WWYD DCL Alaska or other? $5K price difference

[ldo]

First, I know we are very fortunate to be able to go on such travels, and I feel somewhat guilty even posting, but here is my 1st world WWYD. We are a family of 5 planning 2 weeks for Canada/Alaska cruise for 2018, so scoping out pricing for 2017. We need to travel in July, so no May/mid Aug. to lower price options. DCL 2 insides or lowest category OV for 3 and 2 in each cabin is $12K for DCL next July for a 7 day. Other CL are about $7.5K. DCL Balcony for 5 is also $12K. We would never pay much extra for balcony, so that really doesn't matter, but that is the only option for 5 in one room.
WE LOVE DCL, love the food, movies, atmosphere, entertainment, etc. But, I am having a hard time spending $12K. We went to Europe this summer for 3 weeks with 6 persons, including 4 of us on a DCL cruise to Norway for under $15K (not including airfare--free with FF tickets).
We are planning to go to the Canadian Rockies for a week prior and stay in a condo, so that part of the trip is relatively low cost.
For Disney loving families, but with a budget in mind, would you splurge and go with DCL, which we know will be awesome, or save $5K and go with another CL, which we know will be "perfectly fine," as we have been on their cruises, and enjoyed them, but it is not the same. The family is not all excited saying, "we're going on a Princess, Celebrity, etc. cruise--yippee," like we do with a Disney cruise.
We will not take $$$ excursions, except for Skagway train. We will have hiked, kayaked, white water rafted in the Rockies the week prior (where we have been before and loved).
We tend to do a big trip EOY, so this is not a once in a lifetime trip for us, but our kids in in college/HS, so will be leaving the nest after a few more years.
From prior posts talking about DCL in Alaska, we lean more towards DCL with a side of Alaska vs. the focus being Alaska, but maybe not for $5K extra. WWYD?

 

[Dug720]

If you are truly more "DCL with a side of Alaska" I think you've answered your question.

I've done Alaska twice - once on Holland America (never again on that line unless someone pays for my trip in total) and once on RCCL (fine...but most of my time was spent off the ship). I do want to do it again on DCL for the DISNEY experience of it since I can be a little more chill in ports.

 

[jahber]

For that much money? No. No way. We just sailed our first royal cruise and it was fantastic! There is no way on earth I'd pay a Disney premium of that amount. But when we did Alaska on DCL 3 years ago, we paid $2500 for the four of us in an inside. And last week we paid $3000 for six of us on a Caribbean cruise On the freedom of the seas. So my tolerance for ridiculous DCL prices is low at the moment.
If you want to do Alaska right, choose a great itinerary, and I'd recommend princess. They are considered to be one of the best by people who love sailing Alaska.

 

[Drusilla99]

We did the dcl Alaskan cruise this past July because, for us, we prefer dcl to other cruise lines. Yes it's more money, but in the end, you and your family are going to have to decide if you can swing it, if money wasn't an option what would you choose? We followed our cruise with a few days at Lake Louise, so the whole trip took four weeks. It was a great trip!

 

[ldo]

if they were the same $, we would choose DCL 100% of the time over other lines. If 20% surcharge, still likely DCL. 60% surcharge--that's the question.... We can "afford" it, but with taking a big trip EOY, at some point, there's a limit, and I am wondering if this is it. We did the Magic in Norway this summer b/c we only had 4 and the $ was not that much more than other CL. Usually, we really couldn't justify DCL for Europe, when we had 5 persons, as we were in port so much. We had excellent cruises, and we were so tired and hot at the end of the day, entertainment, etc. didn't matter much. But, we noticed that we REALLY liked going back to DCL after a 1/2 day port visit in Norway, but maybe not $5K more.

 

[jahber]

The problem with Alaska is that the other cruise lines just have better itineraries. So you're not exactly comparing apples to apples unless you are specifically looking only at Tracy arm cruises. It's not like you're visiting the standard Caribbean or Med ports, no matter which ship you are on. DCL just doesn't go to glacier bay, which I've heard is simply amazing. The ONLY reason we did DCL for Alaska was because it was so cheap. We would not ever pay $5000 more for DCL. And definitely not for an inferior itinerary.
For Alaska I would start with itinerary unless you really and truly only sail DCL ever. Then it's a no-brainer. If you cruise for the Disney experience, then DCL is the way to go.

 

[PrincessTrisha]

Nope - I would do Alaska on another cruise line and then put that $5000 towards a DCL cruise in the Caribbean or Bahamas where your focus is more on the clubs, entertainment and onboard activities.

 

[wonderlandwego]

The problem with Alaska is that the other cruise lines just have better itineraries. So you're not exactly comparing apples to apples unless you are specifically looking only at Tracy arm cruises. It's not like you're visiting the standard Caribbean or Med ports, no matter which ship you are on. DCL just doesn't go to glacier bay, which I've heard is simply amazing. The ONLY reason we did DCL for Alaska was because it was so cheap. We would not ever pay $5000 more for DCL. And definitely not for an inferior itinerary.
For Alaska I would start with itinerary unless you really and truly only sail DCL ever. Then it's a no-brainer. If you cruise for the Disney experience, then DCL is the way to go.

I was looking at DCL for Alaska and agree about the itinerary. Glacier Bay was a must do for us! I think the price difference between the 2 lines was about $1500 total for a midship balcony. Less of a difference if I would have chosen an aft balcony, but they were unfortunately sold out by the time I booked.

