Best Alaska cruise with kids?

[txmomcruiser]

We are taking our 9 yr old and 6 yr old on an Alaskan cruise in a few days!!! We have cruised w/Carnival and Royal Caribbean before. We are sailing w/Princess this time since we heard Princess was the way to do Alaska! The kids have always loved the kids clubs on the other ships so hopefully they will also love Princess. I am a little worried that there won't be as much to do (family/kid activities) on board as the other cruise lines...I can let you know when we return!

[cruisewiththekids]

We are taking our 9 yr old and 6 yr old on an Alaskan cruise in a few days!!! We have cruised w/Carnival and Royal Caribbean before. We are sailing w/Princess this time since we heard Princess was the way to do Alaska! The kids have always loved the kids clubs on the other ships so hopefully they will also love Princess. I am a little worried that there won't be as much to do (family/kid activities) on board as the other cruise lines...I can let you know when we return!

 

 

What ship are you sailing? Please do post how your kids liked it when you return.

[lmg1230]

We are taking our 9 yr old and 6 yr old on an Alaskan cruise in a few days!!! We have cruised w/Carnival and Royal Caribbean before. We are sailing w/Princess this time since we heard Princess was the way to do Alaska! The kids have always loved the kids clubs on the other ships so hopefully they will also love Princess. I am a little worried that there won't be as much to do (family/kid activities) on board as the other cruise lines...I can let you know when we return!

 

 

Don't worry - you are going to have a wonderful time! My kids have been on Disney, Holland America and Princess twice. Both of them loved Princess and my oldest was 10 when we went to Alaska. The kids clubs are great on Princess - what they don't have are waterslides, skating rinks, climbing walls etc. If it was up to my kids we wouldn't sail any other line but since I get some say too we are going to try Celebrity in Europe this summer.

 

Lisa

[cruisewkids1]

We are sailing w/Princess this time since we heard Princess was the way to do Alaska!

 

I'd love to hear what your kids think of the kids' club.

[Cheryl H]

We are back from our Radiance of the Seas ALaska cruise. I started another thread for questions, but then I saw this one. We had our 6 year old with us.

 

We picked Radiance because:

It had all the ports we wanted

It had Hubbard Glacier

And we could cash in our Visa points towards money off our cruise.

and I had my eye on cabin 1100 because it's balcony is huge and it has a bathtub and a walkin closet.

 

Radiance just had 3 weeks in drydock and added more eating venues, plus a nursery, plus digital signs all over the ship, plus a huge tv screen at the outdoor pool.

 

We weren't sure our son would like Adventure Ocean, but he loved it! He also loved that they took him to dinner most nights. We signed up for Adventure Dining. It was free, but you had to sign up each day before noon, and select his meal. Then we took him at 5:45 and they took him on to the Windjammer (buffet). Then after dinner, they took him on to the evening kids activities. So he did that about 5 nights.

 

As far as the glacier goes, he slept thru most all of it and I don't really think he cared much about it. We were approaching the glacier in the early morning. We were aft cabin 1100 and had a terrific and close view as soon as the ship turned.

 

Tours:

Juneau - we toured the AJ goldmine and then panned for gold. Then lunch at Twisted Fish in the TAKU building. Then a shuttle to Mendenhall Glacier and we walked the path to Nugget Falls.

 

Ketchikan - had a floatplane to Misty Fjord with SeaWind Aviation and they gave us a family discount. Great flight! Dustin enjoyed the scenery and then was fighting falling asleep. Then we rode the incline up and ate at the Cape Fox Lodge and then walked the Married Men's Trail down.

 

Icy Strait Point - we had a whale watch tour here with F.I.S.H.E.S. He only takes 5-6 out at a time. Our son saw a few whales, but then he was more interested in his DS and he sat inside with the guide. (which was fine. I could be outside on the front of the boat and not worry about him because he was fine). Also at Icy Strait we walked the beach path, and a trail through the forest.

