Has anyone NOT enjoyed their Alaska cruise?

[ninergrl6]

As they say Your Mileage May Vary. We thought the food and service on HAL were a hair better than Disney. And HAL is THEE cruise line to take to Alaska since they have been doing it longer, have the best ports, and have such a strong naturalist program on board their Alaska cruises.

I'm glad you had a good experience with HAL. I did not. Servers repeatedly spilling wine, food, and cutlery on guests; waiting hours for room service to bring packaged powdered hot chocolate; unclear timetables and locations for dining and excursions.... maybe if I didn't have DCL for comparison I wouldn't been as critical, but IMO HAL service was a hot (cold?) mess. It's a good thing Alaska itself was so gorgeous or I would have been really disappointed in that trip.

 

[tvguy]

I'm glad you had a good experience with HAL. I did not. Servers repeatedly spilling wine, food, and cutlery on guests; waiting hours for room service to bring packaged powdered hot chocolate; unclear timetables and locations for dining and excursions.... maybe if I didn't have DCL for comparison I wouldn't been as critical, but IMO HAL service was a hot (cold?) mess. It's a good thing Alaska itself was so gorgeous or I would have been really disappointed in that trip.

My problem is I have been cruising for 41 years (YIKES, am I THAT old?) and the industry has changed. Gone mass market.
Disney was the first cruise line I ever went on that had extra cost dining options, that would have been unthinkable on any of the 5 cruises I took in the 1980's. Food in the main dining room was the cruise lines big selling point. Now it is the norm. Our last cruise was in October 2019 on Celebrity and the PRESSURE to book an extra cost restaurant was unbelievable. And the food in the main dining room was great.

 

[Chrissy-Mickey]

Not enjoying is a bit strong, but it's not near the top of my list of favorite trips.
I really dislike cold weather, BUT I just came from a long weekend in NYC and there it was 30-50 degrees too, and I had a great time.
However, cold on a moving ship, where you just want to find a spot outside to enjoy the view didn't work for us. I love being on a cruise, and inside was of course the usual, but that's not worth the extra money.
I don't regret going, but I wouldn't go again.

 

[Junebug1029]

We have gone on 1 Disney Caribbean cruise and 1 NCL alaska cruise and I am definitely more of a Caribbean weather girl, but I loved our Alaska way more. Personally, I don’t think cruises is a very good way to see the sites, but with Alaska, the ship is one of the best ways to see the glacier. And I am not a big nature person, but to see a glacier that close was spectacular! If you are worried about not liking Alaska as much, try a non-Disney cruise to Alaska. For 2 people, we only paid $2500 for a veranda. So much cheaper than Disney!!

 

[nospamcoupons]

Our first cruise was a HAL Alaska trip with extended family. We were decades younger than most other passengers, but had a lot of fun and loved the scenery. I am itching to book DCL so we can visit Castaway, but would gladly return to Alaska anytime ... it was just beautiful.

 

[auntlynne]

No one seems to have answered in the negative yet. ... And I won’t, either.

Four cruises to Alaska. Only the first one on Disney. The rest on Princess. Booked on Celebrity for last May, but pre-COVID had actually already changed it to Disney Magic out of San Juan to see a new place and complete my nephew-in-law’s Grand Slam (he is such a newbie).

I find the ship less important on port-intensive cruises - especially when those ports are spectacular.

Now, if your kids (or your budget) don’t enjoy trains, planes, helicopters, dog sleds, kayaking, hiking, biking, whale watching, then Alaska might not be the place for you. Yes, the ports are small towns. That is some of their charm - especially Skagway, the starting point for many who traveled into the Yukon for the Gold Rush. Most Caribbean cruises pull into small town ports, too. I guess the Med does, too.

We saved money on our DCL cruise by staying in sideways inside cabins on Deck 5 or 6. Single bathrooms, lots of floor space. You can put all the kids in an inside and get a balcony for the adults.

I recommend saving on the cabin because the port adventures are not cheap, but those great adventures can really make Alaska cruises the stars they are (after a few cruises, I really just cruise to see the sights; I always visit Mendenhall Glacier in Juneau to see how much it is receding and enjoy it while it is still there).

Whenever I get the opportunity to include Glacier Bay or College Fjord (with its 16 glaciers), I book that cruise.

Our family joke about cruising to Alaska comes from deciding whether or not to do an onboard booking at the end of the Disney cruise. My reply was that no one needs to do a (Disney) cruise to Alaska two years in a row.” I have to remind my sister that I said “Disney“ cruise to Alaska. The next year it was Princess.

Disney is great for kids, though. We didn’t take my nieces on other lines (other than one kid to Alaska - and then she chose Disney to Alaska for her honeymoon six years after her first visit).

 

[Pens Fan]

Whenever I get the opportunity to include Glacier Bay or College Fjord (with its 16 glaciers), I book that cruise.

Tell us about College Fjord, please .

When we took our NCL Alaska cruise we wanted to do a one way cruise so that we could spend time in mainland Alaska (which I highly recommend, BTW!) We had to choose between Hubbard glacier and College Fjord because at that time NCL went to Hubbard northbound and College southbound. We went northbound and thought Hubbard was spectacular. My husband actually thought it was better than Glacier Bay, though I disagree with that. I really don't hear a lot about College Fjord, so I'd love to know what you thought about it. If we take another Alaskan cruise (who am I kidding - we will!!), I may have to make that a priority as we've never seen it.

