Disney Wonder $13k to Alaska vs $6k on RC

[HappilyEverAfter80]

You listed some great points for comparing, thanks! By the way, how old was your DS during the sailings?

When we went on the Anthem DS was 8.
All other cruises were with Disney, starting at DS age 5 to age 9 now.
I found that at age 5 and 6 maybe 7 he adored the Disney clubs. He still did at 9, but preferred Anthem's Adventure Ocean last year.
Also loved other things on the Anthem such as pools, bumper cars, roller skating etc. Oh and North Star. He Loooooved it. You only really get to do it once, but it's amazing.

 

[LizGirl]

We priced Alaska while on board the Fantasy this past October. My husband nearly choked when she calmly told us a summer 2018 Alaska cruise would be $14k. I'd much rather take multiple vacations for that kind of money.

We are booked on Ovation for June 2019. I'd prefer to go with Disney but I'm sure we will have a great time on Royal. We can get our Disney fix on more reasonably priced itineraries to the Caribbean. Our 2018 Fantasy cruise + our 2019 Ovation cruise combined are still less than one Wonder cruise to Alaska, and we booked a family junior suite with large balcony on Ovation!

 

[CalDisneyMomof2]

We did Alaska in 2016 (I believe the same sailing and even deck as @anricat !) and had an incredible time. We said we would do it again in a few years. Well, fast forward to last November and we were blessed with a 3rd child (a girl this time! ) and sadly I don't think she will get to experience an Alaskan Disney Cruise like her brothers did unless it's when her brothers are older and she goes with mom and dad alone (they're 7 & 9 years older).

We will do Alaska again as a family of 5, probably when she's 3 1/2 or 4 1/2 but it won't be with Disney, unfortunately. By the time she's the age we'd like her to be when we go I'm sure Disney will be close to $20k for our now family of 5. If we were still a family of 4 I'd probably consider it because we loved deck 2! But if we have to get 2 rooms or a Verandah we'd be priced out.

OP, if you are dead set on a balcony, go with another cruise line - try it out. However, I think you'd be pleasantly surprised by an ocean view room on Disney! As others have mentioned, Alaska is more about the destination and scenery and not so much the ship, although in my research of NCL, the ship looks fantastic. Whatever money you save, if you find you STILL want to do Disney, you will have several thousand dollars saved to go towards that trip!

 

[blabadie]

IMO, Disney has an inferior inside passage itinerary to the ships that are permitted to enter Glacier Bay. We would use another line to cruise Alaska aside from $. For us, Alaska cruising is about Alaska and much less about ship entertainment.

Holland America has an Inside Passage out of Vancouver WITH Glacier Bay for a better price than Disney. We will be using them when we sail Alaska (when kids get older) unless Disney's itinerary improves.

 

[txdisneymama]

We've done Alaska on Royal Carribean two times ... 2015 and 2016. The first time was on a much older, smaller ship. My kids loved it and loved the kids club on RC, but we have never cruised with Disney, so they don't know the difference. I just couldn't stomach the price for a Disney cruise. In 2016 we booked a suite and had concierge service/lounge for less than we would have paid to sail with Disney. It was well worth it, in my opinion. I wouldn't hesitate to book with Royal again.

 

[BuzzLightyearInTampa]

We sailed to Alaska on the Wonder in an inside stateroom and don't feel like we missed anything. Plenty of space all around the ship to catch the magnificent views and see wildlife, including Deck 4, Palo, the gym, and even the piano bar. We paid $2K less than a balcony would have cost, and still had access to the same amenities, excursions, etc. If you really want to see and experience Alaska, I would recommend considering adding a land portion onto your trip instead of spending thousands extra for your own balcony. But that is just my two cents.

 

[AquaDame]

Yikes, ya'll.

I am pricing out Alaska cruises for next June 2019. Disney Wonder is $13,223 for a Deluxe Oceanview Stateroom with Verandah (Jun 17, 2019).

Royal Caribbean is $6,763 for for an Oceanview Balcony (closest to Disney's Deluxe Oceanview Stateroom) (Jun 14, 2019).

Disney Wonder is more than double Royal Caribbean, and this is on RC's newer ship (2016) Ovation of the Seas. I keep thinking I'm missing something when pricing itineraries, but I don't think I am!?

We took two Disney cruises in 2013 and 2014, back when we had 1 child, but now that we have 2 children and it's 4-5 years later, I think we've been priced out of Disney - and we make a good income!

