7 night alaska disney cruise

Disney Alaska Cruise Ultimate Guide for a 7-Night Trip

Ready to take a once-in-a-lifetime Disney Cruise to Alaska? Beautiful scenery, rich Gold Rush history, and amazing wildlife are all part of what you’ll get on a cruise to Alaska with Disney. But how can you make the most of it? As the most offered Disney Alaska Cruise sailing, the 7-Night Itinerary on the Disney Wonder brings you to Alaska’s Inner Passage, and along the Alaskan Coastline. If you’re looking for Alaska cruise tips, here is everything we did on our Disney Alaska Cruise that may help you in planning yours.

• 1 Taking A Disney Cruise to Alaska
• 2 How to Get to Vancouver for a Disney Cruise to Alaska
• 3 Alaska Cruise from Vancouver British Columbia Canada | Day 1
• 4 Disney Alaska Cruise Day At Sea | Day 2
• 5 Alaskan Glacier Viewing Day Disney Cruise At Sea | Day 3
• 6 Skagway Alaska Cruise Port | Day 4
• 7 Juneau Alaska Cruise Port | Day 5
• 8 Ketchikan Alaska Cruise Port | Day 6
• 9 Disney Alaska Cruise Day at Sea | Day 7
• 10 Vancouver British Columbia Canada | Day 8
• 11 Disney Alaska Cruise Shore Excursions
• 12 Disney Alaska Cruise Tips
• 13 Disney Alaska Cruise Deals

Taking A Disney Cruise to Alaska

Whether this is your first Disney Cruise or just one you’ve wanted to do for a long time, know that a Disney Cruise to Alaska is a BIG DEAL! Exploring the last frontier via Disney Cruise Ship is unparalleled, and there are a lot of things to consider if this is your next family vacation. From Planning a Disney Cruise to Alaska to knowing What to Pack for a Disney Alaska Cruise , you may find yourself getting a bit overwhelmed. But, never fear! We’re sharing all our experiences in the posts on this blog to help you get the most out of your Disney Alaska Cruise.

Where does a Disney Cruise to Alaska Depart From?

Disney Cruise Line offers 5-night, 7-night, 8-night, and 9-night Alaskan cruises from Vancouver. As such all Disney Alaska cruises start and end in the city of Vancouver in British Columbia, Canada.

Where does a Disney Alaska Cruise Go?

A Disney Alaska Cruise on the Disney Wonder sets sail from Vancouver,  Canada, and brings you all the way to Skagway along Alaska’s southeastern coast. Making a few stops at ports along the Alaska coastline along the way, we wanted to chart our journey here so you could see all the moving parts included in an Alaska Cruise. This post deep dives into our 7-Night Alaska Cruise from Vancouver, Canada . Covering an Alaskan Cruise Itinerary for a Disney Alaska Cruise that stops at Skagway, Juneau, and Ketchikan .

Do any Disney Alaska Cruises leave from Seattle?

Disney Cruise Line does not depart from Seattle, as they depart from Vancouver, Canada. However, there are other Cruises to Alaska that depart from Seattle. Princess Cruises, Holland America Line, Norwegian Cruise Lines, Celebrity Cruises, and Royal Caribbean all offer roundtrip Alaska cruises that sail from Seattle, Washington.

Taking the Disney Wonder to Alaska

Disney Cruise Line’s current Alaska-designated ship is the Disney Wonder; one of our favorite ships. If you’ve never sailed on this boat, be sure to check out our posts for everything you need to know about the Disney Wonder to help you feel at home onboard.

• Disney Wonder Cruise Restaurants
• Disney Wonder Cruise Ship Guide

How to Get to Vancouver for a Disney Cruise to Alaska

Much like trips to Disney Aulani in Hawaii, if you don’t live on the West Coast, half the battle is getting there. As such we went back and forth on the pros and cons of Flying into Vancouver for a Disney Cruise, or Taking the Train to Vancouver for a Disney Cruise. Of course, after seeing prices from our local airport to Vancouver International Airport ( YVR) and hearing some horror stories about how long it takes to get through Customs when you fly in, we decided the train would be best. So, we booked airline tickets from our home airport to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport ( SEA), which kept us in-country and out of long customs lines. We then headed to the Embassy Suites Hotel , which is located right next door to the King Street Station. This is where we grabbed the Amtrak Cascades Train  and headed for Vancouver.

Alaska Airlines

By far the Best Airline for Alaska Travel, Alaska Airlines is a good flight experience all around. Still offering free non-alcoholic beverages and in-flight snacks, Alaska Airlines is worth the look. Plus, baggage costs were cheaper than most airlines and the whole process was easy. While Alaska Airlines doesn’t offer an Alaska Cruise with Airfare package, there are many ways to make your travel easier with a travel agent. 

Amtrak Cascade Train from Seattle to Vancouver

A bonus of taking the Amtrak Cascades Train from Seattle to Vancouver is that the Customs officer simply checks each passport while guests are on the train. No lines. About a 4-hour ride from Seattle to Vancouver’s Pacific Central Station, the train offers nice seating, ample overhead baggage storage, a baggage car, and a small cafe offering packaged snacks and coffee. The views from the train are worth the trip and great if you’re looking for a leisurely start to your vacation.

Vancouver Hotels for a Disney Cruise to Alaska

By far the BEST hotel in Vancouver for your Disney Cruise to Alaska, the Pan Pacific Hotel Vancouver is located on top of the Cruise Terminal. While there are plenty of other hotels nearby, staying at the Pan Pacific means that you can literally ask the bellman to take your luggage the morning of your departure, and they will make sure it gets on the ship for you! Just be sure to have your Disney Wonder luggage tags attached.

We also like the Pan Pacific Hotel Vancouver for your Disney Alaska Cruise, because being this close to the cruise port means you can actually watch the boat come in the morning of your embarkation day.

The Fairmont Waterfront Hotel is also near Canada Place and another easy walk to the Crusie terminal. While we didn’t stay here, it would be a great alternative if you were looking for somewhere close that you could walk to, and tote your own luggage back and forth, without the need for an Uber to port.

Alaska Cruise from Vancouver British Columbia Canada | Day 1

Arriving in Vancouver for your Disney Cruise to Alaska means that you’ll be headed to Canada Place ; home to the Vancouver Sails and the Cruise Port Terminal. This building includes a massive convention center but is also home to the Pan Pacific Hotel Vancouver, a Starbucks, the Canadian Historical Trail, the Flying over Canada Attraction, and several eateries to fill the time. Extremely walkable, you can get a taste of Vancouver just by being in this area. All guests should be Onboard by 4 pm for Embarkation Day . So be sure to check out your details from the Disney Cruise Line Check-in Process for your Port Arrival Time.

Disney Cruise Line App

As soon as you board the ship you can access the Disney Cruise Line App. Simply TURN ON Airplane Mode and Connect to the Disney Cruise Line Wi-Fi. Then open your Disney Cruise Line App. Once onboard and in the app you can see onboard activities, the time for the sail away party, the drinks of the day, and make any last-minute purchases for excursions or classes onboard. Activities are posted for each day and show the day, time, and location of each. Plus, you can heart the activities you like so you can keep track of your favorite things and when they’re happening.

Lunch on the Ship

If your port arrival time happens around lunchtime, then be sure to check out Cabanas or whichever Rotational Dining Restaurant on the Disney Wonder is serving up lunch on your embarkation day. In the past, we’ve eaten lunch at both Triton’s and Tianas onboard the Disney Wonder. Both offer a sit-down dining experience and can give you a chance to relax and make your plans for the evening. If choosing to head to Cabanas, know that this quick-service restaurant gets pretty crowded. Lined with food stations this restaurant offers a variety of seafood, salads, sandwiches, and more. Additional seating can be found on deck as well, so if the weather is nice, it’s most likely your best bet to manage the crowds.

Disney Cruise Sail Away Party

No Disney Cruise would be complete without a Sail Away Party, and sailing away to Alaska is something to celebrate! As your debarkation time nears head to the upper decks to get a good view of the stage, and FunnelVision. This is where the magic happens. Grab a drink or ice cream and settle into your spot for the Sail Away Party show. Filled with catchy songs and Disney friends, this is a great way to get the cruise party started. And since the entertainment team is part of this show, it’s the first time you get to “meet” them too! Take note of faces and names, as this team leads all the activities onboard the ship and will become your fast friends over the next 7 days.

Kid’s Club Open Houses

Day one on a Disney Cruise often means the opportunity to explore the ship and get to know the Kid’s Club spaces. We talk about the Kid’s Clubs on the Disney Wonder in our Disney Wonder Cruise Ship Guide , but if you’re looking to get the kids settled be sure to check out the open houses and get them ready. Times and details can be found in the Disney Cruise Line App, often referred to as the Disney Navigator, once you’re onboard.

50MB FREE Internet 

Let us just say, Disney Cruise Wi-Fi is generally horrible; yes, even when you pay $90 extra for it. And we’d be remiss if we didn’t at least mention it in this Disney Alaska Cruise Guide. That said, be sure to give yourself a head start by signing up for the Free 50MB you have available to you on the FIRST DAY ONLY. This is able to be used throughout your cruise, but many can’t make it last that long. Here are some tried and true tips.

• Disable ALL notifications on your phone. Otherwise, as soon as you claim the credit, it will get used, in less than a minute, due to notifications.
• Turn OFF Background Refresh. Typically accessible from Settings- General. Otherwise, every app you have will use your wi-fi for updates, without you knowing it.
• Sign in to the Disney Cruise App, and click on Connect to the Internet.
• Once logged in “Claim” your Free 50 MB.
• LOG OUT! By far the most important thing to know. If you don’t log out once you’re done using the internet it will stay “ON” the entire time and you’ll burn through it in minutes.
• Note, if you’re hoping to make the most of the free MB offered to you, we recommend being mindful of the websites you’re visiting. Videos, Ads and more can bleed you dry in MB fairly quickly.

Disney Alaska Cruise Day At Sea | Day 2

Disney Cruises offer opportunities to see wildlife at sea, the Northern Lights, and shore excursions you won’t experience elsewhere. And every Disney Cruise offers ample opportunities for all ages to have fun at sea. From pool time, movies in the theaters, and classes for adults to family-friendly crafts and activities, there is plenty to do onboard for your Disney Cruise Day at Sea. On a Disney Alaska Cruise, however, you’re offered even more opportunities to learn about Alaska, in addition to all the other fun stuff of course.

Alaska Wildlife Cruise Viewing

Depending on the time of year you visit, there is a variety of Alaskan wildlife you can see on a Disney Cruise to Alaska. Seals, Whales, Eagles, and even bears can be seen from the boat throughout your cruise. While an Alaska small ship cruise can get you closer to some of the wildlife at sea, those extra excursions do cost extra, so be sure to check your options ahead of time if you’re hoping to add those excursions to your cruise.

Alaskan Naturalist Talks Onboard

We had several opportunities throughout the cruise to learn about the landscape, ocean, and wildlife of Alaska due to specially offered Alaskan Naturalist talks. Featuring local naturalists, these mini-presentations gave us an inside look at the types of birds, whales, and sealife we may see throughout the trip. While you may not want to spend your afternoon in the Walt Disney Theater watching a PowerPoint and hearing stories, it gave us exactly what we needed to help identify the wildlife we were seeing during the cruise.

Disney Trivia

Ahhh, we can never get enough Disney Trivia. Luckily, every Disney Cruise has ample opportunities to put your knowledge to the test or pick up some fun facts along the way. “What Disney Movie has the tagline; A Great Love Story ?- Bambi!” And if Disney Trivia isn’t your thing there are other topics too! 90s Music Trivia, Television Trivia, and even Traditional British Pub Quiz questions pop up as activities you can do onboard.

Disney Character Meet and Greets

Another popular At Sea Day activity is getting to meet the Disney Characters. Mickey and Friends and the Disney Princesses are usually available sometime throughout the Days at Sea for photos. And it’s a great way to grab pictures on your less busy days.

Bingo on a Disney Cruise

Nothing is more fun than Bingo on a Disney Cruise. With a high-energy feel, this activity can win you money and is family-friendly too. The cast members do a great job of keeping up the high vibes, and you may even win some Disney Cruise Line Freebies just for participating.

Alaskan Glacier Viewing Day Disney Cruise At Sea | Day 3

By far one of the most important parts of your whole Disney Alaska Cruise is seeing the Glacier tucked away in Alaska’s Inner Passage. While the glacier you see may vary ( Dawes Glacier, Stewart Glacier, Sitkine Ice Cap, etc.) be ready to stand on deck with all the other guests and marvel at nature as you weave slowly through the fjords. Glacier Viewing Day often includes slow sailing that happens until about 12 noon. But of course, your Cruise Director and Captain will keep you posted on when the glacier may be in view. As this is the most beautiful day for Alaskan scenery many guests just head to the top decks and claim their spots. Often hours ahead of time. That said, here are a few things to know about the Alaskan Glacier Viewing on Disney Cruise. Check out out Glacier Day Video for a sneak peek.

Disney Alaska Cruise Glacier Day Tips

• Dress Warmly. If you’re standing on Deck you will have fjord winds to deal with, which can be bracing. Be sure to have sunglasses, gloves, a hat, a scarf, and a coat; preferably with windbreaker capabilities.
• Have your Camera and Binoculars.  Smaller glaciers, seals, whales, and beautiful mountains are all part of what you may see on your Inner Passage journey, so be ready for it.
• Naturalist Narration of the Scenery. As you get closer to the glacier you can expect an onboard narrated talk by a local Naturalist, shared over the loudspeakers. To hear the commentary, you may need to get closer to the speaker locations, as the winds dull much of the sound.
• Hot Cocoa is Served. On the Disney Wonder, you can grab mugs of Hot Cocoa in the basketball court area on the top deck. This area has a section that is covered and offers relief from the wind. And even with decent weather in the 60s, it will still be “cold” enough in the fjords to warrant the cocoa creaminess as a treat while you watch out for the glacier.

Mixology Class | $40

One of the many things for Adults on a Disney Cruise is a plethora of classes and tastings. From chocolate liqueur tastings to food and wine pairings to Anyone Can Cook classes, there are plenty of things to be had. On this last trip, we tried out the Mixology Class. Note: Specialty Classes need to be Reserved Ahead of Time as spots fill up fast. So when you’re Planning your Disney Cruise , be sure to add whatever strikes your fancy to your reservations list.

The Mixology Class on our Disney Cruise was quite amazing. Not only did we get a little history of The Cadillac Lounge, where we were hosted, but also a slew of alcoholic drinks to try. Our host shared details about each drink and then showed us how adding something different could make it a whole new drink, with a different name. Very laid back, we probably had about 5 mini drinks by the time the class was over. Completely worth the $40 price tag.

Skagway Alaska Cruise Port | Day 4

Port Times : Guests Ashore at 7:15 am Guests Onboard at 8:00 pm

Our first port on this Disney Alaska Cruise was Skagway. Know that sometimes the cruise itinerary is in reverse, so depending on your itinerary this may be your last stop. By far our favorite Alaskan port, Skagway is home to the astounding history of the Gold Rush. While this little town may look a bit sleepy, there is so much history here that it’s completely worth the deep dive. And you really get the rich storytelling when you book the excursion we did. Of course, there are also several things to do in Skagway on your own if you’re skipping the Port Excursions . From walking trails, to museums, and history placards littered among the streets, there is plenty to do here if you’re up for browsing. Check out our tour of Skagway video. Here are some of our favorites.

White Pass Railroad and Skagway Street Car City Highlights | Disney Excursion $179

The Alaska Excursion we were most excited about was the White Pass Railroad and Skagway Street Car City Highlights Excursion . Running  4 hours and 30 min, at a rate of $179 per person, we felt this cost to be absolutely worth it. Mind you, if you’re bringing small children, consider the toll that 4.5 hours of talking  grown-ups and natural landscapes may do. For adults, this can be heaven, but for kids- well we saw quite a few asleep by the time we got on the train.  Included in this Disney Excursion are the Skagway Alaska Street Car Tour, the Klondike Highway Drive and Talk, and the White Pass Railroad Train Ride . Again, depending on your cruise, these activities may be done in reverse.

Skagway Alaska Street Car Tour

As part of this excursion, guests are ushered from the boat and settled into a renovated street car bus that “tours” the 23 blocks of Skagway’s historic town. On a somewhat quick trip, our guide gave us an overview of the history of certain storefronts, the “garden town” history, and even current information regarding the schools, jobs, and lifestyles you find in Skagway, Alaska. Once finished we disembarked for a bathroom break and headed to the second motorcoach, for a drive up the Klondike Highway.

Klondike Highway Drive and Talk

This stretch of our tour featured an amazing storyteller and previous National Park Ranger, Doug from the Skagway City and Summit Tour team. Sharing stories of Skagway’s claim to fame as the Gateway to the Klondike Gold Rush , there were many stories to tell. From panning for gold to the trails through the White Mountains that would lead fortune seekers to the Canadian border beyond, we learned A LOT on this tour. From the history of Skookum Jim to the trails carved out by George Carmack, the history in this part of the country is hopeful and devastating. Without this excursion, we would not have learned about the lands or the people’s struggles in so much detail, and are truly grateful to have had the experience.

White Pass Railroad Train Ride

Of course, the main reason people take this excursion is the chance to ride the train, that weaves high atop the mountain cliffs of the Yukon. A mainstay in the Skagway area this train offers views of Alaska like no other. Some of the most beautiful countries can be seen from the train. With waterfalls, forests, creeks, lakes, and mountainsides galore, guests are even allowed to withdraw to the open-air platforms at each end of the train to see the views better.

Dog Sledding and Glacier Flightseeing | $629

Available through Disney Cruise Line or for a cheaper price through Temsco which is the same company that does Disney’s Dog Sledding and Glacier Flightseeing Port Excursion. If you book directly you can get this a little cheaper. Guests board a helicopter and are taken to the mountaintops to meet musher dogs, learn about the sleds and take their turn at mushing on their own. A favorite among just about everyone, meeting the dogs, and learning how to mush are experiences you may only get the chance to do in Alaska. This excursion lasts 2 hours 30 min and is the unforgettable experience you’re sure to be writing home about.

Klondike Gold Rush National Historic Park Visitor Center

A must-see in Skagway is the Klondike Gold Rush National Historic Park Visitor Center. This visitor center includes a 3-d map of the Gold Rush trail and details about its most important people. You can also grab your National Park Passport Stamp here too!

• Things to Do in Skagway
• Skagway Walking Trail Map

Gold Rush Cemetery

About 2 miles out of town, the Gold Rush Cemetery is near Lower Reid Falls, and this is an easy walk for anyone wanting to see the history and nature of the area. As one of the Free Things to Do in Skagway , this cemetery features the likes of Soapy Smith and Martin Itjen. You can also grab the SMART shuttle to a spot about a 1/2 mile from the cemetery if you’re not walking or renting bikes.

The Red Onion Saloon

A classic saloon, the Red Onion Saloon in Skagway is a major stop for many tourists. Serving up pizza, burgers, salads, beer, and more, this restaurant is first come first serve…and you can expect a line. Our recommendation is don’t go as soon as you arrive. If you wait until later in the day, the crowds will be less heavy. And if you’ve ever wondered what an old-school brothel looks like, there is also a museum at this restaurant upstairs you can access for an extra charge.

Klondike Doughboy

Wondering if you really need a large piece of dough covered in sugar? Why question it? Of course, you do! A local specialty, Klondike Doughboy of Skagway is a MUST-DO stop in this small town. This little shop includes not only amazing fried dough patties, fried fresh and covered in sugar but also cute souvenirs in their store. A great one-stop shop for your maple syrup. Alaska magnets and ulu knife needs. On a side note, this dough treat is about as big as a dinner plate and costs $7. It is definitely a two-person dessert if you’re not averse to sharing.

Juneau Alaska Cruise Port | Day 5

Port Times: Guests Ashore 6:45 am Guests Onboard at 4:45 pm

As the capital city of Alaska, Juneau is very much a working city with suburbs, forests, activities, and more. And as a Cruise Port city, you can plan on having the amenities pretty close at hand, no matter what excursions you pick. Our Disney Cruise came in at the AJ dock in Juneau, which is typical for the Disney Wonder and is the farthest berth from town, about a 1-mile walk. If you’re taking any morning excursions, they will, however, drop you back in town so that everything is accessible for the rest of your day at Port. Be sure to stop off at the Juneau Visitors Center for a port map, and to ask questions. And there is also a free shuttle to the port when needed. Check out our tour of Juneau Video.

• Juneau Alaska Cruise Port Map
• Juneau Visitors Guide

Alaska Whales and Rainforest Trails | Disney Excursion $249

If you’re hoping to see whales on your Disney Alaska Cruise, then you’d best book a tour. Through Disney Cruise, we booked the Alaska Whales and Rainforest Trails tour which spanned 5 hours and 15 minutes.  At a cost of $249 per person, this is one of the more involved tours featuring both a rainforest walk in the Tongass National Forest and time on the whale-watching boat, waiting for sightings.

Offered by Gastineua Guiding in Juneau, Alaska we couldn’t be happier with Disney’s selection of tour companies here. For the rainforest portion, they brought us through the forest, and along an Alaskan beach, with beautiful views. And the Whale sightseeing also included seals and scenery of the Mendenhall Glacier. The guides for both parts of our excursion were knowledgeable, friendly, and truly passionate about their work. Sharing details about the plants, trees, and history on the trails, as well as fun facts about the whales. Just like most of the excursions on our Alaska trip, we just wouldn’t have gotten this level of detail or knowledge had we attempted these things on our own. It was such a great experience.

Nugget Falls and the Mendenhall Glacier

Only 12 miles from the cruise port, if Mendenhall Glacier isn’t included in a tour you’ve booked, it’s easiest and cheapest to just take a taxi there. You can get up close and personal with Nugget Falls, the Mendenhall Glacier, and the trails and beaches they occupy. We did get a glimpse of the Mendenhall Glacier from our Whales excursion, but not as close as if we would’ve just gone separately. Check out the Nugget Falls and Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center and the 1.5-mile loop you can walk while you’re there.

Merchant’s Wharf

Known as the “Blue Building” you’ll find local shops, Frost +Fur, Pel Meni’s, Hearthside Books, seafood restaurants, and Glacier Coffee Co. here. If you’re looking for a place to go that has local specialties, and souvenirs, then this is where you can start.

Frost + Fur Novelty Shop

Found at Merchants Wharf, Frost + Fur is a specialty gift shop, featuring handmade screen-printed items, gifts, artwork, and local goods. Truly, one of the BEST shops in Juneau, this place was right up our alley. Offering a beautiful collection of specially curated souvenirs featuring things you’d want from Alaska. Shirts, Alaska tea, Camping Books, Artwork, Stickers, Travel journals, and more, we could have bought the entire store. Thankfully, since we do have luggage limits to consider, you can also find and support them online. Be sure to stop and see them in their shop at Merchants Wharf or shop Frost and Fur online.

Glacier Coffee Co. 

Happily located next to Frost + Fur was Glacier Coffee Co. serving up some of the Best Coffee in Juneau we had! And since we get kinda picky with our coffee, that’s saying something. Run by the locals, this coffee shop can whip up whatever you’d like, as they had loads of syrups, sauces, espressos, matcha, teas, and chai. Check out Glacier Coffee Co . and be sure to add them to your list for your Juneau Cruise Port stop.

Pel’Meni

Serving Russian Pierogi, Pel Menis is a local favorite and located in Merchant’s Wharf as well, just along the Marine Way edge of the building. Open for lunch and dinner, the offerings on the menu are 2 items only. Potato pelmeni, or beef pelmeni. These doughy, potato-y balls are a bit like dumplings, gnocchi, or pierogi and come topped with curry spices, hot sauce, and chives. Sometimes sour cream is offered, but we didn’t get that option when we visited. This dish is also served with a half piece of soft marbled rye bread. This meal was good for a chilly day in Alaska and was priced right at about $6 or $7 each. Plus, if you’re dealing with picky eaters, you can just get this lunch without the toppings for a cozy buttery pelmeni dish that even kids would love.

Freezing the Night Away Disney Cruise Deck Party

Much like Pirate Night on a Disney Cruise, on an Alaska Cruise, you get to Freeze the Night Away with friends from Frozen. This evening deck party happens between the first and second dinner seatings and includes the entertainment team, Elsa, Anna, Kristoff, and Olaf. Plan on sing-along songs, dances, and a reason to grab more hot cocoa from the drink station on Deck 9.

Ketchikan Alaska Cruise Port | Day 6

Port Times: Guests Ashore 11:15 am Guests Onboard 7:45 pm

Unlike Juneau, where some of the port is a little walking distance, the Disney Cruise Port at Ketchikan is right in the middle of town. With everything literally visible from the boat, and extremely walkable. Alaska Cruise Shore Excursions are easy to get to and experience here. Ketchikan features quite a few points of interest including the Great Alaskan Lumberjack Show, Creek Street, and the Totem Park. For our day in Ketchikan, we booked another rainforest walk, which duplicated much of the info we learned in Juneau. But as the tour also included the Raptor Center and the Totem Park, we were okay with that. As we were in Ketchikan on a Saturday, we were surprised to see that so many shops closed by 4 pm. This is definitely something to consider if you have later excursions and were hoping to visit attractions in town afterward. So be sure to check the hours of anywhere you plan to visit. Check out out Tour of Ketchikan Video.

Rainforest Sanctuary and Totem Park | Disney Excursion $149

As part of the Rainforest Sanctuary and Totem Park excursion through Disney guests can experience the Tongass National Rainforest on a light hike, the Raptor Center, and the Totem Park.  This tour is offered by Kawanti Adventures in Ketchikan, Alaska . Spanning about 3 hours this was a fairly decent deal for $149 if you wanted to get an inside look at the forests and learn about the birds and totems. However, there were definitely elements of this tour we would have changed if we had the option or had gone on our own. Included in this tour excursion are the Tongass National Rainforest Walk, The Raptor Sanctuary, and the Totem Park. 

Tongass National Rainforest Walk

For this rainforest walk, we took a bus to the Tongass National Rainforest and easily walked on trails throughout while our guide pointed out interesting plants, like Devil’s Club, a local remedy, the Skunk plant, and more. Very knowledgeable, our guide Emily was great! This portion of the trip lasted maybe an hour and took up the most time of all three activities overall.

Raptor Sanctuary Alaska 

Once we cleared the Rainforest, we walked over a bridge toward the Alaskan Raptor Sanctuary. This was one of our main reasons for booking this excursion and we wish we would have more time here. Once inside the small open-air porch space, we got to meet three birds that had been rescued. The caretaker shared their individual stories and we got to learn about the Raptor Center’s efforts.

