Please convince me...

[Retiredcruiser]

With kids those ages I would 100% choose Quantum of the Seas. We also are avid Disney people with DVC and have cruised DCL 14 times. But I am struggling to find value in DCL anymore with the way the prices are. We recently did our first Royal cruise with kids and it was wonderful. Teenagers especially will have way more to do on Royal than on DCL. Alaska is also very port intensive and the excursions are very pricy so I would use that extra $10k to pay for all the amazing things Alaska has to offer.

Couldn't disagree more with those who are recommending Quantum of the Seas for the Alaska cruise. We sailed to Alaska back in May this year in Star Class with the genie and all the bells and whistles. Hands down this is the worst cruise we have ever been on and would not recommend anyone sailing with RCL as a result. We had the same thoughts about the ship doesn't matter, the ports and destinations are what the cruise is all about. Don't fool yourself into thinking that's all the cruise is about when you are looking for friendly service, a good or even decent meal and a clean ship. Quantum offers none of that and what they also won't tell you is the North Star they market is not operational. We had access to everything including each of the premium restaurants and if you like a fast food steak from chops then Quantum is the right cruise for you. $10K is a significant difference and for us we would chose DCL without a question. I hope you look at the other brands instead of RCL for your cruise. Happy to answer any of your direct questions to help make a decision to not chose RCL and specifically Quantum of the Seas.

 

[jimmymc]

$10,000 buys you a lot of excursions, food, and souvenirs in Alaska. You could do some awesome private excursions, eat in specialty dining every night, and upgrade your flights to the Royal cruise for less than the price of Disney. Maybe also check out Holland America and Princess to see if you can get a Glacier Bay sailing. I think it greatly enhances the Alaska part of the cruise.

If you really want to try a Disney cruise with the family, I would try incorporating a 3-5 night cruise with a future Disney World trip out of Florida.

 

[Kit Jackson]

How into Disney are your kids? Would they enjoy doing Disney trivia and other Disney related things on the cruise, or are they into other things and might want other activities/things to do that are unrelated to Disney?

 

[Mango7100]

I don’t think I can convince you because 10k is a huge price difference. Alaska excursions are expensive. That buys a lot of excursions, drinks, flights, and souvenirs. I would do a short DCL that hits one of the private islands for your Disney fix.

 

[Wiltony]

Thanks again all. Been reading through these intently with my spouse, and we'll save the DCL cruise for a Caribbean trip, and try to find an itinerary that hits glacier bay!

You've all been so helpful.

 

[Chemist]

We did Princess this summer. Honestly, my 11 year old kind of had a hard time entertaining himself. There were very few children on the cruise. No hanging out in the hot tub watching movies all day.

That being said... We were able to do amazing excursions (helicopter, etc) AND airfare for less than the cost of just a stateroom on Disney.

 

[MomOTwins]

We did Princess this summer. Honestly, my 11 year old kind of had a hard time entertaining himself. There were very few children on the cruise. No hanging out in the hot tub watching movies all day.

That being said... We were able to do amazing excursions (helicopter, etc) AND airfare for less than the cost of just a stateroom on Disney.

I posted a review of our princess cruise a while back that boiled down to the same thing. Our kids hated the club, and there were hardly any family activities. People say alaska is all about the ports, but you are on the ship as much time or more than on shore. We’ll definitely do disney next time we cruise alaska.

 

[Chemist]

I posted a review of our princess cruise a while back that boiled down to the same thing. Our kids hated the club, and there were hardly any family activities. People say alaska is all about the ports, but you are on the ship as much time or more than on shore. We’ll definitely do disney next time we cruise alaska.

Exactly.

However, the price difference was so great that honestly, we wouldn't go to Alaska on Disney, period. Not sure I can justify spending that much money on a week vacation!

And its not just the cost of the cruise, we spend a bundle on some really amazing excursions. My husband LOVED the Deadliest catch tour. Those tickets were over $200 each! I really wanted to do the helicopter and land on a glacier. Even renting a car in Skagway and driving to Emerald Lake (and visiting the sled dog camp) cost a bundle.

We won't do Princess again, but we certainly wouldn't have done that trip at Disney prices period.

 

[MomOTwins]

Exactly.

However, the price difference was so great that honestly, we wouldn't go to Alaska on Disney, period. Not sure I can justify spending that much money on a week vacation!

And its not just the cost of the cruise, we spend a bundle on some really amazing excursions. My husband LOVED the Deadliest catch tour. Those tickets were over $200 each! I really wanted to do the helicopter and land on a glacier. Even renting a car in Skagway and driving to Emerald Lake (and visiting the sled dog camp) cost a bundle.

We won't do Princess again, but we certainly wouldn't have done that trip at Disney prices period.

That’s fair, but I will say we didn’t spent a ton on excursions. Did lumberjack show in ketchikan then explored town and the salmon run on our own, took a bus to mendenhall and hiked nugget falls, and then did the train in skagway, which was the priciest one but worth it. I think you don’t really need to spend a lot to see alaska—we loved each of our port days. We could have sailed disney in oceanview rooms for about the price we paid for the verandah rooms on princess.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

$10K is a significant difference and for us we would chose DCL without a question

I'm confused by this comment. The OP said DCL was $10K more than Royal Caribbean. I'm not talking about your bad experience with Royal Caribbean just that you admit the price is a significant difference but would do DCL without a question.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Alaska seems to be the destination that for the most part the cruise lines are more equal to each other. Yes some have more access to specific glacial areas but I agree with others for that price difference and the destination it's not as important to get your Disney fix especially when you can do another cruise with that price difference.

