Dreaming of Alaska... but not sure of the logistics.

[Mike&Nancy]

We did a 14 night Ultimate Alaska cruise in 2010 that started in Vancouver and ended in San Diego. They don't offer that itinerary any longer. It was a repositioning cruise on Radiance of the Seas to get her from Alaska to Florida for the winter. We were on the first 14 night part of that cruise - the other 14 nights were the Panama Canal.

 

We loved Alaska and the scenery so much that we wanted to go back. We wanted to see Denali National Park as well. We are booked on the June 20 southbound cruise on Radiance. But, before we go on the cruise, we are doing our own DIY land tour to include 3 nights near Denali and 3 nights in Seward. We have decided to fly Southwest into Seattle and take Alaska Air to Anchorage, where we will stay overnight before heading to Denali. Another flight option would be Southwest into Denver and Frontier into Anchorage. I will be pricing them out, starting in November. We will be flying from BWI. There is a lot of information on the Alaska boards for private tours versus ship sponsored ones. I will be getting an Alaska toursaver book for coupons for the hotel stays as well as tours. We loved the Hubbard Glacier and saw a lot of calving.

 

Hope this helps!

 

Mary Anne

 

I wished they still offered the 14 night Ultimate Alaska. :( We had it booked for the last year it was offered, and they ended up cancelling that cruise, and sending Radiance to dry dock instead. I was soooo disappointed. That was my 2nd attempt to try to get to Alaska, (and I'm still trying, lol.) I was even able to grab 1600, cause it was just $400 total more than a JS. That cruise obviously wasn't meant to be. :p

 

Mary Anne, we made all our hotel/travel arrangements for our land portion through Alaskatravel.com. Lots of early morning train rides and such, but we had already decided that we wanted 3 nights around Denali, and at least one night in Seward. I just didn't have it in me to dig down further, though I know the toursaver book is a bargain!

 

Did you book your cruise with them as well, or just the land portion? We already have our cruise booked and turned over to our TA, but I would love to book our land portion with/through them. I already know what I want to do, but if someone else can make all the travel/hotel/transfers arrangements and save me the headache it would surely cause, that would be great. :)

 

Nancy

[mtebor]

As I am crossing off this on my bucket list this year, we are doing HAL out of Vancouver. We are flying into Seattle (wish I had the $255 pp flight but mine was more like $650 from BUF) after spending a few days in Seattle we are taking Amtrak to Vancouver and doing inside passage. Afterwards, spending sometime in Vancouver before heading back down to Seatte.

 

Flights out of buffalo is outrageous to Seattle and unfortunately Vancouver was even higher. That is why this is a once in a lifetime trip for us.

 

Good luck

[lovely_serenity]

As I am crossing off this on my bucket list this year, we are doing HAL out of Vancouver. We are flying into Seattle (wish I had the $255 pp flight but mine was more like $650 from BUF) after spending a few days in Seattle we are taking Amtrak to Vancouver and doing inside passage. Afterwards, spending sometime in Vancouver before heading back down to Seatte.

 

Flights out of buffalo is outrageous to Seattle and unfortunately Vancouver was even higher. That is why this is a once in a lifetime trip for us.

 

Good luck

Are you doing the Volendam? Because I'm in the middle of my extremely detailed Day 6 of my "Live from" on that cruise you're planning. I was on it not long ago, so it you want, you should check it out! :) (it's in my signature) It's like a pictorial, but with a story.

[RSLeesburg]

We are sailing roundtrip from Seattle, partly because of convenience and cheaper airfare. We actually booked nonstop flights from Atlanta for $288 roundtrip! :D

 

Don't limit yourself to Royal Caribbean. Several other cruise lines like Princess, Holland America, Celebrity and NCL provide more itineraries and ships in Alaska (more specifically, Princess and Holland America).

 

We chose Holland America's Westerdam because it's a roundtrip itinerary from Seattle, sailing on a Saturday, visiting Glacier Bay, and our 2 kids will sail for free :)

 

THAT is very good information to know ;). I was scanning prices, and flying to Stewart and flying back from Vancouver was coming in at $2,600 :rolleyes: not to mention that the flight to Stewart was 11 to 13 hours. Our son is 4 - there is no way he will last that long without a meltdown, and if he doesn't, I will :D. I was looking to see what other cruise lines had decent itineraries, and now I will look at HAL. Thanks!