Totem Park Alaska

After the Raptor Center Visit, we walked next door to the Totem Park located at the Herring Bay Lumber Company Sawmill. Claiming fame as the first Tsimshian totem pole park, this was somewhere we would have liked more time to explore. With placards telling the Native American history of each pole, the museum pieces inside the Sawmill, and the gift shop, there was much to do here. Overall we only had about 20 minutes for this last leg of our tour. Definitely, not enough time to check out the mill, all the totems, story plaques, or the general store. We saw several guests grab beverages, and snacks so a little food counter was also available and it would have been nice to spend more time here.

Great Alaskan Lumberjack Show Ketchikan

By far one of the most popular activities to do in Ketchikan, the Great Alaskan Lumberjack Show is an excursion you can book with Disney or one you can just grab tickets to on your own. The building where this show takes place is literally about 1 block from the cruise port. This show includes log cutting, climbing, wheelbarrow races, axe throwing, and more to fill the time. A favorite among cruisers, we heard many families back onboard sharing how fun this was. Offering two types of tickets, the Disney Lumberjack Show is a little more expensive, showing on weekends at 4 pm. And it features Disney fun and character appearances. But the regular show is daily at 10 am and 1:30 pm if that works better for your port day. Check out ticket prices and dates on the Great Alaskan Lumberjack Show website.

Totem Bright Historical State Park

While we didn’t get to see Totem Bright Historical State Park as part of our excursion, this park was on our list and would be the perfect day trip for your Ketchikan Port day. With budget-friendly tickets at $5 each through the season and free off-season, you can explore at your leisure. Filled with totems and stories, this park also features a Clan House and a history you won’t find elsewhere. Just a 12-minute drive from the port, this place is easy to get to, and the bus to and from town makes the trip hourly.

Creek Street Ketchikan Alaska Shopping

Creek Street in Ketchikan was a nice surprise for a stroll and browsing. Featuring several restaurants and shops, this area is very historical and offered a lot of neat details and history about the area. A great place to grab a souvenir, this was a nice one-stop shop for us to get a feeling of Ketchikan. You can even watch the Salmon run here.

Fabulous Fiber Arts Yarn Shop

One of our favorite finds on our Ketchikan day was a charming yarn shop. Featuring amazing yard finds for crafters, the Fabulous Fiber Arts Shop offers hand-dyed yarns, skeins, cashmere, and more for any yarn crafting needs. A staple among locals, this local business offers a knitting group, patterns, and kits to help get you started. Simply some of the best, and most beautiful yarns we’ve seen. Definitely worth a stop if you’re a hobby crafter.

Alaska Crepe Co. 

A local favorite for breakfast, lunch, and dinner you can get a variety of crepes here. Serving up crepes both savory and sweet, plan between $10-17 dollars each, depending on what you order. While we didn’t get the chance to go here, it was definitely on our list and one we’d frequent without question as TripAdvisor Reviews are typically fantastic. Check out the Menu ahead of time at Alaska Crepe Co.

Just Dandy Apothecary and Cafe

In our search for coffee, when everywhere else was closed, we happily stumbled upon the  Just Dandy Apothecary and Cafe. Serving up not only specialty coffees, like mochas, London fog teas, and pistachio matcha lattes but also wraps, bowls, and salads, this would have been a great place for lunch. Offering a public restroom, indoor seating, and an open library, this restaurant also had some cute souvenirs. We would definitely visit here again.

Old Ache Novelty Shop

A beautifully curated shop, the local gift shop features home decor items, candles, and more if you’re looking for something more upscale than the typical Alaskan souvenir. This shop is part of the Niblick’s General Store family, which is a mainstay in Ketchikan. Located at 326 Main Street this shop is next door to the Just Dandy Apothecary and Cafe and right up the street from 55 North Bakery and Coffee .

Sockeye Sams Shop

This souvenir shop has almost everything you could ever want in the way of Alaskan souvenirs. Tees, Sweatshirts, Magnets, Ornaments, Local Coffee, Maple Syrup, Devils Club Products, Glassware, you name it. Filled to the brim with Alaskan gift items, there are ample things to see. And of course, as with every port town, there are an ample amount of jewelry counters present too.

Meng and Ging’s Kitchen

There are a variety of Places to Eat in Ketchikan , depending on what you’re in the mood for but in lieu of seafood we decided to find something more to our taste. As such we stumbled upon Meng and Ging’s Kitchen, located within walking distance of the port right on Water Street. Decent food, they serve some of the best Mongolian Beef dishes you’ll try. While vegetarian options were limited, they were able to make egg fried rice which was a nice treat and offer a variety of egg rolls too. If Filipino and Asian food are favorites of yours be sure to stop by Meng and Ging’s Kitchen.

Disney Alaska Cruise Day at Sea | Day 7

Back on the boat after an activity-filled vacation we settled into all things Disney Cruise; watching movies, playing trivia, trying our hand at a pub quiz, and listening to the piano were all on the docket. We also felt like we needed a break, so booking a Brunch at Palo for our last day at sea was something we had been looking forward to the whole trip. That said, we also wanted to take it easy and just relax, so were looking for ways to do that mostly on the last day.

Brunch at Palo | $45 per person

If you want to add something special to your trip, guests over 18 can book brunch or dinner at Palo. As the signature dining experience on Disney Cruise Ships, Palo offers an elegant atmosphere, expansive views of the ocean, and the best food onboard. That said, dining here does cost extra and is Not included in your Disney Cruise . However, this elegant dining experience is completely worth the $45 price tag. With a multi-course offering and the chance to order more of anything ( plus one drink free), the value here is better than even the most basic restaurants we’ve visited at Walt Disney World.

And if you climb to the Castaway Club Ranks of Platinum or Pearl, you get a dining experience at Palo on the house. Brunch here included breakfast foods like eggs and waffles, as well as chicken parmesan, calzones, and pizza. Everything you’d expect to find at an upscale Italian restaurant. Highly Recommended.

Disney Cruise Towel Folding Class

One of our favorite classes to take onboard any Disney Cruise is Towel Folding. Mainly because the housekeeping team presents cute towel friends each evening, and we always wonder “how.” If you’re wondering how twisted towels can turn into cute animals that welcome you back to your cruise stateroom each evening, then be sure to check the Disney Navigator for classes throughout your cruise. It’s a fun skill to learn, and perfect for kids and adults alike.

Anyone Can Cook Class on a Disney Cruise

Another favorite Disney Class for your Day at Sea on a Disney Cruise is the Anyone Can Cook Series. Mostly offered on longer cruises, you may see both an adult-only and a family class offered. For the grown-ups, there’s usually a glass of wine involved. And with dishes to make like Lobster Ravioli and Apple Strudel, you’ll be excited to watch the professional chef onboard explain all the tips and tricks to making the perfect dish. You not only get to taste the creations shared but also get a recipe to take home. Absolutely a must-do class if it’s offered on your cruise.

Vancouver British Columbia Canada | Day 8

8 a.m. Debarkation Day

Disney Cruises return to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada when your cruise is complete. With an early arrival time on debarkation day, is always the saddest day, it pays to have a plan for your last day in Vancouver. Of course, you may be flying out of town right away. But if you’re spending one more day in Vancouver there are plenty of things to do there! We headed towards a few tourist attractions and tried to make the most of our visit to Vancouver. Here are a few things you may want to consider if you’re staying in Vancouver a day before or after your Disney Cruise to Alaska. And in addition to these ideas, you can check out our post on Things to Do in Vancouver Before or After  a Disney Cruise for even more ideas.

Capilano Suspension Bridge Park

Accessible by FREE shuttle from Canada Place every 15 minutes, you can grab a short ride over to the Capilano Suspension Bridge Park. Featuring a Forest Walk that takes you over a series of suspension bridges, a deck walk that sits high above the small creek below, plus Kid’s Activities, and trails throughout, this one is not for the faint of heart. If a fear of heights is something you struggle with, choose something else to do! This area has both an indoor restaurant and a casual counter restaurant. The famous, Otter balls mini donuts, coffee, tea, and ice cream.

Plus, a Gift Shop with everything from maple syrup to the latest North Face merch. A perfect day out if you want an easy activity in Vancouver before heading home. Plan about 3 hours for this experience if you’re up for it. There is a Free Shuttle from Canada Place to the Capilano Suspension Bridge Park, which makes this an easy family excursion you can do on your own. Grab tickets to the Capilano Suspension Bridge Park ahead of time or at the gate.

Tea at the Fairmont Hotel

With themes that change every few months, Tea at the Fairmont Hotel is well worth discovering. Serving up a High Tea, complete with a tower of savory and sweet things to eat. Each guest can choose a pot of tea, and settle in. Since we’ve been lamenting the pause of Tea at the Garden View Tea Room at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort, we thought this one of the best ways to get our fix. And we were not disappointed! The food was fantastic, and they do accommodate vegetarian and vegan needs as well. Check out the current menu and theme for Tea at the Fairmont Vancouver.

Granville Island Vancouver Canada

One of the main attractions in Vancouver is Granville Island. Accessible by road or AquaBus, this place is filled with shops and restaurants to browse during your visit. You can head to the Public Market for a winding array of places to eat, grab a coffee, and buy treats.

Serving up handmade pot pies, pies, quiche, tarts, and croissants. The A La Mode Pie Cafe is a Must-Do on Granville Island. Mind you the line for this restaurant will be long, but it’s worth it. If you’re a fan of flaky pastry in all forms, then be sure to stop by.

A hidden gem, we found this place just by chance as we were leaving. Offering lovely paper products, you can grab specialty books, journals, planners, wrapping paper, unique pens, gift books, and gorgeous postcards here. Definitely worth a stop.

Nooroongji A Multilingual Curation Bookstore

Mindfully curated, this bookshop features books and guides for children and adults. Full collections of Harry Potter and Studio Ghibli merch sit happily next to Italo Calvino, Kafka, and Agatha Christie. The most amazing bookstore to browse if you’re looking for a unique book gift or a special edition of a classic.

The Preservatory

If you’re looking for specialty preserves in unique flavors, then be sure to stop by The Preservatory. Also located in the Public Market, this counter offers tastings and special flavors. You can find Spiced Cranberry and Iced Apple Wine, Blueberries and Bourbon, and Fig and Walnut, so there are plenty of options. Perfect as a gift item, or just something to savor as part of your Canada trip. Shop The Preservatory.

Bon Macaron Patisserie

If you love delicate French Macarons then head to Bon Macaron Patisserie. This is a great place to get mini or regular-sized macarons, for your stroll or to take home. Shop Bon Macaron Patisserie .

Pacifico Pizzeria and Ristorante

If you’re looking for great pizza in Vancouver, then the Pacifico Pizzeria and Ristorante is what you’re looking for. Featuring a variety of pizza pies, in loads of combination flavors, this pizza place offers inside seating, pick-up, and delivery. Since we were staying nearby at The Sutton Place Hotel Vancouver, it was a quick 3-minute walk to pick up our pizza after a hectic day. This restaurant also offered pasta, salads, chicken parm, and more. An excellent place for lunch or dinner.

Breka Bakery and Cafe Vancouver

As we’re usually on the lookout for croissants and coffee, we just had to stop at Breka Bakery and Cafe during our stay in Vancouver. This place is perfect if you’re looking for Breakfast in Vancouver before your Disney Cruise to Alaska. Home to authentic French pastries, and desserts, you’ll feel like you’re visiting Les Halles Boulangerie Patisserie in EPCOT. Heck, maybe even France! The pastries here are just that good. You can also grab breakfast and lunch sandwiches here too. With seating both inside and out, there are a couple of locations in Vancouver. So, if you’re nearby, be sure to stop in and grab something special.

Starbucks Reserve Bar Vancouver

If you’re committed to visiting all the Starbucks Reserve Locations around the World, you’ll be happy to know that Vancouver is home to a Starbucks Reserve Bar . Built on a smaller scale, this coffee shop still offers fantastic coffee, specialty blends and sandwiches, and pastries too. Located at Granville St and Pender, you can even mobile order here. Be sure to add this one to your Starbucks Bucket List.

Disney Alaska Cruise Shore Excursions

You may notice that on this cruise we mixed Disney Alaska Shore Excursions and Self-led excursions based on our likes. That said, you may be wondering a few things about How to Book Disney Port Excursions . Things like, What are the best Alaska Shore Excursions to Book and How Much do Alaska Excursions cost are good questions to ask. Know that even if you don’t purchase excursions you can still get off the boat, wander the towns, and visit the restaurants and shops regardless. So, if you’re wondering how to Save Money on a Disney Alaska Cruise, skipping excursions may be your best bet.

Are Disney Port Adventures Included in Your Disney Cruise Cost?

No. One of the few things Not Included in your Disney Cruise are port excursions. And depending on which you choose, they can add up to a pretty penny.

When Can I Book Disney Alaska Shore Excursions for my Disney Alaska Cruise?

Reservation times for excursion booking are based on your Castaway Club Status, per the below. It’s advisable to have a plan as sometimes the most popular excursions have limited space and sell out.

• First-Time Guests: 75 days prior to sail date
• Silver Castaway Club Members: 90 days prior to sail date
• Gold Castaway Club Members: 105 days prior to sail date
• Concierge Guests and Platinum Castaway Club Members: 120 days prior to sail date

How Much Do Disney Alaska Cruise Shore Excursions Cost?

Disney Port Adventures in Alaska run the gamut when it comes to cost. Disney Alaska Port Excursions range from $47 per person for the Great Alaskan Lumberjack Show to about $5200 for the Misty Fjords by Private Seaplane Tour. That said, we included the costs of the excursions here so you can see what extra we paid on top of our Disney Cruise costs. Check out the Disney Port Adventures List with offered excursions and prices. While your Castaway Club ranking will determine WHEN you can book these excursions, it pays to know ahead of time what options you may have available when your reservation window opens up. That said, after seeing these towns, and their proximity to the port we could have made this trip much cheaper with a few select excursions and more time in town.

Is Booking An Alaska Cruise Excursion Direct Cheaper than Disney?

Yes, almost always. The Helicopter Tour in Skagway in particular we booked through the same company Disney uses. This meant we walked to the helicopter on the nearby helipad, like everyone else. Then just booked a time, and paid directly with the company. This saved us a significant amount. In fact, we’ve included some of the tour company names in this post so that if you’re trying to save money, you can check prices to book directly instead of through Disney.

Are Disney Excursions Necessary on a Disney Alaska Cruise?

That depends. Again, for us, after seeing the ports and experiencing the towns, we probably could have tackled the exploring on our own. Even if it meant hiring some of the tour companies directly. We can definitely say we would have never learned the Gold Rush History, Whale science, Glacier details, Rainforest or Totem Pole information without the excursions. And for us, that is one of our favorite parts about traveling; the stories, the history, and meeting the people. That said if you were to tackle this trip on your own we’d highly recommend booking at least a small guided tour in each town so you get that history. Without it, you’re just experiencing pretty places without context.

Disney Alaska Cruise Tips

An Alaska cruise and land tour comes with the chance to explore new places and experience new things. As such, if you’re embarking on Alaskan Cruise Excursions, hunting for Alaska Cruise Itineraries, or figuring out how to Save Money on a Disney Alaska Cruise , we’ve rounded up the best Alaska Cruise Tips so you can go prepared.

How Much Do You Need in Tips on a Disney Alaska Cruise for Excursions?

Something to Know Before You Go are the best practices around Tips and Tipping on a Disney Cruise. From the train baggage handlers to the hotels to the tour guides at the post, there are plenty of people to tip along the way. And that’s not including the random cab driver or Uber ride. That said, it’s a good idea to gather up some cash, in small denominations, so that you have what you need throughout your vacation for ALL THE PEOPLE giving you this vacation experience.

Train Tips | Baggage Handlers

Plan to have small amounts of cash on hand for anyone who helps you with your luggage while traveling by train. While Amtrak’s Red Cap Baggage Assistance Service is Free , tipping for a job well done is always appreciated. A few dollars per bag is adequate, if you choose to tip.

Airport Tips | Porters

If you’re utilizing porters at the airport for your baggage plan on $2 for the first bag and $1 for each additional bag. Also, consider that if you’re traveling with oversized luggage convention is typically $2 per bag.

Hotel Tips | Maids, Bellman

At the Pan Pacific Hotel Vancouver, it is expected that you tip your bellman between $3-$5 per piece of luggage for them to offer your baggage service. And as with any hotel stays you’d also want to tip your maid between $2-$5 per day of stay. Also note, that in Vancouver it is FINE to tip them in American dollars. There is of course an ATM on the first floor of Canada Place if you want to grab Canadian currency, but you will have to go to the concierge desk to make the change needed.

Disney Cruise Excursion Tour Guide Tips

The biggest costs you didn’t see coming are the Tips You Need for Disney Port Excursions. Most notably, because the guides on Disney Port Excursions are so fantastic, that you will want to pay them for a job well done. Keep in mind as well, that you may have to consider multiple people to tip on each excursion.

How Many People Do You Tip on a Disney Cruise Excursion?

For example on our White Pass Railroad and Skagway Street Car City Highlight Tour, we had several people to tip.

• The bus driver of the Street Car
• The shuttle driver for the Klondike Highway
• Our train car attendant on the White Pass Railroad
• Our train conductor on the White Pass Railroad

On our Whales and Rainforest Trails Tour, we also had several people to tip.

• Our guide on the bus
• Our hiking guide
• The captain of the boat

As you can see, you may need more on-hand cash than you realize. While it won’t be necessary to tip everyone, and some people providing insufficient service may not deserve your tip, it’s good to go prepared.

Disney Alaska Cruise Deals

If dreaming about a Disney Cruise to Alaska has been on your Disney Wish list for a while then know that finding Alaska cruise packages within your budget may not be impossible! Alaska Cruise Prices for 4 guests on a Disney Cruise to Alaska range from $5000- $11,000 depending on the length of trip and time of year you visit. While Disney Alaska Cruise Prices don’t include Alaska shore excursions, there are ways you can save money on your trip. Check out the Alaska Cruise Specials and ways to get them in our How to Save Money on a Disney Cruise to Alaska post.

Disney Alaska Cruise 7-Night Itinerary

So, there you have it! Our mini-journal of everything we did, saw and ate on our Disney Alaska Cruise. For us, this trip had been several years in the making. Between the planning and the saving money, it took some time, but we were happy with everything we chose to do and had the chance to experience. No matter how you fill your Disney Cruise to Alaska days know that there are gorgeous views from the boat, hot cocoa at the drinks station, walkable towns near the ports, and all the amazing activities onboard to make this your best cruise yet. We hope this post has been helpful. If you have any questions, just ask! To watch our Disney Alaskan Cruise adventures on YouTube, check out our playlist here !

Rochelle Mariah

Rochelle Mariah is a writer, designer and photographer with an MLIS in Information Science and a B.S. in Arch and Design. Determined to make Planning a DIY Disney Vacation easier she makes lots of lists and drinks lots of coffee. When not designing apparel at Polka Dot Pixie Shop, she's watching old movies and planning the holidays. She has been traveling to Disney destinations since 2010.

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Disney Wonder Alaska Cruise Trip Report

In this post, we (finally) recap our time aboard the Disney Wonder. An Alaskan cruise aboard the Disney Wonder is a bucket list item for many people, Disney fans or not. We lucked into a good rate that allowed us to check off this box a little earlier than we’d expected. It was a fantastic trip, and I’m excited to share with you how it went. So, without further ado (this post is only about 5 months late already), let’s talk about our Alaskan cruise aboard the Disney Wonder!

About This Post + Related Posts

This post recaps our 7-night Alaska cruise aboard the Disney Wonder. It starts way back at the beginning, with why we booked this cruise, before covering everything from booking the cruise, to picking activities and excursions, to our time onboard, to debarkation. As such, it’s a pretty long post.

Even at that, this specific post doesn’t cover everything . Throughout, we link to related posts about this trip. Originally, I’d hoped to have it all as a single post, but it proved to be too unwieldy. As a result, most of the linked posts are “quick guides,” meant to give you an idea of the basics of some topic—dining, kids’ clubs, character greetings, for example—in about 500 words . So if you see a “quick guide” linked, feel free to click over to it for a quick read and then come back to this post.

If you don’t want to wait until they pop up in this post, here’s a full list of the quick guides:

Quick Guide to Quick Service Food on the Disney Wonder

Quick Guide to Rotational Dining on the Disney Wonder

Complete Guide to Meeting Characters on Disney Cruise Line

Quick Guide to Kids’ Clubs on the Disney Wonder

We also have a look at the ship in a deck-by-deck fashion that covers how to navigate on the Disney Wonder and where everything is located.

But this is where most of our talk about our experience ended up. If you’re looking to hear how our trip went, you’re in the right place. If you’re looking to see who we’d recommend this cruise for, you’re in the right place. So let’s get on with it.

Why We Booked This Cruise

If you’re new to Disney Cruise Line, we’ve got a separate post on How to Pick Your Disney Cruise . That post talks through the different ships and itinerary options, for example.

Emily and I have been on a few Disney cruises before, but all on the same itinerary—the 3-night Bahamas cruise on the Disney Dream. And all without Zoe. A couple years back we were excited to finally get back to cruising when the Disney Wish was announced. We were booked on one of the first Wish cruises when the ship got delayed . Our Wish cruise was cancelled, and everyone booked on the cancelled cruises was offered a 50% discount on a future cruise departing by December 31, 2023.

I think it’s fair to say this was the biggest mea culpa I’ve from Disney that I’ve ever seen. The discount was applicable across all stateroom categories and cruise itineraries. We could have simply used the discount for a rescheduled Wish cruise, but we wanted to get a little more value out of the discount if we could, and the Disney Wonder Alaska cruise had been on our bucket list for a while.

Alaska cruises on the Disney Wonder are not cheap. The 7-night itineraries for 2024, for a family of 3, start at $4,196. But everyone says a verandah room is a must-do for an Alaska cruise (our thoughts on this shortly), so already you’re looking at closer to $10,000. Getting 50% off this cruise would be serious value.

Moreover, that savings is really nice for an Alaska cruise because you’re probably going to have huge expenses on excursions . Excursions were NOT covered by the 50% discount, but it’s nice to have some serious savings in the bank already before you start booking excursions.

The personal kicker for us was that we were able to find an itinerary shortly after Zoe turned 3 years old. Three is the minimum age for using the kids’ clubs—the Oceaneer Club and Oceaneer Lab at that age. Altogether it wound up being a nice balance of factors that came together to make this a good pick.

Our Alaska Disney Cruise Itinerary

As of this post, all the Disney Cruises that go to Alaska depart from and end at Vancouver, Canada. There are a few different itineraries, from 5 to 9 nights in length, visiting some combination of: Ketchikan, Glacier Viewing (Stikine Icecap), Juneau, Icy Strait Point, Sitka, Skagway, and Victoria (Canada).

We settled on the following itinerary:

Day 1 — Embark from Vancouver

Day 2 — Day at Sea

Day 3 — Glacier Viewing (Stikine Icecap)

Day 4 — Icy Strait Point

Day 5 — Juneau

Day 6 — Ketchikan

Day 7 — Day at Sea

Day 8 — Debark in Vancouver

As a bit of an aside, our itinerary actually changed after booking. Day 3 was originally a viewing of the Dawes Glacier before being changed to the broader “Stikine Icecap.” The ship wound up going to the South Sawyer Glacier. Best I can tell, this change was to give Disney more flexibility in exactly which glaciers they view, and it didn’t at all impact our experience.

As for picking your itinerary…I don’t want to get too into the weeds here because things like your personal schedule and pricing are going to be bigger factors than the specific itinerary. Basically, you want a balance of days at sea, ports that you’ll enjoy just walking around in, if you choose, and ports that offer excursions you want to do. If you have to see the Mendenhall Glacier, probably don’t pick an itinerary that skips Juneau, for example.

For us, we felt like two days at sea was a good number, and we expected to just enjoy walking around Ketchikan. This left us the three middle days for excursions.

Booking Our Disney Alaska Cruise

We book our cruises through our travel advisor, Lauren Quirk at Travel With Character LLC . I’ve written elsewhere about why I book Disney trips with a travel advisor , but it’s worth adding specifically for cruises that it’s nice to have help booking excursions and onboard activities.

With Lauren’s help we were able to settle on a Deluxe Oceanview Stateroom with Verandah with a rack rate of $12,152.66. With our 50% discount, the total came to $6,076.33.

Was our verandah room on the Disney Alaska Cruise worth it?

We’ll discuss our room in more detail when recapping the cruise itself, but I’ll offer some thoughts on the “worth it” question first.

The downside to the discount we received is it makes the “is it worth it…” question a lot more complicated. Disney Cruise Line prices are higher than industry average, and I’m not enough of a cruise expert to opine here. I’ve taken four Disney Cruises. I’ll take more. It’s clear I think at least that Disney’s lowest prices are worth it.

With that context in mind, I’d say our Deluxe Oceanview Stateroom with Verandah on this itinerary was definitely worth the $6,076.33 we paid. But I’d also say it was definitely not worth the $12,152.66 rack rate.

We made use of our verandah. It provided for a few photo opportunities and “wow” moments. Plus Zoe was still napping at the time, so it was nice to be able to sit out there during nap time. Otherwise, we prefer to be in the rest of the ship. Zoe loved the kids’ clubs, we like the bars and walking the ship. I’d even just find cozy spots around the ship, sometimes with a view, to read. There’s just so much going on outside the room and off the ship that I couldn’t justify the $5000+ premium verandah rooms cost.

I have to say as a personal caveat that I’m simply not a “sit and be awe of good views” kind of person. I think you’ll easily find people who say “sitting on our balcony watching the Alaskan scenery go by was worth every penny.” But I much prefer to be out among the other people on the ship taking in the view.

View of the South Sawyer Glacier from our balcony

Booking Our Disney Alaska Cruise Excursions

With the cruise booked, the next step is booking your onboard activities and excursions. This is different from and usually earlier than check-in, which we’ll discuss later.

Disney Cruise Activity Booking Windows

Disney Cruise Line activities, including “specialty adult dining, Port Adventures, [and] spa services” open for booking 75 to 123 days before your cruise, depending on what level “Castaway Club” you are. Castaway Club is the Disney Cruise loyalty program. If this is your first Disney Cruise, you aren’t a Castaway Club member yet, and activities will open 75 days before your cruise.

Once you’ve sailed a single cruise, you become a Silver Member, and as you hit the required marks you can progress to Gold, Platinum, and Pearl.

