Baby's first cruise to Alaska -- advice needed

[Erica@cruisecritic]

For his first birthday, my son will be taking his very first cruise on RCI's Rhapsody of the Seas to Alaska. It will be a new experience for me cruising with a baby.

 

Here are my two big questions:

 

Will I need a carseat? Baby is big and in a convertible seat already, so a pain to schlep. But I'm thinking that most excursions (if we do any), would be in buses where we couldn't attach the seat anyway. Need to figure out how I'm getting from the airport to the port. What have you done?

 

What are good things to do in Victoria, Skagway and Juneau with a little one? Anyone have good success with excursions or just walked around town for a bit? Baby's an active little guy and not good at sitting confined for long periods of time or napping easily on the go. I'll do the research but figured I'd ask those who have gone before me!

 

And if there are good threads on this topic that I haven't found yet, feel free to post the link. I'll keep looking -- found great stuff already.

[cb at sea]

Go to the "Alaska" port of call boards...lots of info on things to do!

[Erica@cruisecritic]

Thanks cb! I've been to Juneau and Skagway a few times so I have a pretty good idea of what's there. I've just never approached the visit as a mom, and was looking for some ideas from people who have taken a baby to these places. But I'll definitely see if there are some family posts on the Alaska pages.

[TheCalicoCat]

What are good things to do in Victoria, Skagway and Juneau with a little one? quote]

 

In Skagway, we chose to take a tour with Becky of Beyond Skagway because she has a car seat for us to use!

 

We are getting to the airport on a bus. (All of our other travel between is on public transportation.)

[mom2sz]

We did our first Alaska cruise when my daughter was almost 6 months old (9 years ago). We had the car seat with us because we used a taxi from a hotel near Vancouver airport to the port. But, we didn't use it during the shore excursions.

Juneau - took a tour bus to Mendenhall Glacier and then took the Mt. Roberts tramway. We did plenty of walking around the town too.

Skagway - We did the White Pass and Yukon scenic train ride. Absolutely beautiful! She loved looking out the window and fell asleep going back.

 

We didn't go to Victoria during that cruise but went a couple of years ago when the kids were older. We took the taxi to the downtown area from the port and looked around. If you're in port for more than 5 hours, I highly recommend Butchart Gardens.

 

I'm not sure how old your little guy is so I don't know if he's in the baby carrier stage or able to stay in the stroller but you should be fine with either one going around. Good luck!

[crusinmama06]

We have never been to Alaska, but as with all other ports, you can simply take a cruise line shuttle and then that will be a bus - no taxi and no car seat needed.

 

I know hauling a car seat is a pain - I did it for 8 years with two kids over all of our cruises ;)

 

Are you planning to write a report of your experience when you get back? The Rhapsody has the new Royal Baby & Tots Nursery onboard. I would be interested in hearing about it :)

[Erica@cruisecritic]

Thanks, everyone, keep 'em coming! And, yes, crusinmama, baby is coming with me so he and I can check out the new Royal Babies program and report back (we'll be posting a brand new review of the entire ship, as well).

[crusinmama06]

Thanks, everyone, keep 'em coming! And, yes, crusinmama, baby is coming with me so he and I can check out the new Royal Babies program and report back (we'll be posting a brand new review of the entire ship, as well).

 

Very cool! I'll be looking for it :)

 

Some other things to try to check out for your report - try to check out a bag of toys through the "Fisher Price Toy Rental Program".

 

Check out the library - there is suppose to be a children's section of books.

 

Children's Menu - he can eat off of the children's menu (below) or anything off of the adult menu. My girls usually do a mixture of both.

 

[Erica@cruisecritic]

Will do! I think my one-year-old will definitely enjoy one of those kids' menu mocktails as well. Umbrella drinks for mom and baby! :D

[Splash85]

We took our son when he was 14 months old a few years back and had a great time...

 

Skagway - We took a dog sledding excursion where they take you to their camp, pull you around on a cart and let you hold the puppies. He LOVED it but he is a dog kid.. Then we found a little park between 6th and 7th on the south west side of Broadway. It is tucked away but if you can find it, it is a great place to blow off some steam. It has a small tunnel slide, some swings and is just a good place to run around for a little bit. The train just wasn't an option for us as he was pretty active at that age and 4 hours in a confined space seemed like it would be pretty effective torture for everyone involved.

 

Juneau - we took a whale watching tour which he slept through so that was kind of lame for me as I ended up sitting inside holding him for the majority of the time. But we did stop at the glacier and it was super nice to walk around the trails looking for beavers and such - particularly since he was so well rested after the whale watching ;).

 

We didn't stop in Victoria that time but I would love suggestions for that as well. We are headed up with our 4 year old and 23 month old in June.

 

Have a lovely trip.