So... is this a decent deal? Alaska

[HappilyEverAfter80]

If you’re Gold, you know the prices aren’t going to get any lower than those so just pick the date you want and start planning. If you’re still vascillating and unsure, whatever you do, don’t look at any other cruise lines prices for the same time period, you won’t like what you see.

Well you know I had to go price them out

Here are the 3 I looked at, all are for 2 adults, 1 child.

- Norwegian Bliss Aug 18
7n from Seattle
Seattle-at Sea-Juneau (2-11pm)-Skagway (7am-8pm)-Glacier Bay-Ketchikan (6am-7pm)- Victoria 7pm-11:59pm-Seattle
Midship balcony including beverage package $5600 No OBC

Star Princess Aug 18
7n from Seattle
Seattle-at Sea- Ketchikan (6am-3pm)-Tracy Arm-Juneau (12:30-10pm)-Skagway (6am-5pm)-at Sea- Victoria 7pm-11:15pm-Seattle
Mid-forward balcony $5360 No OBC

Ruby Princess - same as the Star pretty much but with Glacier Bay $5900 Aft Balcony.

Ovation of the Seas Aug 16
7n from Seattle
Seattle-at Sea-Inside Passage-Juneau (12-9pm)-Skagway (7am-8:30pm)-Edicott Arm+Dawes Glacier-At Sea-Victoria 9am-6pm- Seattle
$4880 Aft balcony incl. $175 OBC

To compare our Disney Wonder Aug 19 - 7n with Tracy Arm, deck 2 oceanview $6039 incl. $350 OBC

On the other lines I had to price out balcony rooms as they are smaller.
Ovation would be an awesome ship for Alaska too for the reasons I mentioned above.. plus North Star! I completely forgot it has that. I'm assuming it would be difficult to secure a spot on it during the glacier day... but nevertheless. However no Ketchikan or even Tracy Arm..how are the other two? Endicott and Dawes Glacier? No clue.

So if this was your choice... what would you go with?
We really want to cruise out of Vancouver.. but I was thinking too we could take a train from Seattle to Vancouver for a day, I think?

 

[NancyIL]

Well you know I had to go price them out

Here are the 3 I looked at, all are for 2 adults, 1 child.

- Norwegian Bliss Aug 18
7n from Seattle
Seattle-at Sea-Juneau (2-11pm)-Skagway (7am-8pm)-Glacier Bay-Ketchikan (6am-7pm)- Victoria 7pm-11:59pm-Seattle
Midship balcony including beverage package $5600 No OBC

Star Princess Aug 18
7n from Seattle
Seattle-at Sea- Ketchikan (6am-3pm)-Tracy Arm-Juneau (12:30-10pm)-Skagway (6am-5pm)-at Sea- Victoria 7pm-11:15pm-Seattle
Mid-forward balcony $5360 No OBC

Ruby Princess - same as the Star pretty much but with Glacier Bay $5900 Aft Balcony.

Ovation of the Seas Aug 16
7n from Seattle
Seattle-at Sea-Inside Passage-Juneau (12-9pm)-Skagway (7am-8:30pm)-Edicott Arm+Dawes Glacier-At Sea-Victoria 9am-6pm- Seattle
$4880 Aft balcony incl. $175 OBC

To compare our Disney Wonder Aug 19 - 7n with Tracy Arm, deck 2 oceanview $6039 incl. $350 OBC

On the other lines I had to price out balcony rooms as they are smaller.
Ovation would be an awesome ship for Alaska too for the reasons I mentioned above.. plus North Star! I completely forgot it has that. I'm assuming it would be difficult to secure a spot on it during the glacier day... but nevertheless. However no Ketchikan or even Tracy Arm..how are the other two? Endicott and Dawes Glacier? No clue.

So if this was your choice... what would you go with?
We really want to cruise out of Vancouver.. but I was thinking too we could take a train from Seattle to Van cover for a day, I think?

Endicott Arm with Dawes Glacier is next to Tracy Arm. It is where most ships (including the Wonder) ended up going last year due to Tracy Arm being iced out.

I choose itinerary over ship for Alaska, and my preference is a one-way cruise so I can add my own land trip with a rental car. Vancouver sailings almost always sail between Vancouver Island and the mainland, whereas Seattle departures almost always sail west of Vancouver Island. It makes a difference in scenery and sometimes in the roughness of the seas.