[Cheryl H]

Hi Cheryl,

 

Just looked thru your fabulous photo books of your Alaskan cruise, loved them. We are doing this same cruise June 13, 2014 and I am so looking forward to seeing many of the gorgeous sights you showed.

 

I can now understand why the JS1100 is such a poplular cabin, amazing photos from there.

 

I noticed the clothing that you wore, but what type of shoes did you do the hikes in?

 

Thanks for posting such beautiful pictures, so looking forward to our trip even more now.

 

Take care,

Linda

 

 

Thanks for the compliments on the pictures. It was the trip of a lifetime. I wore Merrill sneakers. (Siren Sport GTX) They had gortex and were waterproof, but really I didn't need the waterproof. It only rained one day (Juneau) and it wasn't a downpour. We did take the path at Mendenhall that goes back to the Nugget Falls and I think I might have stepped in a 1/2 inch of water at most when we crossed a tiny brook.

 

By the way, when we were there, the path to the falls split and there was a sign that both ways ended up at the falls. So we took the left trail going, and the right trail coming back. The left trail was shorter and it was flat and easy to walk unless someone really struggles to walk. The other one was a nice groomed path and would be excellent for someone with mobility issues, but I felt it was slightly longer. The total walk to the falls and back took about an hour and that was with lingering and taking lots of photos. The trail starts over by the Kodak picture spot of the glacier. And by the way, there are public restrooms at Mendenhall Glacier so technically you do not have to go in the visitor center.

 

The only other time we encountered a puddle was we took a Misty Fjord flight with Seawind and they landed on a lake and motored over to a large rock. The pilot helped us out on the pontoon and then I think we stepped in about 1 inch of water and hopped over onto land.

 

Have fun on your trip!! I sure wish we were going back soon. Someday we will.

 

PS: The only other shoes I took were some sandals for going to the main dining room, and some pool shoes.

 

Oh wait, thought of something else...there are a couple vendors with bus service out to Mendenhall. We made the mistake of buying a round trip ticket. We rode out on a white bus, and when it was time to come back, we could have hopped on a blue bus, but we had to wait for a white bus because we had already paid their round trip price. Ugh.

[RSLeesburg]

May is still coolish/rainy, but I have a friend who just came back and had great weather. He had to cancel July but found a great cabin. The prices are also a bit lower than June/July. We booked when they first became available and the price has gone up (so it seems that we saved airfare).

 

Oh, if you're trying to miss kids on the cruise (I took that differently the first time through), you won't find many anyway. It's easier/cheaper to take them to the Caribbean. Though we did have a very nice young lady on our CruiseTour .. all the adults adopted her and made sure that she was having fun too!

 

LoL...thanks. We will be traveling with our 4 y/o son, who will probably hang out a lot in the kids club. I wanted to avoid summer months, as I heard that some of he ships can have hundreds of kids on board. My son likes other children, but not sure how he would do with that many kids in the kids club...

 

I was thinking that end of May might work best - but we are keeping our options open. We will be going to Bermuda this fall on Grandeur, and I just saw that RCCL has a 6 night France and Spain out of Southampton in May on the Indy. That also looks great - just not sure if my son is ready or Europe (or they are ready for him)

[Tkaklita]

I love Merrill shoes, never tried the sneakers, just bought the style you mentioned on Ebay just now for a great steal of a price. Cross that off my list!!

 

Thanks for the tip on the bus. We are doing Harv & Marv's Whale Tour and I believe they can drop us off after we are done, correct?? If this is right, then we can just purchase the one-way back ticket on the next bus that is available when we are done with our walk to the glacier???

[Tkaklita]

Thanks for the compliments on the pictures. It was the trip of a lifetime. I wore Merrill sneakers. (Siren Sport GTX) They had gortex and were waterproof, but really I didn't need the waterproof. It only rained one day (Juneau) and it wasn't a downpour.

 

PS: The only other shoes I took were some sandals for going to the main dining room, and some pool shoes.

 

I love Merrill shoes, never tried the sneakers, just bought the style you mentioned on Ebay just now for a great steal of a price. Cross that off my list!!

 

Thanks for the tip on the bus. We are doing Harv & Marv's Whale Tour and I believe they can drop us off after we are done, correct?? If this is right, then we can just purchase the one-way back ticket on the next bus that is available when we are done with our walk to the glacier???