Now, I want to point out that if you think you’re going to take multiple Disney Cruises in a lifetime , you should at least be open to some strategic thinking for your first one. Specifically, you might want to take a short cruise (usually Bahamas) before a longer one, like the Alaska cruise. (Even more specifically, you want to take it more than 90 days before the longer cruise.)

This serves two purposes. First, you’ll get to find out if cruising / Disney cruising is for you. Take a 3-night Caribbean trip over a weekend to see if this is something you’re into.

Second, once you take one cruise you’ll be Castaway Club Silver and at least a step ahead of the general public when it comes to booking activities . This may or may not be huge, but if you’re planning a one-in-a-lifetime Alaskan Cruise, every bit helps.

And again, I prefaced above—I’m not saying that just because you’re considering an Alaskan Cruise you should rush out and do some other Disney Cruise first. But if multiple cruises are clearly in the cards for you, it’ll make sense to pay attention to which order you take them in. (And, of course, it might make sense to do Alaska before some other cruise if that other one has higher demand, must-do activities for you.)

Disney Alaska Cruise Onboard Activities

Onboard activities can be some of the toughest things to mentally sort through when it comes to Disney cruises. There isn’t a well-organized, comprehensive listing of these. The DCL website has a listing here , and that’s where you should start.

Unfortunately, you’ll see that if you click into, for example, “Beverage Tastings” you’ll be taken to a list of different tastings, but no schedules / pricing etc.

To the best of my knowledge—and it’s something I hope changes or that you experience differently—you can’t even see the full schedule for bookable onboard activities until your booking window opens and you are paid in full.

Since some of the activities are quite popular, your booking day can be a pretty chaotic race to find and book things you’re interested in. For example, Royal Court Tea—a character / tea experience—sells out really quickly. Consulting with Google or the various forums might help you narrow down what day of the cruise it will be so that you can book it quickly when your time opens. (Again, is this all too much? I agree. Book with a travel advisor. )

You’ll also want to pay attention the the cancellation deadlines for any activities you were hoping for but didn’t get. You might see cancellations at any time, but particularly as that deadline nears, you’re more likely to see people change plans.

Spa treatments, adult dining (Palo on the Disney Wonder), and nursery services are also things you’ll be planning to book at this time.

Finally, there are onboard activities that are not bookable ahead of time. These are things like trivia or arts and crafts that don’t really fill up and that you’ll just see in the schedule on the app when you get onboard.

A Quick Aside About the Disney Cruise Line App (And Internet)

The Disney Cruise Line app basically has two modes—pre-cruise and during cruise. Before your cruise, the app basically functions the same as the Disney Cruise Line website, including options for managing your bookings.

Once onboard and connected to the onboard wifi, the app becomes the hub for any information you’ll need. You’ll find complete listings of all the days’ activities as soon as you’re onboard, along with hours for all the stores / theaters / restaurants, and so on. There’s also a messaging service available within the app while you’re onboard.

The app’s messaging service is complimentary. If you’d like to have internet access, though, you’ll need to pay for an internet package. Unfortunately, our trip was expected to be among the last ones before the Wonder upgraded to the newer internet hardware / software, so my internet experience isn’t worth writing about. (Suffice to say you shouldn’t expect to have internet outside of the ports unless you pay for it.)

Picking Our Alaska Excursions

Excursion options are available for browsing on the Disney Cruise Line website. Disney calls excursions “Port Adventures.” Some flexibility is going to be required, though, because specific availability will vary by cruise. If you’re concerned, this is yet another reason to consider working with an expert travel advisor on your cruise.

The biggest restriction for us picking our Port Adventures was Zoe’s age. At only 3, the options we could do together as a family were limited. We could have done separate excursions, but that’s just not really how we travel.

Browsing the Port Adventures can be tedious. I’m sure it’s something a travel advisor could help with, but honestly I think the variety is great enough that you should at least dedicate an evening to browsing everything to see what’s available. I recommend you start by filtering by “Ports of Call.” Make a list of ones you’re interested in each day and then start honing it into a schedule.

After reviewing the options, at the top of our list was whale watching. We attempted to see whales in Iceland , but the odds were not in our favor that trip. Juneau, Icy Strait Point, and Ketchikan all had whale watching options.

Second on our list was glacier viewing. Personally, I don’t think any of the three of us is too excited to see glaciers, but it’s also just sort of an “Alaska Cruise Must Do” item. Specifically, many of the Alaska itineraries (including ours) have a day dedicated specifically to glacier viewing. On this day, the cruise ship gets moderately close to a glacier, while there is a paid “Port” Adventure option to get on smaller boats and get closer.

Third was some sort of puppy / sled dog interaction. Zoe loves dogs, and sled dog interactions are often considered another “Must Do” item on an Alaska itinerary. Without going down a rabbit hole, I encourage you to do as much research as you feel necessary before booking any animal interactions anywhere in the world (that’s 100% not to say anything about this specific activity, it’s just a general travel suggestion).

We wound up settling on the following Port Adventures (prices per adult / Zoe):

Day 3 — Glacier Viewing — $299 / $199

Day 4 — Icy Strait Point — Whale and Marine Mammals Cruise (IS01) — $209 / $139

Day 5 — Juneau — Sled Dog Discovery and Musher's Camp (JU05) — $219 / $199

We opted not to do any excursions in Ketchikan. We felt the town offered enough to keep us busy, and since it was the end of the cruise we thought we’d appreciate not having the pressure of another activity. Overall this was the right decision, and Ketchikan day was probably my favorite day.

Alternatively to the Sled Dog Discovery and Musher's Camp, I considered one of the excursions that included a helicopter ride to Mendenhall Glacier and dog sledding on the glacier. Ultimately I decided this wasn’t the right time for Zoe’s first helicopter ride.

Our total excursions costs came to $1991. That was $727 for each adult and $537 for Zoe. I think it’s probably a mistake to nitpick these costs (but yea, that’s a big ‘nit’). The fact is that if we were backpacking through Alaska, we’d probably have better experiences at a lower price. But so what? We aren’t backpacking. We’re on a Disney Cruise. You sort of have to look at the trip as a whole and the costs as a whole.

You might decide that none of the excursions are worth the price, and I think you could still have a fantastic cruise experience. But given that there’s already a huge cost to getting to Alaska, and seeing as I don’t plan on roughing it there anytime soon, I’m open to paying a little more to experience these things. That is—as the saying goes—how they get ya.

Booking Third Party Excursions

Okay, fine. After that $$$ rant, it’s worth mentioning that on almost all cruises there is an alternative option—booking third party excursions. Excursions booked through your cruise line are almost always run by third parties anyways, the cruise line is just marketing them.

The risk in doing this is mostly that the third party has no relationship with your cruise line. That means any scheduling / customer service / pick-up, drop-off issues you have are going to be between you and the excursion company only.

Is this practically a huge problem? Probably not. After all, many of these companies are professionals who work with cruise passengers on a daily basis.

That said, this is definitely a case where we recommend—you guessed it!—working with a professional travel advisor. They know reputable tour providers from non-reputable ones, and if something goes wrong you’ll at least have someone you know and trust to help you sort it out.

Disney Cruise Online Check-In

As with booking activities, your online check-in day will vary based on Castaway Club status. The General Public Online Check-In date is 30 days before your cruise embarks. We’re Castaway Club Silver, so we were able to check in 33 days in advance.

Online Check-In is a whole process—submitting travel documents and photos, registering for the kids’ clubs, setting up your onboard account—but the most important part in our mind is your Port Arrival Time. This is the time that you are expected to be at port to get on the boat. In general, earlier is better because it means more time on the ship.

Getting to Vancouver

The easiest way to get to Vancouver for most people is to fly there. The airport, Vancouver International Airport (YVR), is well-serviced and well-connected to the city. We even got through customs and immigration incredibly quickly.

We flew American Airlines there, opting for Main Cabin Extra . Emily has reviewed Air Canada’s A321 business class and Air Canada’s 787 business class before, too.

Flying from Chicago, I sat in an “A” window seat, which I mention because we had awesome views of some mountains flying in (I think the far one is Rainier?):

Pre-Cruise Time In Vancouver

It’s generally not recommended that you fly into a port the same day your cruise leaves. This goes double for an international port, where unexpected flight issues are going to be a lot more difficult to quickly resolve. (Air Canada probably doesn’t just have another plane sitting at your airport in case yours gets delayed or breaks.)

Plus, Vancouver is a great city to spend a few days. We spent four nights in Vancouver before our cruise and found that to be a great amount of time to take in the city . On a return trip, we’d probably only stay two nights, though we think three or four is better for a first visit.

Day 1 - Embarkation

( Note: There’s a lot of new stuff to learn on Day 1. I’m not going to go in-depth on every topic as part of recapping this day. I spread the links to the quick guides throughout this post. So if you read something in Day 1 and think “wow he went right past that major thing quickly”, I hopefully cover it in more depth later or link to a quick guide sometime later.)

We were coming from the Rosewood Hotel Georgia, just a 10-minute walk from the cruise terminal. It was pretty great how conveniently placed the Vancouver cruise terminal was. At the end of our trip, our debarkation day also went quite smoothly, but let’s not jump to the end yet.

We’d booked a Port Arrival time of 11AM and arrived at the terminal at 10:30AM. There were few people around for boarding at this hour. We followed the signage plus the directions of the terminal staff and were through security / passport control / etc. in about 20 minutes with one hiccup—we still had our luggage.

Standard protocol is to tag your luggage (they mail you the tags ahead of time) and drop it off with cruise staff somewhere in this process before boarding. It then gets put on the ship and left outside your room, allowing you to navigate the ship luggage-free for the first few hours while staterooms are inaccessible and still being prepared (the cruise has only a few hours turnaround, remember).

Ironically, I think the reason we wound up with all our luggage stuck with us is that we’re pretty efficient travelers. We didn’t have a ton of bags (and nothing bigger than a carry on), so it isn’t as if someone at the port would think to say something. We also got through all the steps pretty quickly, obviously too quickly to pay attention to what was going on. I imagine if we’d had some bigger bags and struggled to get through security, someone would have at least nodded in the right direction.

Boarding was delayed, which I would have minded less except that we looked relatively clownish trying to navigate our bags while we sat around waiting. Boarding started at about 11:40AM, and our group was called around 12:15PM.

Staterooms aren’t ready at that time, but we knew exactly where we were heading—Cabanas for lunch.

Read More About Cabanas in Our Quick Guide to Disney Wonder Quick Service

Aside from lunch, I had a quick errand to run once aboard. I didn’t mention this above, but we’d booked a backup whale watching excursion for the Ketchikan day. I intended to cancel it after I reviewed my plans, but I was surprised to find the “3 day” cancellation period was 3 days before the cruise departure, not 3 days before the excursion. There were only a few people ahead of me at the Port Adventures desk. The Cast Member there was able to cancel my booking after a short consult with a superior.

After lunch, we headed to the pool. The main pool on the Disney Wonder is Goofy’s Family Pool. It’s located in the middle of Deck 9. You’ll see the giant “Funnel Vision” movie screen above it. The pool is closed and converted to a stage for a few events, like the “Sail-A-Wave” party.

The pools on the Disney Wonder do not allow swim diapers. Besides the Goofy Pool there is the family-friendly AquaLab pool on Deck 9, aft (the back of the ship). There’s also the adults-only Quiet Cove Pool on Deck 9 forward.

The pools are heated, though once you’re far enough north you’re probably only going to be able to stay in them so long. Even Zoe, a pool fanatic, hit a limit within about 30 minutes on chilly days.

Around 1:30PM, staterooms were ready. There may have been some announcement, but the easier way to tell was just that you blink and all of a sudden the decks are abandoned like some sort of apocalypse film because everyone is running to their rooms.

Our Deluxe Oceanview Stateroom with Verandah

As previously noted, we had a Deluxe Oceanview Stateroom with Verandah. As part of booking, you can pick a room, and we picked a room on Deck 6, midship. ( Here’s our deck-by-deck breakdown of the Disney Wonder. )

Since we were sailing just after Zoe’s birthday, our travel advisor, Lauren, surprised us with a room decoration package. (Thanks Lauren!)

You can basically break the room into five parts. There are:

two bathroom rooms (sink + toilet, sink + shower)

a space with a queen bed

a curtain-separated space with a couch that converts to a twin bed, a TV, and a desk

and a verandah.

There’s also a bunk bed that can come down from the ceiling above the twin bed, but we didn’t use that.

I don’t have a ton of commentary about the room. Overall it was fine, and I can’t recall feeling significantly better or worse about the rooms we’d previously stayed in on the Disney Dream. The biggest issue for us was simply that Zoe had the twin bed, which meant we could only access the verandah during naps by walking past the sleeping toddler. (Also, there was a bed rail provided, per a request we made at some point.)

I didn’t spend too much time browsing the TV lineup, but it wasn’t too deep. There were all-day cartoons available. Otherwise, with up to two theaters plus Funnel Vision playing movies at any time, you’re unlikely to need the TV for entertainment.

There was a short period in the middle of the trip where our toilet didn’t flush. Then after a few minutes it flushed for all the times we’d pressed the button in a panic. I don’t know much about cruise ships, but I vaguely recall this issue on the Disney Dream once, too.

As mentioned above, I’d heard a lot that a verandah is a “must have” for the Alaska cruise, and I just didn’t feel that way. The idea is basically that, specifically for the first day at sea and the Glacier Viewing day, the views around the ship are absolutely stunning. I don’t much care for a view, but I made sure to take a moment to soak these in. Having a verandah means more private, unobstructed views.

Maybe we had a less crowded ship, or maybe we’re just more inclined to walk around the ship at our leisure. But I felt that I had plenty good views from the decks of the ship, and I generally preferred being outside of the room to being in it.

Emily is a little more measured and says she’s at least glad we did it once, but she probably wouldn’t pay for the verandah a second time. For most people, an Alaska cruise is a once-in-a-lifetime thing, and to that end the verandah could go a long way to making a “perfect” time. But the flip side is that if the verandah prices keep you from cruising, or push you toward a different cruise line, I think you’re probably putting way too much stock in that amenity. It was a “nice to have,” not a “must have.”

After some time in the room, we headed to check out the kids’ clubs. The first day starts with Open House hours in the clubs. This means you won’t be leaving your little ones alone in the clubs at this time. Instead, it’s a chance for you to all get acquainted with the clubs. If you don’t have kids, you’re also welcome in the kids clubs during Open House. Zoe was instantly smitten with the clubs.

At 4PM is the mandatory assembly drill. This is a tedious, but important safety drill. It’s required for everyone on board. But it’s followed at 4:30PM by something much more fun…

The big thing on embarkation day is Mickey’s Sail-A-Wave Deck Party ! This is a 10-15 minute show on Deck 9 featuring your favorite characters and aiming to get you hyped for the cruise. It’s a “can’t miss” insofar as you’ll have plenty of time to take in the ship later, so might as well see this one-time performance while you can.

With our 5:45PM dinner seating coming up, I had just enough time to squeeze in a run. I ran on the treadmills of the ship 6 of the 7 days and generally found the fitness center to be pleasant. When the ship is moving it can be a bit trippy because the treadmills aren’t oriented perfectly forward.

Deck 4 also has a “running track.” It’s something like 0.3 miles and always prone to people who don’t know how to handle a shared run/walk space like that. Your GPS will also be worse than useless when the ship is moving. (FWIW, I’ve run the deck of the Disney Dream before and it ruined all my ‘Personal Bests’ in my running apps.) It’s also an outside space subject to the elements. A 0.3 mile loop means lots of turns, which means lots of opportunities to slip. Personally, I’d maybe run on Deck 4 in the morning when crowds are nonexistent, but I actually just stuck to the treadmills all trip.

We were able to squeeze in two character greetings—Mickey and Goofy—before dinner. Coming into the cruise we didn’t realize how much Zoe would love meeting the characters. They’d had some interested at Disney World and Disneyland before, but on the cruise meeting characters really became the thing we needed to do. I’ll cover these a bit more later.

Dinner on night one was a lot. We were scheduled for Triton’s, one of the three included table service restaurants. Zoe hadn’t napped all day. Plus we’d had all the excitement of experiencing the ship. And now it was time to meet our dining staff and find a way to stay seated for a relatively long dinner. Let’s just say we got through it. A Mickey Bar (complimentary) helped.

Besides your scheduled dinner rotation (more on this later), there’s the option for adults only to dine at Palo. Palo requires an advance reservation and costs extra. Palo also has a brunch option, if you don’t want to mess with your dinner schedule. Personally I’d maybe do both in the future since on a 7-night cruise you’re dining in each rotational restaurant at least twice.

Our customary practice for travel nights, particularly on Disney trips, is to alternate who goes out and who stays with Zoe and does bedtime. As the cruise went on, we started letting Zoe stay up later and later, but one this first day—a long day with no nap—we had no interest in trying a late night.

I spent the evening at Crown & Fin, the pub-themed bar onboard. I mostly stuck to Alaskan Brewing Company beers. While I just sat around the read, there was plenty going on around the ship until about midnight, including: character greetings, multiple trivia activities, movies in Buena Vista Theatre and on Funnel Vision, “Disney on Broadway” music, dueling pianos, jazz, and activities in the kids clubs.

Day 2 - Day at Sea

Day 2 is a full day at sea and one of the more scenic days of the cruise. But our first stop of the day was the Laundry Room. There are three laundry rooms on the Disney Wonder, on Decks 2, 6, and 7 midship. Each has around 5 washing machine and 5 dryers. It cost $3 to wash, $3 to dry, and $1 for detergent. There was a kiosk in the laundry room that allowed you to charge these items back to your stateroom.

We did laundry twice (mostly because of my running clothes and Emily and Zoe’s swimsuits). Notifications are supposed to come through the app when your washer/dryer finishes. We had some luck with this but it wasn’t perfect. The kiosks in the laundry rooms also tell you how many available machines there are in the other laundry rooms. Finally, there is laundry service available onboard ($$$), but we were fine using the machines.

We switched up our breakfast plans and tried Triton’s today. Triton’s serves table service breakfast and lunch daily. It’s a smaller menu than the substantial Cabanas buffet, but with a few items you won’t find at Cabanas (in case you can’t tell, I didn’t take a picture of the menu, sorry). As expected, this just wasn’t for us. We much preferred the quick and plentiful options at Cabanas to get our day started.

After breakfast I swung by Cove Cafe to pick us up some cold brew. Cove Cafe is the specialty coffee shop onboard. Drip coffee is free (but available in spots other than cove, like Cabanas and the beverage station outside Cabanas), but anything else—specialty lattes ($5.75), cold brew ($4)—costs extra. There are also complimentary pastries.

Cove is technically right inside the adults only section of the ship. While I think you’d probably be asked not to let kids lounge there, I frequently saw people stopping in to make a quick purchase with kids in tow.

While I was getting the coffee, Emily and Zoe were in line for Minnie. She was greeting in her standard cruise outfit (Captain Minnie) today.

Next, we headed to French Quarter Lounge for “Family Crafts.” This was a mask-making activity that Zoe had a lot of fun with. French Quarter Lounge also operates a combo bar/cafe. I found it had much better cafe vibes so would usually get coffee and beignets when I visited.

Zoe picked to go to the pool quickly before lunch. family-friendly Frozen was playing on Funnel Vision.

For lunch, I cobbled together options from some of the smaller quick service restaurants onboard. Besides Cabanas, there are three smaller quick service options, all on Deck 9.

Read Our Quick Guide to Quick Service on the Disney Wonder

After lunch we stopped at one of Zoe’s favorite spots on the ship—Eye Scream, the soft serve station. This is another complimentary offering. Chocolate and vanilla were available daily, plus there was a daily changing flavor.

By midday, the scenery was starting to look gorgeous. We split the time in the room while Zoe napped, and then Zoe went to the Oceaneer Club while we walked around the ship and took in the sights (and some beers). Here are a few photos:

Dinner tonight was at Animator’s Palate. And—surprise, surprise—it’s with the same staff we had the previous night! That’s how rotational dining works!

Read Our Quick Guide to Rotational Dining on the Disney Wonder

Night 2 also included the debut of the feature entertainment on the ship. Night 2’s show was the Golden Mickeys. The other two feature shows were “Frozen, A Musical Spectacular,” and “Disney Dreams—An Enchanted Classic.”

We wound up skipping all of these. They’re heralded as fantastic shows, so you might consider them “must-do.” They didn’t fit well into Zoe’s schedule, and neither of us felt like doing them without Zoe.

As I mentioned above, we alternated nights out. I won’t detail every night (in part because I don’t have notes about all of them), but they’d usually include a stop at a bar, strolling around the ship, and activities like trivia, listening to musical performances, or watching a movie in one of the theaters (we both watched Haunted Mansion, for example).

Day 3 - Glacier Explorer Day

Day 3 is an interesting day. It’s technically not a “day at sea”, but the ship doesn’t actually dock at a port, and there’s only one excursion—Glacier Explorer. If you’re not doing Glacier Explorer, you’ll be aboard the ship all day. It’s an incredibly scenic day and, conditions permitting, the ship gets close enough to a glacier for some good views.

Besides the excursion, this day had one other huge highlight—the debut of Mickey and Minnie in their Alaska outfits! Mickey’s greeting was set for 9AM on Deck 10 (outside), and Minnie at 9:30AM. We were in line for Mickey 20-30 minutes early, and the line for Minnie, on the opposite side of Deck 10, was closed by 9:10AM.

Mickey and Minnie greeted four times this day. The first three times were outside and these were the only times the entire trip they greeted outside. They did wear the Alaska outfits inside for some greetings later on. We met Alaska Minnie on her last day, Day 6, Ketchikan Day.

Read More In Our Guide to Meeting Characters on Disney Cruise Line

We’d gotten notice via the Disney Cruise Line app that our Glacier Explorer excursion was set for 2:30PM (times can shift a little bit just based on ship speed / conditions). This meant we needed to have an early lunch so Zoe could get a full nap in. With Cabanas closed until 11:45AM, I had to once again cobble together options from the other quick service spots. Don’t worry, we still got ice cream to enjoy while we walked around the ship.

The time from noon until about 5PM this day is really the peak scenic time of the cruise. Some photos:

On Deck 10, you’ll find plenty of crowds enjoying the sights. There’s complimentary hot chocolate and coffee, and you can alcohol for a price. Blankets are provided in case you get cold.

Just after 2PM we started turning the corner, with the South Sawyer Glacier coming into view. Here’s the last photo I took from the deck at 2:08PM.

And then from our verandah on the port (left) side of the ship at 2:15PM.

Glacier Explorer Excursion

For our itinerary, there were two times for the Glacier Explorer excursion, an early time and a late time. If you have the earlier time, you’ll transfer from the Wonder to a smaller boat that goes ahead of the Wonder to visit the glacier. Then once the Wonder catches up you get back on the Wonder. At that point, the people with the later time get on the smaller boats. The Wonder heads back while they do their glacier viewing, and the excursion boats catch up with the Wonder at the end of their time.

At 2:30PM, we gathered at the Walt Disney Theater to start our excursion. After some brief introduction, we were on the boat at 2:52PM.

Seeing the glacier from closer up was cool, but my favorite part by far was the perspective we got on the Disney Wonder. The scenery was great, and it was just really cool to see the ship like that.

We were in the area of the South Sawyer Glacier for about 30 minutes. Then we left and went to the North Sawyer Glacier. The Wonder didn’t itself visit the North Sawyer Glacier, though to be fair the South Sawyer Glacier is more fun to look at.

The excursion boat was comfortable. A guide provided some information about the glaciers for much of the tours. There were free donut holes and hot chocolate. I paid $7 for a beer, and Zoe got a free can of water. You could also use a cup of glacier ice for your beverage. They accepted card and cash, but you cannot charge back to your room (the tour is run by a third party, remember).

Back aboard the Wonder at about 5:20PM, we opted for a quick service dinner. Zoe had done really well on the excursion and really deserved some time in the Oceaneer Club rather than having to go straight from the excursion to a 90 minute meal.

Read more about the Oceaneer Club and the Other Disney Wonder Kids’ Clubs

We happened upon Belle while eating some ice cream inside on Deck 5. She stopped to take pictures with a few people (not us, because of the toddler holding the ice cream). We saw a few roaming characters during our time on the ship. Usually they were heading somewhere (like to their scheduled greeting, or to visit the kids’ clubs), but if they had a moment they’d stop and chat and take pictures.

Day 4 - Icy Strait Point

Finally, a real port! Day 4 was at Icy Strait Point. For starters, Icy Strait Point is a privately managed port. It is not a town. There is a town, Hoonah, that is accessible by bus or walking path from Icy Strait Point, but we didn’t make it there. (Note: Hoonah is different from the Hoonah Cannery, which is a part of Icy Strait Point.)

As much research as I did about Icy Strait Point ahead of time, I was still a little confused about it. I’ll do my best to explain how things are set up here, but suffice to say once you get there, it’s a very manageable area.

Icy Strait Point has essentially four parts. We were docked at Ocean Landing. A short walk across a bridge from the ship took us to one of the two hubs of the port. There was a big building with a cafe and some excursion meeting points. Since we’d booked an excursion, we were able to get our “all access” wristbands here, too. These ostensibly included a few things, but the only value we got from them was access to the paid “Skyglider” gondola.

A few minutes walk from Ocean Landing is the Hoonah Cannery . This is a cannery museum, a few restaurants, and lots of stores.

From Ocean Landing, you can take a free “Transporter” (GREEN) gondola to Wilderness Landing . To be clear there are two gondolas at Icy Strait Point. The free “Transporter” gondola takes you between Ocean Landing and Wilderness Landing. Ships can dock at either of these two spots, so it makes sense that there’s free transport between them. The other gondola is a paid “Skyglider” gondola between Wilderness Landing and Sky Peak

There’s also a 10 minute walking path between Ocean Landing and Wilderness Landing. Wilderness Landing is the hub for some excursions. There’s also a store and a few small food / beverage options, though none were open when we were around.

As I mentioned above, Wilderness Landing is also where you can catch the paid “Skyglider” gondola to Sky Peak . If you book basically any excursion for this day, it will include access to this gondola.

This is also the only way to get to Sky Peak—there’s no walking path between Wilderness Landing and Sky Peak. Without an excursion booked, it costs $50 for an adult and is definitely not worth that. We opted to head straight to Sky Peak and then work our way down to Hoonah Cannery.

Sky Peak has a few view points and is the departure point for a few excursions. It’s also home to the zipline, a popular excursion at Icy Strait Point. If you’re not booked on something up there, there’s also a mile-ish trail. However, when we were visiting there were issues with bears.