 

[HappilyEverAfter80]

Endicott Arm with Dawes Glacier is next to Tracy Arm. It is where most ships (including the Wonder) ended up going last year due to Tracy Arm being iced out.

I choose itinerary over ship for Alaska, and my preference is a one-way cruise so I can add my own land trip with a rental car.

We can't do the one way, I just won't be able to swing that next year. Maybe one day. I know the one way are better, but we will be cruising with a kid and the round trip will be easier. Plus I will have 10 days total, which doesn't seem like enough time for One way sailing.

 

[NancyIL]

We can't do the one way, I just won't be able to swing that next year. Maybe one day. I know the one way are better, but we will be cruising with a kid and the round trip will be easier. Plus I will have 10 days total, which doesn't seem like enough time for One way sailing.

You can do a one-way cruise with 10 vacation days. A lot of people do sail to Alaska and then go straight home, or arrive in Anchorage and go straight to the ship. However, I think Alaska deserves more time, so it's best to wait until you can spend several days there.

 

[cruiser21]

Well you know I had to go price them out

Here are the 3 I looked at, all are for 2 adults, 1 child.

- Norwegian Bliss Aug 18
7n from Seattle
Seattle-at Sea-Juneau (2-11pm)-Skagway (7am-8pm)-Glacier Bay-Ketchikan (6am-7pm)- Victoria 7pm-11:59pm-Seattle
Midship balcony including beverage package $5600 No OBC

Star Princess Aug 18
7n from Seattle
Seattle-at Sea- Ketchikan (6am-3pm)-Tracy Arm-Juneau (12:30-10pm)-Skagway (6am-5pm)-at Sea- Victoria 7pm-11:15pm-Seattle
Mid-forward balcony $5360 No OBC

Ruby Princess - same as the Star pretty much but with Glacier Bay $5900 Aft Balcony.

Ovation of the Seas Aug 16
7n from Seattle
Seattle-at Sea-Inside Passage-Juneau (12-9pm)-Skagway (7am-8:30pm)-Edicott Arm+Dawes Glacier-At Sea-Victoria 9am-6pm- Seattle
$4880 Aft balcony incl. $175 OBC

To compare our Disney Wonder Aug 19 - 7n with Tracy Arm, deck 2 oceanview $6039 incl. $350 OBC

On the other lines I had to price out balcony rooms as they are smaller.
Ovation would be an awesome ship for Alaska too for the reasons I mentioned above.. plus North Star! I completely forgot it has that. I'm assuming it would be difficult to secure a spot on it during the glacier day... but nevertheless. However no Ketchikan or even Tracy Arm..how are the other two? Endicott and Dawes Glacier? No clue.

So if this was your choice... what would you go with?
We really want to cruise out of Vancouver.. but I was thinking too we could take a train from Seattle to Vancouver for a day, I think?

NCL runs different specials all the time. Just because there not offering OBC now doesn't mean they won't be a week from now. Don't you also get to pick 2 with NCL? You should be getting free internet or shore excursion credit. Sometimes you will get a little lower price booking NCL through Costco.
We did not go to Tracy Arm on the Wonder we went to Endicott and Dawes. Most of sailings went to Dawes because Tracy Arm has receded a lot. This was last Summer.

 

[HappilyEverAfter80]

NCL runs different specials all the time. Just because there not offering OBC now doesn't mean they won't be a week from now. Don't you also get to pick 2 with NCL? You should be getting free internet or shore excursion credit. Sometimes you will get a little lower price booking NCL through Costco.
We did not go to Tracy Arm on the Wonder we went to Endicott and Dawes. Most of sailings went to Dawes because Tracy Arm has receded a lot. This was last Summer.

We did get pick of 2 yes.
Picked the beverage package and also 3rd/4th guest free.
Worked out better than picking the internet or specialty dining.

 

[cruiser21]

Well good luck with your decision. I've heard Glacier Bay is amazing. I don't think any of the itinerary's are perfect. They all have pluses and minus's. Vancouver is a beautiful city, but so is Seattle. Airfare to Seattle might be less. I don't know about taking a train to Vancouver. We rented a car and drove. It's about a 2 hour drive. The scenery along the drive is beautiful. Have you looked at airfare? I've heard flying from the East coast to Vancouver is very expensive.

 

[MelSpees]

We really want to visit Vancouver for a couple of days before the cruise... it’s been on my radar for a long time.
I’m not saying Seattle isn’t a great city, we just really want to go to Vancouver first.
What’s Puget Sound?

