tried to find good deck viewing areas - particularly in the front of the ship. Sadly, they are few and far between. The bow isn't open or accessible to passengers, and the stern isn't open on the promenade deck. The new enclosed portion of the Cove Cafe is too small for many people to gather. Deck 10 has the sports court at the front of the ship and Palo at the rear. The only decent forward viewing area is at the front of deck 9 - in front of the fitness center. That may not matter to many people, especially if they want a Disney cruise that just happens to sail to Alaska. But for the person who really wants to see Alaska, there are better itineraries on ships with better viewing areas.

I like cruising with Royal Caribbean, but I would put up with smoking on HAL with a superior Alaska itinerary before I would book Rhapsody's mediocre itinerary - at least for a first-time visit to Alaska. On the positive side, I think RCI's Vision-class ships (like Rhapsody) are far prettier on the inside than the HAL ships I've been on. Rhapsody's cabins are much smaller than HAL's, however.

 

[GuardMusic]

We are booked on the first sailing of DCL to Alaska. Of course we got the onboard rebooking discount, which helped. We don't sail on other lines, although we're beginning to consider it, but only as stopgaps between our Disney trips. I've heard the itenerary isn't great, but I don't care. I don't really even want to go to Alaska, BFF does & I told her the only way I'd go is by DCL - so here we go!

 

[stsomewhere]

I did not vote.

We prefer DCL. Our last 3 cruises were DCL. When we heard they were going Alaska we were very excited.
Our friends wanted to go with us but after the literary was released the Tuesday departure did not work for them.

We looked at Princess and HAL. After making a pro and con list for each line,
( We have sailed over 15 times between RCL, DCL, Carnival, HAL, and NCL).
there was no doubt DCL was the line for us.

It would make our kids happy=us happy. The kids only want to go to Alaska because they want to hit all 50 states plus US territories. We know that they will enjoy/ be entertained on Disney. It made us sad to think about sailing on another line.

I found prices to be pretty comparable especially with early booking.

 

[skiingfast]

Keep in mind that Disney is a premium cruise line. It will cost more than average than other cruises just based on that fact. Holland is also a premium brand of carnival. If you look at a HAL and CAR comparing similar routes you will see the difference since Carnival is thier standard brand. Similar to Cadillac and Chevy, both GM brands.

I did see a comparison DIS and I think HAL maybe NCL, on the same routes in the caribean. The writer was pretty seasoned. They noted that Disney was more but you paid less once on the ship. The biggest difference was the lack of a casino on the Disney ship, which was mentioned as a money saver for some but a missed amenity for others.

What was obviously strange about the article is the writer had been all over the world on many lines. She wrote this after her second Disney cruise and never mentioned that she was traveling with kids. But she did say after going on disney for this second time her husband wouldn't be convinced to do otherwise.

 

[NancyIL]

Keep in mind that Disney is a premium cruise line. It will cost more than average than other cruises just based on that fact. Holland is also a premium brand of carnival. If you look at a HAL and CAR comparing similar routes you will see the difference since Carnival is thier standard brand. Similar to Cadillac and Chevy, both GM brands.

I think DCL hopes that by charging premium prices, people will think it's a premium cruise line. I don't cruise with kids, and it's not worth the premium price to me.

 

[outahere]

To the OP..... you left one option off your poll - "Would not pay Disney's prices to sail with them to Alaska". That would get my vote.

We sailed to Alaska 3 years ago, in the same cabin that justmestace will be in, and the NCL experience far exceeded anything DCL currently offers. We have sailed in a DCL suite 8 times (including the Walt suite), so we do have something to compare.

Plus, the DCL itinerary does not go to Glacier Bay, which was definitely one of the highlights of our NCL cruise.

 

[mjy]

To the OP..... you left one option off your poll - "Would not pay Disney's prices to sail with them to Alaska". That would get my vote.

Agreed.

As soon as DCL listed their openings, I reserved a slot for the Alaska cruise the second week of June 2011.

I made the reservation knowing that I would probably cancel it. I did cancel it a few weeks ago when the other lines started publishing prices for 2011.

For several hundred dollars less I am going on Holland America, round trip from Seattle instead of Vancouver, and cruising Glacier Bay instead of Tracy Arm.

I've been on Holland America and Princess through Alaska before and have no complaints about their service, their entertainment, their itineraries.

