Disney vs all other cruise lines

[JM_97]

If you don't mind me picking your brain, do you have any research or recommendations for the best line or ship for Alaska for a family with teens? We like DCL for the beautiful themed decor, shows, the private islands, teen/kids clubs etc. But for such a port-heavy trip (that's not in the Bahamas where their islands are), we don't want to feel like we had to cut land/port time short to go back for a meal or show or something. I figure for Alaska, we will mostly be waking up early to eat and be ready to disembark, will be at port stops/excursions, then going back for dinner, maybe a little entertainment, then sleep and repeat. Everyone seems to say RCL. But, again, would we even benefit from the things the ship offers? I'm honestly thinking we do HA or something that is just clean, comfortable, and decent food.

Unfortunately I have never been to Alaska, but it is on my bucket list!

 

[tidefan]

If you don't mind me picking your brain, do you have any research or recommendations for the best line or ship for Alaska for a family with teens? We like DCL for the beautiful themed decor, shows, the private islands, teen/kids clubs etc. But for such a port-heavy trip (that's not in the Bahamas where their islands are), we don't want to feel like we had to cut land/port time short to go back for a meal or show or something. I figure for Alaska, we will mostly be waking up early to eat and be ready to disembark, will be at port stops/excursions, then going back for dinner, maybe a little entertainment, then sleep and repeat. Everyone seems to say RCL. But, again, would we even benefit from the things the ship offers? I'm honestly thinking we do HA or something that is just clean, comfortable, and decent food.

Honestly, if not DCL, I would pick Holland America or Princess for Alaska, as they both have itineraries that go to Glacier Bay. Also, as these are the 2 lines that have been going to Alaska for the longest, they also tend to get priority in docking spots. HAL probably skews a little bit older than Princess.

With Princess, class of ship would be something to think about (Royal class vs. Grand class). IMHO, the Royal class ships have a much better buffet and more food choices.

One thing about DCL's R/T out of Vancouver to consider, however, is that it does the complete inside passage, going up the eastern side of Vancouver Island. That is a big, big plus to any cruise.

 

[peder]

By the end of this year, we will have done 2 European and 2 East Asian cruises, none with DCL. There's so little geographic variety with Disney cruises since they focus heavily on the Caribbean and their private islands. If you're interested in seeing more of the world, you're best off trying other lines. As tidefan mentioned above, Princess/HAL have priority with Alaska routes, they always seem to get the best choice of ports and times. Same thing with MSC in Europe. I think it's important to shop around with a focus on itinerary (and looking carefully at the actual hours in each port, because the same cruise itinerary on two different ships or different lines can have surprisingly different times in each port).

 

[Pinkjgray]

I think Disney is the best, but since I don't have children it's hard to justify it every time, so I've opened up to other lines.

Umm, I don’t have any children and I’m planning my fourth DCL cruise! Treat yourself because YOLO!

 

[DianaMB333]

We are doing two weekend cruises back to back this spring - one weekend Disney Wish, the second Utopia of the Seas. I'm excited to compare them both (newer ships, both are 3 night Port Canaveral cruises with stops in Nassau and their respective private islands - about as close a comparison as you can do fairly). We have balcony staterooms booked for both of them as well, to try to give a fair comparison.

We are longtime Royal Caribbean cruisers and have also done Carnival and Norwegian. My last Disney cruise was in 2001. We are Magic Key holders and DVC members, so I'm curious to see the experiences firsthand so closely in time.

Looking forward to seeing your reviews afterwards pls!! Enjoy the trips!!

 

[Gdes1]

Honestly, if not DCL, I would pick Holland America or Princess for Alaska, as they both have itineraries that go to Glacier Bay. Also, as these are the 2 lines that have been going to Alaska for the longest, they also tend to get priority in docking spots. HAL probably skews a little bit older than Princess.

With Princess, class of ship would be something to think about (Royal class vs. Grand class). IMHO, the Royal class ships have a much better buffet and more food choices.

One thing about DCL's R/T out of Vancouver to consider, however, is that it does the complete inside passage, going up the eastern side of Vancouver Island. That is a big, big plus to any cruise.

This is all great, thank you.

 

[We’reAllMadHere]

1. The elitist and judgmental mentality I see on the boards about people who choose to sail other cruise lines. I sail Carnival. I don’t drink, smoke or have a single tattoo. I have never seen a fight. I don’t stay up late enough to see drunk people. According to people here that is all there is on other lines. I do like to have fun, laugh, be with my family, relax and see some amazing places.

I’ve seen drunk people at WDW, especially at Epcot, but I’ve never seen an overly drunk person on a Carnival, Royal, or NCL cruise. I would guess it’s more common on short weekend party cruises? I’m sure all lines have their problem areas.

