Is DCL worth it for Alaska?

[Masonmj84]

We've only cruised DCL and only the Western and Eastern Caribbean iteneraries on the Fantasy.

On our most recent Fantasy cruise, we booked onboard for Alaska.

For the Caribbean, I can justify the price premium for DCL because if you go during somewhat of an off-peak week, the cost difference between DCL and some of the other higher end cruise lines isn't too excessive, especially when you factor in the added benefit of Castaway Cay (I know some of the other cruise lines have their own private islands but Castaway Cay is still a notable differentiator IMO).

Moreover, on our Caribbean cruises, I've talked to several passengers who have cruised on other lines and have expressed that, for them, the price premium for the "Disney difference" is absolutely worth it (and that, going forward, they don't ever plan to sail with anyone except DCL).

But for Alaska, it seems that you're really paying a premium for the "Disney difference", especially when they don't sail to popular destinations like Glacier Bay (sailing exclusively out of Vancouver is not an issue for us as we LOVE British Columbia and will probably do a land-sea vacation).

Just curious for opinions, especially from anyone who has sailed Alaska on both DCL and another cruise line.

 

[Bridgett_Anna]

I have only saiiled on DCL to Alaska and I can honestly say that it was the best cruise I have ever been on. The ports that they stop at are so amazing. I am going on another Alaskian cruise in 2018. It so so worth it!

 

[FSU Girl]

I've just gone on my first Disney cruise to the Caribbean and loved it. Hands down favorite ship. But I went on a Princess cruise to Alaska and had a really great time. I think either ship would be a great experience, but if Princess is a lot cheaper I'd go with them .

 

[Jess_S]

There have been a lot of posts about this and there is a split in opinion. A lot of people feel like you should go with another line because of price or because other lines go to Glacier Bay. Personally, I thought our Alaska trip on DCL was worth every penny. Being out during the day doing outdoor adventures in port and then coming back to DCL's high-level of guest service was wonderful. There are lots of little details they think of that make the experience great -- everything from having ponchos for you as you disembark when it's raining to the carts selling spiked coffee and cocoa on deck on Tracy Arm day.

I have also been in Alaska on HAL and I preferred DCL by a large margin. (As others have said though, the HAL trip was still great).

 

[Lolo579]

My family has been on 3 DCL Caribbean cruises with DS (currently 7 yrs old), and will be on our 4th in 3 weeks. DH and I tried Princess (quick Caribbean getaway for 40th bday) and Celebrity (Alaska for 15th Aniversary) last year. We had plans to book a future Alaska cruise (one way, south bound itinerary) with DS on either Princess or Celebrity for 2018. We felt that Disney prices in Alaska were not even worth considering. I was adamant about this. Well... DH and I had a wonderful cruise on Celebrity, and it was perfect for 2 adults, but I think our DS will be bored on anything other than Disney at this point. Yes, Alaska is all about the ports, but there is still a lot of time on the ship. We live in Florida (which explains why we cruise so much) and if we are going to travel all the way across the country to get on a cruise ship, we will probably suck it up and pay for DCL. We are definitely considering an Ocean view room instead of verandah to make the price a bit more palatable. Honestly though, you probably can't go wrong with whatever you decide for Alaska. It's just an awesome place to visit.

 

[AshleeH]

Alaska was our first and only cruise. We loved it so much, we were so sad to leave the ship. The Disney Difference is so worth it for us, we will never sail another cruise line. Even when we don't have kids with us. After being on Disney and Carnival, it's like comparing Disney World to Six Flags - I would go on another DCL cruise to Alaska in a heartbeat.

 

[aprincessatlast]

We are Castaways Gold (so obviously dcl fans ) and no it was not worth it for us so we went with Princess. Had an amazing time and would go again. We like DCL for the Caribbean as the ship is part of the experience and did not feel the same for Alaska. We opted to spend the saved money on excursions as in Alaska excursions are a unique and unforgettable experience.

