May 3rd - Alaska ... Should we go?

[DisneyFr33k]

We are considering taking the May 3rd cruise to Alaska (taking advantage of the kids sail free).

This appears to be the first Alaskan cruise on the Wonder and my concerns are:


weather - will it be too cold? no swimming?
we cruised on the Wonder in late 2010 - will the entertainment be the same on board?
any ideas of they will do anything unique to an Alaskan cruise?
DH worries we would be the guinea pigs being the first cruise.
Thoughts? We have a room on hold and have to decide by 5pm tomorrow.

Thanks!

[TiggeRia]

I have never cruised with Disney before, so I can't answer most of your questions, but I did do an Alaskan cruise with Royal Caribbean last summer. Going that early in May, I would expect it to be fairly chilly. There won't be any swimming in pools that are open to the air, but most cruise ships that cruise in Alaska have solarium-type pools that you should be able to swim in. We went in late June/early July, and our average temperature was in the mid 50's during the day, so early May will probably be much cooler than that.

[BrerGnat]

I'd probably skip it.

I looked at that sailing too, briefly! The "kids sail free" offer is not as good as it sounds. They really hike up the price of the two paying passengers...

I did an Alaska cruise in June many years ago. When we were on that cruise, we were told that June and September are the two best months to cruise Alaska, because those are the months the whales and other wildlife "migrate" (in June, they are coming up from Hawaii to the colder waters, and then they go back south in Sept.). We saw a LOT of whales and wildlife! It was amazing! Our weather was also fairly mild, and downright hot on our Juneau port day. We did swim in the pools on the ship, but they were VERY well heated (not indoors, but the water was around 95 degrees).

My DH wants to cruise Alaska. I thought maybe this Disney cruise in May would be a good choice (for our kids too).

I decided against it pretty quickly due to:

-Poor Itinerary. There really is no point in taking a cruise to Alaska that does not sail along the INSIDE PASSAGE. This is where all the wildlife spotting occurs, and is the route the whales travel. If you don't cruise the inside passage, you don't get to see all the amazing scenery. In addition, Tracy Arm is not that great. Glacier Bay is MUCH better. Glacier Bay was the highlight of our last Alaska cruise. That was what impressed me most about Alaska.

-May...bad month. Cold weather. Not much wildlife activity.

-The Disney Wonder is really not set up to be a good ship for Alaska Cruising. You'd want a ship with more INDOOR viewing areas (with lots of floor to ceiling windows and such). There are other cruise lines (Royal Caribbean, NCL and Princess) that have ships better suited to scenic itineraries in cold weather.

-The price is way too high for what it is. I'd choose one of the aforementioned lines for a lower price, better itinerary, and better ship.

Since you just sailed the Wonder, I'd think doing the same ship again so soon would be rather redundant. As far as I know, nothing significant has changed since she moved West.

[BrerGnat]

There won't be any swimming in pools that are open to the air, but most cruise ships that cruise in Alaska have solarium-type pools that you should be able to swim in.

The Disney ship does NOT have enclosed pools. They did not do any sort of retrofit of the pool area for the Alaska sailings.

[DisneyFr33k]

I hope I didn't make a mistake! My AAA agent lived in Seattle and went to Vancouver/Canada all the time. She said May is nice - cool, but nice. Not as rainy as summer months. Also, the prices rose $1000 overnight and our price was good (very low for 7 nights and a family of 4). Also, traveling in the summer months showed prices way higher as well as the air fare three times what we found. So we booked it. We'll have fun even if we don't get to see the "best" Alaska offers!

And, I won't let DH read this thread - he tends to suffer from buyers remorse. :secret:

[DisneyFr33k]

-Poor Itinerary. There really is no point in taking a cruise to Alaska that does not sail along the INSIDE PASSAGE. This is where all the wildlife spotting occurs, and is the route the whales travel. If you don't cruise the inside passage, you don't get to see all the amazing scenery.

I am the first to admit I am very "green" on the lingo of Alaska, but I just asked my travel agent about this and she said we are indeed going to sail the Inside Passage. So that is good!

[BrerGnat]

I am the first to admit I am very "green" on the lingo of Alaska, but I just asked my travel agent about this and she said we are indeed going to sail the Inside Passage. So that is good!

From "another" Disney board:

I just checked with Disney and even spoke with a supervisor. Disney does not do an inside passage cruise. They spend some time in the inside passage sailing Tracy Arm, and between the ports of Skagway and Junuea. However, they sail up the western side of Vancouver out into the Pacific to head north, and then back into the Pacific from Junuea to reach Ketchican the last port, and then the same Pacific ocean route for heading back to Vancouver. I am really disappointed. Rougher seas, no views on sea days. Disney should do better than this. 2 port days are very short only about 7 hours each, only 1 port day is even a full day. Disney is new and other lines probably have priority, but Disney should do better than this for what they want money wise. Alaska is about seeing the beauty and scenery. Thinking about changing to a line that does inside passage.