I am excited about the lack of indoor smoking on Disney ships. We like to visit the casinos on ships but we won’t miss the smoke and how it permeates other areas of the ship, especially on NCL.

 

[DisneYE]

Human behavior is just SO fascinating! I hope DCL doesn't cave to the casino thing.

If they didn't cave for the Adventure ship that's coming up in December from Singapore (majority of cruisers being Asian, which tend to smoke a lot and love casinos) then you can rest assured a casino won't ever be a thing with DCL

 

[RiRLPC-OG]

I was really worried about the upsell too but after sailing Royal we got one person who asked if we wanted to add on speciality dining one day at the buffet and that was it. I have DCL trying to sell me water packages\coolers more aggressively. We added on the soda package before the cruise for $10 per person.

Now we did get a steal of a deal- $790 for 2 ppl, 4 nights, oceanview balcony guaranteed (similar to DCL's VGT rates), on Allure of the Seas with a stop at Coco Cay. Did not pay for a thing at Coco Cay other than a single adult cocktail and a beach float rental (similar to what I would have done on DCL). My son LOVED the pool with the underwater speakers. The beach was not as nice as Castaway but the shows on Royal were better than DCL- Aqua show, Ice Skating show (how do they do backflips on skates while on a moving ship is mind blowing to me), Comedy shows, and Mamma Mia is as good as any National Tour I have seen of it (and I didn't need to shell out $70+ a person to see it).

I would argue nowadays Universal isn't upselling anymore than WDW is and if you try another cruise line you might also realize they aren't approaching you to buy anything more than DCL is. If you can deal with the water package\cooler pitch DCL does you will be fine with Royal.

I actually have never had dcl even ask me if I wanted to buy water. But, we don't go to the sail away party and it may be happening there because I know where the coolers are stored. My husband doesn't like noise. We avoid the sail away and pirate night.

 

[RiRLPC-OG]

I’ve seen drunk people at WDW, especially at Epcot, but I’ve never seen an overly drunk person on a Carnival, Royal, or NCL cruise. I would guess it’s more common on short weekend party cruises? I’m sure all lines have their problem areas.

I am excited about the lack of indoor smoking on Disney ships. We like to visit the casinos on ships but we won’t miss the smoke and how it permeates other areas of the ship, especially on NCL.

Oh we were at Grand Cayman and we were getting back onto our ship. This was right after covid. Not only did carnival not have a tent to wash and sanitize like Disney did but they had a long line of very very intoxicated people being loud and obnoxious and it was THEN that we said we will NEVER experience Carnival. and I am ok with that!

 

[bakerworld]

DH trusts Disney, even though we can see how the changes over the years have reduced the service. I still can't believe they eliminated the OBC from the Passholder program when it is such a small perk already. Whatever. I think DCL's focus on the Bahamas and the Carribean is inspired by the Land/Sea packages, but that's JMO. As for other cruise lines, both our daughter and my sisters went on other cruise lines with none enjoying the experience past day 4. My cousin loves NCL but her husband chooses Haven because they didn't feel NCL policed the adult areas well. This was also a complaint of my sisters on the lines they used. All of that leads me back to expensive DCL.

 

[mjkacmom]

If you don't mind me picking your brain, do you have any research or recommendations for the best line or ship for Alaska for a family with teens? We like DCL for the beautiful themed decor, shows, the private islands, teen/kids clubs etc. But for such a port-heavy trip (that's not in the Bahamas where their islands are), we don't want to feel like we had to cut land/port time short to go back for a meal or show or something. I figure for Alaska, we will mostly be waking up early to eat and be ready to disembark, will be at port stops/excursions, then going back for dinner, maybe a little entertainment, then sleep and repeat. Everyone seems to say RCL. But, again, would we even benefit from the things the ship offers? I'm honestly thinking we do HA or something that is just clean, comfortable, and decent food.

I’ve heard princess is the best for Alaska.

 

[mjkacmom]

DH trusts Disney, even though we can see how the changes over the years have reduced the service. I still can't believe they eliminated the OBC from the Passholder program when it is such a small perk already. Whatever. I think DCL's focus on the Bahamas and the Carribean is inspired by the Land/Sea packages, but that's JMO. As for other cruise lines, both our daughter and my sisters went on other cruise lines with none enjoying the experience past day 4. My cousin loves NCL but her husband chooses Haven because they didn't feel NCL policed the adult areas well. This was also a complaint of my sisters on the lines they used. All of that leads me back to expensive DCL.

What adult areas? They usually designate a pool as adult only (and police it). Ships with Spice don’t let kids in, no child is going into the casino, or spa. There can be a lot of kids in the Haven, especially holidays.

