Newbee not impressed so far

[sadiecatie]

Really unless that desired excursion was the glacier explorer, you can book anything you were hoping for directly with the tour operator (and unfortunately new cruisers are just kind of out of luck with the glacier explorer it seems). It would be nice if DCL was a bit better with IT stuff, but that shouldn’t be something to ruin your vacation.

 

[Sakura1017]

Have you joined your cruise group? Usually they will post what excursions are sold out so when each group begins they have a back up plan?

Out of curiosity what excursion are you trying to get? I would try looking for the tour operator that way you can book with them directly. The only excursion I know that wouldn't help with tour operator is the small boat excursion on glacier day. Since that is the only one DCL will do.

 

[mlayton14]

You can cancel your excursions once onboard? I've been told no. It wasn't meant to be tit for tat between cruise lines.

You are correct, 72 hours before actual sailing , still seems reasonable to me

 

[soniam]

Celebrity hasn’t been much better for our July Italy/Greece/Turkey. If you book stuff as soon as you book the cruise, or as soon as they allow it, it’s fine. However, anyone booking later got stiffed on dining and some excursions. The Celebrity website and app can be wonky. Since it’s not a scheduled booking date, that disperses the server traffic, which helps. Neither system is ideal. However, with our son, we have found DCL to be worth the hassle. You have to hook up with others on social media to figure out the ins and outs of every cruise line.

 

[Cheburashka]

I definitely wouldn't book DCL for a once-in-a-lifetime Alaska cruise. Sorry, OP.

We had a great DCL once-in-a-lifetime Alaska cruise. I'm glad I booked it through them.

 

[Alaskan bound]

I previously booked my excursions from a 3rd company. The excursion we didn't get was seeing the glaciers up close. An excursion you can only book through Disney. Plus we didn't get any of the onboard activities we wanted. I will take everyone's advice and keep checking the app for openings. I'm told there's no waiting list for these things. You just have to get lucky and be there when someone cancels. I have a question: does tipping the excursion person increase my chances of getting a couple of spots on the Glacier excursion? If so, how much should I tip? My daughter (who's accompany me) is thinking $100. I think that's a little steep, but willing to tip that much of it increase our chances.

 

[Geomom]

I previously booked my excursions from a 3rd company. The excursion we didn't get was seeing the glaciers up close. An excursion you can only book through Disney. Plus we didn't get any of the onboard activities we wanted. I will take everyone's advice and keep checking the app for openings. I'm told there's no waiting list for these things. You just have to get lucky and be there when someone cancels. I have a question: does tipping the excursion person increase my chances of getting a couple of spots on the Glacier excursion? If so, how much should I tip? My daughter (who's accompany me) is thinking $100. I think that's a little steep, but willing to tip that much of it increase our chances.

I don't think tipping would help you get the excursion. It's possible they're not even allowed to receive tips.

I'm sorry you didn't get the DCL only excursion. I believe our Alaskan cruise (2016) was the first to offer that excursion. I refused to pay that much to see something I could already see from the ship. Yeah you don't get as close as a small boat, but it was enough for us. I feel like we got pretty close to the glacier on the Wonder. And zoom lenses on the camera got us some close up pics. Definitely keep checking the app, especially close to the cruise date when people can't cancel.

 

[happycamper47]

r. And zoom lenses on the camera got us some close up pics.

Yep, Like this....

 

[Geomom]

I'm sure it's receded quite a bit since 2016.
2016 pics
From our deck 2 room, no zoom

DH camera zoomed in pics taken outside from either deck 4 or deck 10

 

[Dug720]

I previously booked my excursions from a 3rd company. The excursion we didn't get was seeing the glaciers up close. An excursion you can only book through Disney. Plus we didn't get any of the onboard activities we wanted. I will take everyone's advice and keep checking the app for openings. I'm told there's no waiting list for these things. You just have to get lucky and be there when someone cancels. I have a question: does tipping the excursion person increase my chances of getting a couple of spots on the Glacier excursion? If so, how much should I tip? My daughter (who's accompany me) is thinking $100. I think that's a little steep, but willing to tip that much of it increase our chances.

If it's the excursion I'm thinking of, it is EXTREMELY limited - as in it's highly possible even Gold cruisers were not able to get it.

And no, bribing the shore excursion people (who are not allowed to accept tips, much less bribes) is not going to help.

