|
Disney Cruise Line and Other Cruise Planning Cruise Questions and Tips. |
|
Thread Tools | Search this Thread | Display Modes |
7 Jun 17, 09:27 AM |
#1
|
|
Disney Cruise Line VIP!
|
I'm back - DCL Alaska - my thoughts and ramblings
Our trip was 4 nights in Anaheim, 5 nights San Diego to Vancouver cruise then 7 night Alaskan cruise.
First off, Geoffa is right about the Grand Californian at Disneyland. Such a beautiful hotel with great cast members, we did miss having a mini kitchenette though. Took Amtrak from Anaheim to San Diego and that was sooo easy. We'll do it again next year after the Panama Canal cruise. Very good value and they take your luggage from you which makes it super easy. Our first cruise was a repositioning one and I must say that in 20 cruises, SD port was the worst ever. We queued with guests from another cruise ship which meant the lines looped around a car park with no safety barriers and no coordination. Both sets of guests were surprised and shocked at the mess it was. Dropping cases off was across the car park which had fork lift trucks speeding around (I really do mean speeding too), cars and trucks. Absolute nightmare and so bad, we made a complaint to DCL about it. Many near misses were spotted with pedestrian Vs vehicle .. horrible embarkation experience and not what we expect. The actual cruise was great and our only port, San Francisco was lovely. The weather was awesome and we went to Alcatraz for the evening tour. personally, I wouldn't bother paying extra for the evening tour, just do the daytime one. Did the trolley bus thing too and that was great going up and down those steep hills (we stood on the back). So, Alaska ... well, this cruise had been sold to us by so many people and the scenery did not disappoint. It really has the most stunning views of any cruise we have ever been on. Our excursions were all booked DIY .. Harv and Marvs whale watching in Juneau was probably the favourite with Mick (my husband) spotting a 'hunchback' whale breaching. In his excitement, he forgot their correct name .. awesome sight though. We had booked a heli trip to the glacier with dog sledding too, but due to low cloud, we could only do a walk on the glacier. This in itself was brilliant though so we were not too disappointed thankfully. Our other excursion was a seaplane to an island to see black bears. This was the most disappointing excursion, despite us seeing 4 black bears in 2 locations. The pilot, on the 30 min flight (each way) didn't say one word to us and we couldn't talk to each other as we were front and back passengers to balance the weight. He hadn't shown us how to use the headsets so we just sat there, bored. We spoke to the manager of the company when we were dropped off at the ship (he was there to pick others up) and he said the pilot must have had a bad day as normally he tells people about the landscape, flora, fauna etc. That's all we wanted .. something about the habitat of black bears perhaps, how many there were, what they ate before the salmon got going. Anyway, disappointing for that part only. The ports of Alaska can only be reached by ship or plane and as such, they seem to think everyone wants jewellery shops For those who have been on Caribbean cruises, you'll be aware of Diamonds International, Tanzanite International etc ... how about 14 of those in one street (Juneau)? Awful places and it totally ruined the pleasure of bimbling around port towns for us. Skagway was the best and we would highly recommend Skagway Brewing Company for lunch (and a drink of course) and then dessert on 3rd Street at the place that sells Elephant Ears (OMG calorific flat donut coated in cinnamon sugar then cut in half to look like elephant ears). They are huge, at least 40cms wide! So, we had a great time as we always do, but we've done Alaska now and don't need to do it again. It was the most expensive trip we've done as the excursions were all fairly pricey, but it didn't have to be that way of course. We just had the thought of if we're doing it once, we need to do the things we really want to do. Forgot to say about Endicott Arm ... they advertise you will go to Tracy Arm, but I knew that DCL had not managed this all of last season due to the amount of ice in the water. No surprise when we were told we were going up Endicott Arm and wow wow wow .. amazing place. We dropped anchor and all just sat looking at it. We saw it calve 3 times which made our day ... fantastic and best day. So what have I missed in the past few weeks?
__________________
30 cruises with DCL and counting ... Edited at 09:31 AM. |
|
|
7 Jun 17, 05:31 PM |
#2
|
|
Imagineer
Join Date: Jan 05
|
Great review and sounds like you had an amazing time with only a few lows. Do you have any photos to share, I'd love to see them. xx
__________________
WDW Villa Jul/Aug 2005 DLP SL Jan/Feb 2006, DCR Feb 2007, Cheyenne Feb 2008, NB Nov 2009, Ibis July 2010 WDW Pop Sept 2006 WDW ASM/HRH/POP Sept 2007 free DDP WDW Regal Sun/SSR/CIAS May 2008 WDW CIAS/RPR/Cypress Pointe GV Aug 2008 WDW Highgate Park/AKV/BCV Dec 2008 WDW SSR/Pop May 2009 WDW RPR/BCV/BWV/VB/VWL/OKW/Kidani/DCL Jul/Aug 2009 WDW Dibb Villa/Regal Sun May 2010 WDW BCV/VB/DCL Oct/Nov 2010 Wedding trip! WDW SSR/Dibb Villa/VB Oct 2011 1st wedding anniversary trip! WDW OKW/VB/Peabody Aug 2013 |
|
|
8 Jun 17, 07:36 AM |
#3
|
|
Imagineer
Join Date: Jan 04
|
I loved our Alaska cruise as well, the scenery was breathtaking but I agree with you that it was the most expensive cruise we've taken. We were of the opinion that we probably wouldn't go back so we wanted to do as many tours as possible (did the helicopter / dog sledging, Float plane to a hidden lake in the mountains etc.,) and that really added to the cost, especially as there were 4 of us.
