Alaska cruise

[cdh]

My husband and I are considering a cruise to Alaska with DCL. One thing that we really want to see is the inside passage. Last night we watched a vlog from a recent cruise in which the ship went through the inside passage at night. Is that common? Since the cruise is expensive we would be incredibly disappointed to miss seeing the inside passage. We are also interested in the glacier excursion. It’s too late for us to book that excursion and I was wondering if there is anything close that is offered through a different company?

We just got back from Aulani a couple of weeks ago and we absolutely loved it. I’m a lot more reluctant about the cruise. I hate inescapable situations with people who irritate me. That sounds awful….I’m a lot nicer than that sounds but if I’m around someone who thinks it’s a good idea to let their sick kid make their own plate at the buffet then I‘m miserable. I won’t confront them but it creates incredible anxiety for me. Does this happen a lot on the cruises? For reference I’m fine on planes but no one can really get in my space on a plane. I’m fine at Disney because I can walk away from obnoxious people but if I’m trapped with them I may have a panic attack.

 

[xuxa777]

The only excursion on Glacier day is the one booked through Disney. There isn't a possibility for third party excursions that day, because you don't leave the ship. The Glacier excursion joins the ship while it is moving to pick up the passengers.

 

[fla4fun]

My husband and I are considering a cruise to Alaska with DCL. One thing that we really want to see is the inside passage. Last night we watched a vlog from a recent cruise in which the ship went through the inside passage at night. Is that common? Since the cruise is expensive we would be incredibly disappointed to miss seeing the inside passage. We are also interested in the glacier excursion. It’s too late for us to book that excursion and I was wondering if there is anything close that is offered through a different company?

We just got back from Aulani a couple of weeks ago and we absolutely loved it. I’m a lot more reluctant about the cruise. I hate inescapable situations with people who irritate me. That sounds awful….I’m a lot nicer than that sounds but if I’m around someone who thinks it’s a good idea to let their sick kid make their own plate at the buffet then I‘m miserable. I won’t confront them but it creates incredible anxiety for me. Does this happen a lot on the cruises? For reference I’m fine on planes but no one can really get in my space on a plane. I’m fine at Disney because I can walk away from obnoxious people but if I’m trapped with them I may have a panic attack.

Think of the ship as a large hotel. If you were in a large hotel would you feel trapped by an obnoxious person in a restaurant or at the pool? If a person is doing something that makes you anxious, you can go to another part of the ship, or even go back to your stateroom to calm down. This is one reason I won’t book an inside cabin, because if I decide to retreat to my cabin for a calm down, I want to be able to at least look out a window, if not sit outside on a balcony.

 

[lklgoodman]

My husband and I are considering a cruise to Alaska with DCL. One thing that we really want to see is the inside passage. Last night we watched a vlog from a recent cruise in which the ship went through the inside passage at night. Is that common? Since the cruise is expensive we would be incredibly disappointed to miss seeing the inside passage. We are also interested in the glacier excursion. It’s too late for us to book that excursion and I was wondering if there is anything close that is offered through a different company?

We just got back from Aulani a couple of weeks ago and we absolutely loved it. I’m a lot more reluctant about the cruise. I hate inescapable situations with people who irritate me. That sounds awful….I’m a lot nicer than that sounds but if I’m around someone who thinks it’s a good idea to let their sick kid make their own plate at the buffet then I‘m miserable. I won’t confront them but it creates incredible anxiety for me. Does this happen a lot on the cruises? For reference I’m fine on planes but no one can really get in my space on a plane. I’m fine at Disney because I can walk away from obnoxious people but if I’m trapped with them I may have a panic attack.

If you encounter someone on the ship who is making you anxious, you can easily walk away. The ships are large with a lot of places to go, including adult only sections. Have been on 7 Disney cruises and have never gotten sick after any of them. They have sinks for you to wash your hands before going through the buffets. And the cms standing by them telling peole to use them. They hand out wipes before you enter the sit down restaurants. There's always a sit down restaurant open for breakfast and lunch, so you can skip the buffet if you want.(also room service and quick service for lunch on the pool deck) We did an Alaskan cruise in 2014 and saw land nearly the entire time. The inside passage doesn't just happen 1 night, it's the route that the ship will take for the cruise. There are many glacier excursions that you can book independently at the port towns. If you are talking about the one during the glacier day, then I would guess you can't book it independently. That excursion is done by getting on a smaller boat directy from the ship and is arranged by DCL.

