? Why no inside passage on Alaska cruises?

[Momof3greatkids]

I have booked 3 rooms for a May 2011 Alaska cruise, and have just now noticed that the cruise seems to sail in the open Pacific, as opposed to the inside passage. I should have paid more attention, but to be honest it never occured to me that Disney would not take the most scenic and calm route. Why in the world would Disney do this? The ocean is not nearly as smooth, and the views aren't nearly as good! For what Disney charges this a big disappointment. May cancel and go with another line. Does anyone know Disney's reason for taking an open ocean route??

 

[kcashner]

Disney initially submitted an application to sail on Glacier Bay, but then withdrew the application. I'm not sure if they figured they wouldn't get it (since previous sailing in Glacier Bay was one of the items considered) and that it would be better to withdraw than to be beaten out for the limited number of permits or if they truly had something else in mind.

Bottom line--they don't have a permit to sail in Glacier Bay, and won't be able to apply for many more years. Beyond that, I don't know what is driving their decisions.

 

[Momof3greatkids]

I should note that the info I have seen discussing/announcing Disney's Alaska cruise says inside passage. However, the map on their website does not show inside passage, according to what my understanding of the inside passage is, and Disney does not say inside passage when they describe the cruise that I can find.

 

[geoffrey]

Has it been stated one way or another whether the route goes through the inside passage?

It would really be a disappointment if not

 

[woody73]

When we sailed on Glacier Bay last year on HAL, park rangers boarded the ship for the day to narrate and interact with guests. They said to preserve the bay, the U.S. National Park system allows only two cruise ships per day onto the bay.

They said the selection process is based, in part, on the ship's programs to promote appreciation for the wildlife and environment.

Woody

 

[geoffrey]

sorry, but what does Glacier Bay have to do with the inside passage?
Unless I am mistaken, they are not related, are they?

 

[Momof3greatkids]

NO, I don't think they are the same thing. A previous poster was just pointing out that was something Disney discussed doing. I do believe I will call Disney because it is not clear to me. IN another post someone noted that the inside passage would be leaving on the eastern side of Vancouver and sailing up between some barrier/coastal islands and the mainland. Map per Disney website does not show this. So, I will check and see what Disney has to say.

 

[Momof3greatkids]

I just checked with Disney and even spoke with a supervisor. Disney does not do an inside passage cruise. They spend some time in the inside passage sailing Tracy Arm, and between the ports of Skagway and Junuea. However, they sail up the western side of Vancouver out into the Pacific, and then back into the Pacific to reach Ketchican, and then the same for Vancouver. I am really disappointed. Rougher seas, no views on sailing days. Disney should do better than this. 2 port days are very short only about 7 hours each, only 1 port day is even a full day. Disney is new and other lines probably have priority, but Disney should do better than this for what they want money wise. Alaska is about seeing the beauty and scenery. Thinking about changing to a line that does inside passage.

 

[sayhello]

The Inside Passage extends from the Puget Sound, up along Canada to Alaska and out the Alaska panhandle. Here's a link to a map of the Alaskan portion:

http://www.byways.org/explore/byways/12398/travel.html?map=Inside_Passage_Section

Disney is not following the part of the Inside Passage leaving from Vancouver (and most of the way to Tracy Arm), but they are definitely sailing the Inside Passage after that point.

But I agree, the route they are taking from Vancouver to Tracy Arm is *not* the pretty, more protected route that some of the other lines take. Although, looking at Princess' site, some of their cruises follow the same route as Disney's.

http://www.princess.com/find/itiner...noOfPax=2&resType=C&definition_name=&bID=PCPB

I imagine there's a reason for it, not sure what it would be.

Sayhello

 

[clten]

When we sailed from Vancouver with Princess, we were on one that sailed the inside passage route from Vancouver. There is a point where the ships have to wait for the tides. We were told our ship was going to be practicing maneuvers most of the night before the tide was right for us to sail through. So, it is probably a matter of timing and the number of ships going through that point that the cruiselines use for the decision on which way to head out from Vancouver.

I will say we went in late May and were very disappointed in the scenery for that first day in the inside passage. There wasn't much to see -- we had a naturalist on board and she didn't really have a lot to tell us. Spent more time preparing us for what we would see when we got further north. So I for one don't think it's a big deal which way they are heading out/in to Vancouver. Most of the wildlife we saw was further north. We didn't miss anything that you usually see from the ship -- whales, porpoises, eagles, seals, etc.

 

[Kiss-im-mee2]

Disney does not have the best itineray for Alaska. The most disapointing thing is going to Tracy Arm instead of Glacier Bay or Hubbard. Tracy Arm is beautiful but sometimes the ships can't get far enough to see the glaciers at the end. You'll probably not see the glacier calf like the other two places. If seeing the glaciers up close and calving is important then choose another cruise. If cruiseing with Disney is important than you will have a fantastic cruise because you won't really know what you are missing and you will see so much great scenery anyway.

 

[Macavity]

Here is where Disney is going - can someone explain to me how it is not the inside passage? It looks really close to the land to me.

 

[sayhello]

Here is where Disney is going - can someone explain to me how it is not the inside passage? It looks really close to the land to me.

If you look at the portion of the route from Vancouver to Tracy Arm, the vast majority of it is *outside* of the line of islands (actually, way more than you can see in that little map) rather than in and amongst the islands, or between the islands and the mainland. So that portion of the cruise is technically *not* in the Inside Passage, but is, rather, out in the open Pacific Ocean. Don't know if they'll follow the same route back to Vancouver from Ketchikan. I haven't seen any maps that include that last leg.

So the sea days are not Inside Passage cruising.

This would be considered cruising the Inside passage:

As you can see here, HAL goes *between* the large islands and the mainland. More land to see, from both sides of the ship, and generally calmer waters.

