'Wonder'ing to Alaska 9-night Cruise 7/24/17

[LocustPoint]

I'll be on the cruise along with my mom and hopefully her best friend. This will be my third time to Alaska and second on DCL.

 

[sapbari]

Hi Everyone, we are on this cruise and very excited. My dad, myself and my DD who will be 10 on the sailing. Is anyone thinking of doing a land portion before or after the cruise?

 

[feenie]

DH and I booked this cruise opening day! We decided to go for an inside stateroom, so we didn't have to sell the house to go
We have done 12 Disney Cruises, and love the 9 nights! We did the Panama Canal last year and LOVED it. Our table mates had done an Alaska cruise the year before, and sold us on it.
I have been reading everything I can about the port of call.
Is everyone flying into Vancouver or Seattle?

 

[LocustPoint]

Is everyone flying into Vancouver or Seattle?

Since I'm flying with my elderly mom and her friend odds are we will fly into Vancouver but I haven't ruled out Seattle as a way to keep costs lower

 

[xlxo]

Seattle to Vancouver shuttle is $50... but you need to budget an extra 5 hours to travel between SeaTac and the cruise terminal. http://www.quickcoach.com/schedule.htm

 

[Adreyer]

DH and I booked this cruise opening day! We decided to go for an inside stateroom, so we didn't have to sell the house to go
We have done 12 Disney Cruises, and love the 9 nights! We did the Panama Canal last year and LOVED it. Our table mates had done an Alaska cruise the year before, and sold us on it.
I have been reading everything I can about the port of call.
Is everyone flying into Vancouver or Seattle?

I think we're driving in from Detroit.

 

[lilmissfoodie]

Hi Everyone, we are on this cruise and very excited. My dad, myself and my DD who will be 10 on the sailing. Is anyone thinking of doing a land portion before or after the cruise?

We're definitely coming in for a few days in Vancouver but not through DCL. One reason is to insure we're in town (not having to worry about flight delays and cancellations) and also because we love that town. Also will likely make the trek to Butchart gardens.

 

[xlxo]

Check this link for spelling...
http://www.butchartgardens.com/

Butchart is a day trip.

 

[ImTooExcitedToSleep]

I'll be there with my wife and daughter (I'm guessing that's DIS board for dw and dd???) who will be 12 by then. Good to hear Tom will be there; would be excited to meet him (but maybe I'll meet him on my ABD SoCal backstage magic trip ). My daughter's first trip to Alaska (wife and I have been there before) but first time to Hubbard (which is the reason I chose this cruise). Anybody know if starboard or port is the better side for Alaska trips?

Remind me when the ABD is closer. I'll try to crash the party.

 

[feenie]

Seattle to Vancouver shuttle is $50... but you need to budget an extra 5 hours to travel between SeaTac and the cruise terminal. http://www.quickcoach.com/schedule.htm

I saw that. The price is good, but the drive is LONG! We will have to weigh the options when it gets a little closer. We are flying from New England, so adding an additional 5 hours each way is not that appealing.
We do plan on arriving a day or two early, but still!

 

[disneyfaninaz]

We had a Saturday departure for our cruse in 2014. We had to leave from the Ballintyne terminal. We are looking forward to leaving from Canada Place this time. We arrived in Vancouver the Thursday afternoon before our cruise, literally the day after DD got out of school. We spent Friday in Stanley Park and the Aquarium.

I don't think it really matters which side of the ship you are on in Alaska. There is something to see on both sides, if you don't see it going up, you will see it coming back. We were on the starboard side of the ship in 2014.

Skagway - non dock side
Juneau - dock side
Ketchikan - non dock side

We are on the port side next year.

 

[Adreyer]

Those who have taken the train from Seattle... Do you go the day before, or does the morning Amtrak get you there in time?

 

[lilmissfoodie]

Do people normally use cruise air and/or hotel? Thoughts/past experiences? In the past, I've always arranged my own air and hotel in order to receive frequent flyer benefits but was wondering if this option saves money due to the high cost of this cruise. Or maybe book via Dreams Unlimited?

 

[ImTooExcitedToSleep]

Those who have taken the train from Seattle... Do you go the day before, or does the morning Amtrak get you there in time?

We were looking at Amtrak and the timing for us wouldn't work. Gets us in at 12:15am for some reason. We'd probably have to spend the night in Seattle or something. Plus it would take 27-30 hours.

 

[delsdad]

Booked ! Myself, DW and DD(14). This will be our first cruise to Alaska, but #8 on DCL.

 

[xlxo]

I saw that. The price is good, but the drive is LONG! We will have to weigh the options when it gets a little closer. We are flying from New England, so adding an additional 5 hours each way is not that appealing.
We do plan on arriving a day or two early, but still!

fyi.... the train and other buses are longer as you need to get downtown. The others also require additional cost of airport to downtown transfer.

 

[feenie]

fyi.... the train and other buses are longer as you need to get downtown. The others also require additional cost of airport to downtown transfer.

Vancouver is sounding more and more appealing. If we fly out of Boston, (at least based on this years prices) the cost is about the same as Manchester to Seattle. Time will tell!

 

[ImTooExcitedToSleep]

A week in and we're already making changes to our reservation.

Booked a Standard Inside Stateroom initially. We really don't spend that much time in our cabin.

Prices have settled down after the first day hit and a Deluxe Stateroom is only $180 more total. $20 a day for split bath? Yes please.

We're also think of adding on the 7-day cruise before. Has anyone done a B2B in Alaska?

 

[Adreyer]

A week in and we're already making changes to our reservation.

Booked a Standard Inside Stateroom initially. We really don't spend that much time in our cabin.

Prices have settled down after the first day hit and a Deluxe Stateroom is only $180 more total. $20 a day for split bath? Yes please.

We're also think of adding on the 7-day cruise before. Has anyone done a B2B in Alaska?

I was thinking of adding the 5-day, but DH wouldn't go for it.

 

[zmom]

A back to back would be amazing!