tinybiny

Our first cruise was the 3 night and it went by way too fast. We were busy the entire time and didn't even see the entire ship.

I bought mine on Etsy. If you don't find exactly what you want there, try messaging the artists directly. Many of them say to contact them if you want something different. 

I had a request through a TA for a private table and when I boarded, I check in dining changes and they said they didn't have the request. They changed it for us on the spot, though. So, when you board the ship, you can go to the dining changes and they will help you out. 

Just adding in my experience. I put the gift cards on my account when I board. I keep the cards. You can simplify by combining your gift cards at the disney gift card check balance website beforehand. If I haven't spent everything, I have the option of going to guest services on the final night to get a refund, or just waiting several days for them to credit my gift cards back.

It can take several days, I feel like it was 3 or 5 days maybe before my gift cards had a balance again. It's my understanding that I could have had the value back immediately if I went to guest services on the final night. 

It's not worth it. I've done 5 DCL and one Princess. To me, Princess had far better food options and activities for adults. That said, their entertainers seemed like they couldn't get a job anywhere DCL's entertainers seemed professional. 

You have to look at the big picture and how vacationing works out. In my case, I can't take more than a few days off in a row and not a full week. So, with DCL doing short cruises out of my home port, I'll be paying the big bucks to sail with them again. 

It's interesting that here most people are saying they won't go to Mexico, whereas on my timeshare forum, most people are saying it is ridiculous to avoid Mexico.

My husband has always had a major fear of going to mexico since a former employee of ours was detained by the police there years ago. I finally got him on board with cruising there and dang it, he saw the warning on the news last night. We are still doing our 2 night - wasn't getting off the ship anyway, but I bet I'll have to cancel my spring time cruise now. :(

I like taking the blue bus or the white bus to Mendenhall Glacier. There's no food there, so be sure to not go hungry. When you take those buses, you can stay there as long as you want. I think the buses come and go every 30 minutes. You can buy a ticket right next to where the buses park at port.

Also, take the Mount Roberts Tram up the mountain. You'll have a nice view of the harbor as you go up. There is hiking, a gift shop and a restaurant up top. I think it is $30/pp for unlimited trips up and down. You just pay for it when you get there.

Thanks, that gives me a lot to think about.

Mapleleaves, that sounds like a fantastic experience. I am considering doing that type of thing. Maybe a couple nights in Juneau and then Gustavus. We have a cruise booked now, but I just got a new job and might not be able to take enough days off for the cruise. Since I've already been to the main ports a couple times, I don't really care if I never go to any of them again, but haven't been to Glacier Bay.

While looking online, I've noticed some people say that Prince William Sound is better for glacier viewing than, Glacier Bay. So, I will look at that option, too. I think I'd be staying in Anchorage if I went that route. Glaciers are awesome, but I like wildlife even more. So, I'll probably lean towards the area that has the best chance for wildlife viewing for a shorter vacation.

I had to cancel a couple days before a cruise. I was devastated, but my husband had become very ill and couldn't travel.

I've been searching online and haven't found anything reasonable. I want to know if it is possible to visit Glacier Bay without being on a cruise ship. Is there a nearby city that does day trips/day sailings?

Tried to fix the Any way in the title, but don't see how to do it.

What specifically was so terrible? I've had really good times on cruises while overhearing other people complaining about how awful everything was. People like different stuff and that is good so that we all don't end up crowding each other out of the same place.

I usually don't like sea days. I get bored quickly. Other people love them.

I've done 2 of the Disney Alaska cruises and am scheduled for doing one on Princess next year. Princess has several itineraries, so keep that in mind when comparing and the ships also differ. I've only done a weekend cruise on Princess at this point and there were plenty of kids on the ship. I don't know anything about the Kid's Clubs, but I saw a lot of happy kids in the covered pool area. Disney has no covered pool, so that is something to keep in mind for Alaska if you think your kids will want to use the pool.

I found the food overall much better on Princess. There are more choices and you can eat whenever you are hungry. The buffet seemed to be open all the time. Entertainment isn't as good as Disney, but it is laid back and I didn't see any issues with getting a seat at a show or anything else.

On my first Alaska cruise on Disney, it rained for our beginning sea days and the kids on board seemed very bored. They were laying on the stairs (not moving out of the way), trying to lock all the doors in the bathrooms, etc. Since kids are allowed to come and go as they please in the Clubs, I think the parents thought their kids were in the clubs and not running around creating mischief. At any rate, it seemed like a lot of kids were very bored on the Wonder when it was raining. There's essentially 3 sea days in a row on Disney. The glacier day is still basically a sea day for kids. Princess might have other itineraries where the kids won't be stuck on board for 3 days in a row, which might be more pleasant/entertaining for your kids.

You are deciding between my 2 favorite places to vacation. Choose Alaska if you want gorgeous scenery and don't mind being cold. Choose Hawaii if you want to do water stuff and want a combo of nature and the big city available to you. I'd do Hawaii for April, but I've never done Alaska in April. I am just guessing it will be very cold and I'd end up spending a lot of time indoors, which is the opposite of how I like to vacation.

I sail Disney without children. It's as the others have already explained. The ship is beautiful, the staterooms are excellent, the service is very good and the entertainment is top notch - the type of shows and music that I'd pay to see back home.