But, you're booked. So, have fun! If you can, do the Helicopter Glacier tour in Juneau. AMAZING!!!

[DisneyFr33k]

From "another" Disney board:

I just checked with Disney and even spoke with a supervisor. Disney does not do an inside passage cruise. They spend some time in the inside passage sailing Tracy Arm, and between the ports of Skagway and Junuea. However, they sail up the western side of Vancouver out into the Pacific to head north, and then back into the Pacific from Junuea to reach Ketchican the last port, and then the same Pacific ocean route for heading back to Vancouver. I am really disappointed. Rougher seas, no views on sea days. Disney should do better than this. 2 port days are very short only about 7 hours each, only 1 port day is even a full day. Disney is new and other lines probably have priority, but Disney should do better than this for what they want money wise. Alaska is about seeing the beauty and scenery. Thinking about changing to a line that does inside passage.

But, you're booked. So, have fun! If you can, do the Helicopter Glacier tour in Juneau. AMAZING!!!


Ok, you'll have to check behind me. I just logged onto the Disney Cruise like website and watched the itenerary path. Yes, on the way up, it does go into the Pacific into Tracy Arm, Juneau, Skagway. But on the way back, after passing Tracy Arm, it temporarily goes out in the Pacific, then back inside the passage to Ketchikan and stays there until back to Vancouver. So, it appears we won't miss the Inside Passage unless I am really clueless and am reading the map wrong. :confused:

[DisneyFr33k]

If you can, do the Helicopter Glacier tour in Juneau. AMAZING!!!

Thanks! I'll look into it! My kids are wanting to pan for gold. Do you know anything about this? Is it gimmicky? Do I have to book that through an excursion or can we just take a cab somewhere that offers it cheaper?

[Imalismom]

We are doing thre Alaska cruise this summer.

Yes, they are doing the inside passage.

If May is the only time you can go, I would go. If you are worried about the pools, I do know the water will be heated. I have never used the pools, so the pools being usable was not a deciding issue for me.

http://www.alaskatravel.com/resources/alaska-weather.html has some good information about temperture.

For my week of cruising, the price has only increased $1000.00 since day one of booking (which is when I booked my cruise). That being said, it STILL was about twice what any other cruise line was charging, but then you get into the argument of DCL VS {insert cruise line name here} that I try toi avoid since I have done other cruise lines also.

I've done a ton of planning, so if you have any particular questions, feel free to PM me.

[DisneyFr33k]

I've done a ton of planning, so if you have any particular questions, feel free to PM me.

Thanks! I just PM'd you! I appreciate the weather link!

[iloveokw]

We have done two Alaska cruises..on Princess ..both did inside passage...our fav vacations and we've done alot of them. Alaska cruises are very port intensive so your kids won't miss the swimming as much as another Disney warm weather cruise...the reason that they don't do Glacier Bay is that it is now very limited because of the glaciers receeding..we did Sawyer Glacier on our 2nd cruise and it was still wonderful. If you want any ideas on excursions jusy pm me.

[DisneyFr33k]

We have done two Alaska cruises..on Princess ..both did inside passage...our fav vacations and we've done alot of them. Alaska cruises are very port intensive so your kids won't miss the swimming as much as another Disney warm weather cruise...the reason that they don't do Glacier Bay is that it is now very limited because of the glaciers receeding..we did Sawyer Glacier on our 2nd cruise and it was still wonderful. If you want any ideas on excursions jusy pm me.


Thanks! I just PM'd you with questions!

[TheTexasKid]

Well, I'm going, and one of the reasons I am going is because this is Disney's first cruise to Alaska, and I want to be one of the first ones there with Disney.

Actually, it'll also be my first B2B with Disney, as I'm also on the repo cruise from Los Angeles, California to Vancouver, British Columbia.

And I can't wait.

[DisneyFr33k]

Well, I'm going, and one of the reasons I am going is because this is Disney's first cruise to Alaska, and I want to be one of the first ones there with Disney.....And I can't wait.

:ditto::exactly: That was our thought too. We've been serious Disney addicts for the past 7 years. We've been to WDW 5 times (I know that is small compared to some, but on our budget it's huge) and gone on 3 Disney cruises. So this first will be special for us. And, with our children growing up so fast (11 and 13 now), time with them is precious!