Disney Alaska Cruise?

[oliviapope]

We have done several Disney cruises, but I was wondering if anyone has done the Alaska one? Favorite itinerary, schedules, or thoughts?

[lishie]

We did one a few years ago, when our boys were 3 and 5. It was a good bit cheaper then than it is now, but we absolutely loved it.

we had a great whale watching trip & glacier visit in Juneau, and had fun doing a railroad journey and sled dog camp visit in Skagway.

We just did a nordic Disney cruise this past summer. It was also amazing.

[oliviapope]

Jan 23, 2019 14:13:30 GMT -5 lishie said:

We did one a few years ago, when our boys were 3 and 5. It was a good bit cheaper then than it is now, but we absolutely loved it.

we had a great whale watching trip & glacier visit in Juneau, and had fun doing a railroad journey and sled dog camp visit in Skagway.

We just did a nordic Disney cruise this past summer. It was also amazing.

Please share more about the Nordic cruise, what did your boys love?

[miss1180]

we're doing a Disney Alaska cruise at the end of August- SO SO excited!!! this will be our 4th disney cruise, but first one to Alaska. for us it was that DH and i really want to see Alaska- but our boys are only 8 and 5. so we figured a disney cruise would be the best way to do it with them. since we already know they love disney cruises, we figure they'll have fun regardless. our itinerary does a day in Icy Straight point, and has only a half day in Juneau before it heads up the fjord to glacier. i think its the only cruise this year with that itinerary. we picked it mostly because it was a little bit cheaper, since most kids are heading back to school (ours don't go back until after labor day) i think going the week before was like $700 more... so, we went with this one LOL
so far, we're doing a self-guided Jeep "tour" (AKA renting a jeep) on Skagway day to go up to the yukon, and doing the sled dog cart ride... and renting a car for the half day we're in Juneau to go see the glacier. i want to do whale watching, too.. but not sure if the boys will get bored, so we might leave them in the kid's club for that one...
From what i hear, Icy Straight point is a small port with not a ton to do... but that will be our first stop, so we figured a low-key day to start off works for us. Its a total bucket list trip for us, and i'm beyond looking forward to it!!!

[lishie]

Jan 23, 2019 15:00:53 GMT -5 oliviapope said:

Jan 23, 2019 14:13:30 GMT -5 lishie said:

We did one a few years ago, when our boys were 3 and 5. It was a good bit cheaper then than it is now, but we absolutely loved it.

we had a great whale watching trip & glacier visit in Juneau, and had fun doing a railroad journey and sled dog camp visit in Skagway.

We just did a nordic Disney cruise this past summer. It was also amazing.

Please share more about the Nordic cruise, what did your boys love?

OMG. this was a bucket list trip for us. We did 3 days in London, 2 days in Copenhagen, and then boarded the Disney Magic for a cruise to the Norwegian fjords, Iceland, and Scotland, docking at Dover at the end of the cruise. 

It was a 10 day cruise, with 3 sea days. The weather was on the colder side with this cruise, I don't know if we hit 60 the entire trip, but the pools were still at 80+ degrees and my guys were in the water swimming and watching funnel vision. We didn't do a ton of time in the kids club. My older son really wanted to be in the tween group, but wasn't quite old enough, so he wasn't loving the Oceaneer Club, but my 7 year old had the best time there. 

We spent a ton of time on sea days and in the evenings doing family activities. They had games, family karaoke and activities constantly. We did Disney trivia, general trivia, how well do you know your family, karaoke. The shows and performers were amazing. Before we arrived in Iceland, they had an icelandic pop star who's a violinist board the ship and perform. She had represented Iceland in the Eurovision contest and was phenomenal. After watching her my boys said they wanted to be "rock violinists" like Greta. 

The ports themselves were gorgeous. My husband and I said they reminded us a lot of Alaska. Each was amazing in its own way. We had so much fun on the port excursions. We didn't book any though Disney, but didn't have one that disappointed us. 

Aalesund was such a cute town. mY only complaint was that we didn't have a longer stop there, as I really wanted to explore the path of the trolls, but we didn't have enough time to do that. But we enjoyed just exploring the town and climbing the fjellstua to the top to see the view. We had a great cruise deep into teh fjord in stavanger. 

