This post is for people who are thinking about taking an Alaskan Cruise.  Are you wondering whether the experience on the Disney Cruise Line is worth the extra money when compared to other Alaskan Cruises?

After our family vacation in May, 2017 on the Disney Wonder, for a 7 day Alaskan cruise, the answer to that question from the whole family would be a unanimous and resounding

YES!

The cruise was an amazing experience.  Just being on the ship itself was magical every single day and we are already salivating at the idea of another cruise!  I’ll go through why our vacation was such a wonderful experience and what made it worthy of doing again in a heartbeat.

Top 5 Reasons to Choose the Disney Wonder Alaska Cruise

1. Anticipation Excitement
2. Disney Magic
3. Kids Clubs
4. Entertainment
5. Food including FREE room service

Anticipation Excitement

I admit that in true Chelsea fashion we planned this cruise at the last minute as far as cruises go.  I had heard from a classmate about how great it was.  At the ending February we decided it would be our first really big family vacation.  Being from Hawaii, any vacation out of the state is a big deal.  There is a big price tag due to flight costs, times four people.  We had previously traveled to the outer Hawaiian islands with the kids, but never across the Pacific Ocean via a 5-6 hour flight to the mainland US.

I definitely had the most fun with the anticipation aspect of the trip.  As soon as we booked I scoured the web for advice, tips, and tricks.  There is an unlimited amount of information for Disney Cruisers and I am so grateful for the useful information I received.  Below are my favorite examples of things learned via the web and Pinterest.

• Disney Vacation Countdowns (unlimited options, I printed this simple one from Kitty Baby Love and placed in a frame)
• Fish Extenders (Minimalist DIY Moana Fish Extender)
• Fish Extender Gift Exchange (Easy Fish Extender Gifts and Fish Extender Gifts Received)
• Facebook Group (Cruise and date specific, where you sign up for exchanges, gatherings, and can ask ?’s of experienced cruisers)
• Door magnets (Door decorating is a big deal with oodles of posts and websites, I recommend and used Milliepie’s Musings)
• Phone call from Mickey and Minnie (Sign-up on Cruise Site)

As this was my first cruise, I had never previously heard of any of the above, and all the activities really made prepping for the trip fun and exciting for the entire family.

Disney Magic

The Disney magic was alive and well throughout our trip.  Everyone was warm, friendly, helpful, and smiling.  The staff was enthusiastic and courteous.  They cater to the young and the young at heart, and I was surprised by how many adults only cruisers there were based on just the magnet door decorations.

Character experiences seemed endless!  With free tickets for frozen, the Disney Princesses, and a character breakfast.  It was amazing to see Ariel, Captain America, and the fab 5 (Disney fan speak for Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, and Pluto) just walking around the ship interacting.

One of the most magical things was the fact that even with 2,000 guests and 1,000 staff being on the ship it never felt crowded.  Someone told me it was because they tracked people using the on board wave phones and Disney Cruise Line Apps in order to facilitate crowd control.

It basically was the Disney love without the long lines, hot sun, and crowds found at the Disney parks.

The Kids Clubs

Both the Oceaneer Club and Oceaneer lab were marvelously fun places to be.  We tried to go to as much open houses as possible so we could actually play with the kids there.  Kenny loved the Marvel Avenger Superhero academy and Kylana enjoyed the Frozen adventures themed area.  There were various events scheduled that they choose to participate in.  Unfortunately, adults were not allowed during the events, which was a bummer, especially because they had various characters visit and play games with them, like Black Widow, Iron Man, Spider-Man, and the Disney Princesses.  So of course original and unique photo ops were missed.

We don’t have teenagers so we had no reason to experience the Teen (Vibe) and Tween (Edge) only spaces, however they were all completely revamped and renovated with the Disney Wonder’s dry dock in fall 2016.

Entertainment

The entertainment was world class and absolutely outstanding.  There was so much to see and do that we didn’t get to go to everything we wanted to.  We went to every nightly main show, which I highly recommend.  The evening entertainment featured Broadway style musicals, magicians, even folksy entertainers.  Our favorite shows were the Broadway style musicals, which included The Golden Mickeys, Disney Dreams, and Frozen the Musical.  Singing, dancing, fake snow, and bubbles, to name a few special effects, got the whole crowd involved, interacting, and excited.  Frozen the Musical was amazing on stage, making us all sing “Let it Go” with the characters all over again.

I highly recommend the Frozen Deck Party, which is this Cruise’s cast away party, and the Pixar Pals Party.  For the Pixar Pals Party we dressed up as the Incredibles and got to dance and sing with more Pixar characters than I knew existed.

Under entertainment I would be remiss to forget about the pool.  Yes, we swam in Alaska during the cruise!  The pools are heated and it is cold, so be prepared to freeze a little getting in and out of the pool, this was especially true for us coming from Hawaii.  We swam almost everyday on the trip and took other seasoned Disney Cruiser’s advice to Swim immediately on the first day even  before our rooms were ready.  There is a new Dory water play area, suiting fountain area, and water slide.

There were also 5+ channels of constantly playing Disney movies, TV shows, and specials in your room.  Plus there were recent releases in the movie theatre, some even in 3D so you could catch up on any Disney content you missed or wanted to re-experience

Food

My husband continued to rave about the food throughout the whole cruise.  A large part of the award worthy dining experience is due to the wonderful servers who rotate with you every night.  The dining staff learn all of your names and preferences and provided entertainment for the kids.  The food was designed with parents and the kids in mind.  There were always kid friendly options, while the adult meals had special themes like a Cajun flair for Tiana’s place, Alaskan Seafood in Triton’s, a Frozen meal etc.  The new restaurant, Tiana’s place, was very lively and entertaining with a live jazz band and a singing and dancing parade we joined in.  Tiana and Louie come around during dinner as well.  Animators palate features your own animations coming to life and sorcerer Mickey.

The buffets and counter foods on the top deck were also very delicious and great for breakfast and lunch. We definitely ate ourselves sick a couple of times.  And on top of all of this was the all you can eat ice-cream and FREE room service 24-7 (you still need to tip).  Yes, we ate ice cream in Alaska, even while Glacier watching.  So those are the top 5 reasons to choose the Disney Wonder for your cruise to Alaska.  We LOVED our experience so much that we will definitely be going on a Disney Cruise again!  This post doesn’t even address all the Alaska specific wonders we were able to enjoy.  This was a once in a lifetime family adventure we will always treasure.

 

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