Help! Big family of 20 going all together!!!

[behappy]

Do I have a challenge for all of you!

My whole family, of nearly 20 members, ranging from as young as 8 yrs to almost 80 yrs are all going on a cruise to Alaska:o . We are taking the Dawn Princess ship from June 25th. Do you have some must-do activities, that would be entertaining for the whole lot of us? Any suggestions as to best handle this situation? We are a close-knit family and would like to try our hardest not to simply stick the little ones in child centers and leave the grandparents behind. Not only that, but we are quite the frugal family, so we'd like to get the most bang for our buck, and time. any suggestions, whatsoever, would be INCREDIBLY APPRECIATED!! thanks a million!:D :D :D

[momthecruisedirector]

I would read the posts in the cruise critic member cruises section that is run by Host Caroline (http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=228),she just took a large group on the Diamond this past week. She was able to organize hotel rooms, pre-cruise excursions, on board excursions, dining ideas.....it's been interesting to follow.

[Toto2Kansas]

A frugal tip:Try to plan any activities in port where you have access to the ship for meals. They are quite expensive in Alaska.

[kryos]

Do I have a challenge for all of you!

My whole family, of nearly 20 members, ranging from as young as 8 yrs to almost 80 yrs are all going on a cruise to Alaska:o . We are taking the Dawn Princess ship from June 25th. Do you have some must-do activities, that would be entertaining for the whole lot of us? Any suggestions as to best handle this situation? We are a close-knit family and would like to try our hardest not to simply stick the little ones in child centers and leave the grandparents behind. Not only that, but we are quite the frugal family, so we'd like to get the most bang for our buck, and time. any suggestions, whatsoever, would be INCREDIBLY APPRECIATED!! thanks a million!:D :D :D

Make sure you work with a TA who makes sure you get the group rates. I think if you have like eight cabins, someone travels for free ... or the cost reduction for that free berth can be spread out among the group to save everyone some bucks.

 

There might also be some group perks depending upon the size your group ultimately becomes. Perhaps there are others who may decide to join you, thus boosting the size of the group and the perks.

 

I'm not real familiar with Alaska, so I can't advise on shore excursions. But I can say that from what I've read, most of them are pretty pricey. What another poster said about doing half-day excursions that allow you to return to the ship for meals is a nice cost-saving strategy.

 

If you were going to the Caribbean, I would advise not doing any ship's excursions at all, but rather make most of your port visits "beach days." The price is generally very reasonable (cab fare and maybe a small admission fee), and can really save money when traveling with a large family group. Maybe there are similar things that one can see and do in Alaska that are not formal "excursions," and hence won't cost a family their arms and legs. Also, you don't necessarily have to do everything in every port either. Sometimes just a walk around close-by the ship, seeing the area sights on your own is fine. Sometimes it's actually your ship that is the destination ... observing the dazzling display of raw nature right off the public decks ... or your private balcony. You don't have to spend a mint to experience that nature in each port. You get plenty of it included with the cost of your cruise.

 

Once the cruise is paid for, there is no reason a large family can't experience the wonders of Alaska without spending very much at all in the way of excursion fees. Maybe pick one port and one reasonably priced excursion that the whole family can enjoy (from the kids to the grandfolks) and then enjoy the rest of the ports on the cheap ... i.e., enjoying the ammenities aboard the ship combined with just quick walks around at the port.

 

Should be a great vacation! Enjoy!

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[cruiseaway]

Last November my family of 28 went on a 4 day cruise for my aunt's 80th birthday. During the day we didn't try to do everything as a group. We took separate excursions, but at the end of the day we met for dinner and did something after dinner. I had the youngest children, 10 and 14. It worked fine. Duirng the sea day we met up either by appt. or by accident. It was great to sit at dinner. We had tables around each other and each night swithced around, with the wait staff knowledge. Have a great time. My kids are still talking about it.

[usavvy2]

nothing specific about excursion but here's some guidelines we used when we took our family of 13 (ranging in ages from 7 to 70) a couple years back -

 

1) have no expectations; that way you won't be disappointed - it's a big group so you shouldn't expect everyone to want to go on the same tour, etc.