 

Skagway - we did the Chilkoot combo. I think it was the Summit train/bus combo. It was 3 1/2 hours. We did the bus first and the train back. We saw some pretty scenery despite being on the wrong side of the bus & train. I had read previous to our trip which sides to sit on for each, but all the seats were mostly taken by the time we got on both. But we could still see. Our son didn't really love the scenery, but he was a good boy and we were glad once again that he had his DS for some entertainment.

 

Seward - we had a transfer tour here form Salmon Berry Tours. We had stops at Exit Glacier, the Wildlife Conservation center, and then about 4 stops in Anchorage (Lake Hood, Earthquake Park, Chocolate Dwellers Lounge, and Wildberrys.). Our tour ended there and we shopped there at our leisure and ate next door at the Sour Dough Mining Company. Then we called a cab to the airport. Wildberrys stored our luggage for free until then.

 

Another great thing about our tour was valet luggage service. We signed up for this. There was a fee, but it was worth it. They checked our bags all the way home so after we put them in the hall we didn't see them until we were home. Also they checked us in for our flights and gave us our boarding passes, and paid our luggage fees for Continental for us (placing that charge on our seapass).

 

Getting off the ship in Seward was easy. There wasn't customs. We just walked off, walked past all the luggage, and sat on a bench until our tour guide picked us up. By the way, using luggage valet and with a tour picking us up, we were told that we could leave at any time that morning. So we didn't have to wait with any particular group. We just walked to the theater area and left out that door and off the ship.

[txmomcruiser]

What ship are you sailing? Please do post how your kids liked it when you return.

 

We are sailing on the Diamond Princess. I will post when we get back to let you know how the kids liked it!:)

[cruisewkids1]

Just wondering what those of you who said you would be cruising with kids in Sept thought of your respective ships. We'll be booking something soon, and are still debating between NCL, Princess and Disney (SOOOO much more expensive). Kids will range in age from 5-9 when we sail. Thanks!

[boulders]

Just wondering what those of you who said you would be cruising with kids in Sept thought of your respective ships. We'll be booking something soon, and are still debating between NCL, Princess and Disney (SOOOO much more expensive). Kids will range in age from 5-9 when we sail. Thanks!

 

I sailed on Diamond Princess, northbound AND southbound with ds6 in August. This was our second Alaskan cruise. We both had a fabulous time. It was probably my favourite cruise to date. DS loved the kids club. There were only about 120 kids 12 and under on each cruise. The kids club played lots of games, and had an outdoor area with climbers as well. DS came back with lots of prizes every time he went.

 

I found the food the best on this cruise the best of any cruise I've been on. I liked the public and private spaces. Even though we were in an interior cabin, it was just fine for the 2 of us.

 

One of my favourite parts of the cruise was the 26 glacier cruise we did out of Whittier on our turnaround day. Glacier Bay and the other "scenic cruising" aspects of the main cruise did not impress me. Hubbard glacier on our RCCL cruise was much better, and even that was disappointing.

[bbrme]

I have been trying to get my kids (DD8 & DS10) to go on an Alaska cruise but they dont want to go because they think they will not be able to swim. What has been your experience with that? Are some lines better than others? I thought some had covered pools but I wasnt able to find them on the ones we were looking at for last summer.

[boulders]

When we sailed on Radiance of the Seas, they allowed kids in the solarium pool. This is a very nice area with an indoor pool which is usually adults-only. During the Alaskan cruise, however, they set aside family times, which added up to about 6 hours a day, including the afternoon.

 

Diamond Princess did not have an indoor pool.

[cruisewiththekids]

I have been trying to get my kids (DD8 & DS10) to go on an Alaska cruise but they dont want to go because they think they will not be able to swim. What has been your experience with that? Are some lines better than others? I thought some had covered pools but I wasnt able to find them on the ones we were looking at for last summer.

 

We are booked on island princess and have gotten conflicting reports on whether kids are allowed in indoor pool. I've been told yes, no and just certain times, so I guess we won't know for sure until we get there.

