Honeymoon Cruise to Alaska, HELP!
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Magicdreamer287 · 08-22-2012, 02:35 PM

Hello Friends!

My fiance and I are planning a DCL cruise to Alaska for our Honeymoon next June. We are spending two days in Disneyland before heading up to Vancouver to depart on the cruise.

Here's the thing....we both have NEVER been on a cruise at all!

We need some serious help! Anyone have any tips, tricks, suggestions for us.

We are big nature buffs, so naturally all of the excursions sound amazing to us. Any suggestions on those as well?

PLEASE HELP!!!!

**PixieMichele** · 08-22-2012, 05:03 PM

You are in the right place and if you love nature you are going to flip for the Alaska cruise!!!!

There are a lot of Port Adventures but they will vary based on the season and the weather and of course the cost is a factor. Look them over carefully you can always mark them for later and after full payment add the one's you're interested in to your cruise shopping cart and edit from there. Here's a link to the cruise documents from my Alaskan cruise it might give you an idea of what each port has to offer, etc.
The Practical Planner: Alaska Cruise Documents-Disney Wonder

Cruising is a lot of fun, it's my favorite kind of vacation. Once you get onboard everything is taken care of, no worrying about dining reservations or where you have to be when, etc. You will enjoy it! You will have a lot of questions, everyone does, but just relax and read along with everyone's experiences and you'll feel like a pro before you even get onboard!

Layers are key for Alaska and rain ponchos are a must!!!

lauriep · 08-22-2012, 06:09 PM

First suggestion I have is to get the PassPorters Disney Cruise Line guidebook! It will answer a lot of your questions about cruising in general and cruising with Disney in particular. There's also a section on the Alaska ports of call as well as packing tips.

Next suggestion is to go to the Cruise Trip Report forum and read a few Alaska trip reports. There are a bunch from last year and this year. Included in the various trip reports will be their experiences on excursions, packing decisions, overall impressions of the cruise.

This may be your first cruise, but it probably won't be your last! I think an Alaska cruise is a perfect choice for a honeymoon for nature-lovers.

Magicdreamer287 · 08-22-2012, 09:46 PM

Thank You!! We are very excited and can't wait! I'm super nervous to be on a boat for so long though!

**Dave Marx** · 08-22-2012, 11:59 PM

Let us know what has you worried. I have a feeling we'll be able to calm those nerves in short order.

The Alaska cruise is heaven for a nature lover, as is Vancouver. The tough part is whittling it down to what you can accomplish in three short days in your ports of call. The wonderful part is that during your full three days cruising the smooth waters of the Inside Passage, you'll be viewing magnificent forests and mountains, the occasional whale and other marine mammals, a glacier or two or three... Though there's nothing to be nervous about, chances are you'll be so captivated you'll forget what had you worried.

**chezp** · 08-23-2012, 01:42 AM

Definitely get a copy of the PassPorter Disney Cruise Line book - that will answer every question you have and probably loads that you didn't know you have!

You will love cruising Alaska with Disney - we did it last year and had an absolute ball. The only problem is picking excursions, there are just so many great ones. It's a bit like visiting a Disney park - you're only going to be able to sample a few, so you'll probably need a return cruise to sample some of the others, which is what we're planning to do.

We also went to Disneyland for a couple of days and flew up to Vancouver, same as you're planning. I don't know if you have flights booked yet, but if not, I can thoroughly recommend Air Canada - we found them to be the cheapest, once you added baggage fees in and they were a very good airline.

Magicdreamer287 · 08-23-2012, 09:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chezp

Definitely get a copy of the PassPorter Disney Cruise Line book - that will answer every question you have and probably loads that you didn't know you have!

You will love cruising Alaska with Disney - we did it last year and had an absolute ball. The only problem is picking excursions, there are just so many great ones. It's a bit like visiting a Disney park - you're only going to be able to sample a few, so you'll probably need a return cruise to sample some of the others, which is what we're planning to do.

We also went to Disneyland for a couple of days and flew up to Vancouver, same as you're planning. I don't know if you have flights booked yet, but if not, I can thoroughly recommend Air Canada - we found them to be the cheapest, once you added baggage fees in and they were a very good airline.

Thanks for this!! We are looking into Air lines and want to keep that cost as low as possible. We will def check out Air Canada.

**PixieMichele** · 08-23-2012, 08:53 PM

The sights in Alaska are really astounding...it seems like all of those elements shouldn't be allowed to be in one place. Snow capped mountains, lush vegetation and rushing waterfalls along with water that looks like glass with gorgeous glaciers protruding out of the water it's amazing.

