Disney people I need you...

[ssmjlm]

The only thing about disney cruises is there is no gambling on the ship. I know for a lot of cruisers that is a big activity, FYI.

I would recommend talking to a TA if you have a lot people. Check out www.facebook.com/JohnsJourneys. I've been talking with him about a Disney trip (referred by Brie) and he's been great.

Alaska is a beautiful destination. I loved our cruise there a couple years ago. DH and I will definitely do another.

[ilikedonuts]

Disney Cruise ships are too big to get to the smaller ports in Alaska that most people say are the best. That's the one thing that I remember reading multiple times when I was researching cruises for our honeymoon.

[ilikedonuts]

Disboards.com has a cruise forum

[schrodinger]

We looked into it briefly. The biggest downside that we could find was that the boats are all the older boats in the fleet. They tended to have fewer amenities and what they did have wasn't as "nice" as their other boats. We ultimately decided not to do it because we'd rather do Disney when the kids are younger and get more out of it, then do Alaska when they are a bit older and can do more of the outdoorsy activities. Trying to combine those trips just didn't seem to work with what we wanted to do with those vacations.

[bronxgirl]

I don't know about other cruiselines, but the Disney Alaskan cruise has very little port time and doesn't go many places in Alaska. If you really want to see Alaska, it's probably not the best bet. OTOH, you still get a flavor for AK and you'll have fun on ship b/c it's Disney!

[BAMFMrsB]

According to Cruise Critic:

www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?id=1353

The two biggest Alaska operators are Princess and Holland America, but nearly every major cruise line has at least one ship in Alaska each summer.

And of those 2, I'd choose Princess. I've sailed on HAL in the Caribbean. We dubbed it the "Snooze Cruise". Avg age onboard was ~80. VERY nice in terms of amenities, food (I still dream of the food), settings, but SWEET JEBUS the clientele were old.

My parents did an Alaskan cruise ~10 years ago and the ports/excursions were definitely their favorite. They did the bald eagle spotting tour and just loved it.

[jenn248]

Another vote for Princess for an Alaskan cruise. We've done six cruises and that was by far the nicest.