 

[DSLRuser]

you will see th same people multiple times......so if you get "triggered" by other peoples actions, especially if your "triggers" are for normal things.....cruising may not be for you.

How do you know the kid is "sick"?

We are a melting pot, some people act different then you.

Good luck with your choice.

 

[disneyfaninaz]

On a 7 night Alaskan cruise, you are almost entirely within the Inside Passage. Also, during the summer, it is daylight until 10 PM or so most days, so there are plenty of opportunities to see the Inside Passage. But, yes, the ship is sailing overnight to get to the next port.

 

[cdh]

Thank you all for the responses and for being kind regarding my anxiety, I know it can sound off putting so thanks for not judging. I would be absolutely fine in a hotel with people that I want to avoid so it sounds like being in the ship would be fine. Looks li we would be able to see the inside passage but miss the glacier excursion. That isn’t a dealbreaker for us. Maybe we will get that one next time.

Someone asked how I know when kids are sick…..on our plane to Aulani a few kids and a few adults were coughing constantly. IMO they were clearly sick. That’s fine. People can take their sick kids out if they want but I want to avoid them because I don’t enjoy being sick. If my child was sick I wouldn’t take her to make a plate at the buffet but that’s just me.…but I think buffets are gross anyway.

 

[DSLRuser]

Thank you all for the responses and for being kind regarding my anxiety, I know it can sound off putting so thanks for not judging. I would be absolutely fine in a hotel with people that I want to avoid so it sounds like being in the ship would be fine. Looks li we would be able to see the inside passage but miss the glacier excursion. That isn’t a dealbreaker for us. Maybe we will get that one next time.

Someone asked how I know when kids are sick…..on our plane to Aulani a few kids and a few adults were coughing constantly. IMO they were clearly sick. That’s fine. People can take their sick kids out if they want but I want to avoid them because I don’t enjoy being sick. If my child was sick I wouldn’t take her to make a plate at the buffet but that’s just me.…but I think buffets are gross anyway.

Coughing is not an indication of not being well.

Every had a tick in your throat, swallowed and something "went down the wrong pipe"

Not judging.....but you can't worry about others. Just you do you and you will be fine. Your body can handle all sorts of germs you dont even know about. Just trust your body even with the ones you do know about.

 

[cdh]

I just want to say that I love disboards. I really appreciate being able to get answers from people who want to help. Thank you all.

 

[cdh]

Coughing is not an indication of not being well.

Every had a tick in your throat, swallowed and something "went down the wrong pipe"

Not judging.....but you can't worry about others. Just you do you and you will be fine. Your body can handle all sorts of germs you dont even know about. Just trust your body even with the ones you do know about.

You’re probably right. I just have severe anxiety that I’ve dealt with for years. I’ve e learned to deal with it by avoiding the things that worry me. It’s not the best plan but it beats the side effects of anxiety meds.

 

[soniam]

If coughing, dirty people near the buffet bother you, then definitely avoid it, if possible. I'm not saying people are filthy or hacking up bodily fluids in the buffet, but I definitely have seen people cough into their hand and then grab a spoon or touch/wipe their nose with their hand and then grab a spoon. It's just the nature of things. I notice these things, but I don't let them bother me. Some people can't ignore these sorts of things. It's OK, but you might make yourself miserable. My grandma was very OCD, so I will notice germy things but have learned to ignore it due to a family history of OCD.

 

[lklgoodman]

Coughing is not an indication of not being well.

Every had a tick in your throat, swallowed and something "went down the wrong pipe"

Not judging.....but you can't worry about others. Just you do you and you will be fine. Your body can handle all sorts of germs you dont even know about. Just trust your body even with the ones you do know about.

Glad you pointed that out. I had thyroid cancer several years ago. I had my thyroid removed, but had my damage caused to my throat during the surgery. Because of this I often cough, I would hate for others to assume my coughing is because I have something that is contagious. My coughing drives my dd nuts, so I do try to make sure I have cough drops with me at all times.

 

[cdh]

Glad you pointed that out. I had thyroid cancer several years ago. I had my thyroid removed, but had my damage caused to my throat during the surgery. Because of this I often cough, I would hate for others to assume my coughing is because I have something that is contagious. My coughing drives my dd nuts, so I do try to make sure I have cough drops with me at all times.