[Gatrcruzer]

Thanks to the OP for asking the question! We are pondering taking an Alaska cruise in the next year or two and considering which line/itinerary would be best. The posters have provided a lot of important information. I have to say that whether or not children enjoy the kids' clubs seems so dicey. Having a kids club is important to me, but it seems to me there is no guarantee that my child will like what is offered, or "click" with the group leaders or other children.

 

There are a few line specific quirks that others have not mentioned that one might want to consider. As far as NCL, they have some really lovely but very, very pricey suites. It is tough to get a decent sized room on their ships without a suite, though. I think the Pearl (which is currently the Alaska route) has mini-suites, but on some of their other ships the mini-suite is actually a just barely slightly bigger balcony cabin. If you have a large number of people in the cabin, a very small room could really reduce the enjoyment of your vacation. However, NCL does tend to have reasonable prices for children, and I think currently are offering a special where the 4th person and additional in the room sail free.

 

Holland America is a great line, but not as oriented toward children as some of the others. That said, I have heard that children are sometimes viewed as more "special" on these types of lines (same with Celebrity) because there are so few of them, so the clubs can sometimes be more enjoyable because there is more individual attention. Another potentially good thing about HAL is that most rooms are a decent size, and other than the interiors they usually include a bathtub, which is helpful for children who do not yet shower. They also tend to have good deals for 3rd and 4th passengers in the room (free or reduced cost).

 

Princess is supposed to be great for Alaska. However, I have found that Princess barely gives any discount at all to 3rd and 4th passengers in the same room, so if you go with them you might want to consider connecting rooms (if possible). We have an almost 3 year old, so she pretty much has to be in the cabin with us, and therefore we have chosen not to travel on Princess because we can't stomach how much they charge for her.

 

I'm really grateful to all of the posters so far, especially with ideas about what to do with young ones as far as Alaska excursions.

 

Happy cruising!

[jac1976]

Just wondering what those of you who said you would be cruising with kids in Sept thought of your respective ships. We'll be booking something soon, and are still debating between NCL, Princess and Disney (SOOOO much more expensive). Kids will range in age from 5-9 when we sail. Thanks!

 

We have sailed both Disney (in the Caribbean) and Princess (Alaska). My kids liked the different ships equally. I asked if they preferred one kids club over another and they said no, that they were both great.

 

I have been trying to get my kids (DD8 & DS10) to go on an Alaska cruise but they dont want to go because they think they will not be able to swim. What has been your experience with that? Are some lines better than others? I thought some had covered pools but I wasnt able to find them on the ones we were looking at for last summer.

 

We sailed on the Sapphire Princess in August and my kids swam in the indoor pool. There was one day when it was being used for a putt putt tournament so was closed to any swimmers. If it isn't allowed, no one said anything to us (granted, not that many people were using the pool anyway.) I was happy I ended up bringing their suits (I almost didn't, figuring we wouldn't need them) because DS swam every day we weren't in port. Just be aware that on at sea days when you are out in the ocean, the pool can be VERY choppy. The water sloshed back and forth, changing the level by a good 2 feet or so. Granted, my son thought it made it more fun- he called it the roller coaster.

[cantw8togo]

HAL's Volendam allowed children to swim in the covered pool, and when the weather was nice enough, they opened the roof. When sailing Glacier Bay, they threw bergie bits from the glaciers in the outdoor pool and awarded certificates to anyone who went for a dip!

[Texas World Traveler]

Sherry - I did not find a follow-up to this message after you returned from Alaska last summer. What are your thoughts about Princess for a 13 and 10 year old?

I have been to Alaska 3 times and will be going for a 4th time in 5 weeks. The first was a family trip in 2001, when my children were very young. (2, 5, 8) We went on the Carnival Spirit, and it was fine. The nice thing was that they would take un-potty-trained 2 year olds in the kids club.