 

[Quellman]

We aren't paying those prices for the mouse in Alaska, and we didn't when we sailed Alaska. Every other ship line has on board environmental lectures, nighttime shows, and trivia contests, etc. You go to Alaska for the adventure and the views. If I can get a better room for $5,000 less somewhere else, I would do it, same reason I am not sailing the Mouse in Europe. Port intensive trips mean I use the ship more as a hotel than an all inclusive resort. $5k is a lot of helicopter and dog sled rides. But that is just me. It also sounds like your kids are a bit older too, so those would be great memories outside of, we hung out in the vibe/edge and watched Frozen on broadway. Just my $0.02 since you were asking about it.

 

[bobbiwoz]

We have decided on Princess for our 50th anniversary trip to Alaska in 2018. We want a fabulous pre cruise land experience and Princess has magnificent lodges up there!

We have been to Alaska in 1995 and have been to smaller ports like Sitka, which was amazing. We regret not having done a more extensive trip then. It was an 11 night inside passage cruise on RCCL.

So, I would not pay that much more for the DCL experience in Alaska.

 

[MinnesotaMouseketeers]

My wife and I swapped out a DCL Alaska cruise for a WDW/DCL vacation later this year. We originally were going to sail DCL Alaska late August but went over the Fourth of July with two other couples that balked at the cost of DCL. This is even when they were first published for the 2016 sailings, it only goes up in price from there.

We did the Celebrity Millennium: Seward to Vancouver and we all loved it. The Millennium is not as beautiful as the Disney Wonder but everything else compares. The staff was just as great, the food wasn't any better or worse, we did love the fact that it was one way vs. the round trip cruise (DCL only option) and the outside entertainment was fun but we did miss (a lot) the DCL Disney themed shows in the theater. Celebrity has its own entertainment troop but it didn't have the wow factor that DCL's shows have. I personally would save the money by sailing on another cruise line. Spend the money you save on extras while on the cruise or for a future DCL cruise. I did post four or five reviews on this site about our Celebrity cruise that you may be able to search for.

 

[mevelandry]

No way. Those prices are insane. Pick the next best cruise line and book a WDW trip or two with the money you saved by not picking DCL for Alaska.

 

[cruisehopeful]

I couldn't imagine paying $5K more for an Alaskan cruise unless it was all inclusive like Regent. I'd go with the best itinerary and then look at price. As the others have said, DCL pretty much just goes to the same 3 ports that pretty much every ship goes to. There are a couple sailings that have something different, but those are few and far between. See if you can find a more exciting itinerary. If not, I'd save the $5K for excursions or use it towards my next big vacation.

 

[ldo]

I booked my parents on the Celeb M one way in 2011 and they loved it also. Only Celeb, DCL and HA do Vancouver RT, which is what we want, as we are in Canada the week prior. So, it would likely be Celeb. I looked into adding a few days in Alaska on a one way, but the flights and extra hotels, etc. added up to about the same as doing DCL, plus, then that's extra time and we really don't want to turn it into a 3 week trip.
I guess it comes down to whether 7 afternoons and nights of entertainment for 5 persons is worth it. OK, a few night will be decent on another CL. So, 5 nights of better DCL shows/movies, atmosphere. Seems silly to spend that extra in Alaska, as we wouldn't spend it in Europe.

 

[tvguy]

That would be too much of a price difference for me to swallow.
We have done 2 Alaska cruises, both on HAL, and HAL is awesome.

 

[ShelleyTaylor]

We are cruising DCL this June to Alaskan. I orignally could't rationalize spending the extra money on DCL so we booked RCCL. I read so many things online and just decided RCCL wasn't the cruise for us with 10/11 year old kiddos. We cancelled and are now booked DCL, I can not wait.

My reasons are a few, the main two being that my kids love DCL night shows, and we would all miss doing that as a family. Second, one of the reviews I saw a mom posted she was so glad she brought board games, as the played them daily. I LOVE my kids, and we do play board games, but that really isn't what I want to be doing on a cruise LOL With DCL i know my kids will have a vacation of a lifetime!

 

[ldo]

My reasons are a few, the main two being that my kids love DCL night shows, and we would all miss doing that as a family. Second, one of the reviews I saw a mom posted she was so glad she brought board games, as the played them daily.
That was me--lol! On RCCL last spring break! We still had a good time on RCCL.

 

[Ofinn]

5k is another cruise. I would never spend 12k on a 7 night cruise. I don't know your financial situation or how much money you put aside for vacations every every year, but I wouldn't do it. I've never been on a DCL cruise that I thought was worth that kind of money. Not even our 12 night Iceland cruise.

 

[FigmentSpark]

I think you want to take DCL. You're willing to do another line, but you wouldn't be asking this question if you didn't really want DCL. If you can afford it and it goes the the ports you want, do it. If you're making sacrifices to make up that $5000, then maybe look more seriously into other lines. It does sound like you're going for the cruise more than the ports, so maybe that's a strong plus for DCL, which you love.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

That would be too much of a price difference for me to swallow.
We have done 2 Alaska cruises, both on HAL, and HAL is awesome.

Agreed. We've done Alaska twice on HAL. One 7 night round trip from Vancouver, and one cruise/land tour (14 night on land, including Yukon, and 7 night Seward to Vancouver cruise).