Alaska cruise 2023 - Other cruise lines?

[KevinFL]

Trying to plan an Alaska cruise for this summer 2023. Any recommendations for best Concierge Level cruise line & ship to go on if we try something other than DCL?

 

[Princesca]

Hopping in to follow this because we don't do concierge, but looking at perhaps an Alaska cruise next year and Disney is $$$.

 

[DaviVascaino]

The Disney Alaska is on my bucket list, but my goodness, the price for the rooms with balcony is crazy

 

[CisforCookie991]

Also hopping in to see replies. I googled and poked around a bit and saw that Haven rooms on Norweigian are FAR cheaper than even DCL oceanview or verandah. They have some kind of crazy promotion going on at the moment, so the 3rd and 4th passengers were free and the owner's suite (or something to that affect) was only $5k for the random date I picked.

 

[RedHead0186]

I've heard good things about Princess Cruises going to Alaska. I've sailed their mini-suites with Princess Plus (not to Alaska), not sure how that lines up with concierge but I enjoyed it.

 

[TJ95]

We loved sailing Holland America (son was 8 at the time) to Alaska. HAL goes into Glacier Bay itself, and National Park rangers spent the day aboard. My son was able to do the Junior Range badge with the Rangers that day. Kids club is not the level of Disney, but also very personal (HAL is a primarily older crowd, last week of May sailing had less than 25 under-18s aboard), and he loved it. Very good food- and one pool on our ship was roofed so we were able to enjoy some pool time during the sea day. Just be sure you're comparing equal size staterooms when comparing to DCL- on any other line you need at least a junior suite to get the same amount of sq ft

 

[DLR70]

I've heard good things about Princess Cruises going to Alaska. I've sailed their mini-suites with Princess Plus (not to Alaska), not sure how that lines up with concierge but I enjoyed it.

We sailed on the Discovery Princess to Alaska last summer and it was lovely. Also stayed in a mini-suite. I liked that it sailed out of Seattle instead of Vancouver. I don't know anything about concierge though.

 

[brentm77]

We sailed on the Discovery Princess to Alaska last summer and it was lovely. Also stayed in a mini-suite. I liked that it sailed out of Seattle instead of Vancouver. I don't know anything about concierge though.

On most Princess ships, a mini-suite is the equivalent to a regular verandah room on DCL. I only mention it so that people can compare apples to apples when looking at pricing.

 

[tvguy]

We loved sailing Holland America (son was 8 at the time) to Alaska. HAL goes into Glacier Bay itself, and National Park rangers spent the day aboard. My son was able to do the Junior Range badge with the Rangers that day. Kids club is not the level of Disney, but also very personal (HAL is a primarily older crowd, last week of May sailing had less than 25 under-18s aboard), and he loved it. Very good food- and one pool on our ship was roofed so we were able to enjoy some pool time during the sea day. Just be sure you're comparing equal size staterooms when comparing to DCL- on any other line you need at least a junior suite to get the same amount of sq ft

HAL has been sailing to Alaska longer than any other cruise line so they have the permits to go to the best sites and use the best docks and have the best naturalists. Our cruise was in June and the ship was packed with kids. My kids were 11 and 15 on HAL and 12 and 16 on Disney and found the kids clubs on both a waste of time. But we cruise to spend the entire trip with our kids not away from them, so that wasn't and issue.
Can't speak to Concierge on either, never sailed on any cruise line at Concierge level.

 

[RysMomma]

Yes, I'm struggling with the same decision myself. We're looking at 2025. I really want to do Disney because we're Disney nuts. But a balcony (for this season) is coming up almost $15,000. Other cruise lines aren't as high. It's really making me think about it.

 

[brentm77]

Yes, I'm struggling with the same decision myself. We're looking at 2025. I really want to do Disney because we're Disney nuts. But a balcony (for this season) is coming up almost $15,000. Other cruise lines aren't as high. It's really making me think about it.

Wow. I would easily switch lines if I was getting that quote. For my wife and me, sailing the first week of September, with an obstructed balcony and the discount from out last cruise, we were only at about $4,700. When I compared similar rooms on other lines, I was only going to save $500 or so. We gave up Glacier Bay, but really like DCL. But in that price range, I wouldn't hesitate to ditch DCL. That is as expensive as longer European DCL cruises for four.

 

[RysMomma]

Wow. I would easily switch lines if I was getting that quote. For my wife and me, sailing the first week of September, with and obstructed balcony and the discount from out last cruise, we were only at about $4,700. When I compared similar rooms on other lines, I was only going to save $500 or so. We gave up Glacier Bay, but really like DCL. But in that price range, I wouldn't hesitate to ditch DCL. That is as expensive as longer European DCL cruises for four.

YES! For four people. Like I said, we're looking at 2025 so Disney hasn't released those prices yet but other cruise lines have them out already. But if I shop for August of this year on the Disney site, a balcony for four (with two "kids" according to them) is $15,000!

 

[crauen]

I am looking at the same thing (although for a Summer 2024 trip) and we are considering Royal out of Vancouver on the Brilliance of the Seas. We are fans of DCL but the prices to Alaska are really high. While I think that DCL has the best kids experience out there our 9 year old had a great time at the Royal kids club last summer when we did a Royal cruise on Freedom on the Seas.

