Please convince me...

[trishy]

Having gone on RCCL for an Alaskan cruise, I'd say save the money! It was a beautiful trip and I don't regret not cruising through Alaska on DCL with my then 6 year old. We had a blast! Just finished my 17th sailing with DCL but I'm looking at a more extensive Alaskan cruise via Princess this time around.

 

[trishy]

Just wanted to follow up with everyone and say thank you again! We ended up booking a 7-night inside passage round-trip cruise on the Grand Princess next July. Seems like there weren't many ports on the itinerary (just Juneau, Skagway, and Ketchikan (on the 4th of July), with a day of viewing in the Endicott Arm), but that's ok, I felt the price was pretty good, and we probably won't plan to do many excursions. It was exactly $11,909 for everyone (7 people), split between a mini suite with balcony cabin and an inside cabin across the hall. That price includes an upgrade to the "Princess plus" package that has all the drinks/wifi/gratuities and a few other things included. We also get $100 onboard credit and another $630 in Costco shop cards back (plus our 2% Costco executive membership bonus).

Do me a favor and affirm my purchase and plans so I don't feel bad about it lol! We're really excited and would appreciate recommendations for two things:

1) the best "value" excursions for the three locations I named above (7 people gets pricey fast, so budget-friendly options are appreciated)
2) recommendations on getting from seattle to vancouver (shuttle/car rental/train?) since we will be flying southwest and they don't fly into Vancouver directly. (I'd consider direct flights to Vancouver on another airline, but we have the SW companion pass, points, and a huge flight credit to use up.)

Otherwise, I guess I will be looking for a 2026 DCL Caribbean cruise next! I understand they have both lookout cay and castaway cay now, so I hope I can find an itinerary that hits both!

Again, what a great community here, I appreciate everyone's input and advice!

Check out Costco car rental prices. I've been happy with them for our trips because there's no penalty for cancelling and rebooking if price comes down. I've known friends who have been happy with the train, though I haven't done that personally.

 

[tidefan]

Just wanted to follow up with everyone and say thank you again! We ended up booking a 7-night inside passage round-trip cruise on the Grand Princess next July. Seems like there weren't many ports on the itinerary (just Juneau, Skagway, and Ketchikan (on the 4th of July), with a day of viewing in the Endicott Arm), but that's ok, I felt the price was pretty good, and we probably won't plan to do many excursions. It was exactly $11,909 for everyone (7 people), split between a mini suite with balcony cabin and an inside cabin across the hall. That price includes an upgrade to the "Princess plus" package that has all the drinks/wifi/gratuities and a few other things included. We also get $100 onboard credit and another $630 in Costco shop cards back (plus our 2% Costco executive membership bonus).

Do me a favor and affirm my purchase and plans so I don't feel bad about it lol! We're really excited and would appreciate recommendations for two things:

1) the best "value" excursions for the three locations I named above (7 people gets pricey fast, so budget-friendly options are appreciated)
2) recommendations on getting from seattle to vancouver (shuttle/car rental/train?) since we will be flying southwest and they don't fly into Vancouver directly. (I'd consider direct flights to Vancouver on another airline, but we have the SW companion pass, points, and a huge flight credit to use up.)

Otherwise, I guess I will be looking for a 2026 DCL Caribbean cruise next! I understand they have both lookout cay and castaway cay now, so I hope I can find an itinerary that hits both!

Again, what a great community here, I appreciate everyone's input and advice!

Have a great trip! If I remember correctly, the Grand is one of the few Grand Class ships with an Alfredo's. Definitely take advantage of that. The pizza's there are fantastic. The pizza on the pool deck is good too!