Princess delivered on all points and even exceeded on some points over DCL. The indoor pools were great feature and food was better with Princess. Service was spot on and loved the ambiance Princess set to go along with the scenery. Very well done! For us Alaska was about the scenery and wildlife, not so much about Mickey.

 

[xlxo]

I did HAL and DCL. Love Glacier Bay... especially when travelling without kids. With kids... the pixie dust factor is important. Sadly they don't see the credit card bills, where other cruise lines were charging less than half what DCL wanted for that same week.

 

[Aby]

Haven't been to Alaska on any other line, but we've done DCL's itinerary 3x now and we (2 adults) absolutely love it and still plan to go back again with them when we can! Totally worth it in my opinion!

Aby

 

[dmunsil]

We've been to Alaska with Disney and with HAL. Both were really excellent cruises. On the HAL cruise, we traveled with other family, including a 9-year-old, and he enjoyed HAL's kids club very much, but he's never tried Disney so he doesn't have any point of comparison.

Pros for HAL: The food was significantly better on HAL (we were on the Nieuw Amsterdam). Embarkation and disembarkation was massively better on HAL -- not even close. HAL has your rooms ready when you get on the ship. And on disembarkation day you can stay in your room until you disembark, or leave your bags in your room and go get breakfast. Also, they serve a full breakfast on disembarkation day. HAL's main pool is covered, so people could use it the whole cruise. HAL is a lot quieter and the vibe is more sedate, if you like that (we don't love it, but we can live with it; we're certainly not rock climbing kind of people).

Pros for Disney: The entertainment was significantly better on Disney, the overall decor is somewhat better (and more consistent) on Disney, and of course Disney has unique things no one else has, like characters and special Disney entertainment. Also, not having a casino makes room for a larger kids club. Disney has a real energy to their cruise that is appealing if you like that kind of thing (and we do).

The service was roughly equal. Palo is, IMO, a little better than Pinnacle Grill, but they're both good.

If you go with Disney, go for the unique features, the liveliness and entertainment and great kids clubs. We don't find Disney's service any better than the other premium lines, and their food is not as good. Don't get me wrong, Disney's food is good, but we thought HAL's was exceptional. The dinner experience is slower paced and a lot less lively on HAL, like the rest of the cruise, though some of the servers would do tricks for kids and so forth, just not as much as Disney's servers.

We love Disney in general and would choose a Disney cruise most of the time. For us, the overall better experience was HALs for Alaska, but almost entirely because of Glacier Bay. It really is amazing. Tracy Arm is great, but Glacier Bay is astonishing.

 

[aggiedog]

The dinner experience is slower paced and a lot less lively on HAL

Would that translate into "less noisy so you can hear your neighbor?" I sometimes felt, on DCL, like dinner was not necessarily for conversation as the room was so noisy and busy.

 

[dmunsil]

Would that translate into "less noisy so you can hear your neighbor?" I sometimes felt, on DCL, like dinner was not necessarily for conversation as the room was so noisy and busy.

Yes, Disney's dining rooms can be quite loud. Hal, not so much. It did make for easier conversation. The 9 year old found HAL dinner a bit too long. Every night he got through his food in a hurry and would wait impatiently for the kids club to open (at 7, as I recall). That's another thing different between the two -- Disney's clubs are open continuously from early morning to late night, but HAL's close at lunch and dinner time for a few hours, and then regular scheduled activities end at 10 PM. You can pay for extra hours until midnight, I believe. It worked fine for us, but Disney is better.

 

[gomdori]

I have only taken DCL to Alaska, so no comparison. It was quite pricey, but for us it was definitely worth it because

1. We had 4 kids ranging from 3 to 12 yrs old, the entertainment options for them were incredible and the whole experience was tailored to them. We loved the family friendly atmosphere.
2. The ports where we docked had great experiences available so we didn't feel like we missed out on any experiences.
3. Though we didn't get to Glacier Bay, the Tracy Arm Fjord glaciers were still breathtaking.