Factors that have my leaning towards Royal include (1) round trip out of Vancouver with a Sunday-to-Sunday departure. I have found that leaving from Vancouver tends to result in better port visit times than leaving from Seattle. We are also west-coast based so we can fly to Vancouver Friday after work, have all day Saturday to tour Vancouver, board the cruise Sunday morning and then be back home the next Sunday afternoon resulting in only one week off of work. (DCL is a Monday-to-Monday from Vancouver so we would need to take another day off work). (2) Good variety of dining options on Royal with a main dining room, buffet, steak house, Italian restaurant and Asian restaurant as options. My in-laws who will be on this trip with us are not interested in "fancy" food but would likely eat at all of these options. (3) Brilliance of the Seas is a mid-sized ship, similar in size to the Wonder so hopefully there are fewer lines, crowds, etc. (4) A Junior Suite on Brilliance of the Seas (similar in size to DCL's Family Verandah staterooms) is about 50% cheaper than DCL (5K versus 9-10K). Standard Balcony staterooms are even cheaper.

I looked at both Princess and Holland American Line and thought that they both skewed older and would have fewer kids and kid friendly activities. Concerns that we have about doing Royal is that the entertainment on Disney is significantly better. I also think that the food quality is generally better on Disney, though the speciality restaurants on Royal help to make up for that. We love DCL and have sailed on and love the Wonder but I am not sure it makes the most sense for us on a port heavy Alaska trip. We have not made a final decision yet and likely won't until DCL releases their Summer 2024 prices and itineraries but right now are leaning towards Royal.

 

[jimmymc]

For concierge specifically, Princess is probably your best bet. You get an upgraded dining room, concierge lounge and service, and can bundle it with things like dining and drink packages. The highest package is basically an all-inclusive cruise. I will say that they don't have the most exciting entertainment during your sea days, but I know a lot of people are ok with just relaxing around the ship on those days.

For a cruise with more to do, I would recommend Norwegian. They have The Haven, which is a private area exclusive to suites and concierge rooms. You get your own indoor pool, restaurant and bar, and lounge areas. And you can of course access the rest of the ship's bars and shows.

 

[lilsonicfan]

I haven't sailed DCL to Alaska, largely due to the cost. But we just did an Alaskan cruise on HAL and I would not hesitate to sail with them or another line (we are also thinking about Royal!). Again the price difference really depends but for us, a family of 5, the quote for DCL was about $12,000 whereas the quote for HAL was $4,000 - it was really a no brainer at that point. Think of the excursions I could do for $8,000! Yes, Disney's shows are generally better. I would argue that Disney's kids clubs are not so significantly better than even an older-skewed line like HAL. We have also done Princess to Alaska and my kids have enjoyed those clubs too.

 

[Chemist]

We are doing Princess this summer. We are booked into a mini-suite for half hte price of Disney.

A little concerned that Princess skews old, but I've heard that lots of families do Alaska because of Glacier bay. They also have park rangers come aboard, etc.

Literally half the price of Disney for a similar stateroom.

 

[DCLForLife]

We go on DCL more than any other line, but Alaska is one itinerary where we couldn't bring ourselves to do it. Last summer it would have been over $12k for our family of 4 to go on the Wonder to Alaska in a single balcony when I was pricing it. I was able to book 2 adjoining balconies on RCL Ovation of the Seas for $6k. The kids had a great time and the Ovation was a really nice ship for Alaska with kids and had great indoor spaces for colder weather.

I'm generally okay with paying a 20-30% premium for DCL Caribbean itineraries but couldn't stomach paying more than twice as much for a single cabin on DCL in Alaska.

 

[holula]

Wow. I would easily switch lines if I was getting that quote. For my wife and me, sailing the first week of September, with an obstructed balcony and the discount from out last cruise, we were only at about $4,700. When I compared similar rooms on other lines, I was only going to save $500 or so. We gave up Glacier Bay, but really like DCL. But in that price range, I wouldn't hesitate to ditch DCL. That is as expensive as longer European DCL cruises for four.

This is also what I found. For me and my friend, the last cruise in September on DCL was coming out about $1000 more for an extra day since ours is an 8 night. And had better port times.

I really want to do Glacier Bay one day, but also I love DCL so that won.

Those summer cruises are insanely priced though, so I would probably look at other lines for that.

 

[lisareniff]

It was a while ago but we have sailed both HAL and DCL.

- As others noted that HAL and Princess have most of the permits to go into Glacier Bay, which is a big plus.
- Another thing that is often overlooked is the time in port. The HAL cruise we took had a much longer time in some ports allowing 2 excursions. I would suggest looking at the actual time in the ports for various cruises.
- Also we cruised from both Seattle for ease and cost of flying (Grandparents and young kids) and Vancouver for DCL. The Vancouver departures sailed the inside passage which was much smother seas and prettier views.
- Then there also is price.....

 

[Ariel 2021]

Haven't gone yet but we have Royal Caribbean booked for prime-time this summer for 2 adults and 2 kids. It would have been $14,000 for a single balcony on the Wonder through Disney but we got 2 connecting balconies on Royal Caribbean for just less than $6,000. No brainer, we can purchase the Key if we want early boarding, reserved time for activities, reserved show seats, etc. and we can purchase upgraded dining and still come out thousands ahead. I haven't traveled yet so no reviews but the ship also has an indoor pool for kids, an indoor pool area for adults and was built for cold weather cruising. Hopefully the service will be just as good!