Thanks!

 

[auntlynne]

While there are a lot of BIG glaciers out there (I think Hubbard is the screensaver on my large computer screen), College Fjord offers Multiple glaciers in one place.

I wanted to verify facts, but there’s not a lot of quick facts about it.

I think it is 13 or 16 glaciers (many other small ones). At one point, you can see 8 glaciers. Wikipedia says they are on 3 sides of you.

Our captain turned the boat parallel to one at the end of the fjord:



That was probably the closest to a glacier I’ve been on a boat. Well, maybe Tracy Arm was pretty close, too.

 

[auntlynne]

I could get two glaciers behind my sister in this photo:


This is probably the one behind her on the left:

 

[Ronneeaght]

Cautionary tale about College Fjord (and pretty much all of Alaska): Our College Fjord day was just fog, mist, and more fog. And the naturalist saying, "Now what you *would* be seeing here is..." LOL. Don't get me wrong, I loved Alaska and I'm planning to go back someday, but if you hang your hopes on a certain port or sight, you might be disappointed.

 

[auntlynne]

College Fjord is not just glaciers:



This reminds of a large portion of Glacier Bay.

The itinerary that included College Fjord was a One-Way Vancouver to Whittier (for Anchorage) 7-night cruise. We had a long day at Glacier Bay. The next day, we had an afternoon at College Fjord, arriving around 3 pm. Before midnight, we were at our destination, where we disembarked the next morning.

This is the itinerary where it paid to be on the Caribbean deck of Princess. Our balcony was twice the normal size; we had a dining table and chairs, with room to move around. Half the space was under cover. Port side, as it was closer to the side we were viewing I think someone had reported that, the ship had an area like a crow’s nest that gave a great 360 view, with no one else up there. Lots of deck space. And a glass-enclosed observation area at the front of the ship. I believe they have some ships specifically designed for Alaska,

 

[auntlynne]

Cautionary tale about College Fjord (and pretty much all of Alaska): Our College Fjord day was just fog, mist, and more fog. And the naturalist saying, "Now what you *would* be seeing here is..." LOL. Don't get me wrong, I loved Alaska and I'm planning to go back someday, but if you hang your hopes on a certain port or sight, you might be disappointed.

You are so right.

I think that is what I got at Marjorie or Hubbard on my first Princess cruise. Lots of fog. Another reason to sail AK again. It’s a bummer if it’s your only opportunity.

And what one person thinks is a must do / must see might do nothing for someone else.

 

[auntlynne]

Here was my first trip to Glacier Bay:

 

[jtntx34]

I have not met one person who did not enjoy their Alaska cruise. I HAVE met a few who didn’t think they would enjoy it that much but were converted when they went. For me, I didn’t think I would enjoy glaciers. I did.

The only advice I have for Alaska is: GO!

But if I were expounding on that advice, I’d say to try and get away from the ports and explore the land as much as possible. It really is more diverse than I had thought and heartachingly beautiful to boot.

 

[mlayton14]

Thanks everyone for the feedback , we have an inside and a balcony booked, the problem will be having 17 months to change my mind

 

[bobbiwoz]

College fjord, May 28, 2019



We also went to Glacier Bay, and Princess brought on board a NP naturalist who gave talks about what you were seeing. We are going back to both in 2022. Also, back to Denali.

 

[ladyofthetramp]

I will admit I was a bit worried about our Alaska trip. I am a warm weather cruiser, love idle days at Castaway Cay, toes in the sand. And I was worried about the weather. I loved this cruise. I loved Alaska. I can't wait to go back. The weather, on our trip- less than ideal. Rainy, very foggy part of the time. But we were ready and dressed for it. I thought it would bother me, but it didn't. And then there were the views...

 

[JM_97]

Alaska would be awesome one day and is on my bucket list. However, it would be a one and done for me. That's a once in a lifetime experience that would cost a lot of money. Plus, I prefer warmer weather.

 

[DCLCrazy64622]

I took an Alaska cruise with Royal that included an extra week of land based touring up into the interior. That is what made it special. We got to see Denali and Fairbanks. We took a plane over the Arctic circle into Coldfoot. The cruise itself was a nice experience but it was a lot of shopping ports. If you go, go with a land and sea package with Royal. It’ll be the same price as Disney in the end plus you’ll get to see the real Alaska.

 

[Blondie58]

Used to sailing the Bahamas and Caribbean, obvious differences here. Excited to be in a place that is very different but the price $15-20k is a bit scary for something so different from what we know we would enjoy. Luxury hotel on the sea with view of wilderness sounds good to me , but wife and daughters not sold on the chilly weather and small town ports. Anyone go on this cruise and say it wasn’t what you had hoped, and why ? Thank you

We did the Adventures by Disney Alaska Trip and it was awesome. Group size limited to 30. Two excellent guides. You can read about on ABD website but I assure the description is not nearly as wonderful as the trip! We did coastal trip with American Cruise Lines and loved it. Boat with 90 people. Great ports. Dropped anchor and stayed the night in Glaicer Bay. Wonderful trip.