__________________
|
|
|
8 Jun 17, 07:54 AM |
#4
|
|
Imagineer
Join Date: Aug 06
|
Thanks so much for the review! It sounds like you did enjoy it but I can completely see its a one off cruise (I think it would be for me too!)
__________________
Sarah |
|
|
8 Jun 17, 09:14 AM |
#5
|
|
Very Serious Dibber
|
Enjoyed reading your account but I'm surprised at the problems you had at San Diego port. We started our Panama Canal cruise from there in April (Celebrity Infinity) and our experience was completely different - easy and fast embarkation. We walked across the road from our hotel (Marriott's Springhill suites) and onto the ship with only a few minutes' wait. What a pity it marred the start of the cruise.
The rest of your trip sounds wonderful. Our Alaskan cruise (with Princess) was probably my favourite of all. However the embarkation at Vancouver took forever!
__________________
Moira DVC Member: OKW, VB and BWV (1996) |
|
|
8 Jun 17, 08:44 PM |
#6
|
|
VIP Dibber
|
Thanks Joa for an honest review on Alaska and repo cruise... good job you were on your favourite Ship/cruise line as I guess it might have not been as diplomatic lol...
__________________
|
|
|
8 Jun 17, 08:57 PM |
#7
|
|
VIP Dibber
|
Sounds amazing (and assuming we take to cruising, it might be something we think about for a future year. Gotta do Disneyland at some point!)
__________________
DLP: day trips 2000, 2003; Cheyenne Sep 2009, Feb 2011, Nov 2018; Sequoia Lodge June 2008, May 2012; Elysee May 2012, Jan 2013, Sep 2013; Disneyland Hotel Mar 2015, Santa Fe Nov 2016; Newport Bay Sep 2017, Ibis Sep 2019, Hotel NY Art of Marvel Nov 2021
WDW: Port Orleans Riverside Dec 10; SSR Nov 14 |
|
|
9 Jun 17, 04:41 PM |
#8
|
|
Thread Starter
Disney Cruise Line VIP!
|
Tianas Place plate (how cute!)
Mick on stage in a bra (this will come as no surprise to those who know him) Arrival to San Francisco under the Golden Gate Bridge Bliss- Catfe, a cat cafe in Vancouver. Eat cake, drink tea and stroke cats! Leaving Vancouver in the sunshine
__________________
30 cruises with DCL and counting ... |
|
|
9 Jun 17, 04:52 PM |
#9
|
|
Thread Starter
Disney Cruise Line VIP!
|
On our way to Endicott Arm
Our favourite ever Palo server, Susana from Portugal. She was at our wedding dinner in 2014 on the Magic! (It's a unicorn hat I have on by the way, not Olaf) Endicott Arm - I think it's called Sawyer Glacier. Amazing! Mick drinking glacial water. Unbelievable and pure. The Wonder in Skagway This blue is water on a glacier. 25mtrs deep and the bluest of blues A couple of the Wonder (first one from a heli) Mendenhall Glacier and then Mick holding up Medenhall Glacier! Edited at 04:54 PM. |
|
|
9 Jun 17, 04:58 PM |
#10
|
|
Thread Starter
Disney Cruise Line VIP!
|
The Crown and Fin 'pub' on the Wonder.
The best pub in Skagway (Skagway Brewing Company)
__________________
30 cruises with DCL and counting ... |
|
|
Thread Tools | Search this Thread |
Display Modes | |
|
DIBB Savings |
AttractionTickets.com
Get £10 off each Disney Ticket with the code ATDIBB10 Get up to £50 off per room at Disney or Universal with the code DIBBHOTELS |
theDIBB Blog |
One of the the five worlds found in Epic Universe, How to Train Your Dragon... Read More »
Disney announced that a new nighttime show, “Disney Dreams That Soar,” will run nightly at... Read More »
Walt Disney World Resort guests can get ready to have a “glowing’’ good time when... Read More »
|
theDIBB Menu |
Exchange Rates |
US Dollar Rates
Euro Rates |
DIBB Premium Membership |
Did you know you can help support theDIBB with Premium Membership? Check out this link for more information and benefits, such as... "No adverts on theDIBB Forums" Upgrade Now |