 

The past 2 years, my husband and I have been to Alaska on Princess and really enjoyed it. This year will be our first trip with the kids, now 12, 15 and 18. I can report back in about 6 weeks.

 

One thing you may want to look at is cabin configurations. If you are trying to put 4 in a cabin, in some cabins you end up with essentially 2 sets of bunk beds. When we went on Carnival, we had 2 kids in our cabin and one in with grandparents. In our (balcony) cabin, we were able to have one queen bed for parents, the sofa converted to a bed at night, and the 4th bed dropped from the ceiling above that. If I had to put 4 in a cabin again, I'd much prefer that. As it is, we are getting 2 cabins, one for us adults, and one for the kids.

 

Of course, if you are sailing to Alaska to see Alaska, you should look primarily at glaciers, ports, times in port, etc. Princess has a naturalist on board who gives lectures during the week and comments during glacier viewing. In Juneau, Libby Riddles (first woman to win Iditarod) boards every Princess ship to give a presentation. Many Princess ships visit Glacier Bay, which is considered by many to be far superior glacier viewing than the more common Tracy Arm/Sawyer Glacier.

 

There are many factors in choosing an Alaskan cruise, and kids are only a minor one. Be sure to check out the Alaska Ports of Call board for more information on itineraries, ports, excursions and base your decision on what you want to see and do in Alaska.

 

Hope this helps. I'm happy to answer any other questions, especially next month after we are back from our cruise and know more about the Princess kid programs, etc.

[randylover]

Hi, I went to Alaska with my two kids(3 and 5) last summer with Princess Star. I was really satisfied with the Princess Star. The food was awesome, breakfast and lunch was buffet, and dinner was formal with set schedule. We didn't have to wait at all for meals, well, sometimes buffet is kind full if you go during rush hour. Our room was very clean, and we had the interior room with bunk beds. There were 4 beds in one tiny room, two up and two down. If you could afford it, I definitely recommend a room with a view. it's kind of boring to stay a room with no views especially with two kids, they want to stay the room most of the time. The daycare center was really really good. My kids really enjoyed, they went everyday. I have to say there is not much for them to do on board. I tried to take them to a speech once about the animals in Alaska, however, when we showed up, I noticed most of the people were quite older, and my kids couldn't stay still, so we only stayed 20 minutes. The other thing they liked was watching movie outdoors, but it did get really cold at night, and my kids caught a cold after the movie.

If you really want to take your little ones to a cruises, i recommend someplace warm. I just felt like Alaska was not really good for little ones, they don't appreciate the scenery that much, and there is not much for them to do on the boat. I think next time I will try a cruise with warm weather, so they can enjoy the sun and go swimming on board. We went late August, it was too cold for my kids to swim on the cruise.

Another thing I would like to mention is that I got sea sick on the way there during open sea, the weather wasn't very nice and half of the ship got sea sick, so be prepared.

I also took the kids to some excursions, like the 3 hour train ride and a bus ride. They did fine, but not really worth it, they didn't really appreciate the views and they were bored. I feel like the exciting excursions they are just too little to attend. I would love to take my 5-year-old to see the whales, but afraid the boat ride would be too long for him. also, a lot of the excursions, they are not old enough to attend.

[leighuf]

I

I have a complete description of our trip to Alaska in my family travel blog (link is in my signature) and you are welcome to look at it. I would also be happy to answer any questions you have about what we did in Alaska or what the kids liked and didn't like.

 

Lisa

 

Just gotta say, during my research (and thus resurrecting old threads), your fam blog is great!

[Kerry's Girls]

I also took the kids to some excursions, like the 3 hour train ride and a bus ride. They did fine, but not really worth it, they didn't really appreciate the views and they were bored. .

 

You're brave to take a 3 and 5 year old on long bus and train rides! I think Alaska is a fantastic place for kids as long as you stick to the active sightseeing (walk to Mendenhal Glacier, Totem Pole park, etc.). I agree that if you want the more traditional excursions, the little ones are going to be bored.

 

All the best,

Mia