Alaska cruise question

i am new to these board and I have never been on a cruise before. I hope I’m posting to the correct board.

My family (me, husband two kids 5 and 8) want to go on an Alaskan cruise this summer. Seeing a glacier is very important to us.

My friend is going on the new Norwegian Bliss but it doesn’t go to Glacier Bay and I’m a little worried we won’t see a glacier if the boat can’t go up Tracey arm.

What other cruises would be good for kids that would get us to glacier bay? We have no interest in a Disney cruise but i want fun excursions and a boat with some

Decent options for the kids to stay entertained.

We plan to stay in a suite or mini suite and don’t mind spending a bit for a great experience. I’m just overwhelmed by the options. I’ll read a great review of a boat and then the next review is bad and since we have never cruised i don’t know exactly what I’m looking for. Any thoughts or advice are appreciated

Thanks!

For Glacier Bay, I suggest Princess Cruise or Holland America.

You can also post on the Alaska Port Of Call Forum for more suggestions.

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Princess, Holland America, and NCL have almost all of the permits for Glacier Bay. Carnival makes two visits in May and two in Sept. 2018. Suggest you go to http://www.cruisetimetables.com and from the Ports of Call list, choose Glacier Bay (from the US list). It will tell you who is calling there and their itineraries. EM

For something like this I would also get a Travel Specialist in cruises to help you out. We cannot make recommendations here of agents but ask a friend who cruises for a recommendation.

Keith

If your cruise stops in Juneau, it is worth a 20 minute drive to see the Mendenhall Glacier (while it is still there). I wish we had timed our Alaska cruise to coincide with the salmon runs in Southeast AK. There is a salmon run/viewing area just adjacent to the Mendenhall Glacier. This is something your family might also enjoy.

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

The ship is not as important as the itinerary. You will be spending more time ashore exploring and viewing.

Princess and HAL do have the most permits for Glacier Bay. Tracy Arm is nice but many times the ships are not always able to get close because of the ice flows. An itinerary that has Hubbard Glacier is also nice -- when the ice calves there, it is blue for the most part.

In Juneau you can take the Blue Bus out to Mendenhal Glacier - stays as long as you like -- walk the trails -- and then take the bus back to town. There are no food options out here.

We went last September on Carnival legend. It was a great cruise. We did see glacier bay on the trip. We used Juneau Tours for the whale watch and they took us to mendenhall glacier afterwords. We did use the balcony we had. The top deck was great for the views, but could get very crowded. We went to the room and sat on the balcony often. The ship did a slow turn while in glacier bay so we could see everything.

We went with HAL on the Noordam--smaller ship. Went in early May, so did not get into Tracy Arm. Did spend several hours at the Mendenhal Glaciier (beautiful and inexpensive to get there). The captain did about 3 or 4 360s in Glacier Bay, though, which was awesome. Not sure about kid activities on the ship as we didn't need to worry about that, although there were kids. Our itinerary, however, only had 3 ports, so we spent a fair bit of time on the ship. If you want to get off more often, check the itineraries closely.

This is on Princess:

When the ship enters Glacier Bay it slows to a stop...a small boat brings Park Rangers who board the ship and stay all day while you are in Glacier Bay. They bring souvenir things (purchase) for the National Park and they narrate your day as you sail thru Glacier Bay.

It may be the same on other cruise lines...this was just our experience.

Try to get booked on a smaller ship as they can get closer to the glaciers.

NCL Pearl goes to Glacier Bay