Alaska cruise with young kids ( 4 and 1 y/o) recommended activities/excursions

Hello,

My husband and I have booked an Alaska cruise on the Carnival Legond for May 15th. We are doing the itinerary sailing through glacier bay. Other ports we will be visiting are Juneau, Kitchekan, Skagway, and Victoria, BC.

We are looking for private, family friendly excursion recommends. Kids are 4 years and 18 months)

We are interested in dog sledding. Are there tours with out the helicoptor ride?

Interested in seeing whales and bears. Any glacier tours without the helicoptor portion. We would like to keep this somewhat affordable.

Thank you!

What's somewhat affordable?

The sledding dog stuff is a bit on the pricier end already.

There's this stuff:

http://alaska-shoreexcursions.com/juneau/sled-dog-discovery-mushers-camp-tour

http://www.goldrushdogs.com/

It's not that authentic cuz it's on land, in a buggy, but real dog sledding is on a sled... on snow. So in the summertime, that means flying out to a glacier. With kids that young though, the buggy tours are probably all they can handle anyways.

We'll be in Ketchikan for the 3rd time this summer but the first with our 3 1/2 year old granddaughter. We all plan to visit the Southeast Alaska Discovery Museum (https://www.alaskacenters.gov/visitors-centers/ketchikan) - which we have visited before - and follow that up with the Great Alaskan Lumberjack Show (https://alaskanlumberjackshow.com/). In Juneau grandpa and I will be babysitting (possibly going to the top of Mt. Roberts if the weather is nice) while mom, dad, aunt and uncle go whale watching and in Skagway mom and dad will be exploring town with her while grandma, grandpa, aunt and uncle do the White Pass Railroad. We're in Victoria late (7 pm to midnight) so we'll be babysitting again while everyone else goes to Butchart Gardens (which we've already seen and highly recommend).

What's somewhat affordable?

 

The sledding dog stuff is a bit on the pricier end already.

 

There's this stuff:

http://alaska-shoreexcursions.com/juneau/sled-dog-discovery-mushers-camp-tour

http://www.goldrushdogs.com/

 

It's not that authentic cuz it's on land, in a buggy, but real dog sledding is on a sled... on snow. So in the summertime, that means flying out to a glacier. With kids that young though, the buggy tours are probably all they can handle anyways.

Just not $500-600 per person. It would cost us $2000 for the day.

This is hard. I am not sure if a 1 and 4 year old would do on whale watching. Not sure if I would take an 18 month dog sledding either.

As far as family excursions - look at Duck Tour in Ketchikan and Lumberjack show there. They are geared towards your kids age.

Whale watching would be in Juneau. Harv and Marv will only do a private charter with kids that age. There are other companies that will book your family.

You may want to book on the family cruising portion of CC and get some more ideas.

In Skagway the National Park Service runs a junior ranger program in the old Pantheon Saloon. When I stepped in last summer two NPS rangers had some kids very busy working at various activity stations. Skagway also has the Mollie Walsh Park. More information is available on the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park website; the park is divided into two units with the Skagway information in the northern unit. Just look for the tab named something along the line of "Kids and Youth."

In Skagway the National Park Service runs a junior ranger program in the old Pantheon Saloon. When I stepped in last summer two NPS rangers had some kids very busy working at various activity stations. Skagway also has the Mollie Walsh Park. More information is available on the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park website; the park is divided into two units with the Skagway information in the northern unit. Just look for the tab named something along the line of "Kids and Youth."

Thanks for this information - I just sent it along to my daughter and son-in-law to help them plan the day in Skagway with their 3 1/2 year old!