 

[Cheburashka]

I previously booked my excursions from a 3rd company. The excursion we didn't get was seeing the glaciers up close. An excursion you can only book through Disney. Plus we didn't get any of the onboard activities we wanted. I will take everyone's advice and keep checking the app for openings. I'm told there's no waiting list for these things. You just have to get lucky and be there when someone cancels. I have a question: does tipping the excursion person increase my chances of getting a couple of spots on the Glacier excursion? If so, how much should I tip? My daughter (who's accompany me) is thinking $100. I think that's a little steep, but willing to tip that much of it increase our chances.

Check the website frequently from 10 to 3 days before the cruise for cancellations.

 

[mamaburrito]

That excursion is extremely popular and limited. However, I was able to at least book my son and husband on it on our first cruise in 2017. I kept searching randomly and was able to book it. I was able to book my husband first and then a few weeks later my son.

Keep checking on it and keep checking for different party sizes. Good luck but even if you aren’t able to book it - I don’t think you will be disappointed with Alaska.

 

[Proflig8tor]

Just got back from the Alaska cruise. We had no problems booking excursions day of, even with every ship full. Just walked off the ship and grabbed what we wanted.

Skagway - train ride well worth it (esp when you learn the history of the gold rush route)


Juneau

also, if you hike to the top, you can ride the Tram back down for free, or $10. Otherwise, it is $70pp. Bald Eagles hang out on the dockside cell phone tower. If you are an early riser the Eagles tend to use the ship for ridge lift and fly over to check you out on arrival (and probably to see if the arrival stirred up anything delicious to eat). Several types of Eagles flew right past our windows on Deck 7 and were close enough to make your iPhone pictures look like something from National Geo.

Ketchikan - we just walked the town. The Lumberjack show was loved by those who did it. Wettest town in America. Dress warm & dry.

The highlight of the cruise will probably be the day you sail up Tracey Fjord (or similar). No need to get off the Wonder. The Captain took us close to the Glacier and right up to a waterfall where there were bears and eagles. Some folks spotted humpback whales. That was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. We got fantastic pictures.

Alaska is blindingly expensive. The towns you visit have to import everything. Island prices X2.

Vancouver is a great city to explore as well. We spent two days eating our way through town and seeing the parks.

Had links in the posting but the auto-mod flagged it, so removed them. Have fun!

 

[DSLRuser]

I just can fathom how Disney has done this for 25 years and still not work out the "kinks".

Have you ever thought that maybe it is you not Disney having problems? Just sayin.

I have done 3 cruises this year and never had a single tech issue.

 

[lanejudy]

Have you ever thought that maybe it is you not Disney having problems? Just sayin.

Eh, I wouldn't go there. Disney has known tech issues, and the tech problems OP mentioned aren't unusual. It's frustrating that OP ran into issues on both of their "important" DCL dates -- but that only means many others did as well so the impact to OP wasn't as big as it may seem.

Unable to book the excursion was an over-expectation problem, and OP may have had more realistic expectations in that regard if they'd asked here or on a cruise group elsewhere before their booking date. The tech issues did not prevent OP from getting the excursion, more likely their CC status did. And there are probably many others in a similar situation who would have liked that same popular-but-limited excursion but will need to make a different choice.

 

[dad of 3 addicted to DCL]

In my experience, the layout of the DCL website is quite good. Intuitive (mostly), straightforward and most activities can be reserved/pre-purchased - especially since they added the pre-purchase of OB Credit. The FUNCTIONING of the website, though, leaves much to be desired. I'm quite glad that check in is at midnight here on the east coast, as I can let fly with not-so-mellifluous commentary as I use 2 laptops and a phone to check us in. :raised hand: retired sailor here, it happens

 

[DCLMP]

You are correct, 72 hours before actual sailing , still seems reasonable to me

I find it unreasonable. You should be able to change your mind. Sometimes you may not feel up to something you booked. I just don't book through DCL very often because of it.

 

[MillauFr]

Have you ever thought that maybe it is you not Disney having problems? Just sayin.

I have done 3 cruises this year and never had a single tech issue.

Um no. Disney IT is widely regarded as some of the worst in the industry. Simply awful. Their systems are so bad and non-intuitive that they make you call for many requests.

 

[sadiecatie]

I find it unreasonable. You should be able to change your mind. Sometimes you may not feel up to something you booked. I just don't book through DCL very often because of it.

The reality here is that most of DCL’s excursions are through 3rd party operators. They simply cannot function that way (oh you decide day of you don’t feel like doing the thing? That means this company just doesn’t get paid).

 

[auntlynne]

I find it unreasonable. You should be able to change your mind. Sometimes you may not feel up to something you booked. I just don't book through DCL very often because of it.

I agree. An excursion should be cancellable 72 hours before the actual activity.

I would have said that was true in the past. Is it truly a hard-and-fast rule now?