Sayhello

 

[Meskamooska]

Hi All,

We are going on the July 19th DCL Alaska cruise and couldn't be more excited. Honestly until I read this thread I hadn't given any thought to the itineary beyond it being Alaska and Disney. Now, however after seeing the inside versus outside debate I am going to throw a theory of my own into the mix... has anyone considered that along with all the other reasons/ideas already considered it might have to do with how far out to sea the ship needs to be in order to do the fireworks?

I seem to recall seeing or hearing something somewhere about the ship needing to be in open water a certain minimum distance from any other vessel or from land in order to do fireworks. When we last sailed five years ago it was over the Fourth of July in the Mexican Riviera during the Magic's first visit to California. We got a special menu, a balloon drop and a champagne toast in commerative glasses but now fireworks on the 4th!

Instead we got the fireworks on the 5th and when inquired as to why we got now big boom on the night of the 4th I was told about the restrictions.

Just my best guess... I am just glad they are going to Alaska at all

Take care all, help lots of people and have Wonderful day!

 

[moomy-san]

No fireworks on the Alaska DCL itineraries.

 

[disneymum2201]

We sailed Royal Carribean and sailed inside in both directions and it was beautiful. We had to take on a pilot though so maybe that is the problem??

 

[kaseyC]

Hi All,

We are going on the July 19th DCL Alaska cruise and couldn't be more excited. Honestly until I read this thread I hadn't given any thought to the itineary beyond it being Alaska and Disney. Now, however after seeing the inside versus outside debate I am going to throw a theory of my own into the mix... has anyone considered that along with all the other reasons/ideas already considered it might have to do with how far out to sea the ship needs to be in order to do the fireworks?

I seem to recall seeing or hearing something somewhere about the ship needing to be in open water a certain minimum distance from any other vessel or from land in order to do fireworks. When we last sailed five years ago it was over the Fourth of July in the Mexican Riviera during the Magic's first visit to California. We got a special menu, a balloon drop and a champagne toast in commerative glasses but now fireworks on the 4th!

Instead we got the fireworks on the 5th and when inquired as to why we got now big boom on the night of the 4th I was told about the restrictions.

Just my best guess... I am just glad they are going to Alaska at all

Take care all, help lots of people and have Wonderful day!

DCL already announced that there would be no fireworks on the Alaska cruises.

 

[Meskamooska]

Hi All,

Well as I said in my earlier post, it was just a guess regarding the itinerary and the possible Fireworks issue and if they have already said no fireworks (I hadn't heard or seen that anywhere myself, good to know but not a deal breaker...) then I must not have been off the mark on the environmental impact and the rules regarding proximity for their use. Good to know that while I might be insane I am not totally crazy...

Personally, my family chooses the Disney Cruise more for who they are and how they do things than we do for just the itinerary itself so inside, outside, upside, downside or any other side you could name, we are just happy to be on the ship enjoying such a special time with those that we love.

We tend to view the time onboard the ship as the experience we are paying for and the time available to go ashore as a bit of a bonus, kind of the sugar rose on the top of any already well frosted and beautiful cake.

Thank you to those who let me (and others like me who might not have know this either) about the lack of fireworks on our cruise. I must say that I am not too bummed about their cancellation for this sailing as I expect DCL to come up with something equally special and grand in its place.

Take care all, help lots of people and have a wonderful day!

 

[moomy-san]

Hi All,

Well as I said in my earlier post, it was just a guess regarding the itinerary and the possible Fireworks issue and if they have already said no fireworks (I hadn't heard or seen that anywhere myself, good to know but not a deal breaker...) then I must not have been off the mark on the environmental impact and the rules regarding proximity for their use. Good to know that while I might be insane I am not totally crazy...

Personally, my family chooses the Disney Cruise more for who they are and how they do things than we do for just the itinerary itself so inside, outside, upside, downside or any other side you could name, we are just happy to be on the ship enjoying such a special time with those that we love.

We tend to view the time onboard the ship as the experience we are paying for and the time available to go ashore as a bit of a bonus, kind of the sugar rose on the top of any already well frosted and beautiful cake.

Thank you to those who let me (and others like me who might not have know this either) about the lack of fireworks on our cruise. I must say that I am not too bummed about their cancellation for this sailing as I expect DCL to come up with something equally special and grand in its place.

Take care all, help lots of people and have a wonderful day!

I feel the exact same way. I haven't seen to DCL fireworks, so don't have any idea what I'm missing. And to be honest, we are from Northern Alberta so we already get our share of ice and snow. I'm sure glacier Bay is cool... but we have the Columbia Ice Fields just hours from my front door. We are taking this cruise because while the scenery will be beautiful and the excursions interesting.... we are most looking forward to just 'being' on a cruise ship. So inside passage or not... Glacier Bay or not... fireworks or not...we will be there with our Mickey ears on, ready for a good time!

 

[Momof3greatkids]

I think that we all choose a specific cruiseline and cruise for different reasons. One of the reasons may be based on the area of the country you live in. We live completely across the country from Alaska, but also enjoy the Disney product. We feel we pay a premium price for Disney, wether it is Adventures by Disney, visiting the parks, or taking a cruise. We expect to get a better experience for paying extra. Because we can't get to Alaska easily or cheaply, we where hoping for not only the Disney experience, but a great Alaska experience also. We did realize Disney Cruiseline did not do the interior of Alaska, you need to book Adventures by Disney to do that, and was missing Glacier Bay, which is beautiful! However, we had just assumed from what we had heard that Disney would at least choose the most scenic and smoothest route possible. So, while I think Disney will have a great product on board through entertainment, etc. I think there Alaska product will be lacking in several key areas. So, yes we love Disney, but are still disappointed Disney is not putting a better Alaska cruise together, especially for the price.