Alaska with a 3 and 5 yr old?

[2preschoolers]

Our first family cruise was Western Caribbean but we're considering Alaska this time around. Is there enough to keep younger kids busy/happy with that itinerary? What types of excursions would they be able to do?

 

THANKS!!!

[rjm11]

we went to Alaska with our 4 and 3 year olds this past summer. We took an extra adult cousin as a nanny, and booked a 2 bedroom suite on the NCL Pearl. It was great- lots of flexibility with their "freestyle cruising"... no set dining times, and no dining with others. There are 14 different restaurants too, so something for everyone. With the suite comes butler service, so we could have meals from any of the restaurants delivered to our room, which also helped with the kids.

 

The older one enjoyed the kids club, the younger one tolerated it here and there, but never really asked to go. There was a small indoor pool for the suite guests, and that was great... I'd recommend looking for a ship with an indoor pool. We picked the NCL Pearl because of the convenience of RT out of Seattle (rather than a one way) and the fact that they go to Glacier Bay. The kids had a great time, and still ask when we are going back.

 

In terms of excursions, we did a whale watch in Juneau (with Harv and Marv)... it was a small boat that had just the 5 of us, so I didn't have to worry if the kids got bored or seasick (they were neither).... they loved it- saw tons of whales, and sea lions, and bald eagles. The kids could see everything easily.

 

In Skagway we took the white pass railway and rented a car and drove into the Canadian Yukon to Emerald Lake. Gorgeous drive, and the kids liked the train.

 

In Ketchikan we took and excursion to the Rainforest Sanctuary... kids liked that too, though I thought it was overpriced.

 

Onboard, they liked the shows, the pool, the arcade, and drawing/playing in the room while we enjoyed the scenery from the balcony. I am already planning the next trip... I think it makes a great family trip.

 

Check out the Alaska board too.... some people over there are discouraging about taking kids, but I think they're the minority.... there's no reason you can't have a great time on this cruise!

[jam82]

We had a great cruise last summer on the HAL Oosterdam with our 3 year old. We didn't like the kids club because the staff was horrible, but aside from that we had a great cruise.

 

Juneau - We did the helicopter ride with the dog mushing, ate at Tracey's Crab shack(a must), stopped in at the Red Dog and took the gondola ride up top to look at the view. This was my favorite day.

 

Sitka - We did a whale watching tour with Allen Marine. It was great for adult and kids. We had a great naturalist on board. We saw a ton of wildlife and there was no doubt my son enjoyed it more than I did.

 

Ketchikan - We did a float plane ride with water landing, walked around town for a while and then went to the Lumberjack show. This was my son's favorite day.

 

Victoria - Went to Butchart Gardens. It was nice, but not too thrilling as I had been there before.

 

We also did Glacier Bay and had a great day out on our balcony watching the scenery. While our son enjoyed this for a while, he did grow board of it by lunch time. So we took him to the kids club only to find our that they would be viewing the glacier as their kids club activity. Needless to say DS didn't stay. He came back to the cabin with us and watched a movie.

 

Although I enjoyed our cruise, we won't sail on HAL again because of our negative experience with the kids club. If we do another Alaskan cruise while DS is still small, I will choose a line that is more kid friendly.