 

[GatorMomInNC]

Just wanted to follow up with everyone and say thank you again! We ended up booking a 7-night inside passage round-trip cruise on the Grand Princess next July. Seems like there weren't many ports on the itinerary (just Juneau, Skagway, and Ketchikan (on the 4th of July), with a day of viewing in the Endicott Arm), but that's ok, I felt the price was pretty good, and we probably won't plan to do many excursions. It was exactly $11,909 for everyone (7 people), split between a mini suite with balcony cabin and an inside cabin across the hall. That price includes an upgrade to the "Princess plus" package that has all the drinks/wifi/gratuities and a few other things included. We also get $100 onboard credit and another $630 in Costco shop cards back (plus our 2% Costco executive membership bonus).

Do me a favor and affirm my purchase and plans so I don't feel bad about it lol! We're really excited and would appreciate recommendations for two things:

1) the best "value" excursions for the three locations I named above (7 people gets pricey fast, so budget-friendly options are appreciated)
2) recommendations on getting from seattle to vancouver (shuttle/car rental/train?) since we will be flying southwest and they don't fly into Vancouver directly. (I'd consider direct flights to Vancouver on another airline, but we have the SW companion pass, points, and a huge flight credit to use up.)

Otherwise, I guess I will be looking for a 2026 DCL Caribbean cruise next! I understand they have both lookout cay and castaway cay now, so I hope I can find an itinerary that hits both!

Again, what a great community here, I appreciate everyone's input and advice!

Does Princess offer a transfer? I did a transfer by bus from Seattle to Vancouver and it wasn't too expensive and it was a very easy trip. With so many though, maybe you could do a one way car rental? Just requires more effort on your part than just booking a transfer with your cruise line.

Alaska is beautiful - enjoy your trip!

 

[WeaverRN10]

I did an Alaska cruise on Quantum 2 years ago, and I'm getting ready to do one on the Wonder next summer - I chose RCL primarily because Alaska is a port heavy(ish) itinerary, and figured I didn't need the Disney bells and whistles. I was able to get a Junior Suite for my then 12 year old daughter and me for significantly less than a veranda stateroom on DCL (no surprise there). Overall, the ship was fine. All the amenities you mentioned, we didn't really take advantage of. Bumper cars doesn't happen very often (it's a multi use space). Northstar was a 30 minute experience, not worth doing more than once. We didn't try iFly, though I was a little interested, and Flowrider didn't seem appealing with the cooler Alaska weather. My daughter had zero interest in the "kids club" activities after she went once - all of the tweens/teens were lumped together in a single area, and at the age of 12 she did not care for that at all. She did enjoy her time at Edge on our DCL cruise last summer, so it's not that she doesn't enjoy the kids clubs...RCL just didn't work for her. I didn't really enjoy the shopping mall feel of the central area of Quantum - not magical at all. And I avoided the casino like the plague. The location of the smoking areas near the pool decks on Quantum was really off-putting as well - they were generally on the quickest path for us, so we'd either have to detour or hold our breath. And I guess I'm a kid at heart, because I missed having the DCL activities like trivia, towel folding, and stuff like that. Don't get me wrong, we didn't hate our RCL cruise, we did enjoy it, but mostly for the Alaska stuff. The ship stuff was just meh for us. That being said, would I do RCL again for Alaska? Maybe, knowing what I do now. But I'm looking forward to trying Alaska DCL style!

But honestly, doing Quantum for a busy port itinerary can be a good choice. Save DCL for one of the less port intensive cruises, so you can really enjoy the ship (and you won't have to pay the premium Alaska $$ they charge).

We were on the Quantum June 2023, for Alaska, we didn't find the ship that enjoyable. Our kids were 10,8 then and we had times were we were bored. We loved Alaska! Those Seas days were tough though trying to stay busy. Like you said the bumper cars were not an all the time thing. Fighting for space to play ball was hard, not having a remote or paddle for the other games was difficult. We didn' t pre book skating so that was out. The kids didn't want to go to the kids club, tried wasn't a fan. It was not something my family enjoyed. The food was also not very good in our opinion. We ultimately was a party of 9 and no one enjoyed the food.