Vancouver is great too. Puget Sound is the body of water that Seattle is on. It is a huge "inlet" with many cities and communities. There are many beautiful islands, evergreens everywhere and mountains not far away. Vancouver is actually at the far north end of the body of water. Technically Puget Sound is a specific area further south, but many people generally refer to the whole area as the sound.

 

[MelSpees]

True. I did see an IGT rate on the 6/11 cruise. I haven't seen an GT rate on a Alaskan cruise in a few years.

There are IGT rates on 2 different June 2018 cruises now.

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

Well you know I had to go price them out

Here are the 3 I looked at, all are for 2 adults, 1 child.

- Norwegian Bliss Aug 18
7n from Seattle
Seattle-at Sea-Juneau (2-11pm)-Skagway (7am-8pm)-Glacier Bay-Ketchikan (6am-7pm)- Victoria 7pm-11:59pm-Seattle
Midship balcony including beverage package $5600 No OBC

Star Princess Aug 18
7n from Seattle
Seattle-at Sea- Ketchikan (6am-3pm)-Tracy Arm-Juneau (12:30-10pm)-Skagway (6am-5pm)-at Sea- Victoria 7pm-11:15pm-Seattle
Mid-forward balcony $5360 No OBC

Ruby Princess - same as the Star pretty much but with Glacier Bay $5900 Aft Balcony.

Ovation of the Seas Aug 16
7n from Seattle
Seattle-at Sea-Inside Passage-Juneau (12-9pm)-Skagway (7am-8:30pm)-Edicott Arm+Dawes Glacier-At Sea-Victoria 9am-6pm- Seattle
$4880 Aft balcony incl. $175 OBC

To compare our Disney Wonder Aug 19 - 7n with Tracy Arm, deck 2 oceanview $6039 incl. $350 OBC

On the other lines I had to price out balcony rooms as they are smaller.
Ovation would be an awesome ship for Alaska too for the reasons I mentioned above.. plus North Star! I completely forgot it has that. I'm assuming it would be difficult to secure a spot on it during the glacier day... but nevertheless. However no Ketchikan or even Tracy Arm..how are the other two? Endicott and Dawes Glacier? No clue.

So if this was your choice... what would you go with?
We really want to cruise out of Vancouver.. but I was thinking too we could take a train from Seattle to Vancouver for a day, I think?

I would do Ovation or Bliss, but I got over ruled for Bliss this summer. We’re stuck paying $8600 for 2 insides on the Wonder in June. I really want to do the go karts on Bliss

 

[disneymagicgirl]

I ended up booking 2 oceanviews on the wonder 5/27/19 for $11,300 for 6 of us w/ OBB.
Subtract all
Our ObC and we are about $10,600. I’m happy with that.

Of course, now y’all have me wanting to check out that IGT for 2018. Ha!

 

[mmmears]

Vancouver sailings almost always sail between Vancouver Island and the mainland, whereas Seattle departures almost always sail west of Vancouver Island. It makes a difference in scenery and sometimes in the roughness of the seas.

THIS! IMHO it's a much prettier and nicer route sailing from Vancouver compared to Seattle. That narrow waterway out of Vancouver is beautiful.

 

[KashasMom]

We booked a bump balcony on the Bliss - August 25 - 2A, 1C - for $5,100. We got an OBC (think $100) and 2 "extras" (we took the specialty dining and 250 minutes of internet - we can change if we want). The 2 story 180 degree floor to ceiling windows in the observation lounges look perfect for Alaska. We're excited to try the bumper cars and laser tag and love the flexibility of the dining options (including a dinner buffet). I've done Alaskan cruises on Celebrity and a (fantastic) repositioning cruise on RCI. Loved them both. Alaska is pretty port intensive (at least it is for us). I just can't see doing DCL to Alaska (especially on the Wonder).

 

[Shanti]

True. I did see an IGT rate on the 6/11 cruise. I haven't seen an GT rate on a Alaskan cruise in a few years.

Yes, I saw that IGT rate for 6/11 and another for a May Alaska cruise. Lucky for the people who can travel during those particular weeks, which we can't.

There are IGT rates on 2 different June 2018 cruises now.

Actually, there is only one IGT rate for a June Alaskan cruise. There is also one for a May Alaskan cruise.

 

[Shanti]

I just can't see doing DCL to Alaska (especially on the Wonder.)

