So... is this a decent deal? Alaska

[HappilyEverAfter80]

We did this cruise on August 20, last year. I can’t really comment on the price, we were in a concierge suite, so I’m not sure if that is good or not.
Vancouver was wonderful. We spent 2 days before and after the cruise there. We stayed at The Pacific Rim. Very nice. There is so much to do. They had free bikes at the hotel and we rode through Stanley park.
The weather that week in Alaska was really crappy though. 55 and windy and rainy all week. The salmon are running then, so we did see a lot of bear. We saw a lot of whales too. It was a nice trip, but definitely not ideal weather.

Alaska in concierge wow, lucky! I am going to prepare for wet and cool weather and hope for the best
I read a TR on here also end of August where they had great weather, so I guess it can vary. I heard that about Alaska in general...
About the salmon and bears... did you do an excursion or just saw them while hiking or...?
We have almost 18 months to go, but trying to gather information.
We will try to book the glacier dog sledding and that will be our main excursion as I know it’s expensive.
Beyond that we’d love to see bears

 

[#NotMyName]

In March 2017, I booked DCL Alaska for May 2018. Category 9C was $3,782.18 for two.

 

[Pens Fan]

Beyond that we’d love to see bears

Ketchikan has a lot of bear excursions. We've done two from there. The first was a Disney excursion - Neet's Bay - and while it was terrific, the one we did last summer independently was much better. We used Island Wings and went to Anan Creek. We saw so many bears, it was incredible. I'm not sure if Anan will be viable in late August as they move the tours based on the salmon runs. They may go to Traitors Cove at that time which is actually a bit less expensive and according to our guide an easer hike, but still a great tour. Though the hike to Anan was pretty easy. The hardest part was exiting the float plane onto some rocks. Though I'm a total klutz and I still managed it!

 

[HappilyEverAfter80]

In March 2017, I booked DCL Alaska for May 2018. Category 9C was $3,782.18 for two.

I think May is a little less $ than mid/late August (August 18 is when we are booked) but it looks like it’s gone up regardless.
We are paying $2100 per adult plus tax for Aug 18 2019. It’s for 9b though.

 

[HappilyEverAfter80]

Ketchikan has a lot of bear excursions. We've done two from there. The first was a Disney excursion - Neet's Bay - and while it was terrific, the one we did last summer independently was much better. We used Island Wings and went to Anan Creek. We saw so many bears, it was incredible. I'm not sure if Anan will be viable in late August as they move the tours based on the salmon runs. They may go to Traitors Cove at that time which is actually a bit less expensive and according to our guide an easer hike, but still a great tour. Though the hike to Anan was pretty easy. The hardest part was exiting the float plane onto some rocks. Though I'm a total klutz and I still managed it!

We are going Aug 18 so hopefully they will still run! I will definitely look into this, thank you!
Sounds very cool
Was it less $ than the Disney one or just better?

 

[Pens Fan]

Cost wise, probably about the same - but so much better. It's funny. The Neet's Bay excursion goes to a salmon hatchery (which is kind of interesting to see). Obviously when they release the salmon, the bears come. Though we only saw maybe 4 or 5 (hard to tell if you're seeing the same bear at times). Our pilot for Island Wings was the owner of the company, Michelle. She had no idea that we'd been to Neet's Bay before. As we flew over it, she pointed it out and said that the Alaskans referred to it as the "Disney World of bear watching" . I guess they see it as a manufactured viewing area because of the controlled salmon release. But the bottom line is we had bears literally a few feet from us at Anan (we were safely on a viewing platform or in a photography blind). I can't even begin to tell you how many we saw. There was even a young grizzly there. Anan is supposedly one of the few places that you can see both black bears and grizzlies (albeit only the young ones) at the same place. We also had a lot more time at the viewing platform with Island Wings vs. the Disney tour.

