WWYD DCL Alaska or other? $5K price difference

[Ofinn]

I read another online review commenting on drinking and also from prior post (the Princess cruise had a casino and there was a lot more drinking it seems), which surprised me, given the CL. However, my post was really joking, as I certainly don't consider any Princess cruises booze cruises, but that doesn't always come across in print online, so I have edited my post, as I would not want someone to think that.
Our family loves DCL, but the pricing is significant. I posted to get other DCL-lovers viewpoints. Our heart is set on DCL, but our wallet is something we consider. I appreciate everyone who has posted. It gives balance to another post of "Was DCL worth it for Alaska?"

If it was me I would look at Royal or Carnival. Royal is probably the most popular cruiseline in the world, and a lot diser's like it. The Carnival Legend get's very good reviews, and has a great itinerary that goes to glacier bay, and there's a lot of DCL cruisers that like Carnival. The rooms on Carnival are comparable in size to DCL. We are cruising on the new Carnival Vista in the Med in 2 weeks a 10 day cruise. The money I saved over DCL's similar 12 day med cruise would pay for 3 off season Caribbean cruises on DCL. Yes if you think Alaska cruises are high check out the absurdity of their long European cruises. Although the Carnival Vista looks like a fantastic new ship I'm doing this cruise for the ports. If the service isn't as good as DCL... no big deal. Disney's not going anywhere I'll have the opportunity and the money to sail DCL again. Also, I would only expect DCL's 2018 prices to be higher.

 

[coloradocutie]

We have done HAL and DCL for Alaska, with little ones. We felt that DCL was worth the premium for us. HAL just didn't "get" families traveling with children (and we had done many HAL cruises prior... just not with children). Never again with HAL with a family. We, however, viewed the trip more of a Disney ship that was going to Alaska vs going to Alaska on a ship. Disney customer service is through the roof, and we really appreciate that on vacation. Princess and HAL never made it anywhere close to the Disney level of service. We made the ship a huge part of the vacation destination and we were thrilled. We will need to do it again when the little ones are bigger so we can do more excursions, though .

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).

If you don't mind me asking.... how did you do this? We would love to do DCL Norway and it seems like you got a huge bang for your buck. Do you mind sharing how you made that trip work out so nicely? TIA!

 

[ldo]

sure. We are budget travelers, but don't deprive ourselves. That trip took A LOT of research of everything, down to train schedules, museum times, etc. I booked opening day for cat 9 OV for 4. The 7 day Norway, Baltics, and Dover-BCN were all about the same price ($6500-6000 with OBB). We did DIY in all ports or via booking online. We did a 3 hr boat tour in Stavanger, DIY walk to viewpoint is Alesund, bus to Mt. D and kayaking in Geiranger, Hanseatic Museum and funicular (didn't go b/c of rain) in Bergen--all for under $500 for 4 of us.
The 1st 10 days of the trip/cruise were 4 of us. There were a few quad hotel rooms for less than getting 2 rooms. You have to book early b/c they go fast. For the rest of the trip, we stayed in triple rooms X2 for about $150 euros each when we had 6 persons. We either ate hotel breakfast if included, or bought continental from vendor/stores, if not.
We stayed 5 nights @ Marriott Vacation Club at Disneyland Paris in a 2Br villa for 320 euros/night. At the M, we cooked all meals, or packed picnic lunches. We have stayed there before, know the area, and enjoyed shopping at the french grocier and patisserie. We rented a car for 3 days to tour around the area. I got sale tickets on trains when I could online, where I could commit to a specific time and saved a lot of $. Where I needed flex, I paid dearly. For ex, our TGV from Paris to Strasbourg was only 14 euros each one way, but a 25 minute local train cost the same b/c I need to wait until that day to purchase.
We ate 1 restaurant meal at night for about 150 euros for 6 of us when staying at hotels, tap water, 1 wine, and 1 beer, 1 entree each, and no extra veggies, salads, and maybe 1 dessert, otherwise the bills would have been 50+ euros more. Later that night, we might walk to a crepery or have some chocoalate and cookies. We made sure to have plenty of fruit each day from the market. We also ate a few lunches and a dinner from the grocery store (bread,cheese, salami, salmon, fruits, raw veggies) and a few quick service meals to take on a train. Not glamour travel by any means, and not for everyone, but a lot of bang for our buck.

 

[wonderlandwego]

It sounds like the ship is more important than the excursions to you. From my calculations for our Alaska cruise, excursions average about $400 per person per port, stopping in 4 ports. If you can comfortably justify the overall cost of excursions and the higher priced cruise, as well as like the itinerary better than the others, then go for it!

 

[ldo]

we would likely do bus-DIY hike in Juneau to Mendenhall Glacier, Skagway-White train, Ketichikan DIY bus to totem poles. Maybe whale watching tour somewhere. We will have fished, kayaked, hiked, white water rafted in Canadian Rockies the week prior. We would not spend $ for helicopter, dog sled, etc. We do splurge when we feel it's worth it (private tour in St P Russia, DDay beach tour in Normandy). But, in general, we would rather travel more and spend less (thus our delimma with DCL pricing). I do appreciate everyone's opinion. I think we have mentally decided that we are comfortable in the $10K range for 2 cabins, but not the $12K range. It also depends on what other CL offer from V RT with a stop in Skagway.

 

[coloradocutie]

Thank you, Ido! It sounds like you had such a great trip...saw lots, ate well and got to have a wonderful vacation. I really appreciate your Norway rundown... we have spent the whole morning inspired and excited to head to Norway with your suggestions!

 

[ldo]

fell free to PM with with questions. Norway excursions were super easy to book online directly. We have been to Copenhagen 2X, so happy to give tips vis PM, as not related to my OP re. Alaska. Elaine