 

[lilsonicfan]

If you don't mind me picking your brain, do you have any research or recommendations for the best line or ship for Alaska for a family with teens? We like DCL for the beautiful themed decor, shows, the private islands, teen/kids clubs etc. But for such a port-heavy trip (that's not in the Bahamas where their islands are), we don't want to feel like we had to cut land/port time short to go back for a meal or show or something. I figure for Alaska, we will mostly be waking up early to eat and be ready to disembark, will be at port stops/excursions, then going back for dinner, maybe a little entertainment, then sleep and repeat. Everyone seems to say RCL. But, again, would we even benefit from the things the ship offers? I'm honestly thinking we do HA or something that is just clean, comfortable, and decent food.

We sailed on HAL's Koningsdam to Alaska and we all thought it was amazing - we have also done Princess (short one), NCL and RCCL to Alaska. HAL beat them all. The Glacier Bay day was truly one of the best days I've ever had cruising. (Note - read the itineraries carefully, not all Princess cruises go to Glacier Bay, and I'm not sure if all HAL do either!) The Koningsdam is a newer HAL ship but still a smaller size, perhaps just a shade bigger than Magic & Wonder. You know what the best feature was - it's the retractable roof! It allowed kids to swim, adults to sit in the hot tub, we watched "outdoor" movies, all without being cold.

When we sailed RCCL to Alaska we took one of their smaller/older ships. It was fine, nothing to write home about. But no Glacier Bay. Some of the bigger RCCL ships that start from Seattle have a bit more to offer, but I'd definitely look closer at HAL.

 

[bakerworld]

What adult areas? They usually designate a pool as adult only (and police it). Ships with Spice don’t let kids in, no child is going into the casino, or spa. There can be a lot of kids in the Haven, especially holidays.

What all said was kids are at all the pools, except for the Haven, which is why my cousins always do Haven. None of them do the casino or the spas. DCL has a fairly large adult area that I have rarely seen older kids access and not any of the young kids. If the teens stay too long or try and sit with their relatives/parents, they are nicely asked to leave.

 

[We’reAllMadHere]

What all said was kids are at all the pools, except for the Haven, which is why my cousins always do Haven. None of them do the casino or the spas. DCL has a fairly large adult area that I have rarely seen older kids access and not any of the young kids. If the teens stay too long or try and sit with their relatives/parents, they are nicely asked to leave.

My kid has definitely enjoyed the Haven pool. I would hate for someone to book the expense of Haven thinking that it’s kid-free.

How is DCL with chair hogs? Some lines say they’ll remove stuff left on chairs too long but enforcement seems rare.

 

[dreamer17555]

How is DCL with chair hogs? Some lines say they’ll remove stuff left on chairs too long but enforcement seems rare.

IMO not enough enforcement on DCL with chair hogs but I also feel like fewer people choose to hog chairs on DCL. The people who drop off their stuff on the adult round lounge chairs and leave it there all day are my pet peeve on DCL.

 

[mjkacmom]

What all said was kids are at all the pools, except for the Haven, which is why my cousins always do Haven. None of them do the casino or the spas. DCL has a fairly large adult area that I have rarely seen older kids access and not any of the young kids. If the teens stay too long or try and sit with their relatives/parents, they are nicely asked to leave.

The haven pools allow children in them. Every NCL ship I’ve sailed on had a designated adult pool. Spice H2O is an adult area on the newer ships. There are complaints during school holidays from folks who spent big bucks to have the haven pools and hot tubs filled with children.

 

[holula]

I am excited about the lack of indoor smoking on Disney ships. We like to visit the casinos on ships but we won’t miss the smoke and how it permeates other areas of the ship, especially on NCL.

This is what has now put me off sailing NCL - I’ve always had asthma but since the last time I sailed with them it’s got a lot worse and I know I wouldn’t cope with that! There has only been one DCL cruise I’ve ever found it an issue on where it kept seeping into the adult area.

 

[We’reAllMadHere]

This is what has now put me off sailing NCL - I’ve always had asthma but since the last time I sailed with them it’s got a lot worse and I know I wouldn’t cope with that! There has only been one DCL cruise I’ve ever found it an issue on where it kept seeping into the adult area.

Unfortunately several ships have the casino adjacent to the open three-deck small atrium area. I can’t recall if they adjusted for the newest ships. Bliss is the newest we have been on. We looked at Viva, etc, but we were disappointed by the lack of a decent splash pad for that size of ship. Also frankly we think the go karts and the space they take up are dumb. Other love it. To each their own.

We have not found smoking to be an issue on Royal except on the casino. Carnival does make you walk through the casino in some cases. I am glad to hear that’s not an issue on DCL.

ETA: I would say that the majority of areas (restaurants, etc.) were not permeated by smoke, but we definitely did notice it while walking through the area.