Our guide told us that Traitors Cove is equal in regards to bear viewing. I'm pretty sure you will be able to go to one or the other. Look, this excursion isn't cheap. But wow - if you want to see bears. Just do it!!!

 

[Pens Fan]

.

 

[HappilyEverAfter80]

Cost wise, probably about the same - but so much better. It's funny. The Neet's Bay excursion goes to a salmon hatchery (which is kind of interesting to see). Obviously when they release the salmon, the bears come. Though we only saw maybe 4 or 5 (hard to tell if you're seeing the same bear at times). Our pilot for Island Wings was the owner of the company, Michelle. She had no idea that we'd been to Neet's Bay before. As we flew over it, she pointed it out and said that the Alaskans referred to it as the "Disney World of bear watching" . I guess they see it as a manufactured viewing area because of the controlled salmon release. But the bottom line is we had bears literally a few feet from us at Anan (we were safely on a viewing platform or in a photography blind). I can't even begin to tell you how many we saw. There was even a young grizzly there. Anan is supposedly one of the few places that you can see both black bears and grizzlies (albeit only the young ones) at the same place. We also had a lot more time at the viewing platform with Island Wings vs. the Disney tour.

Our guide told us that Traitors Cove is equal in regards to bear viewing. I'm pretty sure you will be able to go to one or the other. Look, this excursion isn't cheap. But wow - if you want to see bears. Just do it!!!

Sounds great!
I see a theme starting to emerge though...dog sledding isn't cheap, but amazing! Bear watching isn't cheap, but amazing!
Those are the 2 we are interested in the most.
Thanks again.
Edit: Anan Creek ends early August so it would be Traitors Cove.

 

[Pens Fan]

Sounds great!
I see a theme starting to emerge though...dog sledding isn't cheap, but amazing! Bear watching isn't cheap, but amazing!
Those are the 2 we are interested in the most.
Thanks again.

Alaskan excursions are crazy expensive. For anyone that's only sailed in the Caribbean it's a bit of a shock. It's one of the reasons you see a lot of people pushing toward less expensive cruises as the beauty of Alaska is best found on land rather than at sea. It's a tough call, and everyone's budgets are different. When our son was younger we made the decision to stick with Disney in Alaska and had a fabulous time (though honestly, the difference between Disney and the other lines wasn't as drastic as it is now). Last summer, when he was older (19) we jumped ship and took a one way cruise from Vancouver to Seward on NCL and then spent an additional week in Alaska. This was, without a doubt, the best family vacation we've ever taken. But it doesn't take anything away from our DCL cruise when he was 14. At that point in our lives DCL was our choice. I don't regret it one bit.

All that being said - I hope you get to go see bears!!!

 

[mrsp1030]

We continue to price out Disney and NCL for certain cruises. We decided we wanted to sail the Wonder for Alaska for many reasons, similar to us wanting to sail the Magic to Europe. Since our kids are still young, Disney works best for us if we find an itinerary we like. We really want to do a Greek Isles cruise and right now Disney doesn't have one on a regular basis so we will probably explore NCL for this one.

 

[HappilyEverAfter80]

We continue to price out Disney and NCL for certain cruises. We decided we wanted to sail the Wonder for Alaska for many reasons, similar to us wanting to sail the Magic to Europe. Since our kids are still young, Disney works best for us if we find an itinerary we like. We really want to do a Greek Isles cruise and right now Disney doesn't have one on a regular basis so we will probably explore NCL for this one.

That’s how we feel too, we want to do Alaska with Disney.
I doubt we’ll do another “standard” Caribbean cruise with Disney though, unless maybe last minute. We have done 5 of those and I feel like we want to try RCCL and NCL for the Caribbean.
Well we already sailed with RCCL last May to Bermuda and loved it.
But Alaska? For some reason I feel like it has to be with Disney.
I know people say Alaska is about Alaska /excursions and not the ship but I just want to make it “all around special” if you know what I mean
Beyond that... doesn’t have to be Disney for us anymore.