I completely understand that people cough for lots of reasons…my mom has COPD and coughs a lot. The coughing on the plane to Aulani was mostly little kids with what sounded like wet coughs with mucus. When my daughter coughs like that she’s sick. I’m not a doctor but I think the children on the plane were sick. We were on our first trip to Hawaii and I was slightly annoyed by being around sick kids on the way there. I was just sure that we’d end up with a cold by day 2 of the trip but I was wrong and we were fine.

Your situation is totally different and I’m really sorry if anyone treats you like you have something contagious. FWIW, I wouldn’t worry about being around an adult with a dry cough. Most adults are more considerate, cover their mouths, and keep a reasonable distance when coughing but sick kids are a different story.

 

[cdh]

If coughing, dirty people near the buffet bother you, then definitely avoid it, if possible. I'm not saying people are filthy or hacking up bodily fluids in the buffet, but I definitely have seen people cough into their hand and then grab a spoon or touch/wipe their nose with their hand and then grab a spoon. It's just the nature of things. I notice these things, but I don't let them bother me. Some people can't ignore these sorts of things. It's OK, but you might make yourself miserable. My grandma was very OCD, so I will notice germy things but have learned to ignore it due to a family history of OCD.

I have the same family history and I really struggle when it comes to germs. You’re right about OCD. It does make some things miserable.

 

[Irondraco]

My husband and I are considering a cruise to Alaska with DCL. One thing that we really want to see is the inside passage. Last night we watched a vlog from a recent cruise in which the ship went through the inside passage at night. Is that common? Since the cruise is expensive we would be incredibly disappointed to miss seeing the inside passage. We are also interested in the glacier excursion. It’s too late for us to book that excursion and I was wondering if there is anything close that is offered through a different company?

We just got back from Aulani a couple of weeks ago and we absolutely loved it. I’m a lot more reluctant about the cruise. I hate inescapable situations with people who irritate me. That sounds awful….I’m a lot nicer than that sounds but if I’m around someone who thinks it’s a good idea to let their sick kid make their own plate at the buffet then I‘m miserable. I won’t confront them but it creates incredible anxiety for me. Does this happen a lot on the cruises? For reference I’m fine on planes but no one can really get in my space on a plane. I’m fine at Disney because I can walk away from obnoxious people but if I’m trapped with them I may have a panic attack.

We too just back from Aulani a couple weeks ago and loved it - we might have been there the same time! We are avid Disney cruisers and many aspects of Aulani reminded us of DCL. I recommend a veranda for Alaska as you'll get a great view of the scenery but also have a quiet place to escape from all the activity on the cruise. One of the 3 restaurants on board will have sit down breakfast & lunch so you an avoid Cabannas (buffet) on the Wonder.

 

[sadiecatie]

We got back from Alaska last week - it was an amazing time and I would recommend it to anyone. Others have already hit a lot of the high points, but I will say that my husband has anxiety, especially around illness, and he also had a great time. We wore masks in the theater when we really couldn’t avoid large crowds at his request, and otherwise we didn’t really have any issues feeling like we couldn’t escape situations that caused anxiety.

Tips: watch the sail-a-wave party from above on deck 10 rather than right in the fray (same with the Frozen deck show - or avoid them if they don’t matter to you). If going to Cabanas (the buffet), skip peak times. We are early risers and actually really enjoyed breakfast at Cabanas right when it opened - once we were leaving it was getting much busier. There was one day that we went at noon for lunch and had to turn around and leave because the crowds were actually making me anxious. But in that case the pool deck quick service was perfect.

The only day we didn’t see land was our first sea day; my understanding was that we had to take a route further out because of weather conditions. The rest of the trip, including our final sea day, were stunning views of the inside passage all day and night.

I think the analogy to a big hotel is a good one - I never felt that there was anyone I couldn’t get away from if I wanted to (and honestly, my husband is the sometimes antisocial one and he didn’t want to get away from anyone either ).

Edited to add: we all came back healthy, much to my husband’s shock (he had commented several times that he fully expected us to get sick on our trip).

 

[ArtemisPhoenix]

Thank you all for the responses and for being kind regarding my anxiety, I know it can sound off putting so thanks for not judging. I would be absolutely fine in a hotel with people that I want to avoid so it sounds like being in the ship would be fine. Looks li we would be able to see the inside passage but miss the glacier excursion. That isn’t a dealbreaker for us. Maybe we will get that one next time.

