Excursions for Alaska with a 15 month old

[Stacycee]

Hi. We are sailing in August to the inside passage. Can anyone recommend things to do with a 15 month old? I have some excursions in mind already, but just looking for other suggestions. Thanks! :)

[RoadTripFanatic]

Which ports are you visiting?

[Stacycee]

Seattle, Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway and Victoria

[c-cruise]

In Juneau I would recommend taking a bus tour out to Mendenhall Glacier. We have done this with an toddler and it was a pretty easy excursion with her. No car seat needed as it is on a bus, room for the stroller under the bus, some paved paths around the visitors center for strolling around, bathrooms at the visitors center.

[LillyBelle]

We are doing the Flight & Feast excursion in Juneau with our 9 month old thru Wings Airways in May. She was free!

http://www.wingsairways.com/

[steve_maureen]

our son was 22 months last summer and he LOVED the dog sled excursions. He loved petting in the dogs and puppies and both times when the sled ride was over he started to cry because he wanted it to keep going.

 

He also liked the wild life cruise in Juneau where we saw whales and sea lions.

[Stacycee]

Thanks for your replies. I will look into all of them!!!

[randyamy]

Ketchinkan has a Duck tour. One of our kids was put to slepp by the gentle swooshing of the waves once we hit the water and the other loved the "coolness" of it.

[rhodesfam]

We are planning a trip to the Mendenhall Glacier, the Duck Tour and a White Pass Rail/Bus combo tour for our 3 yo and 11 mo old. I will try to post a review when we get back. I know some people say the train is a bit much for little ones, but I am hoping that having it broken up with the bus will ease things and both of our kids tend to be very good travellers (6 hr plus car trips with no issues). We leave on 5/8, so maybe we will have some ideas for you before your trip!

[ybehome]

Mt. Roberts tram in Juneau is great. You can ride it up and down as many times as you want. It is directly off the ships in Juneau.

[ceilidh1]

Our now 3 year old has been on 3 Alaska cruises - the first when she was almost 14 months. On this one, we did the tram and the Mendenhall Glacier in Juneau (take the bus out, as someone suggested). Both were great as she was able to toddle around and we were also able to take the stroller without any problems. In Skagway we did the train - this worked out ok as she slept for most of the time. However, when she was awake, it was hard to keep her entertained as there isn't too much room to move around. We took turns walking up and down the train car, but it did mean that we missed some of the views. Also, the trip we did on the train, you do not get off at all so you are basically sitting there for the entire time - it was very long! In ketchikan we just walked around the town and took the funicular to the top and walked back down. She LOVED it! You might want to check out the duck tour and the lumberjack show?

 

The last two times we did not take any organised excursions since we knew the ports well enough. Juneau has two nice playgrounds in easy walking distance from the ship and a great library if it's raining! If you're into hiking, take the trail up the mountain in Skagway to the lake - great views and this worked well with our little one in a baby carrier. There is also a really nice playground in Skagway just off the main street. The great thing about all the ports you are visting is that they are very walkable and easy so you don't necessarily need to book anything if you did not want to.

[Stacycee]

Thank you all for your suggestions!!!! :D

[RoadTripFanatic]

I'm going to second the bus to Mendenhall glacier! That is what we did and we loved it! Also the Duck tour in Ketchikan is a lot of fun! In Victoria we took the port bus into the city and walked out to Beacon Hill park. It was beautiful!