Confused on what cruise line to book for family

[cmhighto]

Help! We will be traveling with our 17 and 14 year olds to Alaska in June or July. We have cruised With Royal in the Carribean several times and like it, but would like to try another cruise line because the food has gone down hill on Royal. Disney? NCL? Holland? Are we missing out if we see Hubbards instead of Glacier Bay. I've always heard Glacier Bay is amazing, but Disney does not go there. Are the teens too old for Disney? So many people say Disney is wonderful. Thank you for your advice!

[JoRoy218]

Help! We will be traveling with our 17 and 14 year olds to Alaska in June or July. We have cruised With Royal in the Carribean several times and like it, but would like to try another cruise line because the food has gone down hill on Royal. Disney? NCL? Holland? Are we missing out if we see Hubbards instead of Glacier Bay. I've always heard Glacier Bay is amazing, but Disney does not go there. Are the teens too old for Disney? So many people say Disney is wonderful. Thank you for your advice!

Happy you all are going! My vote is for Princess. We cruised with them to Alaska in 2011 and have a repeat Alaska cruise next May. They do Glacier Bay (what a spectacular place!) and hit the ports of Skagway, Juneau and Ketchikan. The demographics run a bit older than Disney of course, but since you have teens, maybe that won't be such an issue. Princess does have half a deck dedicated Teen Center. In fact, we are traveling with friends who have a 14 and 16 yr old.

The problem you may run into, the Alaska cruises book very quickly (our May departure was sold out by early July).Am sure others other can weigh in on the various lines you had wondered about. Main advice, if you're ready, book asap!

[Coral]

I have not been on Disney but I don't think with older teens, they are your market. Plus, they have a weak itinerary in Alaska IMO. Their prices are pretty unreasonable.

 

I do think Glacier Bay is important and would aim that way. Tracy Arm was not accessible for most of last year and Hubbard can be hit or miss. Glacier Bay is always accessible. My first cruise on RCCL missed Hubbard Glacier and it was a big deal to me to miss the glacier on the trip. I had my Mom with me and it took me many years to get her back to see the glacier.

 

Also, IMO - all cruise lines have cut backs. Every single board talks about food and entertainment cut backs :(.

 

I am one who thinks Princess does a good job in Alaska with ports and enrichment speakers and is good for all age groups. Just pick an itinerary with Glacier Bay.

Edited November 6, 2016 by Coral

[Crew News]

Here are the typical teen activities on HAL for Alaska:

 

http://www.rogerjett-photography.com/here/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/AL-15-Kids-13-17.pdf

 

HAL does have an indoor pool.

 

Here is a link to the Nieuw Amsterdam that does Glacier Bay and round trips out of Vancouver (smoother sailing than often rough waters out of Seattle):

 

http://www.rogerjett-photography.com/photo-reviews/ms-nieuw-amsterdam-on-board-images/

Edited November 6, 2016 by Crew News

[xlxo]

Another vote for Princess. I think the larger ships and quad cabins will be more appealing. Yep... Glacier Bay should be a must do for a first time Alaskan visitor.

 

I recommend HAL as a second choice. The cruisers are a little older, but they also offer a Yukon/Denali option if you want to expand your cruise options.

 

Third choice goes to DCL for the pixie dust factor. High prices and the lack of Glacier Bay sailings is why it's my third choice. If your children were younger.... The Disney character experience may be more important.

 

 

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[xlxo]

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[14ersco]

When our family with a teenager decided to use a cruise line next summer to visit Alaska, instead of the ferry system that we've used in the past this was the criteria we used. Having previously visited Glacier Bay we knew we wanted to return. So that eliminated our usual cruise line, Celebrity, and left us with HAL, NCL, and Princess. We had not been able to see Hubbard Glacier from the ferry system so we also added that in to our must visits, plus another visit to Denali. To do all of these areas requires a one-way Alaska cruise, not just the Inside passage. The HAL schedules didn't have good port times for us and we had been on the sister ship of the one NCL uses for their one-way Alaska and the teen area is very limited.

 

So that brought us to Princess which offers the Island, Coral, and Star on their one-way Alaska cruises. We went with the Star since it is a newer and larger than the other two and appears to have a better teen program. To see both Hubbard Glacier and Glacier Bay we must go southbound on the Star. The only area a northbound cruise goes differently is College Fjords and we will see that general area by doing a day trip with Major Marine to Surprise Glacier in Prince William Sound prior to our cruise.

 

As mentioned in a previous reply the cabins are becoming scarce for next summer. For our Star cruise only oceanviews are available for more than 2 people in a cabin. Also port activities are starting to book, with some having early booking discounts this month.

Edited November 7, 2016 by 14ersco

[donaldsc]

When you go to AK, you pick the itinerary and then the cruise line. Decide what you want to see and then see what ship goes there.

 

DON

[cmhighto]

Thank you! We ended up booking With Princess today.

[nanabananna]

Thank you! We ended up booking With Princess today.

 

I think you made a very wise choice. :)

 

What ship did you decide upon? Are you leaving from Anchorage? Vancouver? or Seattle?

 

We are on Star Princess next May with the land portion first.

 

This is our 2nd visit to Alaska, but first Land and Cruise. Last cruise to Alaska was on Golden Princess out of Seattle.

 

You and your family should really enjoy Alaska. Have fun making all the excursion plans now. Join roll call for you date and ship, you will find plenty of help and advice there. :D

[TheCalicoCat]

Help! We will be traveling with our 17 and 14 year olds to Alaska in June or July. We have cruised With Royal in the Carribean several times and like it, but would like to try another cruise line because the food has gone down hill on Royal. Disney? NCL? Holland? Are we missing out if we see Hubbards instead of Glacier Bay. I've always heard Glacier Bay is amazing, but Disney does not go there. Are the teens too old for Disney? So many people say Disney is wonderful. Thank you for your advice!

 

I just chatted with a 17 year old on youtube who blogged about their Disney to AK cruise & he loved the teen club & spent a lot of time there.

 

With that said, my July 2017 two week cruise costs less than one week on Disney. I can't see spending the extra money for the branded experience & I will be travelling with an 8 year old.

 

I find the food to be more similar than different on the lines that I have cruised on, but food in general is subjective. I prefer my food plainer, it is all too rich, too much sauce, etc. for my taste.

 

From what I can see the itineraries are inferior on Disney as well.