2) request EVERYONE show up for a group photo - check with the photo staff and let them know ahead of time how big your group is and you might be able to pre-arrange a time when the lines aren't real long during formal night

3) request dining room tables be next to each other (too big to fit at one table) and check on this as soon as you get on board ship - do this before you go to lunch (if the Maitre 'd is open for business). Your table assignments should be on your cruise card and/or in your room.

[seattlekckckc]

We went as a family group of 15 to Alaska in August of 2003. A couple things...

 

As stated above, DO NOT attmept to please everyone. I would do what we did - the first day, we found a nice, quiet area (ours was on the deck by the ice cream parlor), and people met every day there for "coffee talk" ~~if they wanted to~~. It is a great way to check in and hook up with the others in the family, but no pressure at all! Make sure people know the location, it is easy for the older and younger ones to get confused with the similar looking pools and sides of the ship - at firstanyway. That is why we picked the ice cream parlor - there is only one and anyone can point you in the right direction. (Oh, and you can buy ice cream there too!!!!)

 

You will probably find you will HAVE to pre arrange a photo time. They will more than likely not take such a large group as a walk up. With our 15, the photographer had to stand on the deck above up and shoot down (Whoo hoo - no double chins!). Maybe it was our personal preference, but we did NOT want it on formal night. We wanted a picture everyone looking like themselves. We all looked nice of course, just not "formal" nice. Or, hey, do it twice and pick the best, or both!

 

More than likely people will have their cell phones with them. More and more people have free long distance, so make sure you have every ones numbers on a small sheet of paper that everyone gets a copy of. We left space on this paper for every ones cabin number and extension as well. I taped mine onto my cruise card. When you are in port, and especially in Seattle while everyone is getting situated, you will want to be able to contact the others for sailaway meetings. I was nice having this info handy.

 

2 tables next to each other is a great idea. We did that with a large group this last January. One thing to remember,MAKE SURE you have the same waiter! We accidentally were seated in different serving areas, and while we were next to each other, it was worlds different! We loved one, and disliked the coolness of the other. So the orignal group at the "friendly" guy never wanted to move! So the mixing up never happned, and we were NEVER on course with each other (we would be eating soup when their rockin' waiter was bringing dessert menus!). So half of the group (the happier half) were always done waaaay earlier than us, and were able to make all of the shows, while we could not. That kind of sucked. If we had been in the same station, it would not have happened.

 

So remember to have fun, and make sure you dont turn into the group tour giude! I did once, and it was not relaxing at all! Let everyone figure out their own way of how they like to cruise - you will have more fun that way to!!

 

Oh, and if people have balconies next to each other, have the room steward open up the doors on the balconies, if for nothing else than during Tracy Arm. We ordered a couple of the special breakfasts, and some serious room service, and had different courses on the tables of each balcony (4 in a row). Booze in one, fruit on another, pastries and then meat. It was so much fun walking back and forth, hanging with each other!

 

Casey

[spongerob]

A few mental health tips: Reserve a fixed dining time (you can do this even with Anytime) and stick with it. That way there's no discussion about when and where to eat. If some want to do other things, no problem. Don't expect to be able to do everything as a group, it's not practical in some cases and in others, you just need some time to yourselves.

 

Frugality: You can often find shore excursions on shore or ahead of time cheaper than those offered through Princess. BUT...for your older and younger family members, be sure to check on access and mobility issues, and even whether or not restrooms are available.

 

Make sure you put a limit on how much your children can charge on their cruise cards. You can do this at the purser's desk.

[kryos]

Make sure you put a limit on how much your children can charge on their cruise cards. You can do this at the purser's desk.

I think you also have the option of making the kids' cruise cards such that nothing can be charged to them. This could be a wise option if you've got the type of kids who say, "gee, mom ... I'm sorry ... I didn't mean to go wayyyyy over." :) Yeah, that would have been me as a kid. Figure what's spent is spent ... I could always apologize later. :)

 

After all, what does a kid have to charge aboard ship anyway? You can get them soda cards at the beginning of the cruise eliminating the need to charge sodas all day long. As for purchases from the stores, well ... they can always come and get mom or dad if they want to buy something ... and let you make the decision as to whether or not it's a necessary purchase.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[spongerob]

'rita, I saw exactly that scenario being played out at the purser's desk on disembarkation day. A lady was livid that her son had charged a few hundred dollars worth of video games and demanded that the charges be removed because she thought the childrens' staff should have exercised some control. Plus her son would not admit to making the charges. It was pretty ugly.