 

[Retiredcruiser]

I'm confused by this comment. The OP said DCL was $10K more than Royal Caribbean. I'm not talking about your bad experience with Royal Caribbean just that you admit the price is a significant difference but would do DCL without a question.

Not sure what you are missing. I shared we had a direct recent experience the OP is considering with both the ship, the cruise line and the itinerary to Alaska.

You can't dismiss the atrocious first hand experience we had with RCL. RCL provided us with Future Cruise Credits in their effort to say please give us another chance to "make it right". Um, no. In other words, we could travel for free on RCL and won't do it.

 

[Karin1984]

We had no ice flows and the ship did not get as close as DCL does to the glaciers.

Doesn't this depend on the time of year and nature being nature?

When I sailed DCL in May, we couldn't get very close to the glacier. I remember them making announcements that this was because of the amount of seal pups around.

Not sure if we were not allowed to get closer or if it was at DCL's decision.

 

[MomOTwins]

Doesn't this depend on the time of year and nature being nature?

When I sailed DCL in May, we couldn't get very close to the glacier. I remember them making announcements that this was because of the amount of seal pups around.

Not sure if we were not allowed to get closer or if it was at DCL's decision.

yes and no. A large ship simply can’t ever get really close because it gets too shallow and too difficult to navigate around the loose ice. A small ship can and often does get close, but may not be able to on a given sailing because of conditions.

 

[happycamper47]

Doesn't this depend on the time of year and nature being nature?

When I sailed DCL in May, we couldn't get very close to the glacier. I remember them making announcements that this was because of the amount of seal pups around.

We did our DCL cruises in May 2012, June 2019 and July 2016 and all 3 DCL were pretty much the same. The ice flows the waterfalls and the glaciers were spectacular.

NCL was this June and with everybody claiming how great Glacier Bay was we thought we would be impressed and we were not. We had an aft cabin with Veranda on every cruise so our viewing point was identical. Also DCL spent more time at the Glaciers. We'll take Sitkine over Glacier Bay any day.

 

[Dive Bar Casanova]

Warm, personable and appreciate service is what we love and we only find it on DCL.
We know the hacks and tricks to get better prices on a DCL Cruise and it's the only way we'll book one now.
That'll change, but with a recession on the horizon, better pricing may emerge anyway.

 

[happycamper47]

Warm, personable and appreciate service is what we love and we only find it on DCL.

That too, especially for someone with disabilities. My wife has never gotten the same level of assistance on HAL, NCL, RCL or Princess that she gets on DCL.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Not sure what you are missing. I shared we had a direct recent experience the OP is considering with both the ship, the cruise line and the itinerary to Alaska.

You can't dismiss the atrocious first hand experience we had with RCL. RCL provided us with Future Cruise Credits in their effort to say please give us another chance to "make it right". Um, no. In other words, we could travel for free on RCL and won't do it.

I specifically said I wasn't speaking about your bad experience. It was that you said the price difference was a significant difference. Usually when people say that they mean they would opt to do the lower priced option because it is significant. Perhaps you meant that even though the price is significant you're willing to pay that to cruise DCL? Is that what you meant?

*No snark is needed from your comments, I couldn't care less about whether you like DCL over Royal Caribbean, I'm just asking for clarification of your comment.

 

[PoppyJ]

I have only done the Disney Alaska Cruise so I can't compare cruise lines, but my coworker did the Norwegian Alaska Cruise and was disappointed. Not necessarily with Norwegian but with the port times and dock locations.

I would say these are the two most important factors to consider for an Alaska cruise in particular. For example, on the cruise she went on, Norwegian is docked in Juneau from 6:30 am to 1:30 pm. Disney is docked in Juneau from 6:00 am to 5:00 pm. That can make a big difference. She had a helicopter excursion scheduled for 8:30 am that was canceled right before due to weather. She could not get on any other excursion because her ship left so early.

You also want to research where the ship docks in each port. Is a bus necessary to get to town? Will you have to tender?

These were factors I had no idea to consider when I booked my cruise. I just wanted to do Disney, and I feel like I lucked out. But they are factors I would definitely give a lot of weight in any future cruise.

 

[ofcabbagesandkings]

We did DCL to Alaska for our first ever cruise. It was perfect for our kids, who were 2 and 7. They were very into characters and the clubs and we needed the nursery to enjoy adult dining. The ports were great and we had a fun activity booked independently in each. We loved the glacier viewing on the little boat glacier explorer excursion.

That said, with teens, I would consider a small ship Nat Geo cruise with Lindblad, or Uncruise. You can go places the big ships can’t and really experience the awe-inspiring natural environment. If I had to pick a big cruise line, I would go with one that goes to Hubbard, and possibly do a one way itinerary and combine it with a land tour to Denali.