[Cheryl H]

I love Merrill shoes, never tried the sneakers, just bought the style you mentioned on Ebay just now for a great steal of a price. Cross that off my list!!

 

Thanks for the tip on the bus. We are doing Harv & Marv's Whale Tour and I believe they can drop us off after we are done, correct?? If this is right, then we can just purchase the one-way back ticket on the next bus that is available when we are done with our walk to the glacier???

 

Yes, just pay cash for your one-way ticket back on whichever bus shows up. You be all set! I think the blue buses said MGT on them and the white buses might have said Juneau tours.

 

I went back and looked at the pictures. I guess I did take my clogs too. I noticed I had them on in the snow on top of Alyeska. Mostly I wore the Merrills.

 

You'll love the Siren Sports. I have both styles..the one with the gortex and the one without. I love them both.

 

At Juneau, that Twisted Fish restaurant in the Taku building was really good! In Skagway, we had lunch at the Skagway Brewery. It was good too, but big crowds of people trying to get in there. In Ketchikan, we enjoyed the Cape Fox Inn restaurant. You take the incline up to it. Supposedly the incline is free to guests that are dining in the restaurant, but I think they had a special needs person operating the lift and she asked for a donation and we were glad to give it. If you go up there, be sure to walk down the Married Man's trail to come back down. That was fun unless you don't do stairs well.

 

That's about all that comes to mind right now. Enjoy your trip!!

[Cheryl H]

LoL...thanks. We will be traveling with our 4 y/o son, who will probably hang out a lot in the kids club. I wanted to avoid summer months, as I heard that some of he ships can have hundreds of kids on board. My son likes other children, but not sure how he would do with that many kids in the kids club...

 

I was thinking that end of May might work best - but we are keeping our options open. We will be going to Bermuda this fall on Grandeur, and I just saw that RCCL has a 6 night France and Spain out of Southampton in May on the Indy. That also looks great - just not sure if my son is ready or Europe (or they are ready for him)

 

We did the Radiance of the Seas Alaska cruise the last week of June 2011 with our kindergartener. There wasn't many kids. They offered Adventure Dining 5 of the nights. Our son loved Adventure Ocean and he loved the Adventure dining. I know there were at least enough kids that they did the pirate night where they took the kids up on stage for a song. Our last cruise on Jewel of the Seas up to New England and Canada in October, had just 3 kids in our son's age group. Some nights our son was the only one there. He still loved it.

 

Have fun planning your cruise!

[Tucker in Texas]

Thanks for posting this - I am also in DC area, and also looking at a cruise to Alaska for next year, and also had the same questions... Lol.

 

PS: when is the best time to sail? I was hoping to travel when kids are still in school. Is late May/early June a good time to sail?

 

We've gone twice late May/early June and the weather has been fine. It was a little chilly on deck when cruising Tracy Arms but nothing that a few layers of clothes, gloves, and ear covers couldn't handle. We couldn't go as far up Tracy Arms as they sometimes do because there was still a lot of ice. Still it was far enough to get the "wow" factor. A couple of days my boys even wore shorts.

 

As for flights. When we did it one-way northbound, we got round trip tickets into/out of Seattle. After one day in Seattle, we took a Grey Line bus tour to Vancouver Island which was two nights and then into Vancouver where we spent a couple of days prior to leaving on the cruise. This was before they had cruises from Seattle, they all left from Vancouver.

 

When we disembarked in Anchorage, we got a one-way ticket back to Seattle and spent the night. Actually spent two nights as the next day we went into town and did some sightseeing.

 

I would check out the various options to see what works best. If going northbound, Seattle to Seattle with one-way back from Anchorage and overnight in Seattle. If going southbound, check the cruise line air because sometimes that is cheaper than what you can get on your own getting to Anchorage. You won't be stuck with a 3:00 a.m. flight out of Anchorage if you are coming back to Vancouver or Seattle.

 

OP is correct that the flights out of Anchorage back to the lower major cities all leave either very early in the morning which you can't make or in the middle of the night which means a long wait at the airport. If you stay overnight in Anchorage to catch an early flight the next morning, hotels are expensive.

