NCL Alaska vs Disney Alaska with kids

[Ol Goof]

Hello. Platinum Disney cruiser with all age of kids, trying to plan an Alaska trip next year. We sailed Alaska on the Encore a few weeks ago and loved it, but didn’t have kids on board. Can anyone offer an opinion if there are enough (free) activities on NCL to keep kids busy? Would love to sail Disney with the kiddos to Alaska but my the prices are very high, would severely limit our excursions and those were the highlight of Alaska.

thank you for the help.

 

[sethschroeder]

Same boat here except haven't been on NCL before. Was thinking about NCL, Royal, or Celebrity in place of Disney for Alaska in the next couple years.

 

[auntlynne]

You only had 2 Sea Days - what would your kids have needed to do?

Would you take them on shore excursions?

Do your kids love the kids’ clubs on Disney?

My Disney fanatic friend was the one who introduced me to Princess cruising AK. Her kids were still little at the time and had no problem not being on Disney.

My first AK cruise was Disney, but my nieces were teens and didn’t need the clubs.

If you can treat the cruise as family camp AK, you could do the great excursions. Save the Disney experience for somewhere where the ports aren’t as important.

 

[auntlynne]

PS - I board the Encore in 5 days. This will be my fifth AK cruise, first time on NCL.

I would not trade shore excursions for the Mouse.

 

[Intr3pid]

Being on Wonder made all the difference to our kids in Alaska. (And we had a few among several families.) As much as you love the scenery, the kids would be bored of it in a day. Unlike in Europe.

That's where the ship comes in. I don't know how much NCL entertains kids on board, but sailing with Disney allowed a lot more freedom - including (A) the kids enjoying the excursions for the reward and (B) adults enjoying their own excursions. There are only three days in port, and they aren't all-day outings. The ship will matter for the kids. Not just Disney's, but any cruise line's.

The downside are the price tag and, to a lesser extent, an inability to visit the Glacier Bay. That said, you are on a themed Disney cruise in one of the most scenic parts of the world. It's an experience as unique as any.

 

[vacay77]

I haven’t taken my son on an Alaskan cruise but pre-pandemic, we went on a NCL cruise to Europe. My son actually enjoyed the kids club on NCL more than the Disney kids clubs. I think it depends on the ages of your kids.

 

[nerdboyrockstar]

It depends on your kid's ages but I would factor some of those NCL onboard activities into your cost. You can't have the kids onboard a ship with a race track, laser tag, and gaming pavilion only to tempt them with a good time.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

NCL's kids clubs are smaller and more structured, and that can actually be a good thing.

 

[ofcabbagesandkings]

My kids were 3 and 7, so for us DCL to Alaska was a no-brainer. But that was when character meets were plentiful and included hugs, when the kids clubs were unlimited instead of requiring appointments, and when all the other entertainment was included like deck and atrium parties. If your kids believe in the characters, DCL is really special, because they can interact with the same performers multiple times over a cruise including activities in the clubs, unlike in the theme parks where it's really just for a minute. But, we did treat it like a bucket list trip and also did a lot of amazing, private excursions that we booked independent of DCL (following a paddle in big group excursions is not an option I'm willing to consider, on DCL or any other line). In the future when my boys can do longer hikes, I might opt for a line that goes one-way so that we could add a Denali land tour to either end of the trip. But that will be post-pandemic when cruisers are given autonomy to decide what they want to do in ports.

 

[MomOTwins]

We debated this as well. I really researched NCL and opted to stick with DCL.

Vacation is family time for us, so we like activities the whole family can enjoy together. All the shows on DCL are kid friendly (I can’t see my kids sitting through Jersey Boys for example). Dinner entertainment/themed dining makes it easier for the kids to sit through a 3 course meal so we don’t have to put them in the club at dinner time to have a nice meal. And while I wouldn’t mind paying an upcharge for something like laser tag or go carts, our youngest son is too little and would feel left out while his big brothers got to do the activities. We also really prefer the rooms on DCL (split bathroom with a bathtub not just a shower, large porthole connecting rooms so we have no safety concerns re balconies etc), so that was another factor.