I would say that we would have been more open to other options if we didn't have the kids, but for the kids the DCL trip was worth it.

 

[disneyholic family]

we preferred a one way cruise in alaska, so that we could also visit mainland alaska.
So that ruled out DCL.
We cruised southbound out of seward, alaska (my absolute favorite place in alaska!!) on the Royal Caribbean Radiance of the Seas and loved it!
I can't imagine going to alaska and not seeing mainland alaska too.

 

[cruisehopeful]

I have done Alaska on DCL twice. I loved it both times, but you will have a lot of ship time. I think that works well for kids or adults who love the themeing and the characters, etc, but I don't really care about that stuff. I am considering trying Princess next time, but haven't ruled out DCL, either. Will you be traveling with kids? That will make a difference. Also, what do you like to do when you are on the ship? That could make a big difference, too.

 

[tcufrog]

One thing Disney doesn't seem to offer compared to other ships are the on board Alaska educational opportunities. That and Glacier Bay are the reasons I told my dh we won't sail Disney when we (hopefully) go to Alaska next year.

 

[dmunsil]

One thing Disney doesn't seem to offer compared to other ships are the on board Alaska educational opportunities. That and Glacier Bay are the reasons I told my dh we won't sail Disney when we (hopefully) go to Alaska next year.

Disney does have naturalist talks and narration in Alaska. On Disney the naturalist for most of our cruise was Doug Jones, who is fantastic. His bear talk was the best naturalist presentation I have ever seen, by a country mile. Sadly, he only works every other week (they change naturalists in Juneau), and the naturalists we got for the second portion of the cruise were not very good.

Hal had actual National Park Rangers on the Glacier Bay day and they were good. But their narration did not seem to be piped to very many places, whereas Disney had the Tracy Arm narration all over the ship. Their nature talks in the main theater were solid, but not as good as Doug's. He's really a standout. Since I don't think you can be sure you're going to get Doug on your specific cruise, I would say Disney could be great or could be sub-par.

One thing is that the rangers come on board on Hal just for the glacier bay day, while on Disney they stay on the ship the whole time. So Hal had a bunch of nature talks that one day, but Disney had them spread over the week.

 

[tcufrog]

Disney does have naturalist talks and narration in Alaska. On Disney the naturalist for most of our cruise was Doug Jones, who is fantastic. His bear talk was the best naturalist presentation I have ever seen, by a country mile. Sadly, he only works every other week (they change naturalists in Juneau), and the naturalists we got for the second portion of the cruise were not very good.

Hal had actual National Park Rangers on the Glacier Bay day and they were good. But their narration did not seem to be piped to very many places, whereas Disney had the Tracy Arm narration all over the ship. Their nature talks in the main theater were solid, but not as good as Doug's. He's really a standout. Since I don't think you can be sure you're going to get Doug on your specific cruise, I would say Disney could be great or could be sub-par.

One thing is that the rangers come on board on Hal just for the glacier bay day, while on Disney they stay on the ship the whole time. So Hal had a bunch of nature talks that one day, but Disney had them spread over the week.

When I read on the other cruise line websites they mentioned the naturalist talks and programs but the Disney website said nothing about it.

 

[Vijoge]

Is DCL worth it for Alaska?

In my mind, no. But I don't think any Disney cruises are worth what Disney charges. As far as Alaska goes, it's generally accepted that Princess does Alaska better than any other line.

 

[dmunsil]

When I read on the other cruise line websites they mentioned the naturalist talks and programs but the Disney website said nothing about it.

I know! It was a complete surprise to us. But they do have naturalists on board. Search "Doug jones Disney cruise Alaska" and you'll find lots of posts, blog entries, etc extolling the wonderful nature talks. Why Disney doesn't just hire him for the whole summer I don't know, but I think it may have something to do with him being classified as temporary entertainment rather than permanent crew.