This necessitated only traveling in groups, with a guide. There also seems to have been a specific bear incident while we were waiting, because delays mounted. I grew impatient and left after about 45 minutes of waiting, but Emily and Zoe stuck with it. Emily said she liked the trail and everyone else seemed to enjoy it, too.

I took the Skyglider back to Wilderness Landing and then the walking path to Ocean Landing. After a little bit of time we reunited and explored the Hoonah Cannery area together.

There were a few restaurants, with the Crab House being the most popular. The donut stand, Lil’ Gen’s Donuts, also had a huge line. There’s also a ton of shopping, along with some museum displays on the history of the cannery.

We spent about four hours total on Icy Strait Point before returning to the ship for lunch (no good vegetarian options in the very crowded restaurants). I really would have liked to have made it to Hoonah, but it was too much of a hike and we had an afternoon excursion.

Zoe’s favorite part of Icy Strait Point was definitely the rock beach.

Whale and Marine Mammals Cruise

Our excursion this afternoon was the Whale and Marine Mammals Cruise. It cost $209 per adult and $139 for Zoe. Unlike some of the excursions that meet inside the Icy Strait Point buildings, ours departed right from the cruise dock, opposite the cruise ship (“Tour Dock C”). We arrived just before 1:45PM, and the 2PM tour departed on time.

At just over 3 years old, Zoe has for a while been able to get through a day without a nap. But this is something that ebbs and flows, or at least some napless days are better than others. This was not a good one.

The main goal of the viewing is usually to see whales, but you might catch some other animals on the way, like sea lions:

The actual animal viewing was 30-45 minutes away, and Zoe did not want to sit still or behave during that time. Eventually we resigned to trying to get a nap in during the excursion. This worked, but left me with a napping Zoe during the actual viewing part of the excursion:

That’s literally me saying “stop coming back here to check on us and just go watch the whales.” Of course I’d prefer that Zoe and I be outside watching the whales too. I think Zoe would have enjoyed it more than me, honestly. I at least had a view through the window, but Zoe slept the whole time.

Meanwhile, Emily had some great views. We spent over an hour in the area with the whales before heading back to the ship.

Back on the ship, we had time to squeeze in greetings with Donald and Pluto before dinner at Tiana’s.

Day 5 - Juneau

Finally, a real town! Day 5 was Juneau day. You can tell from the photo from our balcony that we were docked relatively far from the main part of the city. We were at “AJ Dock,” about a 15 minute walk from the main part of the town. We didn’t walk there, because we were starting the day with an excursion.

The highlight of Juneau for many people will be the Mendenhall Glacier. If you’re taking an Alaska Cruise that stops in Juneau, you’re going to want to consider the options for visiting Mendenhall Glacier. We opted to skip it, not for any particular reason. Instead, we went on the Sled Dog Discovery and Musher’s Camp.

Sled Dog Discovery and Musher’s Camp

Not at all regarding this specific excursion (bold, italics—I cannot emphasize that enough) , but I think in general people should do some background research and consider the ethics of any animal interaction they’re considering.

Obviously you might assume excursions that partner with major cruise lines have been vetted to some degree, but that says nothing about what you’re personally comfortable with. This isn’t a platform for any more of that discussion, so I’m just going to get on with describing our experience.

Our excursion met in Azure (one of the bars, often used as meeting points) at 8:15AM, and by 8:30AM we were boarding the shuttle to the camp, which took about 30 minutes.

The first part of the excursion involved the dogs pulling us around in this cart, along with the opportunity to meet some of the individual dogs. Some weren’t comfortable meeting strangers, so we were told not to engage with them.

Zoe absolutely adores dogs and, spending a lot of time walking around the city, has a basic understanding of how to properly meet new dogs.

After that was a Q&A with a musher. It was interesting to learn about the challenges of the races, conditions, financing, and training a team of dogs.

After that was the chance to meet some puppies. They were very small and very adorable. For many (us included), this was the “it” factor that prompted us to book the excursion. It sort of winds up being $199 for Zoe and $219 for each adult so Zoe can cuddle with a puppy for a few minutes, but learning about sled dog racing is also a pretty quintessential Alaska cruise experience.

There were also some older puppies nearby who were not quite trained. You could visit their fence but there weren’t one-on-one interactions with them. And yes, they nipped at little fingers that went through the fence.

There was complimentary cocoa, along with tea and coffee.

Exploring Juneau

In total we spent about 90 minutes at the camp. On the way back to the ship, the shuttle made a stop in the heart of Juneau, dropping us off at about 10:50AM. Walking around town a bit we popped into Concept Cafe, a fun spot with coffee, video games, and snacks from a variety of Asian countries.

There’s plenty of shopping to be done, both “touristy/cruise” shopping and things like a fun toy store and a used bookstore.

There are also plenty of small cafes and restaurants. We opted for a quick crepe from a stand at Gunakadeit Park. There were several small eateries here.

After lunch we popped into Red Dog Saloon. The “world famous” Red Dog Saloon is probably the most famous saloon in Juneau, and it’s a really fun spot. I’d call it a must-do so long as you don’t have an excursion that takes up your whole day.

Kids are welcome, and they have root beer on tap (which Zoe loved).

After yesterday, we had no intention of skipping the nap today, so we headed back to the ship. With Zoe walking, we made the “15-minute walk” in about 20 minutes.

After the nap we had time to meet Daisy and Minnie before dinner.

After dinner, since Zoe had napped late, we were able to stay up a bit as a family. There was a silent dance party in Azure, which Zoe absolutely loved. We were the last ones to leave.

I spent the night relaxing in the French Quarter Lounge with coffee and a beignet.

Day 6 - Ketchikan

Ketchikan is the last port on this itinerary. As noted above, we opted to keep this day clear just to enjoy the town at our leisure. I think the biggest “must do” here is the Great Alaskan Lumberjack Show . On a return trip to Ketchikan, we’d definitely try and see this, but we felt okay missing it this time around.

Ketchikan ashore time wan’t until 11:15AM, which meant we had most of the morning to fill. We started with laundry and breakfast at Cabanas, before an 8:30AM family coloring time in D Lounge. It’s a small thing, but I’m appreciative of the fact that there were family activities as early as 8:30AM.

Afterward there were open house hours at the Oceaneer Club. Donald Duck made an appearance as part of a “pajama party.”

Zoe loved seeing Donald, and then on our way out we ran into Cinderella!

We walked around the ship a bit before being let ashore a little early around 11AM.

There are a few buses in Ketchikan, including a free shuttle that will take you to some of the major points of interest. This is where we caught the shuttle. Our first stop was the Totem Heritage Center (not to be confused with the more popular but farther Totem Bight State Historical Park).

We enjoyed the Totem Heritage Center. It wasn’t huge, but it was a good spot to spend about 30 minutes. We waited 8 minutes for the bus and it was only a 6-minute bus ride away. It’s the endpoint for the bus service, so on our way out we asked a waiting bus driver when he’d depart and found out we had time for a quick visit to the nearby playground (because, with a toddler, of course you fly from New York to Chicago to Vancouver and board a ship to Alaska to go to a playground).

We headed to lunch at 108 Taphouse and Burger Bar. They had Impossible Burgers and this was, by far, our favorite meal of the entire trip. It’s a really popular restaurant and not big, so I had to wait at the bar for a table while Emily and Zoe visited the nearby shops.

After lunch we went to Historic Creek Street. It’s a beautiful boardwalk with an interesting history . Nowadays its mostly just small shops, but it’s really cute and definitely a must-do.

From Creek Street it was a short walk to the Tongass Historical Museum. This was a pretty standard historical museum, but it was high quality, with lots of cool items and a fossil display.

As you’d expect, there’s plenty of shopping near the docks, too. We went back to the ship around 3PM so Zoe could nap and I could run.

This was overall a low-stress, uneventful day, but it was also a great way to start to wrap up our trip. I learned later that we lucked into this weather. Ketchikan is generally quite rainy. While rain would have put a damper on some of our walking, overall I think I’d still plan to do something similar on future visits (but with the lumberjack show, probably). It’s a pleasant city to walk around.

There was a nice photo op onboard:

Dinner was at Animator’s Palate (our second visit, having skipped the second of three scheduled meals there). The activity for the night was drawing a cartoon character. At the end of the night all the characters made appearances on the screens / walls around the restaurant. It was a fun bit.

In the quick guide about rotational dining, I mention that the long mealtimes can be a bit of a burden. Today, for example, I had to hop out a few minutes early to go get in line to meet Minnie. This was her last appearance in her Alaska outfit and we didn’t want to miss out.

days 7 and 8 - Day at Sea and Debarkation

I’m combining these last two days because (1) there isn’t a ton to say about our last day at sea and (2) the most important things that happen on day 7 related to debarkation on day 8.

Day 7 is the last full day aboard the ship, a day at sea. By this point, you’ve probably done just about everything on the ship that you wanted to do. It might be a good day to save something like a meal at Palo for so you have that to look forward to.

After breakfast at Cabanas, we took advantage of open house hours at Edge and Vibe, the kids’ clubs for older kids. Zoe had fun playing some of the arcade games, and I played some Mario Kart.

Besides just enjoying the ship, there are a few key errands you might want to run on this day.

First, I booked my placeholder reservation. This is the opportunity to save some money on a future Disney Cruise.

The Placeholder Reservation is only bookable onboard. It requires a $250 refundable deposit, and you’ll get 10% off the cruise you opt to apply the deposit to (subject to blockout dates , boo). I had some issues doing this in the app (I think unique to me, a problem with my card or something), but was able to get it taken care of with a simple visit to guest services. (As an aside, if you have any Guest Services issues, handle them early on Day 7 to avoid lines later in the day.)

Second, I swung by Shutters, the onboard photography shop. I hadn’t preordered photos because I don’t usually meet tons of characters. Turns out meeting characters was Zoe’s absolute favorite thing this trip, so I wound up spending $350 for the digital package of all our photos. Shutters is typically set to be open on debarkation morning, too, but there’s rarely any reason to wait until then to decide on your photo package (and there will be lines).

Third, I went to the main stores onboard, Mickey’s Mainsail and White Caps. I’d visited a few times during the course of the cruise, but now it was time to make any final purchases. These two stores some overlap, but basically I’d say White Caps is like the Grand Floridian gift shop and Mickey’s Mainsail is like the Pop Century gift shop. Either way, just go to both. Here’s a gallery of some merchandise:

There was a character dance party we were able to catch just before Zoe’s nap:

Now, some debarkation information. Most of the need-to-know about debarkation can be found in the app. However, there’s also a video looping on one of the TV channels that you’ll be reminded to watch several times.

On the last night of your cruise, you’ll get two things dropped off at your room—luggage tags and gratuity envelopes.

Let’s start with the gratuity envelopes. On Disney Cruise Line, you’re expected to tip your server, head server, assistant server, and stateroom host. And by “expected”, I mean that as a default , the tips will be billed to your stateroom. It’s a fixed per-person amount. For this cruise, for three of us, it came to $99.75 for our server, $78.75 for our assistant server, $26.25 for our head server, and $99.75 for our stateroom host. That’s a total of $304.50. This amounts to $14.50 per person, per night , as per Disney Cruise Line guidelines .

You can pre-pay these via the Disney Cruise Line website before your trip. Or they will be added to your stateroom bill. If you’d like to change the amount you can do so at the Guest Services desk.

Surely you’re wondering why you’re provided envelopes for gratuities that are charged to your room. Well, alongside the gratuity envelopes is a tearable sheet with strips of paper outlining the tip amounts. If you want to give these in the envelopes to the designated people, you can. If you want to provide extra cash in the envelopes, you can.

You’ll see your server team at breakfast on debarkation day, but you’ll probably either try and track down your host during the evening or just leave the envelope in the room.

Now, the luggage tags. The luggage tags are character-themed and correspond to when you’ll get off the ship. You put the luggage tags on your larger bags and leave them outside your room the last night of your cruise (I think the deadline was 10PM). The Cast Members will take the bags from the hallway and store them. You won’t see them again until you’re off the ship. After that, you’ve just got whatever items you’ve kept with you for the last evening and debarkation morning.

Debarkation morning itself is pretty simple—you’ll leave your room, eat breakfast, and get off the ship. Breakfast is table service in the same restaurant where you had your last dinner. You’ll be served by your usual team. Alternatively, I understand Cabanas is usually open, too. I also believe Cove Cafe is open.

Other than that, the only other activity available onboard is Shutters, the photography shop. Hopefully you already purchased your photo package, but if you didn’t, you can usually do so on debarkation morning (I say “usually” because why take the chance of something going wrong?). Nothing else is available debarkation morning—no pools, no shopping, no theaters, etc.

After breakfast, you’ll wait for your group to be called. I think they make ship-wide announcements, but we watched the screens in D Lounge (the spot we found best for waiting at that point). So, here’s what the screen showed when guests with Ariel or Chip & Dale could debark:

When your group is called, your store bags are taken off the ship. You’ll exit the ship and encounter a huge room filled with bags. Find the section corresponding to your luggage tags, then find your bags and exit.

Alternatively, you can just skip the luggage storage altogether. Don’t use the luggage tags and don’t leave any bags in the hallway, and you can just debark immediately after the ship has cleared customs. This was sometime before 8AM on our debarkation day.

We were called around 8:30AM and off the ship at 8:37AM. It took us a few minutes to find our bags (AirTags helped), and we were on our way out at 8:43AM.

As I’ve noted before, the Vancouver cruise terminal has a great location. There’s a Fairmont hotel right across the street. We were staying at the Fairmont at the airport, but that was only an 11-minute walk to the train station plus a 30-minute train ride.

And so our journey came to an end!

Alaskan Cruise on the Disney Wonder — Closing Thoughts

Overall, our Alaskan cruise on the Disney Wonder was exactly what I’d been led to expect—a stunning, fantastically fun, bucket-list-worthy, once-in-a-lifetime (maybe) type of cruise. Would I recommend it? Definitely!

Coming into the cruise, my biggest “concern” was properly balancing our time on and off the ship. Excursions come at a price, but they’re also sort of what the whole trip is about. At the same time, you’re paying a premium for a Disney cruise, and I didn’t want Zoe to miss out on the kids clubs or character greetings.

In the end I think we did a good job balancing things. By Day 7 we felt like we’d done everything we wanted on the ship, but we weren’t bored. The Wonder is one of Disney’s smallest ships, but it isn’t too small for this trip.

Zoe was certainly never bored—the pool, the activities, and the kids clubs were more than enough for a week. In fact, Zoe had such a good time the entire week that I’m actually quite nervous for our upcoming 3-night trip on the Disney Wish. Only three nights?! It almost feels cruel.

The lowlight of the experience was definitely the food and dining. Again, this is partly a product of our dietary choices (vegetarian), but also a product of the limited hours for the restaurants. I think its inexcusable that (1) Cabanas lunch didn’t start until 11:45AM most days and (2) Cabanas isn’t open for dinner. Yea, you’re supposed to do rotational dining, but—as detailed in our quick guide to rotational dining—that isn’t a perfect option, dietary choices aside. It’s just telling that our best meal the entire trip was a burger restaurant in Ketchikan.

But we’ll look back and remember the highlights. Our hearts melting when Zoe met those dogs and puppies. Successful whale watching. Stunning scenery. And So. Many. Characters.

Thanks for reading about our time aboard the Disney Wonder! We can’t wait to get on our next cruise and share that with you too!

Disney Wonder Alaska Cruise – The Essential Guide 2024

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One sailing that is on many people’s bucket lists is a cruise to Alaska.

And if you want to sail on one of the best cruise lines which offer that itinerary you really should consider a Disney Wonder Alaska Cruise.

Here we look at the Alaskan cruises that are available on the Disney Wonder, get an idea of pricing and find out more about what Disney Cruises have to offer.

Disney Wonder Sailings from Vancouver

First, let’s see what itineraries are available.

All the Disney Wonder Alaska Cruises sail from the port of Vancouver, Canada.

There are a number of different cruises available including 5, 7, 8, and 9-night itineraries.

Most of the Disney Wonder Cruises are for 7 nights.

There are some variations on the Disney Wonder Alaska cruise itinerary but most are 7-night cruises sailing from Vancouver.

4-Night Pacific Coast Cruise From San Diego California to Vancouver Canada

• San Diego, California
• Victoria, Canada
• Vancouver, Canada

Sailing on 5/9/24

7-Night Alaskan Cruise from Vancouver

• Glacier Viewing, Stikine Icecap
• Icy Strait Point

Sailing on 5/13/24, 5/27/24,

6/10/24, 6/24/24,

8/5/24, 8/19/24,

Sailing on 5/20/24,

6/3/24, 6/17/24,

7/1/24, 7/29/24,

8/12/24, 8/26/24,

9/9/24, and 9/16/24

9-Night Alaskan Cruise from Vancouver

Sailing on 7/15/24

Do You Need a Balcony Stateroom on a Disney Alaska Cruise?

The very simple answer to this is that a balcony stateroom is always very nice to have, particularly for an Alaskan cruise.

However, balcony staterooms are almost always more expensive than Inside and Outside staterooms – and never more is this true on any Alaskan cruise that you may choose.

Let’s look at this price difference.

These Disney Alaskan cruise costs are shown as correct if you were booking on November 27, 2022. Prices vary a lot so always check the Disney website for up-to-date pricing.

The prices below are for 2 guests including taxes and port fees.

The rates shown are for the lowest rates in that category.

As you can see the rates for a balcony stateroom are considerably higher than for an Inside or Oceanview stateroom.

For some dates, the cost of a balcony stateroom is more than double that of an Inside stateroom.

So should you book a balcony stateroom on a Disney Alaskan cruise?

Only you can decide whether the cost is within your budget.

Of course, it is nice to be able to sit on the balcony and watch the beautiful scenery go by, but you can do that in the public areas of the ship.

Is it as great an experience?

Probably not, but you are saving $3,000 to $4,000. You need to decide how important that is to you.

How to Find the Best Staterooms on Disney Wonder

When is the Best Time to Book a Disney Alaska Cruise?

There is no easy answer to this – as pricing patterns have changed since sailings restarted.

The usual advice prior to 2022 was that you should always book a Disney Cruise as close to the opening date as possible as the prices were likely to go up considerably over time.

However, this has become a little more complicated when you look at the prices for 2022 and how they have changed.

You can see  Disney Alaska Cruise 2022 Prices  here to see how they changed from the release date to right up to before sailing.

Some cruise prices for Alaska even went down from the opening day.

This is really not what you would expect, and was probably unique for 2022.

What you can see is that if you want to sail Concierge on a Disney Wonder Alaskan Cruise then the best idea would be to book as early as possible.

Concierge is likely to sell out quickly on many dates, and 2022 shows that prices can rise considerably.

What Are The Disney Alaskan Cruise Port Stops Like?

A Disney 7-night Alaska cruise has port stops in Skagway, Juneau, and Ketchikan.

It also has a day exploring Dawes Glacier. Each of these experiences has something different to offer.

Disney Cruise Dawes Glacier

This isn’t a port stop in the conventional sense. However, it is an experience sailing around the Dawes Glacier.

This is an amazing experience and is often the highlight of a Disney Alaskan cruise.

To be able to get up close and see the amazing scenery is an experience not to be missed.

Dawes Glacier is part of the scenic Endicott Arm fjord which is located approximately 45 miles south of Juneau, Alaska.

You get very close to the glaciers. Nothing can prepare you for that amazing sight of the spectacular glaciers.

The Tracy Arm experience will last around 5 hours, so there is plenty of time to enjoy the experience from different viewpoints.

Remember to dress in layers and bring those binoculars with you!

Icy Strait Point, Alaska

The 7-night Disney Alaskan Cruises and the 9-night cruise sails to Icy Strait Point, Alaska.

It is a stunningly beautiful port with spectacular views of the surrounding landscape.

A relatively new addition to Icy Strait Point is the gondola which gives spectacular views of the area. The Skyglider climbs 1,600 feet to Sky Peak.

It is well worth the journey for the view from the top.

Gondola Mountaintop and Transporter Port Adventure costs $50 for adults and $40 for children aged 3 to 9.

There are lots of tours which will give you the opportunity to see the abundant wildlife. There are a number of Whale Watching Tours available.

There is also a Discovering Birds excursion.

Other Port Adventures include Family Scavenger Hunt, Seafood Fest, Back Country Jeep Adventure, and the Spasski River Valley Wildlife and Bear Search.

Disney Cruise Alaska Skagway Port and Excursions

Skagway is probably my favorite port stop in Alaska.

This is another town where you dock very close to the center, so it is easy to just walk off the ship and explore.

Skagway is a small Gold Rush town. It is part of the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park.

This is how you imagine stepping back in time would feel like.

Skagway is a tiny town. It has one main street which isn’t very long. The population is just 1,191 people.

It is well worth the short walk into town though if only to imagine what it must have been like to live in one of the Gold Rush towns.

There are some tourist stores, a couple of bars, and a museum which is worth checking out.

However, you will most likely want to combine your visit to Skagway with some Disney cruise excursions to make the most of your time there.

A highlight for many visitors is the White Pass Scenic Railway.

You really couldn’t dock any closer to the station – it is right next to the ship.

This is a very very popular Port Adventure and it does sell out.

The cost is $149 for adults and $74 for children aged 3 to 9 for the basic journey.

There are other Port Adventures that include the rail journey but add on other elements such as a hike, a bike trail, or a VIP experience.

This vintage train takes you on a spectacular journey on a track that was built in 1898.

This is another one of those once-in-a-lifetime experiences which we highly recommend.

One of the most sought-after Disney Cruise Alaska excursions is a dog sledding adventure.

There are plenty of opportunities to book an Alaskan port adventure where you can enjoy this amazing experience.

There are many other options for excursions in Skagway

. One of the least pricey is Skagway’s Original Street Car City Tour which is $52 for adults and $35 for children.

On this excursion, you board an original 1927 sightseeing bus and are taken on a historical journey around the town.

It is a good way to see more of the breathtaking scenery surrounding the town and to get an overview of the history of the area.

Other excursions include Alpine Lake Canoe Adventure, Dog Sledding and Glacier Flightseeing, Evening Wildlife Expedition, Klondike Bicycle Tour, Ocean Raft Nature Adventure, Sunset Horseback Adventure and the Yukon Expedition.

Disney Cruise Alaska Juneau Port and Excursions

Junuea is the only US State Capital that is landlocked.

The only way to get there is by land or sea – there are no roads going in or out of the town.

Disney Wonder docks right in the center of town.

Just step off the ship and you can explore the shops and restaurants.

It is, of course, a town which caters to tourists, so you will find a lot of souvenir shops which start to look the same as each other very quickly.

The Goldbelt Tramway is a very popular attraction in Juneau and it is just a short walk from where the Wonder docks.

The aerial tramway takes guests 1,800 feet into the mountains for a spectacular view of the surrounding scenery.

You can do this on your own, but there is also an excursion available. The lines can be long and if the weather is bad (as it often is) you may not see much of a view.

We would say to wait until you arrive and see what the weather is like before deciding if it is worth standing in line.

There is a huge choice of activities in Juneau – it is difficult to choose just one.

Juneau is well known for the Mendenhall Glacier.

This breathtaking natural feature is the only glacier in Alaska that you can access by road.

There are many Disney Port Adventures that give guests the chance to visit Mendenhall Glacier.

These range from a trip to view the glacier from the ground to plenty of options from a boat or kayak.

The Mendenhall Lake Kayak Adventure gives you an opportunity to explore the glacier up close. It is $229 for adults and $119 for children

Alaska is of course known for its abundant wildlife.

You will likely see whales from your ship, but if you want to increase your odds of seeing one of these beautiful creatures there are plenty of Whale Watching Adventures to choose from.

The Whale Watching and Wildlife Quest is $179 for adults and $109 for children.

Guests will board a catamaran and sail on a whale-watching adventure.

Want to be even more adventurous? The Taku Lacier Adventure by Helicopter is one of those bucket list experiences that you will never forget. It is available for $459 for all ages.

Disney Alaska Cruise Ketchikan Port and Excursions

Another fascinating port on your Disney Cruise is the town of Ketchikan.

Disney Wonder docks right in the town so you can just step off the ship and explore.

As you would expect, the town is full of tourist shops.

It is worth taking a short time to browse around, but you will probably want to book a Port Adventure to explore much more than the town itself.

Ketchikan is most famous for its colorful totem poles which you can see around the town.

The Misty Fjords National Monument by Seaplane is a very popular excursion.

This 75-minute flight will have you flying over spectacular scenery and enjoying a view of the surrounding fjords, waterfalls, and lakes. The cost is $499 for adults and $409 for children aged 2 to 9. Under 2 are free.

Ketchikan is also famous for its lumberjack show, which is a short walk from the cruise ship. You can book the Exclusive Great Alaskan Lumberjack Show at $50 for adults and $28 for children. For an extra charge, you can even try your hand at axe throwing!

There are lots of Disney Alaska Cruise Port Adventures to get you out in the amazing Alaskan scenery. These include an Alaskan Bear Adventure, Zipline Adventures, Hunting for Halibut, Mountain Point Snorkeling Adventure, Rainforest Family Adventure, and a Wilderness Exploration and Crab Fest.

Which Side of the Cruise Ship is Best on an Alaska Cruise?

Visiting Sitka on a Disney Alaska Cruise

The Wonder only has a port stop in Sitka on the 9-night itinerary which only sails once in 2023.

You can easily explore on your own but you will get the most out of your experience if you book a guided tour or Port Adventure.

There are several Disney Port Adventures available to the National Park which is also known as Totem Park. The basic tour is $64 for adults and $44 for children aged 3 to 9.

If you prefer something a little more adventurous then the Alaska Zodiac Adventure and Fin Island Lodge Port Adventures are available for $199 for adults and $139 for children.

Hubbard Glacier

You will only visit Hubbard Glacier on a Disney Alaska Cruise if you are sailing on the 9-night itinerary.

This is subject to actually being able to access the glacier as for part of the cruise season it is too icy to actually pass close to Hubbard Glacier.

It is a spectacularly beautiful place and most guests enjoy the views from the ship.

However, there is one Port Adventure available which is the Hubbard Glacier Explorer costing $299 for adults and $199 for children. This 2-hour tour on a water-jet-powered catamaran  takes you close up to the glacier so that you are likely to see

Want to Know More About the Disney Wonder?

We have spent many months on the Disney Wonder and have written lots of guides about this fabulous ship:

Disney Wonder Staterooms – What Do You Need to Know?

