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Disney Cruise in Alaska


emjayel56
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Good Morning Everyone...

I live in Florida and have taken several Disney Cruises with my daughter and 6 year old granddaughter from Florida through the Caribbean. Needless to say, we absolutely love DCL and have the best family memories from these vacations. One of my favorite destinations is Alaska and I would like to try a Disney cruise thru Alaska. For those that have cruised DCL to Alaska with young children can you tell me if it was a suitable destination for the children. I am not sure what would be of interest to my 6 year old in Alaska. I would not want to leave her on the ship while we do excursions and would be curious in learning about your similar experience. Thank you.

Maryjo

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Well, Alaska is all about scenery and wildlife. There are excursions for whale watching, dog sledding/meeting puppies. At Mendenhall glacier we saw a mother bear with two cubs, salmon swimming, eagles. etc. Disney offers a few excursions specially geared toward children (an adult must be with them). The activities in the kid programming will be somewhat altered to focus on things special to Alaska, and the characters will be dressed for the environment.

 

The real question is not whether Alaska is suitable for children--it is. The question is whether DCL is worth the extra cost above other cruise lines...as in, do they add enough to this already incredible place to make it worth the price? That's something only you can answer. Disney can't go to Glacier Bay (they don't have the license). The excursions are the same regardless of cruise line, and all mid level lines have kid programming. Princess does programs with the National Park Service rangers just for kids and does something they call "Puppies in the Plaza" where they bring sled dog pups onto the ship. Disney does excursions that include performances by characters.

 

So, a big "YES" to Alaska. Next step, explore the "what" and "why" of other lines. I don't want to be ugly, but we are doing 2 weeks (b2b) on Princess in a full suite for less than a single week on DCL in a balcony cabin. Princess cabins are small--you need at least a mini-suite to have the same space as a standard DCL cabin. A balcony on DCL is bigger and better than a balcony on Princess. But a mini-suite or a full suite is at least as big as a DCL cabin. Alaska is not a place where you want to skimp on excursions--you want to do what sounds like fun. I chose to go with a less costly line and go high on the excursions. I love DCL and I really do feel they are a great line for families with kids. But given the limits of their cruising and their outrageous costs, we decided to spend the money on "Alaska" rather than on "Disney."

Edited by moki'smommy
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We love DCL, but I have been in the naysayers column for DCL to Alaska mostly due to price they charge for Alaska. We've cruised Alaska many times and never felt it was about the ship as much as the itinerary. That said, we decided to give DCL to Alaska a try in 2019. We loved the 9 night itinerary on the Wonder with Hubbard and Sitka enough to swallow the exorbitant cost. I don't love Disney's standard 7 night itinerary as it is the same routine Alaska route that lots of other ships due w/ Tracy Arm.

 

We also looked at several NB/SB back to back options, as well as the 14 day HAL round trip from Seattle. Any of these we could have done for less than the DCL 9 night, but 14 days was longer than we wanted to spend in Alaska, and none of those ships offered the DCL onboard environment that we love. Also, Disney has by far the best cabin setup for 4 people and I didn't want to spend 14 days on a ship with an awful cabin arrangement. On HAL for example the 4th berth folds down from the ceiling right over the queen bed. We've done that for 7 nights, but no thanks for 14. Princess has a decent quad setup, but only if you get a mini-suite and even then the sofa bed folds out and blocks the balcony door (at least on ships we have been on) and they don't have split bathrooms. We also need connecting cabins which Princess doesn't offer.

 

We also love the size of the Wonder. A lot of the lines have gone to huge ships for Alaska (Bliss, Ovation, Royal Princess, Eclipse, etc.) which we don't care for. Wonder also still has a walk around promenade which we love and is getting harder to find on newer ships.

 

Seems strange to say, but DCL is more traditional cruising and less gimmicky than a lot of the lines have gone. They have the right amount of kids features without filling the ship with go cart tracks, bumper cars, and other things we aren't necessarily looking for on an Alaska cruise. Although, the North Star on Ovation would be pretty cool for Alaska!

 

Anyway, we factored in a lot of stuff and decided for us DCL was going to be worth the extra cost for this particular Alaska trip.

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c-cruise, I don't want to fight with you, but you paint with too broad a brush. We are on the Golden Princess to Alaska, a 2600 passenger ship built in 2001 which is pretty comparable to the Wonder Using the same source, the Wonder lists at 2700 built in 1999. In addition, the Golden has a covered pool, which is really nice for Alaska. and a fully surrounding promenade. We have also cruised the Celebrity Infinity to Alaska...built in the same shipyard as the Magic and Wonder in 2001, holding 2150 passengers. These are not the huge monster ships (which I don't like either). Princess has 8 ships doing Alaska so people can choose what they want. I'd have to check, but I don't think any of them are the size of the Fantasy or Dream.

 

I'm not sure where you got the idea that Princess ships do not have connecting staterooms--they do. And, as with the Disney ships, more have been added at their recent dry docks as these become increasingly popular.