To each his own but we're really looking forward to our Alaska cruise in June. The Wonder looks like a beautiful ship inside and out, and cruising on her will complete our grand slam. Looking forward to the three ports and the port activities we've planned (independently of DCL). We've also booked the Glacier Explorer for the Tracy Arm/Endicott Arm day, and we're also looking forward to that. Looking forward to seeing the Frozen show, to dining at Palo, to seeing the characters in their Alaska clothes, and to participating in the fun onboard activities during the sea days. Looking forward to the day before and the day after the cruise that we'll spend in Vancouver. It's going to be the right cruise to Alaska for us.

 

[seacruise]

Well you know I had to go price them out

However no Ketchikan or even Tracy Arm..how are the other two? Endicott and Dawes Glacier? No clue.

So if this was your choice... what would you go with?
We really want to cruise out of Vancouver.. but I was thinking too we could take a train from Seattle to Vancouver for a day, I think?

IMHO of course, but Endicott/Dawes is more scenic w/better glacier view than Tracey Arm, and a full day in Victoria is a lot nicer than Ketchikan...

We booked the Wonder 9 night for 2019, but given your choices I would probably be tempted to try Ovation OTS. I disliked NCL "a la carte" cruising so would skip the Bliss for sure. Plus, the whole back of the ship is covered with a Go Cart track, who wants that for Alaska. At least the bumper cars are inside on Ovation.

Definitely more scenic sailing out of Vancouver, but if your going later in August/Sept it will be dark earlier so a lot of it will be during dinner/after dark on the first day. Sailing back through the inside passage route to Vancouver on the last day though is very scenic. Hope for it to still be light when going through Seymour Narrows. Seattle ships will largely be out of sight of land on the last day until they approach the strait heading to Victoria.

Somebody was talking about the drive time to Vancouver if flying into SEA. It's at least a 3 hour drive without allowing time for the border crossing. The wait at the border can be several hours at peak times.

 

[cruiser21]

We drove from Seattle to yvr on sat afternoon Labor Day weekend. Wait time at the border was 30 minutes. We stopped at McDonald's...so yes probably 3 hours total. It's 154 miles so about 2 hours of driving time. I doubt the wait at the border is ever hours. There is a website thet you can go to that gives you an estimated wait times each day of the week. Honestly never saw I wait times listed in hours.
I wouldn't hesitate to do it again if it saves a considerable amount on airfare. It was easy. Just like driving through any major city use common sense and avoid peak traffic times. Car rental was around 50.00 dollars. Dropped it at the port the next day.

 

[KashasMom]

To each his own but we're really looking forward to our Alaska cruise in June. The Wonder looks like a beautiful ship inside and out, and cruising on her will complete our grand slam. Looking forward to the three ports and the port activities we've planned (independently of DCL). We've also booked the Glacier Explorer for the Tracy Arm/Endicott Arm day, and we're also looking forward to that. Looking forward to seeing the Frozen show, to dining at Palo, to seeing the characters in their Alaska clothes, and to participating in the fun onboard activities during the sea days. Looking forward to the day before and the day after the cruise that we'll spend in Vancouver. It's going to be the right cruise to Alaska for us.

Yes, to each his own. I just don't see doing any port intensive cruise on Disney. Some cruises are about the ports, not the ships. IMO Alaska falls into that category. We have always booked our Alaskan excursions on our own - so many benefits to doing so. Are children allowed in Palo now? That's one thing I really love on RCI - my daughter was able to go into all the specialty restaurants with me. I didn't realize Disney had made that change.

 

[KashasMom]

I disliked NCL "a la carte" cruising so would skip the Bliss for sure.

What is NCL a la carte?

 

[Shanti]

Yes, to each his own. I just don't see doing any port intensive cruise on Disney. Some cruises are about the ports, not the ships. IMO Alaska falls into that category. We have always booked our Alaskan excursions on our own - so many benefits to doing so. Are children allowed in Palo now? That's one thing I really love on RCI - my daughter was able to go into all the specialty restaurants with me. I didn't realize Disney had made that change.

No, Palo is adults-only. There are 2 full sea days on our cruise, and the Tracy Arm day is a sort of a sea day in addition to those, so our Alaska cruise is about 50/50 ship & port time. I like it that way as it's less overwhelming and more of a vacation. If I only wanted to explore land attractions, I wouldn't book a cruise at all.