Disney Wonder Restaurant Guide

Disney Wonder Bars

Disney Cruise First-Timer Money Mistakes

Alison Meacham is the founder of EverythingMouse Disney Blog. For over 15 years she has shared her love of Disney Parks, Disney Cruises and Universal Orlando.  In over 30 years of Disney Travel she has spent countless months in Disney Parks and has sailed on over 45 cruises. A British native and now a United States resident she splits her time between California, Florida and the UK. And spends a serious amount of time sailing the seven seas. She helps over 200,000 people per month follow their Disney travel dreams.

Wednesday 30th of November 2022

The photo posted of the Disney Magic in Vancouver - just an fyi that’s not Vancouver! Great article though :)

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Disney Cruise Alaska 2024 & 2025 Guide: ESSENTIAL Tips For Your Cruise

The Alaska Disney Cruise is a once in a lifetime experience. The below cruise review and tips are based on our recent seven day Disney Cruise Line Alaska itinerary that sails from Vancouver to Alaska. This guide will continue to be updated to provide advice for the 2024 and 2025 Disney Cruise Alaska seasons.

Onboard our cruise we had family ranging in age from 20 to 80+. On the last night of our trip I got everyone together and we talked through all the Disney Cruise tips we should pass on. This guide is based on those insights.

With the below tips I hope to prepare you for your future Disney Alaska cruise and give you everything you need to know to plan. We'll cover what month to book your cruise, an overview of the Disney Wonder ship, onboard activities, premium dining, what to pack for your cruise, Alaska Disney Cruise Line excursions, and more.

Get exclusive access to prices on hotel & tickets just for Mickey Visit subscribers. Don't miss our travel hacks newsletter!

In this planning guide:

When to Take a Disney Cruise to Alaska

The Disney Cruise Line Alaskan sailings on the Disney Wonder occur throughout the summer “warm” months. The first 2024 Alaska sailing begins on May 13, 2024 and the last sailing ends on September 23, 2024 (the Disney Cruise Line 2024 dates were announced here ). We don't yet the 2025 Disney Alaska Cruise dates. The sailing stretch throughout the summer months in Alaska.

These are the key factors to consider for picking your Alaskan Disney Cruise dates:

• When are kids in school? The May and September sailings will be less expensive and may even not be fully booked because kids will still be in school. Some of the same school discounting effects can be felt for the very beginning of June and very end of September as well. If you are not confined to summer school schedules, you may want to consider a sailing at the beginning or end of the Alaskan cruising season.
• Weather? The later in the season you plan your cruise the higher the potential for rain during your trip. You can see on this Juneau, Alaska monthly climate averages that the average rainfall by month is double in September what it is in May. Even with that said, during our August trip we only had one real day of rain during our trip when we were in Ketchikan, Alaska. This port is actually one of the rainiest cities in the U.S. and receives nearly 235 days of percipitation per year . A weather note – most think of Alaska as cold. Throughout the summer months the temperatures do not get too low and during our sailing were about 60 degrees. Pretty comfortable when in pants. Some days we saw lots of sun and others we had light rain and wind. More in our packing list section.

You can view the currently available dates for Summer 2024 on the Disney Cruise Line website (Summer 2024 dates just released). After viewing the dates be sure to come back and request a FREE quote from our travel partner for your cruise . For a limited time Mickey Visit readers get up to a $400 onboard credit.

As you'll see in the listings of available sailings, there are a range of length options for your trip…

Best Disney Cruise to Alaska – Which Length to Pick

Disney Cruise Line offers multiple Alaska itineraries that range from five to nine nights. Our recent Disney Cruise to Alaska was a seven night itinerary. The seven night Disney Alaska cruise is offered the most of any of the lengths of sailings.

The seven night cruise includes stops at Dawes Glacier; Juneau, Alaska; Skagway, Alaska; and Ketchikan, Alaska.

Here's some more context on each of the destinations listed for the various lengths of cruise:

• Juneau, Alaska is the state's capital and the largest town that the ship stops in during the Alaskan cruise. The town has some noteworthy food options (see below for excursions) and was the closest that we got to any glacier.
• Skagway, Alaska was the access point for the last gold rush. This old gold rush town is the jumping off point for excursions into the Yukon. Excursion options include a historic railway line with stunning vista views, helicopter tours, and tours of the old town.
• Ketchikan, Alaska is the rainiest place in the world and features an old town built on stilts above a creek, salmon runs, Native American totem polls, and a lumberjack show. This port is the closest to Vancouver in Alaska and all Disney Alaskan Cruises stop here.
• Dawes Glacier, Alaska is not a port but is a location that the boat pulls into for one day of all Alaska sailings. The boat enters the cove near the glacier and then rotates slow so that all sides of the boat get an angle of the glacier. There is an option for an excursion here to go out on a smaller boat that goes closer to the glacier. Though Dawes was scheduled as part of our itinerary, we actually didn't stop here. Scroll down and read what happened in our Disney Cruise to Alaska tips section.
• Sitka, Alaska was not a port that we visited during our seven night Disney Cruise sailing to Alaska but we heard the highlights revolve around the Russian history of the city (this was the capital of the territory when Alaska belonged to Russia) and the outdoor excursions which are similar to the excursions offered in the other ports.

Choosing Your Alaska Stateroom – Do you need a Verandah room for your Alaskan cruise?

While we do outline each of the various stateroom options for all of the Disney Cruise Line ships in our general guide to the Disney Wonder , there is special reason to consider your room option carefully for the Disney Cruise to Alaska.

For many cruises you could take the same approach that we take for hotels near Disneyland – why pay for the room if you are going to be out of the room the entire trip exploring and having fun? You may want to reconsider this for an Alaskan cruise as the itineraries are longer and the outdoor spaces are colder due to the Alaskan weather. With our group's age range for this trip (from 20 years old to 80+ years old), there was almost always someone in the room who wasn't keen to be out exploring. We were very happy to have a Verandah room during our Alaskan Disney Cruise and enjoyed waking up to views and having the option to check out the view without having to get warmer clothes on and go up on deck.

There is plenty to do throughout the ship and plenty of spaces for lounging outside of your room but the Verandah was truly a highlight for our days at sea. Even for the days when we were coming into port, it was delightful to watch our approach from the comfort of our own balcony.

The room shown in the photos here is a Deluxe Verandah room. There is a queen bed and the couch the converts into twin sleeper.

How much does a 2024 Alaskan Disney Cruise Cost?

The prices for the cruise vary dramatically by room type and date of sailing. We asked our travel partner to pull some sample pricing for cruises so that we could include them here for your reference.

For the seven night sailing that leaves May 22, 2023 for two people an interior room costs  $3,574.94 and an exterior deluxe verandah 5C category room with an unobstructed view and regular balcony size costs $8,012.94 .

Compare this to the seven night sailing that leaves on July 17, 2023 in the heart of the summer. For two people an interior room costs  $4,708.94 while an exterior Deluxe Verandah 5C category room with an unobstructed view and regular balcony size $11,148.94 .

The seven-night sailing that leaves on May 13, 2024 for two people in an interior room starts at $3,490 and an exterior verandah room starts at $6,347 . The exact prices are not available yet as booking details are not yet open.

Compare this to the seven night sailing that leaves on July 8, 2024, in the heart of the summer. For two people an interior room costs $4,635 while an exterior Deluxe Verandah 5c category room with an unobstructed view and regular balcony size is $11,495.2. As you can see, the more popular summer months when kids are out of school are more expensive.

Again, as you are considering your Disney Cruise to Alaska, be sure to request a FREE Disney Cruise line vacation quote from our travel partner . When you book with our partner you'll receive up to a $400 onboard credit .

Onboard Disney Cruise Line Programming

There are a variety of onboard Disney Cruise Line offerings to fill your days at sea and evenings. From lavish entertainment (see Disney Cruise Line entertainment section below) to educational programs to fitness offerings, there really are tons of ways to stay busy during the days at sea. Your Disney Cruise Line Personal Navigator app has information on all times for all activities onboard the ship. Make sure everyone in your party has downloaded the app before your departure.

Though we were onboard a unique Alaskan Disney Cruise (our trip was part of the Disney Vacation Club Member Cruise ) we did still experience quite a bit of the normal programming that is offered by the Disney Cruise Line on a standard Alaskan cruise.

One of the highlights on the onboard programming was the educational nature presentations . All of the adults in our group attended all three of the talks given by the naturalist that was onboard. His three presentations were on the fjords and waterways, whales and water ways, and Alaskan bears and salmon. Each of the presentations was educational and added to our excursion experience by providing context on our trip on land. The programming was well put together and could be interesting to all ages. If you have a nature curious preteen and up, I would recommend bringing them along to the presentation. Other topics sometimes presented by the naturalist include information on the Klondike Gold Rush and Vancouver Life.

Some of the other offerings on the Alaska Disney Cruise on the Disney Wonder include:

• The Art of the Theme Tour is a tour of the ship that focuses on the details and history built into the ship. You'll find fun features in the carpet and hear stories on design details. I also always like to take the opportunity to connect with another Cast Member.
• There is trivia with varying themes offered throughout the trip. Some themes include movie quotes trivia, Disney theme park trivia, sports trivia, and PIXAR trivia.
• In the Buena Vista Theater (the smaller of the two theaters onboard the ship) there are a variety of the latest movies from Disney playing . During our 2022 sailing we saw Togo (story about an Alaskan sled dog), Thor: Love and Thunder, and Encanto. The list is always updated with the latest Disney movies that were released but there is usually a film that ties into the Alaskan cruise theme like Togo or Brother Bear that is always offered.
• There is evening live music and entertainment available in the lounges. These offerings vary by cruise but we saw a lounge singer during our sailing. The songs are ones that you'll know and performances have specific themes.
• For an additional charge, you can join an alcohol tasting class or mixology class . These experiences do fill up so you should book them when they open for booking. See dates the varying dates that excursions and activities open to guests below.
• Throughout your stay you'll get to experience super fun folded towels and napkins. Each night when you return to your stateroom you'll find a folded towel animal on the bed waiting for you. There is a class where you can learn how to fold your own napkin and towel animal .
• For the musically excited, a night time karaoke and silent disco are offered.
• Throughout the trip you'll have lots of opportunity to join in playing BINGO . Be sure to check when there is presale of BINGO cards so that you don't end up waiting in the queue when you arrive to play.
• There is a very popular Match Your Mate game show where you and your significant other are challenged to see how well you know each other with trivia questions. This is a fan favorite!
• There are activities for every interest onboard the Disney Cruise to Alaska – you'll also find a cooking class demonstration and animation class .

The dates that guests can book onboard experiences (tastings, spa, nursery, Royal Court Tea), Alaskan excursions, and adult dining at Palo (details below) vary by sailing history with Disney Cruise Line . Once you have paid for your cruise in full, first time Disney Cruise Line guests can book 75 days before sail date, Silver Castaway Club members can book 90 days before sail date, Gold Castaway Club Members can book 105 days before, and Concierge Guests and Platinum Castaway Club Members can book 120 days before your sail date.

Alaska Disney Cruise Character Meet and Greets

Throughout our Disney Cruise there were characters everywhere. The Disney meet and greet limitations for the Disney Cruise Line had been recently lifted and we experienced a completely normal character meet and greet experience onboard our cruise. Many times throughout our trip I would be walking from one activity to the next and bump into a character just wandering. Multiple times I saw Thor wandering the hallways looking for someone to engage with.

All character meeting times are listed in the app. Our favorite character meet and greets were with the Disney fab five in their Alaskan outfits. For anyone excited about rare Disney meet and greets, these photos are super exciting. The best opportunity to take these photos comes on the Dawes Glacier day. On this day the characters will be up on the top deck outdoors so you can get an iconic Alaskan view in the background. I recommend arriving about fifteen minutes before the scheduled photo time to meet Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse up here. We started with Mickey Mouse and then jumped over to the line for Minnie Mouse. There were other times we saw opportunities to wait in line for characters (on the formal night the fab five is out in tuxedos) but were happy just to have these outdoor photos.

Don't be afraid of a short line for a memorable photo with your favorite character.

Fitness Offerings Onboard the Disney Wonder

The fitness center and spa offers a number of scheduled workout classes. During our sailing there were complimentary offerings that included a mile walk around the ship and a morning yoga class . I opted to try one of the premium experiences and purchased the personal training experience . You could opt for a two pack or four pack of classes. There was a discount if you went with the four pack. I decided just do purchase the two pack as I wanted to workout some on my own during the trip as well. The cruise really flies by. I was glad that I only purchased the two day experience.

The gym is at the very front of the Disney Wonder and has a wide array of fitness machines. I typically like to start my workout with a run. I did this everyday except for one when the boat was moving a little too much for the treadmill and I opted for the stationary bicycle instead. The fitness center also has a nice locker room. I actually ended up showering in the locker everyday of our trip after our workout instead of using the shower in our stateroom.

In Skagway I went for a run off the ship. When facing the town from the port I ran to the left and found a foot bridge. Over the bridge there was a dirt trail with work out stations (pull up bars, sit up bench, etc) all along it. This was a great way to get off the ship and get a workout in outside before our excursion for the day. I ran about 3.5 miles here.

Disney Cruise Line Sense Spa and Salon Offerings

The Disney Wonder has a full spa offering onboard with a suite of services. The spa rooms have massive windows with sweeping views from the top of the ship.

Some of the offerings at the spa include a Rainforest aromatherapy room, steam room, and sauna. There are also comfortable locker rooms for changing before and after the treatment. As I mentioned above, I used the locker rooms throughout our cruise after the weight room even when not getting a treatment.

The spa is available for guests 18 and older and reservations can be made online or after 1 pm in person at the spa on the first day of your cruise. An 18% gratuity will be applied to all spa and fitness services.

If you are interested in a manicure or a pedicure, consider booking your time slot for the first day of your trip for stunning views of Vancouver as you sail away. There is also a rainforest room which features a steam room and relaxation area. You can pay for a day pass or pass for your entire trip.

Disney Wonder Cruise Kids Activities

There are kids clubs and activities for kids of all ages. There are five different areas on the ship designed to service kids from toddlers to teens.

There are five different lounge options: the “it’s a Small World” nursery, Disney’s Oceaneer Club, Oceaneer Lab, Edge, and Vibe. You can view all the various kid activities in the Disney Cruise Line app.

All of the kids clubs except the “it's a Small World” nursery are included with the price of the cruise. The nursery is an additional fee and requires reservations.

On embarkation you and your child can tour the kids clubs together to calm any nerves. This is also when you'll register your child for the club. You can also pre-register your child before the cruise here .

Keep in mind that kids are not fed by the kids clubs so even though your child will likely want to stay in the club all day you will have to grab them for meals. This is also something to keep in mind when booking any Palo reservation that may conflict with your child's eating timing.

Disney Wonder Entertainment Available On Alaskan Cruise

During the cruise to Alaska there are a number of Broadway-caliber shows that are performed in the Walt Disney Theatre. The shows vary by sailing length. On nights when one of the Disney shows are not taking place in the theater, there will be some sort of variety show act performed.

The shows on the Disney Wonder are:

• “Frozen, A Musical Spectacular” is a full retelling of the Frozen story with huge musical acts that runs just over an hour. The production value is incredible, the musicians are very impressive, and Olaf was hilarious.
• “The Golden Mickeys” is a musical medley show that features songs from Disney films of past and present. A story is also woven in between the musical acts that a stage manager is suddenly pushed into the spotlight when she has to host the show at the last minute. By the end of the show, the host realizes that anything is possible.
• “Disney Dreams – An Enchanted Classic” is a musical medley show that pulls in classic Disney musical numbers when a young girl who is losing her belief in magic is visited in her dreams by characters from Disney classics and is helped along the way by Peter Pan and Tinker Bell.

Shows are typically performed twice nightly so that they are opposite your dinner seating. If you have a late dinner you'll watch the earlier show and if you have an early dinner seating you'll watch the later show.

There are also two deck shows that occur during the cruise:

• The “Mickey's Sail-A-Wave” party is a send off deck party with all of your favorite Disney characters that occurs right as the ship is pulling out of Vancouver. This show takes place in the mid-afternoon.
• The “Freeze the Night Away” deck party is a Frozen themed deck party with your favorite songs and characters from Frozen. Snow comes down at the end of this show. The night of our deck party is truly was freezing and we were bundled up enjoying the entertainment on deck. This show takes place after both dinner seatings have been completed.

Choosing Your Disney Cruise Line Alaskan Excursions

There are a wide array of excursions for Disney Cruises to Alaska. Guests can opt for the most extravagant helicopter ride to dog sledding or just enjoy a leisurely walk around town. CAUTION – You will likely have sticker shock. Some excursions are hundreds of dollars per person. Remember that you are in Alaska for a once in a lifetime Disney Cruise. Be sure to budget for these excursions as you plan for your trip.

Disney Cruise Line sells excursions directly. For research sake I compared prices between the offering from Disney Cruise Line and booking some experiences on our own. The pricing was often the same or only slightly more when purchasing from Disney when I could find it. For many of the more upscale experiences, there was no clear way to find the offering directly online to comparison shop as the experience was curated specifically for the cruise line. There are always vendors just off the ship selling other excursion offerings but be warned that if you take a third party excursion and do not get back to the ship before the official departure time the ship will leave you behind. This warning and a very real story of passengers being left behind in Juneau, Alaska after their seaplane couldn't fly back from the glacier due to lack of visibility scared us enough not to consider outside excursions.

When you purchase an excursion from Disney you'll check in for the excursion in D-Lounge and then be escorted to the correct transportation by a Cast Member.

Here were our trip reports for each Alaskan port we experienced:

Skagway – The White Pass and Yukon Route Railway was about a three hour train loop up the trail to the Yukon gold rush. The experience was well put together though after about 2 hrs we wished that we were back at the base. You'll follow the same route up and then back down. The train picks up directly at the ship.

We heard others who opted for a long hike, to rent a car and drive up into the Yukon (Skagway is the only port that we visited that is actually connected to the rest of the country by road), and taking an old town shuttle tour around the town itself. I would have loved to go on a long hike but due to others in our group with less mobility we opted to spend time together on the railway experience. This was a great way to see the sights and spend time together.

After our railway tour we still had a chance to walk around the town. We stopped at a Christmas shop and enjoyed chatting with the owners who turned out to spend winter in San Diego, California. We also enjoyed fried dough from the Klondike Doughboy . This is a must stop for your day in Skagway that you'll find on one of the side streets. Finally, we watched a National Parks historical film on the “last gold rush” that lead to the original establishment of Skagway as the gateway for gold seekers to sail to before a treacherous journey over the mountain to the site where gold was discovered. I enjoyed the context that the film provided. The film can be found in the National Parks building at the end of the street closest to the cruise ship slips.

This is a screenshot of the video I captured of the whales coming right up near our boat. The photo doesn't do the experience justice.

Juneau – At Juneau we participated in a whale watching and trip to the Mendenhall glacier . We were picked up by bus from the ship and then taken to a boat for the whale watching tour. We had whales get very close up to the ship and flip their tale. Just like the Pacific Life commercials ! This was an excellent experience getting into nature.

After our long morning on the boat we got back on the bus and headed to the Mendenhall Glacier. All along the ride we had very fun narration from our bus driver who shared a look into what it is like living in Alaska. She was witty and provided a look into the actual life rather than just giving facts and figures. A real highlight! At the Mendenhall Glacier we walked out to the waterfall. They claim this walk is an hour roundtrip but it only took us 45 minutes and that includes at least 10 minutes talking photos at the waterfall. Our bus then dropped us off in the heart of Juneau and we walked through some of the shops and found lunch.

We opted to enjoy the fish tacos at Deckhand Dave's . We debated going to Tracy's Crab Shack but decided we didn't want another large sit down meal for lunch. We were very happy with our pick to enjoy the tacos. After lunch we also found GREAT fudge from the Alaskan Fudge Company . Both great options!

Ketchikan – As I shared above, Ketchikan is one of the rainiest cities in the United States so it was raining during our day here. It rained on and off throughout the day and the sky was gray all day. The ship docks right in town. In the morning we walked through the various shops in town and I took a longer walk up the river beyond Creek Street. The amount of salmon floating peacefully in the river was astounding. There were hundreds just hanging out in the shallows. In the afternoon we enjoyed the Lumberjack Show . This is an activity you could easily purchase tickets directly from the venue if you wanted to.

There isn't much of a savings for the headache of booking through an outside payment system but the option is there. The show was lots of fun. In the format of a US vs Canada competition, professional lumberjacks completed impressive stunts with their saws. The show also pulls in audience participation. We saw kids of the friends also on the trip get pulled in and have a great time participating. This experience is tons of fun for the entire family.

Fun Disneyland Fact – Did you know that in the summers of 1987 and 1988 there was a “State Fair” event that included a Log Rolling and Lumberjack Show? The show was found along the Rivers of America area.

When you get back on the ship there's always a Cast Member with hot chocolate and cookies ready to greet you.

For 2 of the 3 days in port we opted to return to the ship for lunch rather than sitting down at any of the restaurant in town. We enjoyed eating at Triton's restaurant on the ship and appreciated the sit down service. After lunch we easily returned back into town for more exploring and some of our group opted to stay on the ship.

WiFi During Your Disney Cruise Line Alaska Trip

I can't say this more overtly. The WiFi onboard the ship worked well for messaging and looking things but do not rely on it for downloads. Save any digital material that you want to have available. If you need a book downloaded for your Kindle or podcast downloaded for the gym, do everything you can to download these before leaving for your trip.

While there is WiFi onboard the Disney Wonder, it is expensive and runs out quickly. Even when you are on the WiFi there were certain apps that did not work at all.

In our experience iMessages came through over the WiFi even when we didn't have our WiFi package turned on. For messaging between people in your party onboard, there is a messaging option within the Disney Cruise Line app. This worked fine.

In each port I was able to get on my normal Verizon phone plan with no difficulties. I even used it as a hotspot from my computer to send email. Be sure to check on your phone plan for use in Canada for your days coming into Vancouver.

Disney Cruise Line App Review

At first the Disney Cruise Line app was difficult to use. The interface is not intuitive to begin with but once you figure out how to locate activities it works well.

When you first get onboard, go through the activities listed and select the various onboard activities that sound interesting to you. To get the activities, click on the “Explore” section and click the day you want to view. There is also an option to filter by activity type – filtering by movie for instance. This schedule that you create will then cause the app to send you push notifications. The “Add Plans” button in the app doesn't work as expected and just suggests paid activities to you. Make sure to click the “Explore” section for details on everything happening onboard.

Disney Wonder Pools

The pools and water slide are open throughout the cruise to Alaska. We opted to quickly ride the waterslide the first day that we were onboard to check that box as we knew that our departure day from Vancouver would be the warmest day to enjoy the pools on the cruise. I recommend getting on the slide that first day to enjoy it while it is still sunnier outside. There were plenty of people enjoying the waterslide throughout the voyage but we were glad to have ridden it the first day.

Entering the pool area could be jarring at times. I would walk out on to the deck and be greeted with icy winds in the morning but also the upbeat tunes of “La Bamba”.

I actually used the pool almost everyday of the trip. In the early evening before our show I would try and get up to the adult pool area and hot tub. This area was a little more peaceful than the others and it was nice to meet other guests in the hot tub to swap stories on their experience.

How Food Works Onboard Disney Cruise to Alaska

For Dinner:

Onboard the Disney Wonder there are three different restaurants that you will rotate through for dinners during your voyage. Each night you'll go to your assigned restaurant and your same waiter and assistant waiter will be there ready for you. Throughout your trip you'll get to know the wait staff and they'll get to know your preferences. In our group one member took her water without ice and by the second night she was already receiving her water with no ice without asking.

The menus shift each night of the cruise and are somewhat reflective of the theme of the restaurant.

Our waiters encouraged us to order anything on the menu that looked interesting. Each night I started with one of the soups of the day and some other appetizer before my main course. We sometimes also ordered an additional main course if we all wanted to try it.

Some of the food highlights that stuck with us – the Beef Wellington, the Banoffee pie (a chocolate, banana, whipped cream dessert), and the carmel ice cream that we enjoyed one evening (we ordered that ice cream every night afterwards too!). Another lesson. Always ask for the food that you want even if it isn't on the menu. My grandmother wanted a blue cheese wedge salad because the other salads on the menu were not something she was interested in. Amazingly our server had a wedge salad based on her specifications at the table 5 minutes later. My aunt was craving asparagus and they also delivered. Overall we were very impressed with the kitchen's ability to accommodate requests.

These were some of our drawings during the fun Animator's Palate show.

The three main restaurants are: Triton's, Tiana's Place, and Animator's Palate. Be sure not to miss the second night at Animator's Palate as there is a very cute show where everyone in the group draws a character and then that character comes to life on screens around the restaurant.

There are two dinner seatings – an early seating at 5:45 pm and a later seating at 8:15 pm. We had the later dinner seating which meant that we would be eating much later than we were used to at home. This also led us to snack much more going into the evening because we weren't going to eat until so much later. You have the opportunity to switch seating times in the app if you have a preference.

Palo For Upscale Dinner and Brunch:

There is an upscale adults only restaurant onboard called Palo that is an additional charge. We opted to enjoy both brunch and dinner here. The restaurant does book up so be sure to book your Palo experience when it becomes available for your Disney Cruise. Though I have a full review coming soon, I will share that we far preferred the variety that came with brunch at the restaurant.

For Breakfast and Lunch:

Throughout the day there are a variety of food options constantly available. The Cabanas restaurant is open with a buffet for breakfast and lunch. For a sit down breakfast or lunch, the central sit down restaurant, Triton's, is also available. We started the cruise having our breakfast at Cabanas and then shifted over to eating breakfast at Triton's after we realized that our evening waiter was often there and we could have the same great table service as we did at dinner. The quality of breakfast food was also better at Triton's. I had very similar omelette orders at both locations and the Triton's omelette was far superior.

There are also quick service restaurants on the upper deck that serve sandwiches, hamburgers, chicken tenders (super good!), pizza, Asian style bowls, and of course soft serve. There is never a bad time to order soft serve on the cruise! Make sure you get in the habit of grabbing one otherwise the cruise will slip by. It is never too cold for Disney Cruise Line soft serve ice cream!

Additional Charge Food

There are a couple of food locations that are an additional charge. There are concession stands outside the theaters selling popcorn, soda, and candy. There are also a number of lounges with additional cost alcoholic beverages. On the top deck there is also a bar / coffee place that is for adults only. This Cove Bar feels a lot like a comfortable Starbucks.

The regular dinner restaurants also have extra charge alcohol as an option.