 

[Cheburashka]

I considered Holland for Alaska but am glad I decided to stick with DCL in the end. It was a fantastic cruise. I count 3 of the days as sea days, as glacier day there is no port. The Wonder was beautiful, and the DCL fun & characters in their Alaska gear made the cruise extra special. We sailed in a Navigator's Verandah, which had great views & gave us shelter from the wind, and was less expensive than a full verandah.

 

[Marthasor]

We sailed NCL to Alaska when DS was 5. It was fine. Not great, but fine. DS actually enjoyed their kids club as it was not as chaotic as DCL. If your choice is to do NCL and more shore excursions, I would opt for that. The one thing my DS remembers vividly about our trip was taking a helicopter to a glacier and going dog sledding. That was more important to me than the ship we were on.

 

[sethschroeder]

Encore a few weeks ago

Question did you see was dining and excurions easy to book last second if you wanted?

 

[DCLCrazy64622]

Hello. Platinum Disney cruiser with all age of kids, trying to plan an Alaska trip next year. We sailed Alaska on the Encore a few weeks ago and loved it, but didn’t have kids on board. Can anyone offer an opinion if there are enough (free) activities on NCL to keep kids busy? Would love to sail Disney with the kiddos to Alaska but my the prices are very high, would severely limit our excursions and those were the highlight of Alaska.

thank you for the help.

The encore is STUNNING! Alaska is very port intensive where you’re off the ship more than the Caribbean. So IMO the exorbitant extra cost for taking DCL is not worth it if you’re not onboard to enjoy the amenities.

 

[Cheburashka]

Alaska is very port intensive where you’re off the ship more than the Caribbean. So IMO the exorbitant extra cost for taking DCL is not worth it if you’re not onboard to enjoy the amenities.

I haven't found this to be true. Sailing Alaska on DCL, we were onboard the ship all day for 3 days of the cruise, which was half of our 7-night cruise. Two official "days at sea", and one glacier viewing day that did not involve a port. So 3 full days onboard. That was the same as the 3 days onboard that we have had on our Fantasy Eastern Caribbean cruises. And DCL's Fantasy Western Caribbean cruises have only 2 days at sea. Not to mention that you aren't at port from sunrise to sunset even on port days. Full evenings are always spent onboard.

 

[Intr3pid]

In the future when my boys can do longer hikes, I might opt for a line that goes one-way so that we could add a Denali land tour to either end of the trip. But that will be post-pandemic when cruisers are given autonomy to decide what they want to do in ports.

While Denali is good, Alaska's most breathtaking part is in its southeast where all the glaciers are crammed. If you want to do some equally incredible hiking, might I suggest a pre-cruise trip to the Canadian Rockies instead? Something like this:

- 4 to 5 days in Banff/Jasper
- Rocky Mountaineer train or fly to Vancouver
- 2 to 3 days in Vancouver
- DCL cruise

Or if you want to stick with Denali, do it before the cruise so you can then just take it easy on the ship.

 

[Ol Goof]

I appreciate all the wonderful feedback. Thanks so much!
A lot to consider and especially what are the priorities for our vacation. I guess I always relied on the navigator to go find something fun and you can’t beat the Mid ship detective agency for after supper fun. That was my problem on NCL, I didn’t pay any attention to that sort of thing but no shows and no movie theater in the evening is kind of a deal breaker.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

you can’t beat the Mid ship detective agency for after supper fun

Alaska is done on the Wonder. no midship detective agency on the classic ships.

 

[ofcabbagesandkings]

Alaska is done on the Wonder. no midship detective agency on the classic ships.

They did have Anna's Chocolate Chase (at the time, who knows if they'll continue it) on one of the sea days. That did occupy the kids for a few fun hours and they were really excited to get the special chocolate from "Anna" for having completed all the stations. The Frozen stage show was also very good and the perfect length for young kids. We also caught quite a few family Disney and Marvel movies in the theater on sea days.

 

[jktmom]

We have the Disney Wonder booked for AK 2022 with our almost 3 and 5 yr. old at the time of sailing. We picked Disney because we thought about all the time on the ship and the ability to always have something family friendly available including dinner and shows all geared towards families. No need to worry about what you are going to do with them because the whole experience is geared for families. We look forward to trying other lines as family when are kids are older as we have sailed many others pre-kids but for now this seems to be the best fit for the best experience by the whole family. Price is obviously a big concern but us it was worth it to get the vacation we wanted that our whole family would enjoy equally.