Who affords this?! There are only a few rooms left, too, for next June!

We're pretty well off but I am well aware how many more people make way more than we do out there... I assume they are the ones who afford it. Also people with fewer or no kids see a lower total price. Plus there are people who save up for years to do it once.

For what it's worth, Ovation holds 4,180 passengers at double capacity, the Wonder 1,750 (max capacity is 4,905 versus 2,400).

They also have a casino which helps bring in profit as well (the Wonder has bingo) - I'm not sure how much this makes them at the end of the day, but it is often mentioned when these threads come up.

 

[aggiedog]

We loved our DCL cruises, but not twice as much. We cruised the Med on MSC, in concierge, this summer for less than half of what non-concierge would have cost on DCL. Concierge on DCL was literally 3.5x what we paid. On MSC I didn't like the ship as much, there was no movie theater, there was a casino (that we saw once on embarkation and never again), but I had so much money left over that we spent a week in France before and still spent less than we would have on DCL. Our concierge experience on MSC was fantastic, and I have no regrets.

 

[kickash]

Don't discount deck 2. Our Alaskan cruise was our first time on Deck 2 and it was FANTASTIC. I'm a total convert. In fact, we've got deck 2 booked for our upcoming Mediterranean cruise and again in January on the Wonder for our Southern Caribbean. I never even considered staying anywhere else. Didn't price it out - didn't care. I will pick deck 2 over anything else in a heartbeat. We seriously adore deck 2. I love being right next to the water line, I love how convenient it is to get to deck 3 and the elevators are never already full when I need to ride one going up. We've stayed on decks 6 and 8 (so I'm able to compare with upper decks) and I'm here to tell you, deck 2 is hands down my favorite. Everyone in my family agreed it was great.

I am so happy to read your review of deck 2! We are booked on the Wonder deck 2 to Alaska this summer! I was very nervous about booking it because we’ve only been on the Dream and the Fantasy on higher decks, closer the pools etc. Reading this and others posters’ assessment of deck 2 is making me excited!

 

[TestingH2O]

The caveat to that statement is you should ask yourself, do you love cruising in general or do you just love Disney cruising. If you just love Disney cruising, you’re not going to be happy on other cruise lines.

This is the question I keep asking myself. I don't know how to answer it without trying something else. It all boils down to my daughter though. I honestly don't know that she would have as much fun without the Disney.

 

[darwinsrule]

The other thing to keep in mind with Alaska is that you will be spending $$$ on excursions. Unlike the standard Bahamas and Caribbean runs, you want to be out and experiencing Alaska (there will be no cheap and easy beach days). For 4 of us we easily dropped $1600+ on excurions, and those weren't the high end excursions. If you start getting in to some of the fight seeing type of trips you are taking $400 pp.

Alaska in inself if incredible, esp Glacier Bay. Remember it is all about the destination not the ship. I can promise you we didn't get off the ship going "damn I wish Mickey was with us when we were whale watching".

We used the balcony last summer in Alaska more than we have on any other trip, all things considered however we are looking at booking two connecting insides next year on Celebrity Millenium for the extra space so we can do the full North/South run. Having done a RT, the next trip is really about port times and going back to fill in the things we wanted to do but didn't have the time to.

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

This is the question I keep asking myself. I don't know how to answer it without trying something else. It all boils down to my daughter though. I honestly don't know that she would have as much fun without the Disney.

I didn’t think my kids would like Carnival as much as Disney, but we were all pleasantly surprised at how much we loved our Carnival cruises.

 

[cruiser21]

Yikes, ya'll.

I am pricing out Alaska cruises for next June 2019. Disney Wonder is $13,223 for a Deluxe Oceanview Stateroom with Verandah (Jun 17, 2019).

Royal Caribbean is $6,763 for for an Oceanview Balcony (closest to Disney's Deluxe Oceanview Stateroom) (Jun 14, 2019).

Disney Wonder is more than double Royal Caribbean, and this is on RC's newer ship (2016) Ovation of the Seas. I keep thinking I'm missing something when pricing itineraries, but I don't think I am!?

We took two Disney cruises in 2013 and 2014, back when we had 1 child, but now that we have 2 children and it's 4-5 years later, I think we've been priced out of Disney - and we make a good income!

Who affords this?! There are only a few rooms left, too, for next June!

They are offering GT rates on Alaska this June. I think a lot of people book and then cancel. I would never in a million years pay 13k for a 7 day cruise. I've cruised to Alaska on DCL and paid 3k inside room in September 2017. Alaska is nice and dcl is good, but I could win the lottery tomorrow and I still wouldn't pay 13k to do that cruise in a regular verandah.