On Your First Day Onboard:

When you first board the Disney Wonder in Vancouver each restaurant will be open for you to enjoy lunch. On our first day we had lunch at Tiana's Place and enjoyed the sit down service. We could also have opted for the quick service options or buffet at Cabanas.

In addition to the above there is included 24/7 room service onboard. Let's just say, you really aren't going to go hungry. It is much more important to think about what you aren't going to eat than to worry about what you are.

There is also a water and soda station on the Deck 9 pool deck. We brought reusable water bottles and popped up here to refill them throughout the trip. There are a couple of water bottle fill stations on the upper deck by the pool and in the gym.

Disney Cruise Line Vancouver, Canada Boarding Process

To board the Disney Wonder in Canada we went through a number of different checks including US customs.

For your arrival, you'll want to pack a carry on bag with anything you need throughout your first afternoon. You'll keep this bag with you and your other baggage will be sent to your room.

If anyone in your group has trouble walking long distances you may want to get a wheelchair for the walk through the check in process. There is lots of winding back and forth through the Disney Cruise Line security, customs, passport control, and then boarding the ship.

After you check in, you'll be directed to the ship where your room key will be waiting for you outside your door.

Disney Cruise Line Vancouver to Alaska COVID Testing

For our COVID test we used OnPoint testing . This was a virtual service where a proctor would watch you take your own approved at home COVID test and then sign off on the result.

For only $14.99 per person we were able to easily test from our own home. Three of us tested during the same 10 minute Zoom call. This was much simpler, less expensive, and easier than attempting to test when we got to Vancouver or using the official Disney Cruise Line vendor.

What to See in Vancouver Before Your Disney Cruise

I definitely recommend arriving to Vancouver at least one day before your Disney Cruise. Our flight arrived around 3 pm into Vancouver which gave us some time to enjoy the city before leaving to check in with Disney for our cruise the next morning. You'll also want to arrive the night before so that you aren't anxious about any flight delay that might cause you to miss the departure. The city feels far larger than it's official population (650,000 people) with innovative architecture and stunning views that blend the ocean, mountains, and city to one. In Vancouver, the spirit of adventure only grows as you lean into your anticipation for your Disney Cruise to Alaska – “the final frontier”.

Here were our highlights of Vancouver, Canada before the cruise:

First, we enjoyed Granville Island. This market place of food and artisans is absolutely a tourist trap but is one for good reason. On our clear skies day the market was crowded with locals and tourists enjoying the sun, food and entertainment. The market has the same feeling of active marketplace as Pike's Place Market in Seattle and Redding Terminal Market in Philadelphia but seems to have more food stalls. During the summer months when you'll be here before your Disney Alaska Cruise, expect a very warm afternoon.

At the market we had great fish and chips from Celine's Fish and Chips, pad thai, and a german sausage plate. The fish and chips were the absolute highlight and we returned for another order.

To get to Granville Island you'll want to use Uber or Lyft from Downtown Vancouver (read my guide to Uber and Lyft at Walt Disney World for discount codes if you've never used the rideshare services before). If you are all mobile, be careful not to call your rideshare directly to Granville Island as your car will end up in a massive lineup while trying to drop you off and the price for the ride will be more expensive. Instead, put in “Blue Hat Bistro” for your drop off location. Return here after your time at the market to avoid headache as well.

After Granville Island we walked around in Gastown which is right near the cruise terminal that our ship was leaving from the following day. We enjoyed seeing the cobblestone streets here and then walked out along the seawall near the cruise terminal. We ogled the massive cruise ships thinking about the Disney Wonder that we would board the following day. It was a lot of fun to walk along the sea wall from here. We watched as sea plane after sea plane followed the same landing pattern swooping in from the clear blue sky that was just turning to dusk.

The next morning I went out for a run along the seawall and through Downtown Vancouver. The views along the seawall were stunning. I made a quick stop for a last minute electronics need at an Apple Store and then it was time to get onboard the Disney Wonder for our cruise.

Packing for Disney Alaskan Cruise

You can also see our Disney Cruise Line Packing List for a full perspective on what you need to bring with you.

A couple packing list notes:

• There is a formal night onboard the ship but you do not have to participate if you don't want to. During our sailing about 40% of the passengers we saw were dressed up, but plenty did not.
• There are slippers and a robe in your stateroom for your use throughout the trip.
• For those using a cane, walking sticks were a nice option that my grandmother utilized instead of a cane during this trip.
• We did not plan on doing any laundry during our Alaska cruise but we ended up using the laundry machine after our rainy day in Ketchikan to dry out our clothes. The machines can be operated by tapping your room key and charging the laundry to your room.
• Make sure to bring your binoculars and consider getting a camera extension for your iPhone to increase your zoom strength.
• Each guest 21 years and older may bring a maximum of 2 bottles of unopened champagne or wine or 6 beers on to the ship at the beginning of the voyage and at each port. The beverages must be carried onboard in your carry-on luggage.

General Disney Cruise to Alaska Tips

• The stars in the carpet design in the main hallways all point towards the front of the ship.
• Watch the morning show with the cruise director. We really enjoyed the witty humor from our cruise director, Stephen. We bought in and had a lot of fun watching the show.
• Be ready for anything! During our sailing there was a tugboat strike in Vancouver that was completely outside of Disney's control. The strike led us to leave Vancouver eight hours late which meant that we had to skip Dawes Glacier to make up for lost travel time. This was obviously disappointing (Disney added a state room credit for all guests even though the situation was beyond their control), but we still had a great day weather wise and all the characters were still out with the same celebration.
• There are free charms and a free charm bracelet that are available for guests everyday at a specific time. My aunt and grandmother enjoyed picking up a charm each day. By the end of the trip they had a complete bracelet. The charms are meant to get you in to the store looking at jewelry but they are still a cute keepsake.
• You can tip the Cast Members that work on the cruise at the beginning or end of your sailing. There's a good tip calculator here to think about amounts.
• As with anything Disney, mention if you are celebrating a special occasion while onboard. There are always magic makers looking to help!
• Get outside! The views throughout your cruise are just incredible. Bring enough layers so you are always comfortable stepping out to your own verandah or the general decks so you can take in the majesty of the inside passage.

Take a look at a nice promo video from Disney here that captures many of these views:

We were hosted on this cruise to Alaska by Disney Vacation Club so that we could provide coverage of the Disney Vacation Club Member Cruise and witness some of the highlights from Disney Plus day. All opinions expressed here are our own.

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Here are some of our other guides helpful planning guides

• Disney Wish – Tour of Disney's Newest MEGASHIP
• How Much Does a Disney Cruise Cost? 2024 Pricing Explained
• Guide to Disney Cruises – What You Need to Know
• Top Tips For Your First Time Disney Cruise
• Review of the Disney Vacation Club Member Cruise – Worth It?
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About Gavin Doyle

Gavin Doyle is a best-selling author and founder of Mickey Visit. He is an expert on helping families save money and experience more at Disney, Universal, and beyond. He has been featured in The New York Times, Forbes, ABC7, Travel+Leisure, the OC Register, Orange County Register, LA Times, Yahoo! News, and more.

Education: University of Southern California Favorite Ride: Guardians of the Galaxy - Mission: Breakout! at Disney California Adventure

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2 comments add your comment

All the tips in the above article are super helpful. Thank you

Glad it was helpful! Thank you for the feedback. Have a great cruise!

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10 things to know about sailing on a Disney Alaska cruise

I don't like to pick favorites, but we just got back from what may have been our most enjoyable vacation to date: a three-generation family cruise to Alaska on Disney Cruise Line . The trip had it all: nature, excitement, relaxation, scenery, entertainment, food, fun, swimming, hiking and so much more.

If you're considering sailing on a Disney cruise to Alaska, realize it's a big adventure. It's a once-in-a-lifetime type of trip in terms of length, distance and financial commitment. But our group of travelers ranging from 7 to 74 years old all loved it.

For cruise news, reviews and tips, sign up for TPG's cruise newsletter .

With our cruising crew now off the ship and back home in the lower 48, here are 10 things to know before you set sail on a Disney Alaska cruise.

The cheapest time to book is the day cruises go on sale

Let's talk about the price upfront. An Alaska cruise is one of the more expensive Disney Cruise sailings, and it's pricier than similar itineraries on other cruise lines. Once the cruises go on sale, the prices often only go up.

Because of this, one of the best ways to save on a Disney cruise is to book your Alaska sailing the first day it goes on sale. You can get additional discounts from booking through an agent offering an onboard cruise credit. Plan far enough in advance, and you can save 10% by putting $250 down on your next cruise when you're already sailing on a Disney ship. We used all of these money-saving tricks — and the Alaska vacation was still very expensive.

For example, the cheapest Alaska sailing in 2024 is about $5,000 for a family of four in a windowless inside cabin and over $8,000 in a room with a private balcony. Those prices are for shoulder-season May and September sailings; the peak June through August sailings, such as the early June one we were on, cost more.

Disney Premier Visa Card : Earn a $300 statement credit after spending $1,000 on purchases in the first three months of account opening + unlock Disney-specific perks

'Glacier day' is a marathon, not a sprint

The "glacier day" on the ship can be confusing if you haven't done it before and don't know what to expect.

Essentially, the ship will sail as close as it safely can (both for the ship and wildlife) to one of a few glaciers. For example, it's common on sailings to head to the Stikine Icefields, though weather and conditions do play into exactly where you may go on a given voyage.

No matter where you head, you will not be getting off the ship to set foot on a glacier on the glacier viewing day; it's a view-from-a-ship experience. However, you can book an excursion that leaves from the cruise ship to get a closer view of the glacier on a smaller boat for an additional fee ($199 for kids and $299 for adults).

On our sailing, the captain explained that it was a marathon day and to pace yourself watching the "show" of the scenery on deck ... and he was right.

As the day went on and we got closer, the scenery got better and better. If we had gotten our fill of looking around the deck that morning, we'd have missed some of the best views that came that afternoon.

Just before dinner, we sailed close to a waterfall. The whole day was an incredibly special experience because the view changed from hour to hour. You need to keep checking back outside, so you don't miss anything.

Related: These are the best Alaska cruises

Book some excursions — but price them carefully

Don't sail all the way to Alaska and just walk around the shops near the pier in cities like Juneau and Skagway, especially if this is a once-in-a-lifetime trip.

On the other hand, you don't need to book the $800 helicopter excursions to the glaciers to have a good time (though those flights look amazing). You can find plenty of full- and half-day tours in the $100 to $300 range that are excellent. But no matter how you choose to spend your days, get out and experience something you can only do in Alaska in at least one or two ports.

We loved the excursion in Juneau that included an hour at the Mendenhall Glacier (though 30 more minutes would have been ideal), whale watching and a surprisingly good outdoor salmon bake. It was expensive at $279 for adults and $199 for kids, but it was a highlight of the trip, and I wholeheartedly recommend it if those activities sound fun to you.

In Skagway, we booked an excursion that included learning about dog sledding, interacting with sled dog puppies, gold panning and a ride on the White Pass railroad . Unfortunately, the train portion of our excursion was canceled due to mechanical issues, but normally the tour is the same price as the Juneau excursion. Without the train, it came to $169 for adults and $119 for kids — and you can book it that way from the start.

While I can't speak to the train portion (I hear it's worth doing), the dog sled demo and gold panning were quite enjoyable. And this was a perfect example of how in Alaska, nothing is set in stone. It is common for operators to make adjustments to excursions based on weather, safety concerns and other factors. Helicopter and small plane tours are especially likely to be canceled or adjusted. My advice is to be flexible and not stake the trip's success on any one excursion.

For the long, multi-faceted excursions that get you a good distance away from the ship, booking through Disney makes sense, even if it is a little more expensive, as the ship won't leave without you if your tour gets delayed. In one port, we did see a group on a ship come back right at the designated sailaway time, which I'm sure would have been extremely stressful if they'd been traveling independently.

With other, shorter excursions, it can make a lot of sense (and save a lot of dollars) to book on your own directly with a tour operator.

For example, by booking directly, we paid much less for the silly but fun Disney-branded lumberjack show right next to the ship in Ketchikan. Booking direct also lets you take advantage of discounts, such as lower rates for veterans or active military. The show takes place a few steps from the dock, so there's no risk of not returning to the ship on time.

Oh, and whatever you do, make a point to get the sweet fry bread in Skagway from the Klondike Doughboy. It's a 10-minute walk from the ship and worth every step and penny.

Related: 15 Alaska cruise mistakes you don't want to make

You can warm up with free hot chocolate

Disney tries to think of everything, so complimentary hot chocolate is always waiting for you on deck during glacier day and at the pier as you return from port. It's a small touch, but one that was a fun treat when we got a bit chilly.

If you're looking for an adult version that will warm you to the bones, keep an eye out for bar carts out on deck during glacier viewing. You get a cool Alaska-themed reusable cup with the price of your drink.

Choose the late dinner

Days are long in Alaska, both in terms of the time in port and the sun itself.

For example, in Skagway, we were in port from 7 a.m. until 8 p.m. With Disney, you need to choose the early or late dinner seating, and while eating late may sound like a bad idea with kids, it's the best choice on an Alaska cruise. If you choose the early dinner, you're being seated at 5:45 p.m. every night. Not only is the sun going to be up for at least four more hours, but you'll have to cut your port time short to make it to dinner on time.

Your show time is opposite your dinner time, so if you have late dinner, you see the show early. On a typical seven-night Alaska cruise, the ship puts on only three Broadway-caliber shows, which are usually scheduled on sea days or on days you leave ports earlier. It's not as big a trade-off to miss a few minor shows as missing out on port time to get to dinner at 5:45 every night.

On a night when you're wiped out and don't want to do a late dinner, you can always order free room service or visit the quick-service option up on deck for a burger, pizza, chicken fingers and other casual quick bites. Hands down, late seating is the better option in Alaska.

Pro tip: Don't miss lobster night on the ship, where you can order as many lobster tails as your heart desires.

Related: Is Disney Cruise Concierge Level worth it ?

Characters aren't in their Alaska outfits every day

If you're going to spend the bucks to sail on a Disney cruise, you need at least one photo with Mickey, Minnie or their friends in their Alaska-exclusive outfits.

Typically, the first (and arguably best) time you'll see them in these outfits is on glacier day. You'll see the times and locations in your Disney Navigator app once on board, and you can bet there will be lines — some of the longest you may encounter on the cruise.

I recommend getting at least one photo with the characters out on the top pool deck on glacier day as it's the most sure-fire time to do so, and it's the best only-in-Alaska backdrop.

If you're planning your day around the photo sessions, don't choose the morning option if you care about background because you'll likely not be right up to the glacier, snow and ice yet.

Wait until later in the day for photos, so you'll be closer to the glacier. During our sailing, Mickey was on the glacier side of the ship multiple times that day, but it wasn't visible in the background until just after lunchtime.

Glacier day isn't the only time Mickey and his friends wear these adorable outfits. On our cruise, they also wore them the day we were in Skagway. In fact, as we sailed away from port, we ran into Mickey out on Deck 4 — with no line — waving goodbye to land with the rest of us.

Pro tip: Have one person get to the spot where the characters will be on deck about 30 minutes before the stated time to secure your spot in line. Sometimes the line can get too long to take more guests even before the official photo start time.

Related: Is the Disney Visa worth it?

It's easy to overpack

I get it — packing for an Alaska cruise is tough.

You're packing for glaciers, chilly outdoor adventures and potential rain but also for a cruise, swimming and a dress-up night or two. In the summer, even in Alaska, it can be warm. But of course, on a glacier, it can be cold.

During our early June sailing, we swam in the heated pools, dunked in the hot tubs and careened down the waterslides multiple times on both sea days and port days.

While the time of year and the forecast for your sailing should influence what goes in your bag, try and resist the urge to overpack. Bring too much stuff, and your cabin will feel crowded with your belongings, you'll be less nimble and flexible in the airport and you won't have as many options for ground transportation. Plus, you'll spend more time packing and unpacking.

For a cruise to Alaska, you'll need layers, including accessories like a vest, hat and gloves you can take on or off. What you often don't need much of, at least during the summer months, is a variety of winter gear. It's possible you may not need a super heavy winter coat at all, but you will need rain gear and possibly a fleece vest or jacket, so you can probably opt for layers over individual bulky pieces, especially in June, July and August.

Our coldest day was the morning of the glacier day when it was windy and overcast out on deck. The weather went from the high 40s that day to the high 70s and sunny at other times, but we didn't need much bulky winter gear.

Here's a guide to packing for an Alaska cruise to get you started. The thing we used the most: magnetic hooks to hold and organize all those layers inside the stateroom, so get some of those, for sure.

Related: When is the best time to sail to Alaska

The 'Frozen' deck show isn't a must-do But the stage show is a must-see

Most of the elements of our Disney Cruise to Alaska were exceptional, but the much-anticipated "Frozen night" with deck show wasn't one of those things. It was fine; the littlest kids enjoyed it, and if it's convenient for you to pop up and see, then do it. But don't plan your evening around it or stress if you are tired and need to miss it, especially if you don't have young kids.

Elsa and her friends led a 15-minute sing-a-long and show with a minute or so of "snow," but it rated two out of five snowflakes in my book.

An earlier Frozen-themed indoor party, where there was an interactive activity to decorate the maypole, was almost more interesting, in my opinion. Look forward to Frozen night and attend some of the events and activities, but don't expect anything to knock your socks off.

That said, the "Frozen" Broadway-caliber stage show in the Walt Disney Theater is exceptional and not to be missed — but also somewhat confusingly not offered on Frozen night.

So to recap: You can skip Frozen Night and the deck show, but make a point to attend the Frozen show in the Walt Disney Theater.

Plan an extra day in Vancouver

Disney cruises to Alaska leave from Vancouver, as opposed to Seattle, where some other lines embark passengers for their Alaska sailings.

I highly recommend arriving in Vancouver at least the day before the cruise departs to ensure you don't miss it (that happened to some folks on our sailing) but also to enjoy the city. Plan an extra full day to enjoy Vancouver if you can. It's as fun and interesting as some of the Alaskan ports.

An easy excursion to do, even if you have just a few hours in Vancouver, is the Capilano Suspension Bridge Park. Free shuttles leave from multiple downtown spots to the park, including from near the port itself, and it's a fabulous way to spend a few hours on land, or rather, in the trees.

The highlights are the suspension bridge itself and some other walkouts that take you all around the large park with great views of the trees, river, ponds and more. Sometimes there's live music, cozy fires to warm up by and free talks from staffers to learn about the totem polls, wildlife and other aspects of the park.

You don't need a verandah room

We started with the price, and we'll close with it.

Rooms with verandahs (aka balconies) always cost more on cruises than inside cabins and rooms with ocean views through a window. But on an Alaska Disney cruise, verandah rooms don't just cost a few hundred dollars more — they cost a whole lot more, usually to the tune of thousands of additional dollars for the stateroom over the cost of an ocean-view cabin.

Looking at prices for four on the early June 2024 seven-day sailing similar to the one we took this year, it costs an additional $4,000 to go from an ocean-view to a verandah.

If you have the money to spend, go for it and enjoy it. But if you don't, or if booking that room type means having to skip excursions or not being able to afford other trips, then relax and book the ocean view. It's also fabulous.

My parents had a verandah room, and they loved having that balcony. This was my dad's first cruise at 74 years old, so the trip really might be a once-in-a-lifetime thing. My dad said having a verandah made the trip at least 25% more enjoyable overall, which is a large amount of happiness, and they spent time out there each day. (It also made their room about 35-40% more expensive.)

Right next door to them, my girls and I had an ocean-view room. We had just as excellent of a cruise as they did.

It was fun to look out the window and see where we were, but honestly, I'd happily sail in an interior room if it meant we got to do the cruise all over again.

All my favorite moments of the trip happened outside the room, and I don't think that would have changed if we had a balcony. I enjoy having a balcony on warm Caribbean and Mexico sailings more than in Alaska, where it can be windy and chilly outside as the ship is moving.

Additionally, on truly exceptional viewing days, you probably don't want to be confined to the specific angle you can get from your cabin. Better to embrace the 360-degree view from out on the top deck.

That said, if you have mobility limitations or other logistical issues that will keep you in the room more often (aka a frequently napping little one), then the equation may shift because you do want to see and enjoy where you are. If you need to do that from your room, book the verandah if possible.

Related: Which type of cruise cabin is right for you?

Bottom line

It's highly unlikely you'll regret taking a Disney Alaska cruise.

Alaska is special, cruising is special, and a Disney cruise to Alaska is incredibly special. You can feel the shared appreciation for the journey with the other passengers. It's a camaraderie of sorts as you spot and point out wildlife on deck, talk about what you did in port at the bar in the evenings, and even agonize over what to pack in the unofficial Facebook groups leading up to the sailing.

Sailing with Disney specifically costs more than many other options, but getting to experience Alaska while interacting with favorite characters, seeing amazing Disney shows in the evening and relaxing while Disney Cruise Line took care of everything made what was already a great trip one of our favorites of all time.

If I were to add an 11th thing you should know about sailing on an Alaska Disney cruise, it's that you're going to be really sad when it's over.

I saw plenty of real tears the final night and on the morning of debarkation. At the risk of sounding like a cheesy commercial, the only real solution for this will likely be to start planning either a return trip to Alaska or another Disney Cruise ... or both. If you feel that happening to you a few days into the trip, be ready to put that $250 deposit down on a future sailing to get the 10% discount before you get off the ship and it's too late.

That's exactly what we did, so at the end of seven magical days, it wasn't "goodbye" — it was "see ya real soon."

Related reading:

• How to save money on a Disney Cruise
• Best Disney Cruise Line tips and tricks
• Review of Disney Magic, the original ship in the Disney fleet
• Best Alaska cruise tips to help you make the most of your time aboard and ashore

Our Disney Alaska Cruise: A 7 Day Adventure Through Alaska onboard the Disney Wonder

Plan the perfect Disney Alaska Cruise with this travel guide.

If an Alaskan Cruise is something that’s been on your travel bucket list, look no further than Disney Cruise Line for the perfect trip.  Our 7 day adventure onboard the Disney Wonder to Alaska’s Inner Passage, was undeniably the trip of a lifetime. Onboard a wide range of activities for the whole family, swimming pools along with the famous Aquaduck, amazing dining and some incredible ports of call await for the trip you’ll never forget. This comprehensive guide will tell you everything you need to know about taking a Disney Alaska Cruise with tips, tricks to help you plan your own Alaskan adventure.

I was hosted as a guest of Disney Cruise Line onboard the Disney Wonder to Alaska. All opinions of this magical trip are my own.  

This was my third Disney Cruise and my first Disney Alaska Cruise. I fall in love with cruising more and more each time we go. This was also my first cruise that lasted longer than three days, in fact I have to say 7 days is the perfect length cruise. With the 3 day cruises, I was  just getting used to the ship and it was time to disembark. I felt like I had to cram all the shows and entertainment into those three days where on this cruise, I felt more relaxed. I had time to really enjoy the days without feeling rushed. I could savor things more. The kids had more time to get comfortable and make some friends. My next cruise will be minimum of 5-7 days for sure.

THINK CRUISING IS NOT FOR YOU? READ THIS BEFORE YOU DECIDE

Typically, when I think of a cruise I think of sailing off in the Caribbean to some far away island. Truthfully, I never thought much about cruising to Alaska prior to this year. While Alaska has always been on my bucket list, when I found out that Disney Cruise Line cruised to Alaska, I just knew that one day I needed my family to experience this trip, this way. In fact, I knew I wanted it to happen within the next two years. So I added it to my vision board earlier this year and went about my merry way. When the invitation to sail with the Disney Wonder on a Disney Alaska Cruise came through, I knew it was a trip we had to make happen. After some frantic shuffling with my husband’s work schedule we worked it out and I immediately said yes. If I’m being honest, I said yes before I really knew that he would get the time off from work but who could say no to a Disney Alaska Cruise?! Thankfully it all worked out and he was easily able to switch some of his days off.

That gave me about two weeks to prepare for the trip of a lifetime. I read everything on the Disney Cruise Line website  that I could. I joined several Facebook groups specifically for a  Disney Alaska Cruise to figure out what to pack, what to wear, etc. The weather here in New Jersey was still in the 90s when I left so we were all rocking shorts. Trying to find jackets, gloves and all that gear proved a little hard since no stores had anything out yet. After cruising there were some things we definitely didn’t need and others I’m so glad I packed.  You can read all about our packing must haves in a coming post.

PORT ADVENTURES

There’s no shortage of Port Adventures on a Disney Alaska Cruise. In fact, there are 13 pages full of adventures you can book in the Disney Cruise Line Port Adventures guide I picked up onboard the cruise and you can view them all online too to make your planning easy.

Since we were traveling with a toddler, all our excursions were picked to be something the entire family could enjoy together.

Every excursion we went on was not only entertaining for my 4 year old but my teenage son had the time of his life. These were just a sampling of some of the amazing excursions you can book when you visit Alaska.

One thing I do recommend is booking them through Disney. Our seaplane excursion to the Taku Lodge ran into a little snafu on the way back. The winds picked up while we were enjoying the day at the lodge and we had to divert to the airport in Juneau versus the flight plane back through the mountains to the ship. Not too big of a deal especially since we got to fly by the Mendenhall Glacier on the way back. The only problem with all of this? We were going to well miss our all aboard time!

Que the panic. I wasn’t nervous about the winds and the turbulent ride back on this little 8 seater plane I was more worried about missing our time to get back on the ship! Don’t worry, this story has a happy ending though. Disney knew we were going to be late. They were in contact with the Taku Lodge and the flight director the entire time.

They knew we were being diverted to the airport and arranged for the shuttle to be brought in to take us from the airport back to the ship. Would this have happened if we had booked outside of Disney? I don’t know and it’s not something I want to find out.

While sometimes it sounds practical to save a little money and go the non-Disney route, a situation like this is a quick reminder that sometimes things, i.e. Mother Nature, has other plans but we were well taken care of, made it back to the ship only about 40 minutes late and still had plenty of time to see Endicott Arm later that day!

PORTS OF CALL

Our 7 day Disney Alaska cruise had 5 ports of call and 2 at sea days. Each day was an adventure itself and we really did some things on this trip that pushed our comfort levels (hello seaplane!). It completely ranks up there with one of the best trips we’ve ever taken. I’ve broken down each day of our 7-day cruise below and will be completing a trip recap for each day since there is just so much information to share.