The other side is that there aren't many activities for adults only. There are days where there is nothing on the schedule to do for several hours at a time and other times when 3 things are scheduled at the same time. On my last Alaska cruise, there was literally nothing on the schedule during the port days. I did spend my time in the ports, but I know some people don't. There weren't movies playing or anything.

My husband and I are both Elite so would qualify for the Platinum level.

We actually have a credit card (Chase Sapphire) that provides insurance BUT we have two elderly cats that we need to think about. We are so grateful that "cover for any reason is out there."

We cruise all the time so a credit would be fine with us. We depart on cruise number 40 in 10 days.

My recent "cancel for any reason" was due to a sick cat. You never know what kitties are going to pull next. As soon as we canceled, she got much better. :)

You may want to consider getting the Citibank double cash back mastercard. One of the benefits of the card is that it automatically gives you travel insurance for sit pets. If you have a note from the vet that says your pet needs constant care or cannot be left due to a health concern, Citibank will credit you whatever you charged to the card for the vacation. I still buy trip insurance for other reasons, but none of them cover pet illness.

Back to the OP, I don't know specifically how princesss insurance works, but other insurance I've used for cruises paid back 100% if I canceled for medical reasons (with doctor's paperwork) or 75% of the cruise cost towards a future cruise if booked within a year. So, doing the doctor paperwork and claiming medical reason was better than just using cancel for any reason.

The weather can change dramatically day by day. You may have high 60s in the ports. Glacier cruising is very cold because you are surrounded by ice. I wear long johns under my clothes on glacier days and I keep moving around to stay warm.

There are a lot of itineraries to choose from. I'd look at choices for the ports and choose based on what you want to do. If you have the time and money, a cruise tour combined with a one way cruise is probably the nicest most comprehensive way to visit.

It's normal for me to bring nuts and protein bars when I travel. I often stay so busy that my blood sugar drops and it's nice to be able to quickly remedy that.

I didn't find extra charges on Princess. In fact, I found the activities and other things that I did pay for cost less on Princess than they did on Disney. Drinks, spa services, etc, all cost me less on Princess.

What was the triple adventure in Skagway? Obviously, 3 things, but wondering what they were.

I've cruised DCL to Alaska twice and agree with what you said. Great ship, great cruise, great ports, but I did get bored on the ship. I do think they need more for adults only, but they just don't have many adults that participate in adults only events. So, that's probably why there aren't that many offered.

Generally, you want to book right away because prices normally go higher. There are some times when a cruise isn't selling out and they will offer discounted sailings when it is much closer to the sail date, but you can't count on that. If you are sure of the cruise you want, you should book it ASAP. There are some travel agents who specialize in Disney and many of them will give you some on board credit. You may end up with $25 or $50 dollars booking it through one of them. The money goes directly to your on board account for purchases on the cruise. If you shop at Costco, you can book through them and get a Costco cash card after the cruise to use at their stores.

Now that I've looked at it again, I think I just mixed up a bunch of info for this cruise and a past cruise. Does it only show my info and I'll need to make an account for husband to see his? I am seeing:

Applied Totals

Cruise Credits $100

Onboard credits $50

balance totals

Cruise credits $100

Onboard credits $15

Thanks for the info on the future cruise credit. It wasn't a non refundable deposit. I'll expect it to go back to my account if I do have to change my dates.

I have a cruise booked for next year for 2, each booked with a future cruise credit. I bought an extra set of future cruise credits at the time (2 for me and 2 for my husband). I may need to change the cruise date, which can put me on a different ship/itinerary. I transferred the credits to my TA. What I need to know is, do I just book an entirely new reservation using the other 2 cruise credits that I haven't used, yet? If so, what becomes of the 2 that I already used, but may end up cancelling?

Also, I just noticed in my account that one of us has $150 OBC and the other has $115 OBC from Princess. I thought we would both get $150 for a 7 day cruise by using the future cruise credit.

If it is CBD oil in a carry on with other medications, I doubt anyone would even notice. The major and most severe hurdle is taking it to Canada, where they take drug use extremely seriously. It could be a very devastating experience and nothing like a vacation at all. They can refuse entry to the country at the very least. Send people to jail at the worst. I recommend canceling your nephew's reservation if the medication is helping him that much.

If you have enough time in Juneau, you can take the tram up the mountain. You just buy tickets there when you get there. $30 each and allows you to go up and down the mountain as much as you want. There is a restaurant up there, but we just enjoyed hiking around a little at the top and the views of the harbor are great.

Ketchikan is a very easy port to walk around the main part of town. The shops there are very touristy, but you can walk past all of those and go to the creek street area.

Skagway is another pretty compact town that you can pretty much walk the whole thing. There are many touristy shops, but there are some authentic local artist's shops crammed in between everything else, a little museum and a botanical garden - all within a short distance to the port.

cheers its harry potter i want to see never thought about halloween that might be why not available on ship

When we went last year, we went for Harry Potter specifically, too. When it gets closer to your date, check online for the park hours. The park closed early for the Halloween Horror Nights, but the Harry Potter area closed even earlier. We were pretty disappointed on our way out of the park, thinking we could get another butter beer since we had plenty of time, but they wouldn't even allow us to enter the area. We were there on a Saturday and the wait times were about an hour for the main ride and for the magic wand shop. If you are there on a weekday, the wait times won't be as long. And, they don't have Halloween Horror Nights every night. So, you may just luck out and not have that when you visit.