Someone asked how I know when kids are sick…..on our plane to Aulani a few kids and a few adults were coughing constantly. IMO they were clearly sick. That’s fine. People can take their sick kids out if they want but I want to avoid them because I don’t enjoy being sick. If my child was sick I wouldn’t take her to make a plate at the buffet but that’s just me.…but I think buffets are gross anyway.

I completely understand your anxiety on all of these points!

If it makes you feel better, there’s usually a sit down restaurant available at breakfast (and I think lunch too? Can’t remember off the top of my head right now) if you don’t want to go to the buffet. Since most people use the buffet, those are also usually quieter and more peaceful for breakfast and lunch anyway.

Like other people have said, even the smaller ships have lots of places to get away from the other cruisers if you need to. We love having a veranda for this reason. I also love Cove Cafe (an adult only coffee shop) and some of the bars/pubs. If you ask people on here for their favorite spots to get away from the noise on any of the ships you will hear SO many great ideas. And most of them will have a great view of the water (always calming for me!).

From one person who hates being stuck with people and not able to get away to another, I think you’d have a lovely time.

 

[cdh]

We too just back from Aulani a couple weeks ago and loved it - we might have been there the same time! We are avid Disney cruisers and many aspects of Aulani reminded us of DCL. I recommend a veranda for Alaska as you'll get a great view of the scenery but also have a quiet place to escape from all the activity on the cruise. One of the 3 restaurants on board will have sit down breakfast & lunch so you an avoid Cabannas (buffet) on the Wonder.

We were there from June 9 to 15. It was our best vacation ever! I love Disney World but it doesn’t compare to Aulani. Thank you for the info about getting a verandah and going to the sit down restaurants instead of the buffet. I hope Alaska is as much fun as Hawaii.

 

[cdh]

We got back from Alaska last week - it was an amazing time and I would recommend it to anyone. Others have already hit a lot of the high points, but I will say that my husband has anxiety, especially around illness, and he also had a great time. We wore masks in the theater when we really couldn’t avoid large crowds at his request, and otherwise we didn’t really have any issues feeling like we couldn’t escape situations that caused anxiety.

Tips: watch the sail-a-wave party from above on deck 10 rather than right in the fray (same with the Frozen deck show - or avoid them if they don’t matter to you). If going to Cabanas (the buffet), skip peak times. We are early risers and actually really enjoyed breakfast at Cabanas right when it opened - once we were leaving it was getting much busier. There was one day that we went at noon for lunch and had to turn around and leave because the crowds were actually making me anxious. But in that case the pool deck quick service was perfect.

The only day we didn’t see land was our first sea day; my understanding was that we had to take a route further out because of weather conditions. The rest of the trip, including our final sea day, were stunning views of the inside passage all day and night.

I think the analogy to a big hotel is a good one - I never felt that there was anyone I couldn’t get away from if I wanted to (and honestly, my husband is the sometimes antisocial one and he didn’t want to get away from anyone either ).

Edited to add: we all came back healthy, much to my husband’s shock (he had commented several times that he fully expected us to get sick on our trip).

Thanks for all of the info. It sounds like we would be able to escape whenever I’m overwhelmed. That’s a big relief. I think we would avoid the sail-a-wave party and the Frozen deck show. We really just want to see Alaska. It looks gorgeous in the pictures and videos that we have seen. It makes me feel better to know that I’m not the only one who worries about crowds and germs.

 

[cdh]

I completely understand your anxiety on all of these points!

If it makes you feel better, there’s usually a sit down restaurant available at breakfast (and I think lunch too? Can’t remember off the top of my head right now) if you don’t want to go to the buffet. Since most people use the buffet, those are also usually quieter and more peaceful for breakfast and lunch anyway.

Like other people have said, even the smaller ships have lots of places to get away from the other cruisers if you need to. We love having a veranda for this reason. I also love Cove Cafe (an adult only coffee shop) and some of the bars/pubs. If you ask people on here for their favorite spots to get away from the noise on any of the ships you will hear SO many great ideas. And most of them will have a great view of the water (always calming for me!).

From one person who hates being stuck with people and not able to get away to another, I think you’d have a lovely time.

Thanks so much for the reply. I think that we will have a great time. I was anxious about Aulani too and I ended up having a wonderful time. It’s probably a good idea for us to avoid Cabanas. We will have to try Cove Cafe and have room service from time to time.