DCL Alaska Cruise

[jaycee]

We are in the very beginning stages of planning a Disney Alaska Cruise and I'd love to hear from people that have done it before.  We are debating between Disney and another line.  Did you enjoy DCL Alaska?  Any regrets?  What type of room did you get?  Memorable excursions?

[lishie]

We did the DCL Alaska, but it was back in 2014. Prices have gone up a bunch since we did it.

We booked a balcony room for my two boys (5 and 3 when we went), DH and I. The rooms on the Disney ships are much larger than other cruise lines, and they have a spilt bath with a tub, which is really nice. Since my kids were younger, I loved all the family centered activities on the ship. We did a ton of movies and family activities, as well as character meet and greets.

At that age my boys loved being in the kids clubs and eating in the themed restaurants.

I'm not sure how much more Disney is than other lines, but if it's not a huge difference, I'd definitely do it again with younger kids.

We booked all our excursions outside of Disney. We loved everything we did. We also added a few days on in Vancouver before hand, and I'm glad we did. Tons to do there.

[kershnic]

We did it in 2016. It was pretty amazing.

We had an inside room and it was fine if you’re people who don’t plan to spend much awake time in the cabin. My family had adjoining rooms across the hall with a porthole. To me that’s plenty in Alaska cuz it’s cold so you don’t necessarily want to lounge on a balcony. We were able to see plenty by hanging out on the communal decks when we wanted to be outside.

I have never sailed non-Disney, but my impression is that Disney is worth it if you have young kids and/or love Disney theming. We had a fabulous time both in Alaska and on our other cruise with them in the Caribbean.

[kershnic]

Oh, favorite excursion by far was float plane to Taku Lodge. It was a little nerve wracking because it almost got canceled for fog and we actually did have to switch times due to fog. But we got to go and the whole thing was amazing.

[jaycee]

lishie, kershnic, Thanks for the feedback!

[msmerymac]

I've done an Alaskan Cruise on Royal Caribbean. Not sure what you're looking for, but many people say the kids' programming on RC is better than Disney.

If you've done a Caribbean cruise you might notice the ships in Alaska are smaller and older - they need more maneuverability, so the "large" ones are about 2000 passengers, vs. the largest Caribbean ships, which are more like 6000.

I did an inside room for a weekend cruise once, and never again. It's very disconcerting not having any natural light. For Alaska, we got an outside room, but my dad got a balcony. I'd do an outside room over a balcony to save $$ again though.

Our ship did Seattle - Juneau - Skagway - Ketchikan - Vancouver. I know Sitka and Victoria are sometimes on the itineraries. We also did the Tracy Arm Fjord, which was an "at sea" day, but really scenic. A lot of people were out on the deck early in the morning.

Definitely bring rain gear! Also, Alaska is kind of $$$ if you plan on shopping or eating meals off the boat due to everything having to be shipped in pretty much.