 

[HappilyEverAfter80]

I didn’t think my kids would like Carnival as much as Disney, but we were all pleasantly surprised at how much we loved our Carnival cruises.

Same here. DS loved Royal and the kids club there. Slightly more than Disney which totally shocked us.
He’s all about Disney and still loves DCL but when it comes to cruising he prefers Royal right now.
Now... he could live in Walt Disney World

 

[Shanti]

Alaska’s port-intensive so there’s not as much time to do ship stuff anyway.

I don't know about that. DCL's standard Alaska cruise has two full days at sea, plus the glacier day in which you stay on the boat, as well. That's half the cruise spent onboard. No different than a typical Caribbean cruise in terms of the sea day/port day ratio.

 

[Intr3pid]

There are 12 of us in booked in three rooms on DCL this August for Alaska. One balcony, one oceanview, and one inside. 7 of the 12 are kids. We are probably some of your culprits in helping sell this cruise out, LOL.

If you must visit Glacier Bay, you will have to choose Princess or HAL or some of the one-off itineraries of the other lines. I doubt even RCL will cut it. And DCL certainly won't be it.

If you must do one-way to enjoy Alaska before or after the cruise, DCL won't be it. If you must venture out to northwestern part of the continent, DCL won't be it. If you have a specific itinerary in mind, DCL won't be it.

BUT - we prefer DCL for the kids. And the family time. The kids will have a blast in Alaska on the ship while others explore the remote wilderness in the ports. The family can simply enjoy the ship for 7 days - while still 'catching a break' to head out on excursions.

We also prefer DCL for the first-timers in our party. It is a vacation for them. That it can happen in the awe-inspiring surroundings of Alaska, Yukon, and BC is the icing.

We probably will do Glacier Bay or the northern itinerary in a future trip - but preferably without the kids. That will simply be a different type of vacation. Until then, we don't see any other way to combine Disney's magic, kids' fun, and Alaska's grandeur in one vacation.

 

[Shanti]

If I sailed to Alaska again, I wouldn't have a verandah. Honestly, I wouldn't choose a verandah in Alaska if it were CHEAPER than the oceanview.

Why?

 

[Ravenne]

This post had me thinking about some of the stuff DCL boasts about being included, and thus justifies their cost. Things such as kids clubs, characters, (which other lines have) and Broadway-style shows. Don't other cruise lines also have Broadway-style shows?

 

[fredandkell]

This is the question I keep asking myself. I don't know how to answer it without trying something else. It all boils down to my daughter though. I honestly don't know that she would have as much fun without the Disney.

I go with the theory that I am paying for it, so I decide ships and itinerary. When my kids start paying for trips, they can have much more say-so about cruise lines, etc. Not being snarky, just being real! I would have a conversation with my kids along the lines of “We can do Alaska on cruise line X, or we cannot go at all because Disney is too expensive, which do you prefer?” If they truly say “Disney or nothing” I say leave ‘em at home with grandma, lol! Or tell them it will be 3-4 years while you save up the money so if they want Disney that means a wait.

On a serious note I don’t think it’s possible for anyone to not have fun in Alaska regardless of line, ship, etc. Disney is far from the only way to have a good time in Alaska.

 

[mevelandry]

I go with the theory that I am paying for it, so I decide ships and itinerary. When my kids start paying for trips, they can have much more say-so about cruise lines, etc. Not being snarky, just being real! I would have a conversation with my kids along the lines of “We can do Alaska on cruise line X, or we cannot go at all because Disney is too expensive, which do you prefer?” If they truly say “Disney or nothing” I say leave ‘em at home with grandma, lol! Or tell them it will be 3-4 years while you save up the money so if they want Disney that means a wait.

On a serious note I don’t think it’s possible for anyone to not have fun in Alaska regardless of line, ship, etc. Disney is far from the only way to have a good time in Alaska.

I agree with this. When I was young, none of us in my family and friends were going to Disney and cruising was not something very popular in my part of the country (it still isn't!) ... Once my parents brought me to Wonderland and Marineland. I loved it and it was probably one of the most luxurious vacation I ever had as a child. But somehow, I managed to have fun and be very happy with our camping trips in Wasaga Beach (Ontario) in the following years and although my memories of the theme parks were amazing, I had wonderful vacations after that.

Children are more resilient (and live more in the present) than we are.