[seattlekckckc]

When my friend traveled with her 10 yo daughter, she let her charge, but I think she had the limit set. Also, there was a hard and fast rule that ALL reciepts had to go in a bin by the door of their room, and then she grabbed their account after a day or two to compare those recipts to make sure she approived of all of the purchases (ie - not too much candy).

 

But it is true, what should kids be buying their own anyway?? If they see something in the shops, cant they get it with their parents??

 

Casey

[seattlekckckc]

Spongerob makes a good point about the timing of dinner. His post reminded me that we as a group could NOT agree on early seating or late seating (and everyone had good reasons too). Now with the revised dining times of 6.15 to 5.45 and 8.30 to 8.00, the ones who said early was too early have an extra 30 minutes to worry about! So we all switched to PC and got a set 7.30 dining time in the PC dining room. We were lucky that they had ONE large captians type table for 15 that we got (I think a couple $20's sealed the deal for us).

 

Now, if you have a traditional time set already (first or second), I would suggest holding onto those as a "ace in the hole" for once you get onbaord. The dining people are always looking for openings in the traditional times to make people happy - so it would help your case to be able to turn in umpteen spots to them, with the hope you can get 2 tables for 10 together in the PC room. And then tell your group to make it if they can, but dont make it mandatory. My Dad prefers the buffet. All we asked was that he join us for one of the formal meals so we could be all togheter atleast once.

 

Casey

[behappy]

Hello, its me, behappy. Let me just say a big thanks to everyone who has replied so far:) ! I've just realized that i made an error, in saying that we depart in June- I meant to type July, so we have a couple more weeks to plan.

Thanks to all for the photo tips- we will definetly do the pre-appointment thing, seeing that we are a picture- loving family. Also, limiting the cash on the cruise card is a very good idea. I have a feeling that the parents in our group will be opting for the "children no-charging at all" option;) .

A few other questions:

Any thoughts/must-sees in the following places-

Denali National Park, Juneau, Ketchikan, Skagway, Seattle, Vancouver, Anchorage?

Also, has anyone done the "flight seeing" tours lately in Alaska? We're looking for one that tours and lands on glaciers.

And how about rafting and kayaking- any you highly recommend? (of course, our older family members would probably need to opt out of this one)

My goal, as a few of you have said, is to above all else relax and have a great time! I would just hate to see a great time be not as-great as it could have been, if we had only planned a little better.

Thanks!:D

[WCAB]

Do not miss the whale watching excursion. This is something everyone can

enjoy, no matter the age or physical stamina. I would go to Alaska again, just for the thrill of seeing those beautiful animals again.

 

Carol

[MGilly]

While you are in Anchorage, be sure to stop by Humpy's for a meal. Just be sure to order HALF of what you think you can eat - the portions are HUGE! As for excursions, we took a few of the tours around different cities and thoroughly enjoyed them. Some of our tablemates took a whale-watching excursion and enjoyed it, but we saw plenty of whales from our balcony, so I wouldn't stress about getting a reservation on one of those excursions. Just keep your eyes open!

[Eliz]

In the past few years my parents have taken 19 of us on three different cruises (ages ranging from teen to 70s). It's a fantastic way to visit and relax with family members who don't live nearby (don't know if this applies in your case). As others have posted, don't plan too many events for everyone. We stuck to having dinner together every night at two large tables. Each night I had a list of who sat where. It really helped to make sure everyone had enough dinner time with my parents. We had a girls only/guys only tables one night..... lots of fun! Also, grandparents and grandkids one night, etc. On the last cruise we also did a scrapbook one afternoon as a surprise thank you to them. I had brought a bag of supplies. We took all the pictures (developed on board) and everyone had to do at least a page in the book. Lots of laughs in the conference room we used while we tried to outdo each other with our humorous or artsy page. My parents loved it! You can later make color copies for everyone. We were in the Caribbean and in a more laid back mode than you'll probably be in Alaska, so I don't know if you'd be interested in such a thing. Post-its are handy to have for notes on cabins doors about individuals whereabouts. Enjoy, enjoy yourselves....it's just an amazing adventure to have family together and not have to worry about meals, cleaning, etc.!!