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Itinerary advice? August 2017 Alaska vs. Western Caribbean


Ravenclaw78
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My wife and I are considering taking our daughter (who will be 7 at the time of the cruise) on a Disney cruise in late August 2017, and we're having a devil of a time deciding between Alaska on the Wonder or Western Caribbean on the Fantasy. This will be our daughter's first cruise (and first visit to either destination) and our first on DCL, but we went on two cruises pre-kid (7-night Alaska Inside Passage round-trip from Vancouver on Holland America in 2004, on which I think we single-handedly lowered the average age of the cruise's passengers by 10 years :), and a 14-night Hawaii round trip from San Diego on Celebrity a few years later). Both ships were similar in size to the Wonder.

 

I've read that the Fantasy has the best kid's club of the Disney Fleet and a lot more to do on board than the Wonder, and that the Wonder is going in for a major refurb in September but nobody knows what that will entail. It seems likely that the Frozen Days at Sea will return on the Wonder for Summer 2017, which our princess-obsessed daughter would absolutely flip over, and she'd love the Star Wars days on the Fantasy too but they appear to only run from January through April. I'm a bit intimidated by the size of the Fantasy, to be honest, but I know that it's closer to the norm for "modern" cruise ships than the ships we sailed in a decade ago.

 

Having done all the same ports in Alaska already, we likely won't see anything new ourselves but would be seeing it freshly through our daughter's eyes, which is every bit as fun. None of us has been to the Western Caribbean (I visited Nassau as a kid but barely remember it and my wife hasn't been to that part of the world at all), and I think Cozumel's Mayan ruins would be really neat for the grown-ups but I'm not sure whether they would interest our daughter (could go either way - she had a grand time exploring 600 year old ruins of abbeys and castles in the British countryside a couple of years ago). The Caribbean itinerary has a stop at Castaway Cay (which everyone seems to rave about, to the point that I've so far been unable to find any negative criticism at all), but I know very little about what there is to do in the other ports. There's also the temperature - for reference, we tend to prefer cool climates and have found Disney World warm but comfortable in March but dreadfully hot in May.

 

We've been weighing all those pros and cons, and probably others I'm forgetting at the moment, and neither cruise is coming out as a clear winner. Does anyone have any advice or suggestions of other factors we should consider?

 

Thank you!

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Since you like cooler climates, I'd go with Alaska. From trip reports I've read, it will be hot and sweaty in the caribbean during that time. I do love Castaway Cay, though.

 

There is more to do on Fantasy, being that it is a larger ship, but the Wonder is very nice. Maybe you could look at activities for each port on each cruise and see overall what will appeal to you the most. I wouldn't choose based on the ship because both ships will be excellent.

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First, there is NOTHING wrong with the Wonder as she is. I do not agree that the Fantasy has the best Oceaneer's Club of the ships.

 

Given your choices, I'd do Alaska on the Wonder in a heartbeat. This is a "no brainer" to me. And yes, I've done both. Whale watching, seeing salmon swimming so thick that you couldn't see the water, drinking from a waterfall, seeing a bear walking alongside the road....easy choice. My daughter had made a list of wildlife she wanted to see and she got to see all but one of them. She has done almost all of the various DCL options, and Alaska is the one she keeps saying she'd like to do again....except that this summer we're doing Japan on Princess.

 

Our favorite ship in the DCL fleet is the Magic. We aren't thrilled with the newer ships. You are right that no one knows what changes will happen on the Wonder, but if someone were to offer me an Alaska cruise on the Wonder in 2016, I'd happily take it She'll still have all the Princesses, the main characters in their Alaskan costumes, the Frozen character meet and greet...and plenty to do with you guys. OK, she won't have miniature golf or Midship Detective agency. They are fun, but not a reason to cruise.

 

Another thought--this probably won't be her last cruise. You can do the Caribbean all year long. Alaska is summer only. It is MUCH easier to book the Caribbean on a school break or whatever.

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My wife and I are considering taking our daughter (who will be 7 at the time of the cruise) on a Disney cruise in late August 2017
Love Alaska.... late-August? Less so.... mid-August is when the rains statistically comes and getting seriously wet in September.

 

I would say Alaska before August... perhaps elsewhere August onwards as I like dry weather.

 

However, some like August for more wildlife opportunities.

 

BTW.... Alaskan mosquitos are Zika free. Are there mosquitos in the Carribean to feed?

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We did the last week of August in Alaska. I know, the stats say rain. We had a little sprinkle one day. Otherwise beautiful weather, and that day was only rainy for a short time. Alaska has the warmest weather and you'll get the farthest into the views.