 

I do agree that the split bath is a feature that I haven't seen on any other line and is helpful for a party of 4 sharing a single stateroom. But we require a HA cabin, so we lose the split bath on any line. We love the entertainment on the classic Disney ships. (I could just as easily say that I dislike the shows on "Disney" and mean those on the Fantasy...which I do see as glorified commercials!) And there is no question that they are the best looking ships at sea. But DCL really doesn't have any "around the ship" entertainment the way some other lines do other than character meet and greets. On other lines we've enjoyed a violin duet, an a capella vocal quartet, etc. doing multiple performances throughout the cruise. They got rid of their library many years ago, and didn't even bother to put a single bookcase on the Fantasy (at least the Magic still has that!)

 

Bottom line--you need to look at both the cruise line and the individual ship on all lines, including DCL. And don't assume that because you've been on one ship, you know what the line is like. We've been on the Disney behemoths. My feeling is "been there, done that, would need a really good reason to do it again." On the other hand, I'd happily book on the Magic or Wonder if I could get the same sort of cruise that I have currently booked elsewhere. But I'm not willing to pay three to four times the price.

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We dialed to Alaska last summer with a 4 and a 6 year old. Only bad part was dealing with the time change coming from the east coast. The kids, especially the six year old, had an awesome time. Many excursions required a minimum age of five, so as long as six is your youngest, you should be fine. Cost is pricey. No getting around that. But age a six year old can definitely get a lot from that trip. We did four excursions total and brought the kids in all of them. Happy to answer any specific questions. My kids also preferred the Wonder kids club to the fantasy (which we’ve sailed three times) in case you’re wondering. Less crowded and chaotic.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

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we just booked a DCL Alaska cruise for next August... with our will-be 8 and 5 year olds. This will be our first time to Alaska, but 4th DCL cruise. So while i'm a little nervous that they might be "bored" with alaska or not quite appreciate that nature of it enough.... I know they love DCL cruises, so I know they'll have a great time regardless. Which is a big reason we're "paying the piper" for DCL and not another line this time. With this big trip, we wanted to go in knowing what to expect and knowing what we're going to get. I agree their prices are crazy, especially for Alaska. but for us, again, the peace of mind of knowing what we're going to get for a big trip like this was worth it. Its hubby and I's 40th birthdays next year, so its a splurge anyway :-) We don't have anyone that can watch the kids for a kid free trip, so we figured if we're taking them with us, this would be something that would enjoy, too.

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My general view on traveling with kids is that any destination is kid friendly if you pick activities that the kids you are traveling with will enjoy. We took my son on DCL to Alaska just before he turned 2 and it was one of our favorite family vacations. My son liked the Disney aspects on the ship and also enjoyed seeing wildlife.

 

What does your granddaughter enjoy doing? Alaska would be a great choice for a kid who loves animals. Lots of chances to see bears, eagles, go dog sledding, etc. Kids who are into active adventure things will also find things to do. When I went as a kid, my family did river rafting and canoeing, for example.

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My general view on traveling with kids is that any destination is kid friendly if you pick activities that the kids you are traveling with will enjoy. We took my son on DCL to Alaska just before he turned 2 and it was one of our favorite family vacations. My son liked the Disney aspects on the ship and also enjoyed seeing wildlife.

 

What does your granddaughter enjoy doing? Alaska would be a great choice for a kid who loves animals. Lots of chances to see bears, eagles, go dog sledding, etc. Kids who are into active adventure things will also find things to do. When I went as a kid, my family did river rafting and canoeing, for example.

Thank you... she really loves all animals.

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we just booked a DCL Alaska cruise for next August... with our will-be 8 and 5 year olds. This will be our first time to Alaska, but 4th DCL cruise. So while i'm a little nervous that they might be "bored" with alaska or not quite appreciate that nature of it enough.... I know they love DCL cruises, so I know they'll have a great time regardless. Which is a big reason we're "paying the piper" for DCL and not another line this time. With this big trip, we wanted to go in knowing what to expect and knowing what we're going to get. I agree their prices are crazy, especially for Alaska. but for us, again, the peace of mind of knowing what we're going to get for a big trip like this was worth it. Its hubby and I's 40th birthdays next year, so its a splurge anyway :-) We don't have anyone that can watch the kids for a kid free trip, so we figured if we're taking them with us, this would be something that would enjoy, too.

 

I was thinking along the same line as you and justifying the extra money for DCL because I know she will be entertained when aboard the ship. Hope your 40th birthdays' cruise is fabulous. Maryjo

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On my August cruise with DCL. The only thing I can suggest is to look for a cruise between May and July. This is the Alaskan dry season. August starts to get wet and ramps up for the September storms.

 

If you feel your child enjoy's dry weather, look for a May to July visit.

 

I'll add that when my cousin's children went.... there was so much pixie dust, they had no idea they were in Alaska. Going with HAL or Princess will offer savings with a Glacier Bay experience.

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We had been told that August is "rainy season," however we had NO rain during our cruise. We had one day that was a little misty, but most of the weather was warm (surprise) and lovely. Guess it varies from year to year.

 

There are many good things about DCL, but for our upcoming Alaska adventure, I've chosen a ship that goes to Glacier Bay and has a covered pool (meaning that you can actually use it in Alaska!)

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