Is DCL worth it for Alaska?

[dmunsil]

Here's a page with photos by Doug Jones from his Disney Wonder trips:

http://www.pbase.com/doug_jones/disney_wonder_summer_photos

 

[Geomom]

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.

I had noticed the naturalist programs in old Alaskan navigator's, so it was something I was really looking forward to. We had Cynthia Gibson, whom I enjoyed--I managed to attend 2 of her talks--I was hoping to do more but there was other stuff we ended up doing as a family. There were also Naturalist programs in the kids' clubs with Cathy Hurst. DD16 did a Northern lights craft in Vibe. On day 2 (sea day) Cynthia ran 'Salmon in the Trees, The People of the Tongass National Forest' in the morning, and 'Blubber is Beautiful: the marine mammals of Southeast Alaska' in the afternoon. On day 3 (Endicott Arm Day), she ran 'Growler and SLiders: Ice on the Inside Passage' in the morning; and then narrated parts of the cruise into/out of Endicott Arm when she was allowed to (quiet is preserved when you're closer to the glacier). She was also out on deck 4 answering questions when we were at the glacier. On day 7 (sea day), she did a talk in the morning: Black and Brown all over, the bears of Southeast Alaska.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

My "kids" are aged-out of youth programs. That considered, I consider port days to sea days. For a port-heavy itinerary where your ship is mostly your floating hotel, I'd rather put more money into the ports than the hotel. If I'll be on the ship more than ports then it makes Swansea to put more money into the hotel. Ya know? Personally I'd like to book the new NCL Bliss for Alaska 2018. I've been on 3 NCL cruises & really enjoyed them. I love eating when I'm hungry vs assigned time. I enjoyed the production shows so much more.

 

[cedricandsophie]

We love DCL and have 18 cruises with them. We did Alaska about four years ago. It was great but I want to do another on a different line that only goes one way so you can see more. The round trip just doesn't get far enough in a week. Missed glacier bay and didn't get you far enough to get up to Denali.

 

[Dug720]

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.

The National Park Ranger is part of the requirement/permit for Glacier Bay. The ship slows at a certain point to allow the National Park's small boat to pull alongside and the Ranger boards much as a port pilot would.

 

[dmunsil]

The National Park Ranger is part of the requirement/permit for Glacier Bay. The ship slows at a certain point to allow the National Park's small boat to pull alongside and the Ranger boards much as a port pilot would.

Yes, absolutely. So every ship from any cruise line that goes to Glacier Bay gets actual park rangers for that day. My only point is that Disney actually has a naturalist on the ship for the whole voyage, and does nature and history talks for the whole cruise. I think that's ultimately better, if the naturalist is good. One of ours (Doug) was good, but the guy that replaced him when we hit Juneau was not very good.

I really hope when they do the next round of Glacier Bay permit bids that Disney puts in a bid. It's really too bad people have to choose between Disney and Glacier Bay. I read somewhere that Disney had intended to bid in the last round, like 5-ish years ago, but pulled out at the last minute. Maybe they realized that if they got fewer Glacier Bay permits than they wanted for the season, they'd still have to send some of the cruises to Tracy Arm or another glacier location, so it was easier to just concentrate their efforts on one itinerary rather than having to develop several.

Edit: here's the article that talks about the current permittees and mentions Disney pulling their bid:

http://www.travelweekly.com/Cruise-Travel/Alaska-s-Glacier-Bay-awards-10-year-deals-to-cruise-lines

 

[disneydreamer781]

Yes, absolutely. So every ship from any cruise line that goes to Glacier Bay gets actual park rangers for that day. My only point is that Disney actually has a naturalist on the ship for the whole voyage, and does nature and history talks for the whole cruise. I think that's ultimately better, if the naturalist is good. One of ours (Doug) was good, but the guy that replaced him when we hit Juneau was not very good.

I really hope when they do the next round of Glacier Bay permit bids that Disney puts in a bid. It's really too bad people have to choose between Disney and Glacier Bay. I read somewhere that Disney had intended to bid in the last round, like 5-ish years ago, but pulled out at the last minute. Maybe they realized that if they got fewer Glacier Bay permits than they wanted for the season, they'd still have to send some of the cruises to Tracy Arm or another glacier location, so it was easier to just concentrate their efforts on one itinerary rather than having to develop several.

Edit: here's the article that talks about the current permittees and mentions Disney pulling their bid:

http://www.travelweekly.com/Cruise-Travel/Alaska-s-Glacier-Bay-awards-10-year-deals-to-cruise-lines

Hmm...I wonder why they decided to pull their bid? I would love to take DCL to Alaska but not having Glacier Bay may be a deal breaker for me since it probably will be my sole trip to Alaska and I hear that if you do it once, go for Glacier Bay.

 

[tigger2002]

I would look more at the itinerary than the cruise company when going to Alaska. We have always done Disney in the Caribbean but went with RC to Alaska last summer. They have a cruise that is one-way from Vancouver to Seward and vice versa. I liked the fact that you don't go the same way twice, we stopped at more places, and went to Hubbard glacier.




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[Quellman]

One of the motivators for me is cost, so I take cost into consideration. When we sailed Alaska we sailed on a line other than Disney. No regrets. Used all that savings for great port adventures!