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Having also done both, I also agree with the general sentiment of leaning toward Alaska. I was first going to say, they are two very different types of vacations, so it's hard to compare. But nothing will make a child's eyes open with wonder (pun intended) than a flight tour over a glacier or seeing a whale's tail jump out of the water. wildlife varies depending on what part of the summer you go With salmon spawning in late summer, the bear sightings are better. As far as weather goes, we've found that while you can use the statistics as a guide, the weather varies so much you never know what you'er going to get. We went early June when it should have been cooler, but hit fantastic weather the whole cruise. The only rainy day we encountered was in Ketchikan.

 

Moki is right, this won't be your last cruise and you can always do a Caribbean cruise later And yes, you MUST experience Castaway Cay some day. There's a reason you never read negative reviews about it.

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I love the newest biggest ships out there and recently was on the "largest ship in the world" in April but I'm even leaning towards Alaska on Wonder for you. I hate the Summer heat and won't go near Florida if I don't have to for family(all there) so climate wise I would go for alas and you can always do Carribean over her spring break one year (we have a 7 night eastern Carribean fantasy planned for my will be 9 yr old this coming April)

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Thanks, everyone! The advice has been incredibly helpful to us! As far as the climate goes, if we're having fun on a vacation someplace like Florida then we're happy to throw on some extra sunscreen, drink lots of water, and ignore the sweat. If we're not having a good time, though, intense heat and humidity just makes the experience so much worse.

 

That said, from the accounts here and our own fond memories of whale watching and a hiking excursion in Denali (and while we found the White Pass Railroad in Skagway somewhat boring, the kiddo *loves* trains and she will be over the moon to get to ride it), you've convinced us that Alaska is the way to go for this trip. If our daughter loves cruising as much as we have, we just might take advantage of the onboard booking special to line up a future Caribbean cruise in the Spring when the Star Wars days will be going. ;)

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Thanks, everyone! The advice has been incredibly helpful to us! As far as the climate goes, if we're having fun on a vacation someplace like Florida then we're happy to throw on some extra sunscreen, drink lots of water, and ignore the sweat. If we're not having a good time, though, intense heat and humidity just makes the experience so much worse.

 

That said, from the accounts here and our own fond memories of whale watching and a hiking excursion in Denali (and while we found the White Pass Railroad in Skagway somewhat boring, the kiddo *loves* trains and she will be over the moon to get to ride it), you've convinced us that Alaska is the way to go for this trip. If our daughter loves cruising as much as we have, we just might take advantage of the onboard booking special to line up a future Caribbean cruise in the Spring when the Star Wars days will be going. ;)

 

We loved the Whitepass railroad. But as they say, different strokes.

 

If I can put in a suggestion for a great excursion in Juneau (and if DCL has it. We did Alaska on Princess), we did a flight tour to Taku Lodge with a Salmon bake that was out of this world, both for the views and the food. I strongly recommend it.

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I'll chime in with my opinion also. We sailed to Alaska on the Wonder in August of 15 and did a western in the fantasy in February of 16. My daughter was 9/10. We had a great time on the Caribbean cruise- especially the excursions. But if I had to pick I would choose Alaska.

 

Make sure you can schedule some time in Vancouver - it's an amazing place and I wish we would have had more than 2 days there.

 

My other advice is to research non DCL excursions. We booked on our own and did ziplining and dogsledding in Skagway, whale watching in Juneau and a helicopter tour in Ketchikan. One word of warning - the excursions in Alaska are WAY more expensive than most in the Carribbean if you want to go the Alaska unique experiences. But we loved it and would go back in a heartbeat.

 

Have a great time!

Edited by SDJen
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The train in Skagway might be too boring for a kid. Try the Eagle Preserve float trip (most cruise trips offer it). You take the high speed transfer boat to Haines and a bus to the put-in point. Eagles and maybe bear on a gentle float down the river. Then a decent picnic by the river before transferring back to the ship. This is the operator:

 

http://chilkatguides.com/adventures/chilkat-bald-eagle-preserve-float/

 

On our trip the guide was local author Tom Lang who writes young-adult books. We liked the one he passed around so much we bought the autographed set. For example, "Moose" is a detective who happens to be a moose. http://boudelang.com/

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Good decision on choosing Alaska. If there's anything more miserable than Florida in August - surely it's the Caribbean then!

 

Since you are already familiar with Cruise Critic, take a look at the Alaska forum: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=55. The Trip Advisor Alaska Forum is also very helpful: https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowForum-g28923-i349-Alaska.html

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