Magicdreamer287 · 08-23-2012, 09:52 PM

Ok so what do you guys think is the best zipline adventure? Hike adventure? Sightsee adventure?

Gives SOMETHING to go with! lol

**Dave Marx** · 08-23-2012, 11:31 PM

Grouse Mountain in Vancouver has a pretty extensive zip line setup (you could end up zipping through the clouds), and it'd leave your Alaskan ports open for other activities. However, if you'd rather do it in Alaska, my recommended strategy is to zip line in Ketchikan, as both Skagway and Juneau have more to offer than Ketchikan in the way of hiking, etc.

There's a hike/snowshoe excursion in Skagway that I'd love to do, but I can't recommend it from personal experience.

There's also an appealing hiking excursion in Juneau, but you might also consider going on your own up to the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center, and take advantage of the trail network there. There's a reasonably-priced shuttle bus that runs on an hourly schedule, so you won't be at the mercy of the guided tours (which never stop there long enough for a good walk, no less a hike).

Each port has a "major scenery" specialty. In Skagway, it's the White Pass & Yukon Railroad. The big deal in Juneau is helicopter flights up to the glaciers ($$$) and earth-based visits to Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center. Ketchikan is tops for sea plane flights out into Misty Fjords.

Then, of course, there is a pretty good book about all this (hint, hint)

**PixieMichele** · 08-24-2012, 06:08 PM

We did the Mendenhall Glacier and Mount Roberts Tramway through the DCL tour and they gave us about 50-60minutes at the glacier and the "nugget run trail" (or something like that) is a 45 minute hike for brisk hikers (that's what the guide said). Just to give you an idea of how much you want to accomplish vs. tour excursion times for the glacier.

modisney · 08-26-2012, 12:48 PM

Do get a copy of Passporter. I read it twice before our 1st cruise and felt very prepared when we boarded. Read these boards non stop. Great tips and info. This might be overkill but I got a a sectioned spiral notebook and had headings like shipboard tips, excursion tips, port tips etc. It was easy for me to reference while planning and I could highlight things etc. One piece of advice that I think helps me stay organized in our stateroom is the over-the-door shoe organizer. We kept camera chargers there, KTTW cards/lanyards there, kept small electronics there. It really helped out. When we did AK in '11 we did one of the "hop on, hop off" tours of the city and enjoyed it. We spent lots of time at Granville Island and did the additional tour through Stanley Park and the Capillano Suspension Bridge. Enjoyed them all! In Skagway we did the Yukon & White Pass tour but through an independent tour company, Chilkoot Charter & Tours. They did an excellent job and I would recommend them. I choose them vs. DCL for that trip because of the smaller tour group size (there were 10 in our group) and they included several photo op stops along the way. Our tour was the bus up (small vehicle IE: the buses you ride to pick up your rental car) and the train ride back. In Juneau we did one of DCL's dog sledding tours. Pricey but so worth it. It was one of their more expensive options but not the dog musher for a day. We helicoptered to a glacier (OMG, the views!), spent time with the dogs, had our ride which was about 20 minutes, spent a little more time with the dogs then reboarded the helicopters. I'm so glad we did that. In Ketchikan we did the Rainforest Sanctuary Walk through DCL as I wanted our DDs (then 13 and 15) to learn about the temperate rainforest. We all enjoyed it. Learned quite a bit. Saw salmon and eagles on the tour, learned about eagles and owls at their raptor center and watched a totem carver at work (the cedar small in his shop was wonderful). I also read a few tour books for ideas for plan B while in each port in case our excursions didn't work out too. It's a wonderful cruise, the scenery is amazing. The fact that it's light out until close to bedtime is neat. Seeing a glacier, wow! We'll definitely do this one again. Enjoy and happy planning.

Magicdreamer287 · 09-02-2012, 06:39 AM

All of this information is great so far! Does anyone know if you can use the swimming pools on the ship? I mean Alaska is cold right? So are you able to swim or is it too cold?

Sounds silly, I know. I just want to get the most out of the trip.

lauriep · 09-02-2012, 07:56 AM

The temps during the day vary a lot from cruise to cruise. The cruise the week before mine they had warm temps and sunshine. On my cruise it was mostly overcast and quite cold. People did swim, though! There were people in sweatshirts on deck, and one or two people in swimsuits in the pools and hottubs.

**Dave Marx** · 09-03-2012, 10:55 PM

The pools are heated, and it's not particularly breezy on the pool deck, but only the hardy tend to hit the pools. I was on an Alaska cruise on another line, which had a retractable roof over the pool. Even with the air around the pool a steamy 80 degrees, the pool still didn't get a whole lot of use. I think most folks just don't think about swimming after looking at a pile of snow and ice.

Hot tubs, though, are another story.