Iceland was two days. One day we booked private whale watching and then did an outdoor geothermal pool--I'd never gone swimming in an outdoor pool when it was 45 degrees before. it was an experience. we were fascinated by the locals who would do a hot tub, and then get into an 8 degree ice pool. I put my hand in, I wasn't brave enough to do that whole experience. 

The other day we did a golden circle tour, which was amazing. The tectonic plates, glaciers and waterfalls were amazing, though the highlight for the boys were the wild icelandic horses we saw on the road. Our guide stopped at a local farm and the kids got to pet and feed some. made their day. 

We spent time at a castle and falconry show in scotland. The birds fascinated the boys. 

I'd do this trip again in a heartbeat. I'm currently looking into an Adventures by Disney or Tauck european river cruise for next summer, because this last trip was such a success. 

[krystee]

lishie your trip and exact itinerary are my dream!! We talked about doing it for my 40th, but neither one of us can take that much time off in a row.

[lishie]

Jan 25, 2019 9:29:34 GMT -5 krystee said:

lishie your trip and exact itinerary are my dream!! We talked about doing it for my 40th, but neither one of us can take that much time off in a row.

MY 40th was in 2018, so this was part of why we chose this trip. DH and I did a scandinavian cruise out of Copenhagen that did Sweden, Finland, Russia, Estonia, and ended in Norway, where we stayed on with a cousin who'd recently moved there 10 years prior, when I was pregnant with our oldest. We really wanted to go back. We'd done Alaska and Hawaii with the kids prior, and decided that my 40th, and DS's 10th birthday year were the perfect time to head back to Europe. 

We did 16 days total for the trip. 

[mccallister84]

Jan 25, 2019 9:36:13 GMT -5 lishie said:

Jan 25, 2019 9:29:34 GMT -5 krystee said:

lishie your trip and exact itinerary are my dream!! We talked about doing it for my 40th, but neither one of us can take that much time off in a row.

MY 40th was in 2018, so this was part of why we chose this trip. DH and I did a scandinavian cruise out of Copenhagen that did Sweden, Finland, Russia, Estonia, and ended in Norway, where we stayed on with a cousin who'd recently moved there 10 years prior, when I was pregnant with our oldest. We really wanted to go back. We'd done Alaska and Hawaii with the kids prior, and decided that my 40th, and DS's 10th birthday year were the perfect time to head back to Europe. 

We did 16 days total for the trip. 

Can I ask how much you spent? H and I were just talking about doing an Icelandic cruise.

[lishie]

Jan 25, 2019 11:55:45 GMT -5 mccallister84 said:

Jan 25, 2019 9:36:13 GMT -5 lishie said:

MY 40th was in 2018, so this was part of why we chose this trip. DH and I did a scandinavian cruise out of Copenhagen that did Sweden, Finland, Russia, Estonia, and ended in Norway, where we stayed on with a cousin who'd recently moved there 10 years prior, when I was pregnant with our oldest. We really wanted to go back. We'd done Alaska and Hawaii with the kids prior, and decided that my 40th, and DS's 10th birthday year were the perfect time to head back to Europe. 

We did 16 days total for the trip. 

Can I ask how much you spent? H and I were just talking about doing an Icelandic cruise.

Cruise fare itself for 2 adults, to kids for an ocean view cabin for a 10 night sailing was around $9,200. Then we spent a bunch on hotels/activities in London and copenhagen and on our excursions at each port. 

[mccallister84]

Jan 25, 2019 13:52:21 GMT -5 lishie said:

Jan 25, 2019 11:55:45 GMT -5 mccallister84 said:

Can I ask how much you spent? H and I were just talking about doing an Icelandic cruise.

Cruise fare itself for 2 adults, to kids for an ocean view cabin for a 10 night sailing was around $9,200. Then we spent a bunch on hotels/activities in London and copenhagen and on our excursions at each port. 

Thanks! I’m assuming that did not include airfare?

[lishie]

Jan 25, 2019 14:27:56 GMT -5 mccallister84 said:

Jan 25, 2019 13:52:21 GMT -5 lishie said:

Cruise fare itself for 2 adults, to kids for an ocean view cabin for a 10 night sailing was around $9,200. Then we spent a bunch on hotels/activities in London and copenhagen and on our excursions at each port. 

Thanks! I’m assuming that did not include airfare?

No airfare.