Don't get me wrong, I would have loved to do the cruise with Disney, but not for the price or the itinerary. <sigh>

 

[thej]

I didn't respond in the poll... we have other reasons for liking DCL besides the usual great service, more is included, Disney fun, etc. DCL is much more friendly to kids with differences. We have a special needs child, and had an awful experience with RCL about 4 years ago. Until DS is much older, I would be hard pressed to sail anybody besides DCL. We know our son will enjoy the trip on DCL. To me, you're not saving anything if you have a bad experience.

We never really considered an Alaska cruise until Disney decided to go there. The chance to take our son up the inside passage to see a glacier (before they all melt) and be able to do it on DCL is too good to pass up.

 

[NancyIL]

For several hundred dollars less I am going on Holland America, round trip from Seattle instead of Vancouver, and cruising Glacier Bay instead of Tracy Arm.

Good choice!

According to the itinerary on DCL's web site, they haven't finalized the arrival time for Ketchikan. Since the ship will come from Juneau and depart from Ketchikan at 7:30 p.m., it will probably have a late morning arrival. Also interesting is that the map shows the ship sailing to the west of Vancouver Island rather than the east side. Sailing on the east side of Vancouver Island is one of the advantages of departing from Vancouver rather than Seattle, and it would be a shame if DCL doesn't do that at least one way.

As I mentioned above, there will be plenty of people who will choose to see Alaska with DCL just because it's a Disney cruise - and that's fine. More kids on DCL means fewer kids on my ship!

 

[justmestace]

Plus, the DCL itinerary does not go to Glacier Bay, which was definitely one of the highlights of our NCL cruise.

DCL doesn't go to Victoria, either. We have a stop there.

 

[justmestace]

I didn't respond in the poll... we have other reasons for liking DCL besides the usual great service, more is included, Disney fun, etc. DCL is much more friendly to kids with differences. We have a special needs child, and had an awful experience with RCL about 4 years ago. Until DS is much older, I would be hard pressed to sail anybody besides DCL. We know our son will enjoy the trip on DCL. To me, you're not saving anything if you have a bad experience.

We never really considered an Alaska cruise until Disney decided to go there. The chance to take our son up the inside passage to see a glacier (before they all melt) and be able to do it on DCL is too good to pass up.

I hadn't considered a situation like yours. I completely understand, there will be quite a few times when families would just feel better about going with Disney.

 

[NancyIL]

DCL doesn't go to Victoria, either. We have a stop there.

Roundtrip cruises leaving from Seattle have to stop somewhere in Canada - hence the Victoria port stop. Since Vancouver is in Canada and all the other ports are in the US, most Vancouver roundtrips don't stop in Victoria.

**For US citizens on Disney's Alaska cruise who are flying to and from Vancouver, you MUST have a passport book.

 

[aurorae]

To the OP..... you left one option off your poll - "Would not pay Disney's prices to sail with them to Alaska". That would get my vote.

I could have added several additional options.

I was sort of aiming at those people who like DCL (this is a DCL forum after all, at least by name, I haven't read enough to know who all posts here) and wanted to know how much more they would be willing to pay.

I took a quick look at prices for Caribbean cruises, saw Disney tended to be higher, so assumed that would be true in Alaska as well. I know that sometimes cruise lines have special fare offers to fill boats, so it is possible to shop around and get a good fare.

I guess I got what I wanted, a variety of opinions, not very surprising, that.

 

[Lewisc]

Given the itinerary I'd only consider a DCL Alaskan cruise if the cost was less then the cost of a cruise from a cruise line offering a superior itinerary.

I certainly wouldn't pay a premium price for an inferior itinerary. Alaskan cruises are more about the scenery and ports then the onboard experience.

edited to add Other cruise lines have programs for children. I understand some people may prefer Disney for its kids program.

 

[NancyIL]

I could have added several additional options.

I was sort of aiming at those people who like DCL (this is a DCL forum after all, at least by name, I haven't read enough to know who all posts here) and wanted to know how much more they would be willing to pay.

I took a quick look at prices for Caribbean cruises, saw Disney tended to be higher, so assumed that would be true in Alaska as well. I know that sometimes cruise lines have special fare offers to fill boats, so it is possible to shop around and get a good fare.

I guess I got what I wanted, a variety of opinions, not very surprising, that.

You are correct. DCL's starting prices for the Alaska cruises were $939/person for a cat. 11C (for May 2011) when first released. Other cruise lines start at $300-$400 less/person for an inside cabin in May 2011. People who have been cruising with Disney for awhile are used to paying more for their cruises, so they might not have flinched at DCL's Alaska cruise prices. Nor may they have bothered to compare prices and/or itineraries on other cruise lines if they are die-hard DCL fans.