southlake - I totally get the desire to cruise
DCL, especially on a special cruise. We sailed them in 2011 (I think the inaugural year) with my three teen nieces and my sister. (My avatar is my sister and me on the way to Sawyer Glacier). And yes, the prices were so much lower.
We also minimized the cost by going before airfare prices go up in June. And we also stayed at the YWCA in Vancouver, as hotel rooms in the summer easily start at $300. We did fly into Vancouver, but have subsequently done the Seattle + Amtrak option. (Lower airfares are the same time as lower cruise fares - that’s a bonus).
We stayed in two sideways inside cabins and utilized Deck 4 for lounge chairs during our day of fjord/glacier viewing.
I looked at the Sep 2020 cruise that visits Icy Point, as it was the one of the best DCL AK priced cruises. I think it is on the 7th. That shouldn’t be too late to get excursions you’d like. I’ve done mid-May sailings and had all the activities going.
The running joke in our family is that I said nobody needs to do a (Disney) Cruise to AK two years in a row (we were discussing onboard booking). So, the next year I went to AK on Princess.
I have done three Princess AK cruises, mainly for cost, itineraries, and afternoon tea. We have had a cabin with a very large balcony for closer to DCL ocean view costs. I love Glacier Bay and College Fjords.
But none of the Princess ships are as attractive as Disney. The food is comparable but more normal/less chef-y than DCL. Their specialty restaurants aren’t as good as Palo. No DCL kids’ clubs for the 4 yo.
One niece loves Disney and AK so much she chose it for her honeymoon. She has also sailed Princess. But she chose a man who also loves the Disney experience.
I hope you can work it out to do Disney to Alaska.
One of my reasons for sailing DCL: characters on deck in regional garb.