DAY 1 – PORT OF VANCOUVER

We boarded the cruise at the Port of Vancouver. We flew in a day early and stayed at the The Fairmount Hotel Vancouver. A short twenty minute drive from the Vancouver airport, the hotel is located directly across the street from the cruise terminal making it easy to get there the morning of your cruise. Literally you just walk across the street. They even transport your bags to the ship for you. There’s also a Disney Cruise Line information desk right in the lobby that can help with any questions you may have before you board.

DAY 2 – SEA DAY

This was our first full day at sea and it gave us plenty of time to enjoy the Disney Wonder before our port adventures started.

DAY 3 – ICY STRAIT POINT

We started the morning with brunch at Palo, the adults only dining experience on the Disney Wonder. After brunch, it was time to disembark. Today we had a disembark time of 12:30pm and an all aboard time of 7:45 pm. The town of Hoonah is a lively fishing community known for some of the best whale watching in the state. The former logging town is also home to the world’s largest Tlingit village.

For our port adventure, we did the Whale and Marine Mammals Cruise . The description said they guaranteed a sight of killer and humpback whales and they made good on that promise! It was incredible. While we had a great view of the whales in the distance, I never exited this last minute show right before we started to head in. Just take a look at this amazing video. My husband had a front row seat to the action and got a great video of the whales. Breathtaking.

DAY 4 – SKAGWAY

This was one of our longest port days. We could debark at 7:15 am and the all aboard time wasn’t until 8pm. For our port adventure today, we were scheduled for the Liarsville Gold Rush Trail Camp and Salmon Bake. While each port was great in their own right, this one had a little extra Disney magic thrown in.

At the Liarsville Gold Rush Trail Camp, a special Disney character appearance takes place and makes for such a nice surprise. After a little show, we did our best to pan for gold. As we wear searching Chip ‘n Dale and Donald made surprise appearances.

Not only did they post for photos with the families, but Dale even came over to help Evie & Ryan search for gold. It was priceless. A little while later we saw him again and he grabbed Evie by the hand and led her over to roast some marshmallows. Priceless.

DAY 5 – JUNEAU

Today  we could disembark as early as 6:00 am but our all aboard time was early today, at 12:30pm since we were scheduled to visit Tracy Arm from 2:30 -8:30 pm. Our port adventure in Juneau was the Enchanted Taku Glacier Lodge Flight and 5 Glacier Seaplane Discovery.

Now this girl who’s afraid of flying was a little freaked out at first but this was a trip of firsts so I knew I had to do it. When I tell you it was a life changing experience for me, it truly was.

DAY 6 – KETCHIKAN

We had an all ashore time of 11:15 and and didn’t have to be back on the ship by 7:45pm. On this day we were scheduled Wilderness Exploration and Crab Feast. If you have a never ending appetite for some delicious crabs, then this is a perfect excursion for you!

For a little extra fun, we were treated to a special Disney Cruise Line showing of The Lumberjack Show and it was great! I wasn’t sure it was something the kids would be too interested in, but they LOVED it and we did too! It was funny and a great way to wrap up the day before we headed back to the ship.

DAY 7 – AT SEA

This day was bittersweet. It was our second full day at sea as we made our way back to the Port of Vancouver. It gave us a chance to spend some more time on the ship to enjoy all the activities onboard before we had to head home on Monday. It was also the day we used to savor every last minute of our Disney Alaska Cruise before we went home.

ONBOARD ENTERTAINMENT FOR YOUNGER KIDS

There are two options on board for kids as young as 6 months old all the way up to 12 years old.

IT’S A SMALL WORLD NURSERY

The It’s a Small World Nursery takes children as younger as 6 months old up to 3 years old. Reservations are needed and it’s booked on a first come first served basis.  Each child is fitted with a band. If you’re familiar with the Magic Bands, it’s one of those and it’s fastened with a clip to make sure it doesn’t fall off while the child is in the care of the nursery. Staff here will follow the parent’s instructions when it comes to feeding, changing diapers, etc.  They do crafts, have character visits and more to keep the littlest Disney fans engaged.

THE OCEANEER CLUB

For the older crowd, The Oceaneer Club & Lab awaits for them. Children must be between 3 – 12 and must be potty trained to use this facility. The Oceaneer Club takes up a large area on the 5th floor giving kids plenty of space to run around, play and just be a kid all with some magical surprises.

Some fun facts about The Oceaneers Club:

• There is approximately 1 counselor per 25 children
• Once the kids club reaches capacity, reservations will stop being made for families traveling with kids so they don’t have to turn away any families that want to utilize the kids space onboard
• Counselors from the kids club can come to the dining room to collect your kids after dinner and bring them to the kids club so parents can have some quiet time. *This needs to be arraigned with the club and head server.
• Open houses are held at different times so parents can see their kids in the kids club. This is the ONLY time parents will be allowed inside so make sure you take advantage of these open houses so you can see first hand all the fun.

I can tell you first hand just how amazing The Oceaneer Club is. Even for shy kids like my daughter. She’s 3 and home with me all day, every day and hasn’t ever really been away from us in a situation like this and truthfully I was worried she wouldn’t want to stay. We went to the first open house the day we boarded the ship to walk her around and see the club for ourselves. The minute she walked in and saw the Slinky Dog Slide, she was hooked. In fact, I couldn’t get her out of the open house until it was time for dinner. I’ve never seen her have so much fun.

The day we had brunch at Palo we took her back and I had to beg her to leave for our port adventure! It’s all she talked about on the ship. We’ve been home for a few weeks now and she still asks to go back!

ONBOARD ENTERTAINMENT FOR TWEENS & TEENS

Think your tween or teen might be bored on a cruise ship? Think again! Disney Cruise Line created two unique spaces just for the tweens and teens, no parents or little brothers and sisters allowed. Kids can come and go as they please and it’s a great way for them to make some new friends and learn a little independence.

For the 11-14 year olds, there’s EDGE. Parents are not required to sign their kids in or out here or at Vibe the 14 & up club.  Edge is located on Deck 9 on the Disney Wonder. Decorated with a 20,000 Leaguers Under the Sea theme, it has a fun, cool vibe and I can easily see why it’s so popular with the kids. At any given time, there’s a minimum of 2 counselors onsite.

Kids visiting edge can come and go up to the sports deck as well as the club. They can even bring food in as long as they sit at the bar area while they eat.

In addition to the video games and games around the club, they hold fun events like the Descendants DJ Spin Off  and family trivia events. Parents can stay in touch with their kids via the stateroom wave phones.

Have a younger kid who  really  wants to go to Edge?  Parents can sign a waiver for 10 & 11 year olds that want to attend.

For ages 14 & up there’s Vibe. Complete with it’s own exclusive entrance on Deck 11 and private elevator (only room keys of kids 14 & up can access it). Activities are listed on the  daily navigators so kids can have a daily reminder of what’s going on and what time.

Vibe has a cool, laid back atmosphere for teens to hang out, play video games and just enjoy being a kid.

My 13 year old was eager to check out both clubs. While he spent much of his time at Edge, he loved both. He made friends, kept himself busy and most days I had to beg him to come join us at dinner! *Parents can sign a waiver to allow 13 year olds in Vibe if they want to.

DINING ONBOARD A DISNEY ALASKA CRUISE

There is no shortage of dining options onboard the Disney Wonder so be prepared to eat! Love seafood? You’re covered with delicious salmon, shrimp and even lobster dinners. More of a meat eater? You’ll love the steak and chicken dishes available on each night of your cruise. From causal dining to your nightly dinner rotation at one of the signature restaurants onboard, your taste buds will thank you after this cruise.

CASUAL DINING

Cabana’s – Offering a buffet for breakfast and lunch and a sit-down dinner, Cabana’s is a great choice for families to start their day or looking for a different dinner option other than your main dining assignment. With gorgeous ocean views, you can enjoy a delicious dinner with an amazing view of scenic Alaska while dining here.

For breakfast theres a wide array of traditional breakfast foods like eggs, bacon, sausage, pancakes, french toast, and of course Mickey waffles. Cereal and oatmeal are also available for cereal eaters.

During breakfast one morning, Boo Boo Stewart, who plays Jay in Disney’s Descendants, actually sat right next to us. Now Evie LOVES those movies and recognized him before I did. She kept starring at him smiling and he even stopped by the table and to talk to her about her cereal. He was gracious enough to even take a photo with her as we were leaving. She was so excited.

Lunch has a variety of sandwiches, salads, soups, burgers, chicken, seafood, pizza and so much more. Traditional kid ,favorite likes Mac and cheese and chicken tenders are available too.

For dessert, there’s a delicious array of desserts for you to try.

Citrus Cheesecake at Cabana’s

My favorite was this Citrus Cheesecake. I couldn’t get enough!

Pinocchio’s Pizza, Daisy de Lites and Pete’s Boiler Bites also offer quick meals throughout the day when you’re feeling hungry. We were so stuffed from all our other meals that we never had a chance to try them out for ourselves but the offerings look so yummy!

MAIN DINING

The main dining is broken down into two seatings – the first which begins at 5:45 pm and the second seating which begins at 8 pm. Whatever seating you are assigned will be your time throughout your cruise. Since we have a toddler, I’ve always requested, and we’ve been given, the first seating. On the chance you’re not assigned the seating you want, once you board the ship you’ll have the chance to meet with the dining room manager to see if there is availability to switch to the other time slot. This needs to be done as soon as you board the ship as there is usually a specific dine the manage is available and there will be a list of people waiting to talk to them.

Depending on the length of your cruise, you’ll rotate through the 3 main dining rooms on board, Animator’s Palate, Triton’s and Tiana’s Place. On theme nights, you dining location that day will have a themed menu.

ANIMATOR’S PALATE

We loved dining here. You feel like part of the magic when you get to create your own character drawing and watch it come to life on the screens around the restaurant. While you dine, the screens throughout the restaurant celebrate the art of storytelling where you can see your favorite characters come to life, then you get a chance to see your own drawing come to life right on those same screens.

When you’re seated, you’ll have a drawing sheet at your seat where you can be an animator for the night. Once completed your waitress/waiter will  collect them for the show later on that evening.

Animator’s Palace is also the location of the Character Breakfast which I cannot recommend enough! Even when we’re at the parks, most of our character experiences are through character dining. It’s one of the main reasons I always book the dining plan at Walt Disney World. This way we don’t have to wait in long lines in the Florida heat to see characters. I loved having the opportunity to schedule this on our cruise and enjoy a breakfast with Mickey and the gang!

Cruise Tip: Don’t fret if you can’t get a reservation online. Once you board the ship, visit guest services and see if they have any availability. They usually have some just for instances like this.

TIANA’S PLACE

As a huge fan of The Princess and the Frog, I absolutely love this restaurant. The theming, menu of Southern cooking, live Jazz music and Princess Tiana herself, makes this unique dining experience one of the most memorable. You’ll even have a chance to meet Princess Tiana herself as she makes her way around the dining room for photos and autographs.

Crab Dip at Tiana’s Place

TRITON’S

Triton’s take’s you “under the sea” in this restaurant inspired by everyone’s favorite mermaid – Ariel. The menu consists of American and French fare and has a more formal feel to it. Although there is no dress code, I use this night as our “dress up” night for a chance to wear something a little fancier.

PALO -ADULTS ONLY DINING

For adults looking for a more intimate dining experience there’s Palo. This adults-only dining experience is available to book for brunch and dinner where you can dine on delicious Northern Italian cuisine in a sophisticated atmosphere.

This cruise was the first time that I experience both the brunch offerings as well as dinner and both exceeded my expectations.

While you dine in Palo, you feel like you’re in another world. No distractions, just amazing food and beautiful views of the Alaskan wilderness.

ROOM SERVICE

There’s always the option of room service onboard the ship too. Maybe you want to order breakfast in bed or enjoy breakfast on the verandah, room service has got you covered. Truthfully, we were always so stuffed from our regular dining to take advantage of meal from room service but it’s nice to know it’s there. Our favorite way to enjoy it was through a delivery of cookies and milk or Mickey bars before bed!

SODA / DRINK STATION

While there is no charge for sodas during dinner, room service, the bars and lounges DO charge for drinks.  To avoid those charges, there is a drink station on deck 9 where you can grab a soda or coffee. There are small cups available to use or you can bring your own water bottle onboard or refillable cup for coffee.

I can easily say this was definitely the trip of a lifetime and I don’t think I would have wanted to experience Alaska any other way than on a Disney Alaska Cruise.

From top notch entertainment and shows to exceptional food, our Disney Alaska Cruise is a trip we’ll never forget.

Have you been on a Disney Cruise? If you’re thinking of taking a Disney Alaska Cruise to Alaska or have any questions, I may not have answered leave them in the comments below or send me a message! I’d be happy to answer them for you!

Want to read more about our Disney Alaska Cruise onboard the Disney Wonder? Check out this Post! 

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Bucket List Disney Trips with Adventures by Disney & Disney Cruise Line

Friday 1st of November 2019

[…] was a trip of a lifetime full of magical experiences and once in a lifetime moments that we will never forget. It was a chance to experience new places, […]

The Best Disney Alaska Cruise Excursions for the Whole Family

Thursday 14th of February 2019

[…] the Port of Vancouver, the excitement really begins. It’s just the beginning of some of the magic you’ll experience in Alaska. There is never a shortage of things to do on the ship, it’s when you get off the adventure […]

9 Do's and Don'ts on Your Disney Alaska Cruise - A New Dawnn

Monday 11th of February 2019

[…] people, a cruise to Alaska is a once in a lifetime experience and an expensive one at that. By far, Alaska has been one of my favorite trips so far. It’s so different from your typical Caribbean […]

Cassandra D

Monday 21st of January 2019

This is so nice. I'm inspired to take a Disney Alaska cruise, as well.

Alaska looks like a beautiful place to visit

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7 night vs 9 night Alaska cruise

• Thread starter met19
• Start date Feb 24, 2020

Mouseketeer

• Feb 24, 2020

Thoughts on it- never did either. I see the ports are different but planes include photography, shore excursions and enjoying ship. My s/o and I have both not done DCL prior but I have done ABD . Thanks all  

PrincessShmoo

Dis veteran.

met19 said: Thoughts on it? Thanks all Click to expand...

DIS Veteran

I love Alaska but have not done it with DCL . My favourite port was Sitka but we enjoyed them all. We had our 9 year old daughter with us and she loved it, too In my opinion, the longer, the better!  

disneyfaninaz

It takes faith, trust & pixie dust.

We have done 2 9-night Alaskan cruises. I highly recommend them! Sitka is a great spot and you can't beat Hubbard Glacier.  

How is wildlife in June which is the date of 9 night cruise?  

HappilyEverAfter80

I was also wondering this question myself today... Any idea how much more $ the 9 night sailing will be vs a 7 night in June?  

met19 said: How is wildlife in June which is the date of 9 night cruise? Click to expand...

We went the second week of June in 2014. June is too early to see the salmon run. We did see a mother bear and her cub at Mendenhall glacier in Juneau. It was both thrilling and scary because they were 10 ft from us by a tree. We didn't do any whale watching excursions, but saw whales while sailing on the Wonder and a lot of seals.  

mommy2allyandaveri

We have done the 7 night twice on DCL and both were absolutely AMAZING. Literally every moment is like looking at a post card. The 9 night is on our list of possibilities for 2021. Longer is definitely always better. Water was like glass, very smooth. But we did have very nice weather both times. Not sure what would change if the weather wasn't awesome.  

matt&jakesmom

• Feb 25, 2020

mommy2allyandaveri said: We have done the 7 night twice on DCL and both were absolutely AMAZING. Literally every moment is like looking at a post card. The 9 night is on our list of possibilities for 2021. Longer is definitely always better. Water was like glass, very smooth. But we did have very nice weather both times. Not sure what would change if the weather wasn't awesome. Click to expand...

cruisehopeful

matt&jakesmom said: What time of year did you find it best to cruise to Alaska or does it even matter? We are looking to go in July of 2021. Click to expand...

China Expat

9 days  

Disney world traveller

We were on the 9-night in 2017 and it was absolutely spectacular. We saw so much wildlife and the weather was great. I have videos of it on YouTube if you do some searching. It was a slightly different itinerary: Ketchikan, Icy Strait Point, Hubbard Glacier, Juneau, Skagway, Endicott Arm/Dawes Glacier. Hubbard Glacier is definitely the highlight (Dawes pales in comparison to it), and Sitka should be a great stop!  

GoofyLovingFamily

HappilyEverAfter80 said: I was also wondering this question myself today... Any idea how much more $ the 9 night sailing will be vs a 7 night in June? Click to expand...

So, at the risk of raising trouble - are you married to Disney? Princess offers a 7-night with Sitka and Glacier Bay that's AMAZING! I found the service to be equivalent to Disney's. The entertainment wasn't quite as good, but it was still enjoyable. That said - you'll have an amazing cruise to Alaska whichever option you choose. It's my all-time favorite cruise!  

mrp4352 said: So, at the risk of raising trouble - are you married to Disney? Princess offers a 7-night with Sitka and Glacier Bay that's AMAZING! I found the service to be equivalent to Disney's. The entertainment wasn't quite as good, but it was still enjoyable. That said - you'll have an amazing cruise to Alaska whichever option you choose. It's my all-time favorite cruise! Click to expand...

ofcabbagesandkings

I would never sail Princess given their flouting of environmental laws in the Inside Passage but holy cats that 9 night DCL Alaska cruise is expensive. I really wanted to take that cruise to see the Hubbard Glacier but at these prices, yikes. And I'm saying that as someone who cruised DCL to Alaska last year! The other one I was eying, the 11 night to Norway/Iceland on the Magic is no better price-wise. Sigh.  

cats mom said: I just pulled price quotes on Alaska for the opening day thread and the 9 night is spendy for sure! Note: all price quotes below are for 2 adults in a cat 7A with no ins/transfers/air/or OBB Alaska 9 Night Sailing P Wonder 6/28 07A 2A $11,447 [5,535|5,535] Alaska 5 Night Sailing P Wonder 7/7 07A 2A $6,793 [3,230|3,230} Alaska 7 Night Sailings P Wonder 5/17 07A 2A $6,067 [2,835|2,835] P Wonder 5/24 07A 2A $7,187 [3,395|3,395] P Wonder 5/31 07A 2A $7,467 [3,535|3,535] P Wonder 6/7 07A 2A $8,167 [3,885|3,885] P Wonder 6/14 07A 2A $8307 [3,955|3,955] P Wonder 6/21 07A 2A $8,769 [4,186|4,186] P Wonder 7/12 07A 2A $9,469 [4,536|4,536] P Wonder 7/19 07A 2A $9,035 [4,319|4,319] P Wonder 7/26 07A 2A $8,475 [4,039|4,039] P Wonder 8/2 07A 2A $8,489 [4,046|4,046] P Wonder 8/9 07A 2A $7,873 [3,738|3,738] P Wonder 8/16 07A 2A $7,075 [3,339|3,339] P Wonder 8/23 07A 2A $5,899 [2,751|2,751] P Wonder 8/30 07A 2A $5,675 [2,639|2,639] P Wonder 9/6 07A 2A $5,521 [2,562|2,562] Click to expand...

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• Disney Cruise Line

Alaska 7 night versus 9 night?

By CruisinMama33 , February 23, 2017 in Disney Cruise Line

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CruisinMama33

Hi everyone,

Alaska is on our bucket list for 2018, so I was happy to see the 2018 summer itineraries released today. Upon pricing out both cruises, the 9 night will cost us $5K more than the 7 night. This is because of the extra cost of the 9-night, plus we have an on-board ship credit that we can apply to the 7 night cruise to bring down the cost (can't apply it to the 9-night since date is beyond the 2 years allowed for ship credit). My question is: is it worth the extra $5k to do the 9 night, and be able to see Hubbard Glacier and Icy Straight? This is not offered on the 7 night. I want to do Alaska the right way and not feel like I have to come back again... your thoughts?? Our children will be 8 and 10 at time of sailing. Thank you!!

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I highly recommend you find one that does a land tour as well. we did RCCL for ten days and loved Fairbanks. You also get to see Denali. You can't go there on the boat. You also get to ride a beautiful train that has a glass top to view the mountains. Highly recommend!

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moki'smommy

At the risk of being "that person," other cruise lines have more clearances than DCL has and can go to places that DCL can't. The big difference between a 7 and a 9 night cruise is 2 days. I'd price a Princess, Celebrity, or Royal cruise that includes a land portion or a "one way" that you can do 7 nights in one direction and then a B2B return if desired. You'll see more that way than 2 additional nights on the Wonder. I'm just guessing that you can do a land/sea or a 14 night sea on one of the other lines for the same price as the 9 night Wonder cruise.

Alaska is a port intensive cruise--you are there to see things, not just for the ship. The other lines all have kid programs. Celebrity even had "characters," although they weren't anywhere near DCL quality. While my kiddo is too old to care about the programs, I heard very good things from parents on our Celebrity Alaska. Alaska is one place where I wouldn't pay the extra money to do Disney as they offer less in terms of the cruise and are over-priced to begin with.

Plus 1 to @DCLCrazy. If you can swing the vacation time, take a one way cruise with a land trip before or after.

I did NLC from Vancouver to Seward last summer. After we got off the boat we took the train from Seward to Denali and then, after a couple days in the park, we headed by train again to Fairbanks.

While we were up there, we decided if we took the trip again with children, we'd rent a camper so we could take the trip at our own pace.

Thank you all! You're really giving me something to think about. I just priced out Alaska on RC and found it to be much more cost effective with better ports and almost half the price for a 9-night- wow!

In order to do a land/sea combo, do you recommend I use a travel agent or can you book them directly with the cruise lines? I never use travel agents but may need one for this kind of trip? Thanks!

If you use a TA You might get a little extra OBC. :)

Thank you all! You're really giving me something to think about. I just priced out Alaska on RC and found it to be much more cost effective with better ports and almost half the price for a 9-night- wow!   In order to do a land/sea combo, do you recommend I use a travel agent or can you book them directly with the cruise lines? I never use travel agents but may need one for this kind of trip? Thanks!

Many of the cruise lines offer the land/sea combo. You can book them directly yourself or thru a TA. The cruise line arranges the land portion as well--sort of like doing an Adventures by Disney land thing and then getting on a DCL ship. You can book the entire package by going thru the cruise line. I know Princess, Holland America, Royal, etc. offer these. Honestly, since this is a new thing for you, an experienced agent may be a help. You're going to be doing international flights in addition to the cruise (or if departing from Vancouver, price out flying into Seattle and taking the train to Vancouver--it can be a couple hundred dollars less per person!)

Also, DCL is unique in their "the price is the price" deal. Other lines allow TAs to buy up a block of cabins and resell them at a discount. You can sometimes get a better price than that advertised by going thru an agent who does a lot of business with a particular line.

I purchased the land portion of my trip through Alaskan Railroad. I love trains, so I couldn't resist.

I've never used a travel agent. Maybe I should find one for the OBC. [emoji4]

If you are willing to give up the pixie dust.... Research Princess and Holland America for Glacier Bay. Glacier seekers say Glacier Bay offers the best glacier viewing experience. Sawyer is a better example of glacier extinction.

MCC retired

Alaska itself is the highlight of the cruise . Choose a cruise ship that has the itinerary/price that you like . Save the DCL onboard experience for the Caribbean someday .

5K for 2 extra days is crazy .

If you wish to do longer than 7 days , do a Cruise/Tour to actually see more of Alaska than just southern coast.

Personally, I found the cruise ports to be very touristy with nothing but shopping. I want to see the real Alaska. I'm so glad I took the land tour. You really get a better sense of the people the beauty of nature when you go up the interior.

I want to chime in on the look at other cruises crowd. We sailed Princess three years ago, exactly for the reasons stated. Holland America and Princess have the longest established time in Alaska. They pair with land portions that use their own hotels and facilities. We did a southbound one-way from Whittier to Vancouver, flew into Anchorage two days early and took the train to Whittier and then stayed two more days in Vancouver. With the one-way we were able to go into Glacier Bay and see Hubbard Glacier without the extra two days DCL is requiring. Since Alaska is so port intensive, we really didn't spend that much time on the ship except for the evenings. My only regret, and the reason I will some day go back, is that I didn't have the vacay time to go into Denali.

Exactly--you can do so much more in Alaska for the same cost as a DCL cruise....5K for 2 days is crazy. Seriously look at a land trip as well, and I second the recommendation for one of the train trips. Again, Princess can book it for you as a seamless vacation. They will also give you some OBC if you are a veteran, own stock in their company, or did an on board future cruise credit. If you live near Ft. Lauderdale, you can do their "BonVoyage Experience" where for $39, you board their ship, have a lunch including wine, a photo, and can use all the ship's facilities for about 4 hours. You can also buy "future cruise certificates." If you book a cruise within a certain time period (60 days? maybe 90) of doing this, the $39 is applied toward your cruise cost, making your only cost for the day your parking! The future cruise certificate translates into OBC based on the length of the cruise and the category you select. The BVE is offered at some other ports, but Ft. Lauderdale is the main one that does it.

Honestly, unless you plan to plunk little kids in the childcare and see Alaska on your own, the premium you pay for DCL is rather a waste in Alaska.

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6 top luxury alaska cruises for 2024 & beyond.

Book a once-in-a-lifetime adventure to The Great Land on one of these top luxury ships.

Top Luxury Alaska Cruises

Courtesy of Crystal

Cruising to Alaska on a small luxury ship affords a very different experience than sailing through The Great Land on a larger vessel. On a smaller luxury ship, you'll enjoy the expected perks like fewer passengers and more personalized service – but you'll also physically get closer to the boundless wilderness, abundant wildlife, icy blue glaciers and majestic snow-capped mountains that you've waited a lifetime to see.

While the fares to sail on such vessels are quite a bit higher than those of larger cruise providers, the all-inclusive (or mostly all-inclusive) prices typically include all-suite accommodations with balconies, all meals, alcoholic and nonalcoholic beverages, 24-hour room service, Wi-Fi access, gratuities, welcome bottles of sparkling wine, pillow selection, some shore excursions and butler service. Best of all, you won't feel like you're being nickel-and-dimed while on board. As a special touch, the attentive crew members may even learn your name and memorize your preferred pre-dinner cocktail.

Unlike many mainstream lines, most luxury Alaska cruises do not offer pre- and post-cruise tours to extend your adventure. However, you can plan these experiences on your own through third-party providers.

Alaska Tour & Travel has pre-cruise packages that include visits to Denali National Park & Preserve and the small, quirky Alaska towns of Homer and Talkeetna. You can also see a different side of Alaska via a train ride on the Alaska Railroad, take a national parks tour that includes Kenai Fjords National Park or head northbound to Fairbanks , one of the best places in the world to see the northern lights (if you visit during aurora season, from late August to late April). In addition, the company can plan a self-drive tour from Anchorage to Seward, which includes a stay at a wilderness lodge, helicopter flightseeing over Knik Glacier and guided tours in the parks.

