June Alaskan Cruise with ABD Add On

[sayhello]

Wow! Thanks for the report. Be sure and put a link to it in the Trip Report Sticky at the top of this forum!

I'll tell you, I'm very, very happy about my vacation for this year, but you've made me wish I had enough vacation time to do this cruise with the ABD add-on, too. The excursions you did just sound fabulous! ABD really does know what they're doing!

I agree that the ABD add-on lets you do so much more at each port than you could ever organize on your own.

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[jcarlstrom]

My family enjoyed last weeks DCL ABD Alaskan Adventure with MVAN. Everything she described was right on!
I will add that we had three little kids with us (9, 6, and 4) and the guides handled them really well. The days were a little long (late night shows on the boat and early morning excursions) but I agree the only way to see the most and variety of stuff was with ABD. We certainly will travel with them again!
My kids favorite parts were gold panning, dogsledding and the lumberjack show (where two of them got to bring back cut pieces of wood from the show.) My husband and I's favorite parts were the Rainforest Sanctuary and the helicopter ride up to the dogsledding.
One major disappointment was that they let the families choose their dining times, so we were split between early and late seatings aboard the ship. It would have been nice to have everyone eat together so we could get to know each other a little better, although 8:30 probably would have been too late for dinner for the little kids.

 

[sayhello]

My family enjoyed last weeks DCL ABD Alaskan Adventure with MVAN. Everything she described was right on!
I will add that we had three little kids with us (9, 6, and 4) and the guides handled them really well. The days were a little long (late night shows on the boat and early morning excursions) but I agree the only way to see the most and variety of stuff was with ABD. We certainly will travel with them again!
My kids favorite parts were gold panning, dogsledding and the lumberjack show (where two of them got to bring back cut pieces of wood from the show.) My husband and I's favorite parts were the Rainforest Sanctuary and the helicopter ride up to the dogsledding.
One major disappointment was that they let the families choose their dining times, so we were split between early and late seatings aboard the ship. It would have been nice to have everyone eat together so we could get to know each other a little better, although 8:30 probably would have been too late for dinner for the little kids.

I'm so glad you enjoyed your cruise with the ABD add-on! I'm sure you'll love pretty much any trip they do.

I think there's a lot of issues in regards to the eat together/eat separately issue. It seems they keep changing their minds on how to handle it. Last year, when I did the Med cruise add-on (the 2nd one ever) they had told us during all the planning phase that we would not be eating together (the idea was that if some people traveling together were on the ABD, and others were not, they'd at least be together for dinner). But when I got there, everyone was scheduled to eat together at the same time. But I'd already linked my reservations to other DISer's for dining, so it didn't work. I've heard others say they also had their own tables, but that ABD had everyone on the same rotation at late dining in tables right next to each other (I don't see why they couldn't have done that for mine. Probably they didn't think of it.) Now it looks like they're back to everyone doing their own thing (and I do have to think part of that is because people complained about their kids not being able to manage late seating.) I did feel like I missed out on some of the "getting to know each other better" part, but I so loved the folks at my table that I wouldn't have changed it for anything.

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[MVAN]

Thank you for the report, how is the weather and we took the Med. cruise as well-what fun. Is dress casual for dinners? I was considering just bringing Polo shirts with for dinners, Palo's etc.

The worst weather for us were the two at sea days - sailing through and past British Columbia - but I understand that the weather can be anything on any day. Basically - we were sunny and cool - sweatshirts were fine.

There was a formal and semi formal night - but the rest were very casual.

 

[disneymath]

MVAN ... awesome trip report! Thank you so much for posting just enough detail to let those of us on upcoming trips know what to expect without giving away any of the surprises!

 

[Stitch#1]

I agree! Just enough without spoiling it for future cruisers.
Thanks for the report!!

 

[jilljill]

Thanks so much for the report. My DD will be glad to know she doesn't have to walk across the suspension bridge - she's deathly afraid of heights - but then I haven't told her about that part of the trip yet. In fact, she's not to keen on the helicopter ride.

Looking forward to our ABD for 8/9.

 

[SailorJen]

Does the add on usually included the CD pictures of the cruise? Or just one of the special perks on ur sailing? Wondering if I need to purchase it before cruising for the lower price.

 

[sayhello]

Does the add on usually included the CD pictures of the cruise? Or just one of the special perks on ur sailing? Wondering if I need to purchase it before cruising for the lower price.

As far as I know, it's usually included on any ABD cruise add-on. We got the Adventure Guide's photos, as well as all of the DCL Shutters professional photos included as a perk. Of course, policies always change, so I would check with ABD or DCL to verify if it's still a perk.

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[SailorJen]

As far as I know, it's usually included on any ABD cruise add-on. We got the Adventure Guide's photos, as well as all of the DCL Shutters professional photos included as a perk. Of course, policies always change, so I would check with ABD or DCL to verify if it's still a perk.

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Thank you so much!

 

[SailorJen]

On the day at sea, is there any activities with ABD in the morning? Want to try Palo brunch but not sure if the schedule would work.

 

[sayhello]

On the day at sea, is there any activities with ABD in the morning? Want to try Palo brunch but not sure if the schedule would work.

I'm pretty sure the specifics of what they do when on the sea days changes from year to year and maybe even sailing to sailing. I'd check with ABD to find out what the exact timing is for your particular cruise.

Also, it appears you have 3 days at sea, so I imagine at least one of those days would be compatible with the Palo brunch. ABD knows people want to do things like the Palo brunches, so they generally work the activities around that sort of thing.

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