WWYD - Norway on another line or Alaska on Disney?

[chamberlain]

On our Norway cruise the weather was chilly or rainy for the outdoor pool. May be something to keep in mind that not every day would be good for water activities. The indoor pool was very popular. But that was our experience in late July/early August.

 

[o&smom]

That is a tough one! Is DS excited about a Norway cruise? The reason I ask this is because you only have a short time to enjoy cruising with him. We just did an 8 night Alaska in September with DD who is 15. The last time she went on an Alaska cruise she was 15 months old, so she did not remember it. I think we enjoyed the second one even more than the first, even though the weather was worse and a huge storm cancelled our glacier viewing day. We have only cruised on Disney, so I cannot comment on other options. We have done Norway with Iceland, which is an amazing cruise. Maybe have him watch some videos of the other cruise lines to help him get excited. The only reason I say this is because you mentioned he was excited to go on the Magic because she was smaller than so many and he had liked the Wonder. I don’t think you can go wrong with any of them. Europe is always so port intensive with long days off of the ship, so ship might not be so important. Have a wonderful cruise making memories with your son! P.S. the Magic is our favorite!

 

[MrMagoo]

If you really want a feel for the Norwegian Fjords, do the Celebrity that goes to Geiranger.
We were on the last Disney cruise that went there and if Disney ever does it again, we will go back!
I can't convince my family to try another line that goes there otherwise we would!
It is a beautiful port and the scenery sailing in and out is just unbelievable!
That fjord alone was worth the whole trip!
It is what you really envision when you think of the Fjords.

Geiranger port and sailing out:



Since you have already done Alaska, I would do the Fjords on Celebrity.
Stavanger is nice but it is basically a coastal sea port.
The main thing it has to see would be Pulpit Rock.
If you have watched the Mission : Impossible movies, that is where they shot the helicopter scenes going over the cliff
in Mission : Impossible, Fallout.

 

[abdgeek]

I'm trying plan a cruise for summer 2026 and am torn between a Norwegian Fjords cruise (RCL or Celebrity) or taking the Disney Magic to Alaska.

For context, it is me and DH (both in 50s) and our 14 year old DS (who likes gaming, sports). We've only sailed on Disney (Alaska on the Wonder, Caribbean on Fantasy and Treasure).

We loved our Alaska cruise and have been wanting to do a Norway cruise since then or even another Alaska trip. Options I'm considering (all 7 nights):

• Disney Dream (late July - Rotterdam, Maloy, Alesund, Bergen) - This is very pricey so likely not possible. The itinerary also doesn't seem the greatest (no deep fjords?). We could only do an inside cabin if this goes on sale by at least 25-30% (not sure how likely this is since there are only a few 2026 Norway sailings?) Bonus: never been on the Dream
• RCL Liberty of the Seas (mid-July - Bruges, Haugesund, Olden, Stavanger) - Did a temporary reservation on a balcony room for $5800 (much cheaper than the Dream) but haven't read the best things about Royal. DS would love the activities but worried we'd be disappointed in the level of service and food. Thoughts?
• Celebrity Apex (late June - Bruges, Nordfjordeid, Geiranger, Bergen) - Apex seems to have better itineraries than RCL and I think DH and I would love the ship. But I'm worried DS would be bored. I know they have a teen club and some activities though. Cost is slightly less than RCL.
• Disney Magic (mid-June - Skagway, Icy Strait, Ketchikan) This feels very similar to the cruise we did 3 years ago, although Icy Strait would be new. Biggest draw would be the Magic, which we haven't sailed. My son has been wanting to back to something similar to the Wonder after sailing two of the bigger ships. There is also a 25% off placeholder deal we could use and cost for an ocean view would be a few thousand less than what we paid in 2023 (but balcony still out of our budget). Cost of airfare would be significantly less.

Would love thoughts from anyone who has sailed to these areas or on these other ships.

Thanks!

It seems to me that you’ve already made your decision, but are wondering if you will like RCL. Unfortunately, you won’t know until you try. The first cruise I ever took was on RCL and I judged every cruise line against them until I did DCL. IMO, DCL customer service is superior to other lines I’ve cruised(RCL, NCL, Cranival). That being said, I’m DVC and use my points when I cruise. If I had to pay OOP for DCL, I would really have to think twice. I travel solo and am starting to look at other cruise lines that focus on adults only and have solo cabins so that I don’t have to pay for double occupancy when it’s just me.

As OP have said, every cruise line has its demographic. Celebrity definitely has an older demographic(think 70+—just my opinion —my stepmother has always preferred them and she’s in her 80’s). You will be on the younger side, but there may not be a lot of teenagers on board. Same for the older RCL ships. The newer RCL ships seem to have a younger demographic. If your teenager is able to amuse themselves regardless of where they are, they shouldn’t have a problem.

I did the DCL Norway cruise years ago when the ship left from Copenhagen and returned to Dover. We stopped in Scotland, Iceland, Bergen, Stavanger, Oslo, and one other port, maybe Ireland. It was a great cruise, but DCL has changed the itinerary a number of times and, IMO no longer visits ports of note for this itinerary. Maybe they don’t want to visit the same places the ABD goes.

Cruising RCL will be different from cruising DCL. RCL does not include a deck where soda, coffee/tea can be gotten for free. Only tea, coffee, and select lemonade drinks can be found at the buffet. If you want soda, you buy a soda package and use the Coca Cola freestyle machines in various places on the ships. Any drink ordered at dinner above coffee/tea/filtered water provided on table will incur a charge. RCL nightly entertainment is good, but is different than DCLs. There’s a lot to do on a RCL ship(rock climbing wall, flow rider, water slides, arcade, ice skating, etc.), it just depends on whether your teenager is in to that and whether you want to pay any extra fees associated with certain activities. Good luck with your decision.

 

[DCLMP]

I appreciate your comparison of the two. Alaska is appealing as the flights would be so much more convenient and affordable (3 hour direct flight probably less than $300 each). I wish Disney offered more varied itineraries though as the Magic is doing almost the exact same itinerary as the one we did in 2023.

I wasn't even considering Alaska again until Disney offered the 25% placeholder deal. We also really want to sail on the Magic and the Alaska itineraries are the only ones that really interest us that fit our schedules. So torn!

It sounds like itinerary is not a priority. In that I case I probably wouldn't fly to Europe. It sounds like your more interested in a Disney cruise than actually seeing Norway. The fact that you just went to Alaska and want to do it again just to sail on the Magic leads me to believe that. There's nothing wrong with that you don't need to try to justify it if that's where your heart is.

When I look at Europe cruises my priorities are itinerary, cost, ship and lastly cruise line. When I cruised on DCL in Europe we got some pretty good discounts otherwise I would have picked a different cruise line.

 

[nephykupo]

I looked at Holland America and NCL early on but many of the options included Iceland (not that I'm opposed to Iceland) and were longer than 7 nights.

But I did just check again and saw that Holland America has a 7 night out of Rotterdam on the Rotterdam: Alesund, Olden, Nordjord (cruising), Odda, Hardangerfjord (cruising), Bergen.

Total price is the cheapest of all the options $4900.

Sounds like good ports to stop at. The one I booked is out of Amsterdam.