The following luxury cruise lines will ensure you make the most of your voyage in Alaska – one of the most magical destinations on Earth.

Find your perfect cruise

Silversea Cruises

Courtesy of Silversea Cruises

Silversea Cruises' small luxury ships are designed for adventurers interested in visiting a mix of Alaska's top ports and more rugged, off-the-beaten-track locales. Extended itineraries offer stops in less-visited destinations like the towns of Haines and Wrangell. On board, guests can expect a personalized experience that includes luxurious ocean-view suites with butler service, multiple gourmet dining options, complimentary alcoholic and nonalcoholic beverages, and attentive service with one of the highest crew-to-guest ratios in the industry.

Base fares for Silversea's 2024 and 2025 Alaska itineraries start at $3,250 per person. If you upgrade to Silversea 's door-to-door fare (which starts at $5,200 per person), you'll receive private chauffeur service from your home to the airport (and back home upon your return) and round-trip flights, with business class upgrades in some destinations.

Silversea also offers immersive pre- and post-cruise land experiences, departing from Seward, Alaska. Highlights include sightseeing flights over Denali National Park & Preserve or into bear country to see Alaska's magnificent grizzly bears. In Vancouver, travelers can take a flightseeing transfer to Victoria to tour the 55-acre Butchart Gardens or board the Rocky Mountaineer for a two-day train ride through the Canadian Rockies.

Silversea's Alaska itineraries extend from May to September, with voyages ranging between seven and 16 days. The line's newest and largest vessel, the 728-passenger Silver Nova , sails its inaugural Alaska season in 2024 along with two smaller ships, Silver Muse (596 guests) and Silver Shadow (392 guests). There are 35 Alaska voyages available in 2024. In 2025, luxury cruisers can hop aboard one of 45 scheduled voyages on either Silver Nova or the 596-guest Silver Moon .

For a seven-day itinerary, consider a sailing from Seward, Alaska, to Vancouver, British Columbia. This voyage cruises the Hubbard Glacier and the Inside Passage and stops in the Alaska towns of Juneau, Skagway, Sitka and Ketchikan. Complimentary excursions in Ketchikan include a tour of Saxman Native Village; a visit to Bonfire Bay Oyster Farm, featuring a sea-to-table oyster tasting; the Alaskan Cultural, Culinary & Lumberjack show; the Alaskan Lodge Adventure & Seafeast and a day as a fisherman aboard the Aleutian Ballard, as seen on Discovery Channel's "The Deadliest Catch." You can also opt for a Selected Shore Excursion (for an additional cost), such as mountain biking or a private fishing trip.

Regent Seven Seas Cruises

Courtesy of Regent Seven Seas Cruises

Regent Seven Seas Cruises' elegant Seven Seas Explorer sails the line's Alaska itineraries in 2024 and 2025. The lavish 746-guest ship was coined "The Most Luxurious Ship Ever Built" when it debuted in 2016; among its impressive features are the 3,875-square-foot Regent Suite and a high-end collection of art displayed throughout the ship, including works by Pablo Picasso.

Alaska voyages with Regent in 2024 and 2025 start at $4,799 per person. Upgraded 2-for-1 all-inclusive fares (starting at $5,499 per person) cover elegant all-balcony suite accommodations; round-trip airfare (business class on international flights); a one-night pre-cruise hotel package; free two- or three-night land programs; free unlimited shore excursions; free unlimited beverages (alcoholic and nonalcoholic); complimentary specialty dining; and prepaid gratuities. You'll also receive complimentary airport transfers, unlimited Wi-Fi access and valet laundry service.

Every suite style includes a private balcony, roomy closets and upscale finishes. Concierge Suites (and above) add cozy in-room amenities like cashmere blankets, perfect to bundle up in while you take in the scenery. Meanwhile, Penthouse Suites (and higher) include a private butler who can book excursions, make dinner and spa reservations, unpack your luggage, arrange for a private cocktail soiree in your suite and indulge any other special requests.

Between May and September 2024, Regent sails 22 Alaska voyages. There are 16 Alaska sailings scheduled for the same period in 2025. Itineraries range from seven to 14 nights. For plenty of scenic cruising days, consider a round-trip itinerary from Vancouver departing May 28, 2025. The cruise includes five relaxing days at sea, where you'll enjoy scenic cruising through the Inside Passage (twice), Hubbard Glacier (twice) and Endicott Arm Fjord. Ports of call in Alaska include Wrangell, Juneau , Skagway, Sitka, Seward, Icy Strait (Hoonah) and Ketchikan. You'll also have a full day in Victoria, British Columbia, before returning to Vancouver.

While in Wrangell, consider the Tongass Botanical Forest Walk excursion. Tongass National Forest is the largest national forest in the U.S., with towering old-growth trees and unique flora, fauna and ecosystems. While in the temperate rainforest with your naturalist guide, look for local wildlife like Sitka black-tailed deer, porcupines and birds of prey. Other complimentary excursions at this stop include a round of golf at Muskeg Meadows Golf Course; a canoe trip through Wrangell harbor and nearby islands, and a heritage tour about Tlingit culture and the history of the town.

Recently relaunched Crystal offers just seven voyages in Alaska aboard Crystal Serenity in July and August 2024. The 740-guest luxury vessel was refurbished in 2023 and features the line's signature top-notch service, elegant interiors and suites, and personal butler service in every room category.

Other perks and amenities include plush bathrobes and Sicily's Ortigia bath products; an impressive passenger-to-crew ratio; prepaid gratuities; complimentary beverages; and outstanding cuisine, including Umi Uma (an exclusive Nobu restaurant at sea, available only on Crystal Serenity and Crystal Symphony ). Guests can also feast on Italian cuisine at Osteria d'Ovidio; book an exclusive dining experience at The Vintage Room; indulge in Parisian cafe-style fare at The Bistro; opt for American cuisine at Waterside Restaurant or take their pick of several other casual indoor and alfresco options.

Cruisers also have their selection of unique shore experiences curated by Crystal's parent company A&K Travel Group, such as a ride on the world's largest zip line in Hoonah (Icy Strait Point); dog sledding and glacier flightseeing in Skagway; fishing and wilderness dining in Ketchikan and the Wildlife Quest and Fin Island Lodge experience in Sitka, boasting a feast of Alaska king crab and wild salmon.

Crystal offers seven- and eight-night round-trip voyages from Vancouver , as well as one-way cruises from Vancouver or Seward, Alaska. Select itineraries – like the July 30, 2024, voyage from Vancouver to Seward – offer a scenic cruising day in the Seymour Narrows in British Columbia. On this sailing, you'll also enjoy a day at sea cruising Hubbard Glacier, as well as stops in Ketchikan, Sitka, Hoonah (Icy Strait), Skagway and Sitka in Alaska. Or, opt for the July 2, 2024, round-trip sailing from Vancouver for three scenic cruising days in the Inside Passage, Endicott Arm and the Seymour Narrows.

The line's Aug. 13, 2024, round-trip sailing from Vancouver features a special guest: Manfredi Lefebvre d'Ovidio, the executive chairman of A&K Travel Group. As such, the cruise will include an exclusive gala dinner and other unique experiences. Other special voyages welcome marine biologist and National Geographic photographer Flip Nicklin, who will share personal stories from his extensive career and expert insights about humpback whale habitats and behaviors.

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Viking Ocean Cruises

Courtesy of Viking

Viking Ocean Cruises' 11-day Alaska & the Inside Passage cruise is available on 11 dates during the 2024 season. It sails from Vancouver to Seward (or the reverse) on the 930-passenger Viking Orion . In 2025, the line offers the same itinerary on 22 dates between May and September, split between Viking Orion and its sister ship, the 930-passenger Viking Sea .

Viking's destination-focused itineraries are curated for travelers who are interested in history, science, culture and cuisine, as they feature onboard enrichment like lectures by Viking's resident historians. You'll also find regionally inspired dishes in The Restaurant and special access to unique tours and excursions ashore.

The line's mostly all-inclusive fares cover accommodations in spacious all-veranda staterooms and suites; beer, wine and soft drinks at lunch and dinner; meals at all the dining venues; one shore excursion in every port; free Wi-Fi access; 24-hour specialty teas, coffees and bottled water; complimentary access to The Nordic Spa & Fitness Center; and other upscale amenities.

Voyages traveling northbound from Vancouver include one day of scenic cruising through the Inside Passage before stopping in Ketchikan, Sitka, Juneau, Skagway and Icy Strait Point in Alaska. The eighth day of the cruise sails through picturesque Yakutat Bay, which includes the Hubbard Glacier. The ship then calls on Valdez, Alaska, before the trip ends with two days in Seward.

While in Valdez, take an optional tour to explore the incredible scenery surrounding the small fishing town. Viking offers a kayaking trip to see the Valdez Glacier; a scenic cruise through picturesque Prince William Sound to view the Columbia Glacier; a wildlife cruise where you can look for humpback whales, orcas, porpoises, sea otters and bald eagles; a helicopter ride over the area's rugged, icy wilderness; or a UTV adventure through the Chugach Mountains to Mineral Creek Canyon.

Seabourn Cruise Line

Courtesy of Seabourn Cruise Line

Between May and August 2024, Seabourn Cruise Line will host 20 Alaska voyages aboard the Seabourn Odyssey , before the ship leaves the cruise line in the fall. In 2025, the line offers 27 Alaska sailings on Seabourn Quest. Both yacht-inspired ships accommodate up to 458 guests and feature Seabourn's signature all-inclusive amenities, including luxurious oceanfront suites with verandas; personalized service; complimentary fine wines and premium spirits; complimentary dining; and caviar served throughout the sailing. You'll also have a complimentary W-Fi package and an in-suite minibar stocked with your favorite beverages. Ashore, sign up for exclusive programs like shopping for fresh salmon, halibut and Alaska king crab alongside a Seabourn chef.

Guests booking Seabourn Quest for 2025 will be able to sample the line's new dining concept, Solis. Inspired by destinations in the Mediterranean, the menu features a fresh, modern take on traditional dishes and whimsical cocktails. The restaurant is a collaboration with master chef and culinary partner Anton Egger and senior corporate chef Franck Salein. In addition to dishes like salt-encrusted whole branzino and Tuscan-style steak, guests will also find a wide selection of vegan and vegetarian dishes.

The seven-day Alaska Fjords & Canadian Inside Passage itinerary on May 31, 2024, aboard Seabourn Odyssey, sails from Juneau to Vancouver and includes a day in either Tracy Arm or Endicott Arm, depending on the ice conditions. From there, you can take one of the optional guided excursions: Ventures by Seabourn. These tours are an additional cost but offer opportunities for up-close Zodiac, kayaking or catamaran experiences in the wilderness to see glaciers calving and view local wildlife, such as black bears, mountain goats, seals, wolves and seabirds.

You'll also enjoy many days of scenic cruising on this voyage, and have the opportunity for more optional adventures in Rudyerd Bay (Misty Fjords). The ship makes additional stops in Wrangell, Alaska, and Prince Rupert, British Columbia, before disembarking in Vancouver.

If you want to see stunning Glacier Bay National Park & Preserve, then consider booking the seven-day Alaska Inside Passage & Glacier Bay sailing on May 10, 2024, from Vancouver to Juneau. This itinerary also includes the Seymour Narrows and Snow Pass, cruising Queen Island Sound and the Lynn Canal. There's a stop for Ventures by Seabourn activities like kayaking and Zodiac rides in the Inian Islands. The Alaska ports of call on this voyage are Ketchikan, Sitka, Icy Strait Point and Haines. You'll disembark in Juneau.

Francois Lefebvre | Courtesy of PONANT

French luxury expedition line PONANT offers 10 Alaska cruises in 2024; itineraries span between seven and 11 nights. Aboard the 264-guest yacht-style Le Soléal, you'll meet up to 10 naturalist experts and guides specializing in geology, history, ornithology or marine or land mammals. Guests can attend onboard lectures and embark on Zodiac landings with the guides.

The ship features elegant staterooms and suites, a library, a spa, a hair salon and a gym. Guests will be treated to movies in the theater, wine tastings and cooking demonstrations throughout the expedition. All fine dining meals, 24-hour room service, an open bar (including an in-room minibar) and complimentary and unlimited Wi-Fi access are covered in the pricing.

Two of PONTANT's eight-night voyages from Vancouver to Sitka are in partnership with Smithsonian Journeys and are curated for English-speaking travelers. Fares for these expeditions include transfers to and from the ship and a shore excursion in each port. On board, you can attend talks and discussions hosted by two Smithsonian Journeys experts: geologist Scott Burns and natural history filmmaker John Grabowska.

On these voyages, there is a sea day after departing Vancouver. You'll cruise through the Johnstone Strait, where you'll have an excellent chance of seeing humpback whales and orcas. After a day spent in the Inside Passage, the ship will call on the village of Metlakatla, Alaska, on the western coast of Annette Island, which is home to the Tsimshians from British Columbia. Other unique Alaska ports of call in this itinerary include the commercial fishing town of Petersburg, the Tlingit village of Kake and the small fishing community of Alfin Cove.

Why Trust U.S. News Travel

Gwen Pratesi is a U.S. News & World Report contributor and an avid travel adventurer who fell in love with Alaska on her first visit to the state many years ago. She's returned several times both by land and sea to explore the state's vast wilderness and abundant wildlife, and to chase the northern lights in one of the best places on the planet to view them. Pratesi used her extensive knowledge of Alaska and the cruise industry to write this article.

You might also be interested in:

• Alaska Cruise Packing List: Must-Have Items
• The Most Affordable Alaska Cruises
• The Best Time to Cruise to Alaska
• The Best Alaska Cruise Lines
• The Best Alaska Cruises for Families

Tags: Travel , Cruises , Alaska Vacations

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Alaska Cruises

The breathtaking beauty of nature. the magic of disney., ports of call.

Explore quiet seaside hamlets, where gold prospectors once walked and land animals and sea-life abound

Navigate the Inside Passage to the last frontier, home to historic mining towns and stunning natural beauty.

Port Adventures

Whale watching and glacier flightseeing are some of the excursions offered on a Disney Alaskan cruise.

ONBOARD FUN

Entertainment.

Behold Broadway-caliber musicals and fireworks at sea, and watch new Disney movies. View More

CHARACTER GREETINGS

First-run movies, daily activities.

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Imaginative kids clubs, adult-exclusive hotspots, 3 themed pools—everywhere you turn, there’s something fun for everyone. View More

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For the adults, sports and fitness.

View All Recreation on the Disney Wonder

Amid fanciful restaurants, savor gourmet dining and casual bites—all with a dash of Disney whimsy. View More

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Casual dining, adult-exclusive dining.

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An unofficial disney cruise line news, information, weather, and photo blog..

Personal Navigators: Disney Wonder 7-Night Alaskan Cruise from Vancouver – July 17, 2023

Personal Navigators, and other details from the Silver Anniversary at Sea  7-Night Alaskan Cruise from Vancouver . The  Disney Wonder  set sail from  Vancouver, Canada  on July 17, 2023. During this cruise, the ship was under the control of Captain Fabian Dib. The Cruise Director during the sailing was Jimmy Lynett. 

Day 1 – July 17, 2023 –  Vancouver, Canada

Guests Onboard : 4:00 pm

Attire : Cruise Casual

Dinner Menus :

• Triton’s :  Triton’s
• Animator’s Palate :  Animator’s Palate
• Tiana’s Place :  Tiana’s Place – Mardi Gras

Evening Entertainment :

Day 2 – July 18, 2023 – At Sea

• Walt Disney Theatre Production –  The Golden Mickeys

Day 3 – July 19, 2023 –  Glacier Viewing (Stikine Icecap), Alaska

Guests Ashore : 12:00 am  Guests Onboard : 12:00 am

• Triton’s :  Freezing The Night Away (Frozen)
• Animator’s Palate :  Freezing The Night Away (Frozen)
• Tiana’s Place :  Freezing The Night Away (Frozen)
• Featured Act –  The Chipper Experience

Day 4 – July 20, 2023 –  Skagway, Alaska

Guests Ashore : 7:15 am  Guests Onboard : 8:00 pm

• Tiana’s Place :  Taste of Alaska Dinner
• Movie –  Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny

Day 5 – July 21, 2023 –  Juneau, Alaska

Guests Ashore : 6:45 am  Guests Onboard : 4:45 pm

• Triton’s :  Captain’s Gala Dinner
• Animator’s Palate :  Animator’s Palate – Animation Magic
• Tiana’s Place :  Tiana’s Place – Princess
• Walt Disney Theatre Production –  Frozen, A Musical Spectacular

Shimmering Seas Soiree

Day 6 – July 22, 2023 –  Ketchikan, Alaska

Guests Ashore : 11:15 am  Guests Onboard : 7:45 pm

• Featured Act –  Pipeline Vocal Project

Day 7 – July 23, 2023 – At Sea

• Walt Disney Theatre Production –  Disney Dreams – An Enchanted Classic

Buena Vista Theatre Movies

• Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
• Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
• Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
• Peter Pan & Wendy
• Strange World
• The Little Mermaid

Thank you  Connor N  for sharing. If you have any navigators you would be willing to share, please send me an email. If you would rather upload the files you can use our  upload form .

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2 Replies to “Personal Navigators: Disney Wonder 7-Night Alaskan Cruise from Vancouver – July 17, 2023”

I see “Cruise Casual” listed every night. Has DCL done away with Formal and Semi-Formal nights? Thanks.

Cruise casual is the default if I do not have the additional nightly attire information.

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A unique Disney experience: Here's what you can't miss on Disney Cruise Lines

D isney Cruise Line is synonymous with family vacations at sea, so you might think that every Disney cruise in 2024 will be a good choice for families. And having sailed on every one of Disney's cruise ships myself, I can say the simple answer is yes, that's absolutely true. But some Disney cruise experiences hold an extra special place in my family's heart, and they've made me realize that certain Disney cruises can go above and beyond even DCL's usual family-friendly standard. 

I'm thinking about when we met Disney’s "Frozen" friends in person on a Norway sailing or laughed to tears over dinner with Crush the Sea Turtle ("cha dude!"), or completed a 5K race with my daughter on Disney’s private island, Castaway Cay . That's why my picks for the best Disney cruises for families in 2024 are all about these kinds of extra special experiences, the ones that aren't just the usual level of Disney cruise line magic but will elevate your family vacation into once-in-a-lifetime "cherished family memory" territory.

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There will be no shortage of these kinds of opportunities on Disney Cruise Line (DCL) in 2024. From being among the first to visit Disney's brand-new private island destination to enjoying an immersive Pixar-themed day at sea to setting sail on the maiden voyage of Disney's newest ship , here are the Disney cruise experiences I think will go above and beyond in 2024. 

1. Disney Magic to Lighthouse Point, DCL's newest private island destination

One thing my family looks forward to during any Disney cruise is a stop at DCL's private island, Castaway Cay. In 2024, Disney Cruise Line will unveil its second private island destination, Lookout Cay at Lighthouse Point , on the island of Eleuthera in the Bahamas. And I can’t wait to see how they plan to outdo the already incredible Castaway Cay experience. 

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Similar to when Disney created its Aulani resort in Hawaii , Disney Imagineers have been working with local artists and cultural experts to design an authentic Bahamian island experience at Lighthouse Point. Curvilinear buildings are meant to evoke scattered seashells along the shore, and a Bahamian Art and Culture Pavilion will feature special programs and local artists that celebrate Bahama traditions. 

A special preview cruise to Lookout Cay at Lighthouse Point on the Disney Magic departs from Fort Lauderdale in June 2024.  

2. Alaska and Australia cruises on the Disney Wonder in 2024

When my youngest daughter graduated from high school, my wife and I asked where she wanted to go for our family vacation to celebrate her milestone . Her top choice was Alaska. In the summer months, Disney Cruise Line positions one of its smaller ships, the Disney Wonder, out west so families can take weeklong sailings from Vancouver to the "Last Frontier." Along the way, you can experience majestic wildlife and stunning scenery while calling on Juneau, Skagway, Ketchikan, and glacier viewing along the Stikine Icecap. 

No hidden costs: 7 best all-inclusive cruise lines in the world  

But that's not all the Disney Wonder gets up to! In 2023, Disney also began offering Australia and New Zealand cruises onboard the ship, and that will continue in 2023 and 2024. Disney Cruise Line has announced a new season of sailings in the region from October 2024 through February 2025. 

The Disney Wonder is one of DCL's original class of ships, and with a capacity of 2,713 passengers, it remains one of the line's most intimate vessels. That's a reason to love it. Both the Wonder and its sister ship, Disney Magic, are especially great Disney cruise options in 2024 if your family is new to cruising . Far from being a drawback, the smaller size makes it less likely to feel overwhelming to first-timers.

3. European vacations on the Disney Dream

In 2023, Disney Cruise Line sent the Disney Dream across the Atlantic for the first time. The ship will head back to Europe in 2024 with summer cruises in the Mediterranean, Greek Isles, British Isles, Iceland, and Norwegian fjords. These are the best 2024 Disney Cruises for experiencing new ports of call like Valencia, Spain; Haugesund, Norway; and Hamburg, Germany, along with three Mediterranean destinations (Catania, Italy; Kusadasi, Turkey; and Valletta, Malta) that Disney will visit for the first time since 2014.

Make memories: Why a Holland America heritage cruise Is perfect for a multigenerational family vacation  

In June, the Disney Dream sails from Civitavecchia (Rome) with stops in Naples and three different Greek Islands, including Mykonos and Crete. In July, the ship transitions to northern European cruises, including a 12-night voyage departing from England (Southampton) on July 24, heading through the Norwegian fjords, three days in Iceland, and an overnight stay in Reykjavik before returning to Southampton. 

My family sailed on Disney’s inaugural Norwegian fjords cruise in 2015, and it was hands down our best family vacation because of the Disney-specific experiences no other cruise line can offer, such as Anna and Elsa from "Frozen" posing for pictures at a Norwegian Village museum in Ålesund.

4. Disney Cruise Line's private island trifecta on the Disney Fantasy

Many fans of Disney Cruise Line’s private island get particularly excited when itineraries include a Castaway Cay "double dip," i.e., two stops at Castaway Cay. But in 2024, the Disney Fantasy ventures on a seven-night itinerary that calls on Disney’s private islands not once, not twice, but three times with a stop at Castaway Cay and two visits to the brand-new Lookout Cay at Lighthouse Point. 

Splash zone: 50 best cruise ship water parks and private islands for kids  

I love Disney’s Castaway Cay and have enjoyed so many relaxing stops to the island. I especially remember learning the "stingray shuffle" and holding stingrays during Castaway Ray's Stingray Adventure. I love that this 2024 Disney cruise will give families plenty of time to explore Disney’s brand-new private island destination on the southernmost tip of Eleuthera without overlooking a day at the old favorite. 

5. Disney Wish theme park and cruise vacation

The Disney Wish is DCL's newest ship (for now), debuting in July 2022 and offering three- and four-night cruises to the Bahamas from Port Canaveral, Florida . The close proximity of Port Canaveral to Walt Disney World makes it easy to combine an Orlando theme park vacation with a Disney Cruise. 

Know before you go: 6 things you didn’t know you could do on a Disney Cruise  

Disney land and sea vacations are the best of both worlds for families with theme park lovers who want to go, go, go, and other family members looking for a more laidback experience. My advice is to head to the theme parks first, get tired out from the walking, rides, and stimulation, and then sail off on a four-night cruise to decompress. My wife and I enjoyed the most expansive stateroom ever when we sailed on the Disney Wish last summer and it couldn't have been more relaxing.

6. Themed Cruises – Pixar, Marvel, and holidays

In January, I had the opportunity to experience Pixar Day at Sea , Disney Cruise Line’s newest themed cruise, on the Disney Fantasy. In my review for FamilyVacationist, I called it an " overflowing toy box of fun " and I'm excited for more families to experience it on a Disney cruise in 2024. The cruise was packed with so many Pixar character meets, themed-activities, special shows, foods, and treats that some of it spilled into additional days at sea. In 2024, Pixar Day at Sea returns to the Disney Fantasy on seven-night Caribbean sailings from January through March.

Set sail: These 6 cruise lines offer the best themed cruises  

Disney's themed cruise days aren't limited to Pixar, either. There's a Marvel Day at Sea on five-night Disney Dream cruises departing Fort Lauderdale from January through March, and when the festive season rolls around most of the ships offer holiday sailings with Halloween on the High Seas and Very Merrytime cruises. 

I was so impressed with the Halloween tree in the ship's atrium when my family sailed on a Halloween cruise. Over the course of the cruise, the tree "bloomed" with spooky Jack-o-lanterns. In addition, Disney characters were decked out in costumes, there was trick-or-treating, and other special activities. And of course Very Merrytime cruises have a tree-lighting ceremony, Mickey and Minnie’s Holiday Party, carolers, special drinks and treats, and appearances by the guest of honor for the cruise, Santa Claus.

7. Disney Treasure Sets Course for Adventure

Last but not least, Disney Treasure joins the Disney Cruise Line fleet with its maiden voyage on December 21, 2024. Adventure is the theme for Disney's sixth cruise ship with spaces and entertainment inspired by "Aladdin," "Coco," "Zootopia," "Jungle Cruise," even "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea." 

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As a fan of the Magic Kingdom’s Jungle Cruise ride and Skipper Canteen restaurant, I can’t wait to get immersed in the kitschy 1930s adventure vibe onboard the Disney Treasure. The ship will sail seven-night itineraries to the eastern and western Caribbean and have a theater-in-the-round restaurant at the Plaza de Coco as well as a cinematic dining experience at Worlds of Marvel. Because these are longer cruises than those available on DCL's other ship in the same class (Disney Wish), you can experience two distinct shows in each of these venues during a voyage. 

The article 7 best Disney cruises for families in 2024 appeared first on FamilyVacationist.com .

More from FamilyVacationist:

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• Kids stay free at these 10 all-inclusive family resorts

FamilyVacationist.com and TourScoop.com are owned and operated by Vacationist Media LLC. FamilyVacationist covers family vacation ideas ; family vacation spots ; all-inclusive family resorts ; and must-have travel accessories for families. TourScoop covers guided group tours and tour operators , tour operator reviews , tour itinerary reviews and travel gear recommendations . The views and opinions expressed in this column are the author’s and do not necessarily reflect those of USA TODAY.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: A unique Disney experience: Here's what you can't miss on Disney Cruise Lines