 

[jiminyC_fan]

We are platinum DCL cruisers. We have zero regrets sailing with HAL. They've been up there a long time and know how to do it right. The land/sea portion was a must for us as we feel Alaska is more than just glaciers. We flew into Fairbanks and experienced so much, took the train to Denali and took a tour farther in than what the average tourist can go. They showed us where the normal tour stops and we went a heck of a lot farther. We stayed in a cottage. From there we took the train to Anchorage, stayed overnight and their bus took us to Seward where we caught the ship. If we were to go again we would not sail DCL but would HAL.

 

[sammydent]

I'm so, so conflicted!! We LOVE DCL for the shows, movies on board, and overall atmosphere (mom, DS 20, and DD16). I really want Glacier Bay and there is Princess cruise that has everything we are looking for itinerary-wise, but I'm really afraid the kids will not enjoy the shows on Princess or have the movie theater to enjoy and will be bored in the evening. Ugh! I need to book ASAP and keep changing my mind on what to do.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

I'm so, so conflicted!! We LOVE DCL for the shows, movies on board, and overall atmosphere (mom, DS 20, and DD16). I really want Glacier Bay and there is Princess cruise that has everything we are looking for itinerary-wise, but I'm really afraid the kids will not enjoy the shows on Princess or have the movie theater to enjoy and will be bored in the evening. Ugh! I need to book ASAP and keep changing my mind on what to do.

We've "done" Alaska twice. Both times on Holland America. HAL & Princess have been doing Alaska the longest, and hold the most permits for Glacier Bay.

While Princess doesn't have a dedicated movie theater (like the Buena Vista) they do show movies. And I've read that the Princess kid's clubs are pretty good. If I was looking to book Alaska with kids, I'd look at Princess. But, as an adult only party, we probably will stay with HAL, as long as the itineraries are what we want.

Our first HAL Alaska cruise included both Glacier Bay & Tracy Arm. And I was sooooo happy to find that itinerary. I don't "do" cold well, and I was convinced that Alaska was going to be a "once and done" thing.

I was wrong.

 

[Keyser]

We have only gone on Disney to Alaska; we were very happy with them, but don't have a comparison to other lines. We had thought we would be sorry to miss Glacier Bay, but Tracy Arm was pretty incredible and I'm very glad we didn't miss it! One more anecdote: while in one of our ports (Skagway), in talking with our tour guide in port, he made a comment like "you can always tell when it's a Disney ship day." After talking with him, it basically came down to ages of travelers - he estimated that the average Disney passenger was 20 years younger than those on other lines (and mentioned one line that had only older people - don't remember which one).

 

[tigger2002]

We went to Icy Strait Point's in Hoonah on RC. We really liked it because of the whale watching and small town. They have the most incredible zip line anywhere. Look it up on YouTube

 

[JenMarie82]

My husband and I have had this same discussion, and have decided that if it were just the 2 of us, we would definitely choose another cruise line and go to Glacier Bay. However, when we went last summer with our 5-year-old, it was very nice to have the kids club and character meet and greets so she enjoyed herself too. Our 11-year-old probably would have been fine with another cruise line as well, but he did really enjoy the activities with the tween club.

 

[cruiser21]

I would check out the Norwegian Bliss. It's a brand new ship with all the bells and whistles sailing in Alaska 2018. I'm not sure it goes to Glacier Bay or what the price difference is, but it's worth checking out. I believe they are offering free drink packages on all their ships.

 

[disneydreamer781]

I would check out the Norwegian Bliss. It's a brand new ship with all the bells and whistles sailing in Alaska 2018. I'm not sure it goes to Glacier Bay or what the price difference is, but it's worth checking out. I believe they are offering free drink packages on all their ships.

Yes I've been checking that out also but it doesn't look to be cruising Glacier Bay but Sawyer Glacier/Tracy Arm.

 

[cruiser21]

Yes I've been checking that out also but it doesn't look to be cruising Glacier Bay but Sawyer Glacier/Tracy Arm.

Similar to Dcls itinerary except leaving from Seattle. I really like the enclosed observation area in the front of the ship. I haven't seen a lot of info on the ship, but I'm assuming it's being designed with Alaska in mind.

 

[dani24]

I have to caveat this by saying I have not been on a DCL cruise yet (my first will be in May). However we did an Alaska cruise on Princess (which visited Glacier Bay) and it was AMAZING. I've seen other people's videos and pictures of Tracy Arm or Hubbard, and they just don't even compare to Glacier Bay.

From everything I've been reading about DCL, I expect it to be an awesome experience in and of itself. But given the high price, at this juncture, I don't think I would pay the premium for a port intensive cruise (where I'd be spending a lot of time off the ship). If I'm paying that much for the ship (excepting something like Castaway Cay), I want to get my money's worth. And for Alaska, I would much rather pay less money to go to a much better glacier, on a cruise line we've been very pleased with in the past (we've done 4 Princess cruises and love their food, service, entertainment, relaxed yet polished vibe, etc.).

 

[jdb in AZ]

We went to Icy Strait Point's in Hoonah on RC. We really liked it because of the whale watching and small town. They have the most incredible zip line anywhere. Look it up on YouTube

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We enjoyed Icy Strait Point too. When we got on the bus for the bear watching shore excursion we noticed something was lost in translating the name of the bus line. Instead of Hoonah they spelled it Hoohah. ahem. After taking the small whale watching boat we were on our way back to the ship and saw a whale between the ship and the shore. Why go looking when the whale was willing to come see us?