 

Our flight left Anchorage at 3:30 p.m. In Seattle we stayed at the Hampton Inn at the airport which had a free shuttle. They even took us to a local restaurant but there were a couple of fast food places within walking distance. We took the shuttle back to the airport the next morning and took an express bus into Seattle for a day of touring.

 

The only reason I would advise going northbound vs. southbound is that more flights go into Vancouver than Anchorage. If, for some reason, you get delayed on your flight, you have a better chance of getting to the ship on time. I know one couple that completely lost their cruise because they could not get to Anchorage in time to catch the ship and by the time they could catch up with the ship, half the cruise was over and they would have missed the best part for cruising the glaciers--Anchorage to Skagway. They didn't want to fly into Anchorage a day early because the hotels were so expensive so they had no "wiggle" room. Talk about being pound foolish (lol).

 

Tucker in Texas

[RSLeesburg]

We did the Radiance of the Seas Alaska cruise the last week of June 2011 with our kindergartener. There wasn't many kids. They offered Adventure Dining 5 of the nights. Our son loved Adventure Ocean and he loved the Adventure dining. I know there were at least enough kids that they did the pirate night where they took the kids up on stage for a song. Our last cruise on Jewel of the Seas up to New England and Canada in October, had just 3 kids in our son's age group. Some nights our son was the only one there. He still loved it.

 

Have fun planning your cruise!

 

Huh...that is weird. I read on another post that the summer Alaska cruises can have up to a 1,000 kids because they are so popular. Maybe I was misinformed :rolleyes:

 

We are sailing on Grandeur in Sep to Bermuda, and have already been warned that it might be light on kids. We did WDW last year, and two nights he went to Neverland Club, and he enjoyed that more than anything we did. I think there were 15 kids at the club, as we were down in the off-season. I cannot wait for our first cruise, I think he will love it...

[RSLeesburg]

We've gone twice late May/early June and the weather has been fine. It was a little chilly on deck when cruising Tracy Arms but nothing that a few layers of clothes, gloves, and ear covers couldn't handle. We couldn't go as far up Tracy Arms as they sometimes do because there was still a lot of ice. Still it was far enough to get the "wow" factor. A couple of days my boys even wore shorts.

 

As for flights. When we did it one-way northbound, we got round trip tickets into/out of Seattle. After one day in Seattle, we took a Grey Line bus tour to Vancouver Island which was two nights and then into Vancouver where we spent a couple of days prior to leaving on the cruise. This was before they had cruises from Seattle, they all left from Vancouver.

 

When we disembarked in Anchorage, we got a one-way ticket back to Seattle and spent the night. Actually spent two nights as the next day we went into town and did some sightseeing.

 

I would check out the various options to see what works best. If going northbound, Seattle to Seattle with one-way back from Anchorage and overnight in Seattle. If going southbound, check the cruise line air because sometimes that is cheaper than what you can get on your own getting to Anchorage. You won't be stuck with a 3:00 a.m. flight out of Anchorage if you are coming back to Vancouver or Seattle.

 

OP is correct that the flights out of Anchorage back to the lower major cities all leave either very early in the morning which you can't make or in the middle of the night which means a long wait at the airport. If you stay overnight in Anchorage to catch an early flight the next morning, hotels are expensive.

 

Our flight left Anchorage at 3:30 p.m. In Seattle we stayed at the Hampton Inn at the airport which had a free shuttle. They even took us to a local restaurant but there were a couple of fast food places within walking distance. We took the shuttle back to the airport the next morning and took an express bus into Seattle for a day of touring.

 

The only reason I would advise going northbound vs. southbound is that more flights go into Vancouver than Anchorage. If, for some reason, you get delayed on your flight, you have a better chance of getting to the ship on time. I know one couple that completely lost their cruise because they could not get to Anchorage in time to catch the ship and by the time they could catch up with the ship, half the cruise was over and they would have missed the best part for cruising the glaciers--Anchorage to Skagway. They didn't want to fly into Anchorage a day early because the hotels were so expensive so they had no "wiggle" room. Talk about being pound foolish (lol).

 

Tucker in Texas

 

Thanks for the advice. I did not notice any of the cruises I looked at stopping in Anchorage, I thought they were either starting or ending in Stewart. However, if I was misled about the number of kids during the summer, I may reconsider when we travel. I would prefer to do Alaska when it is at its best...

[Cheryl H]

Thanks for the advice. I did not notice any of the cruises I looked at stopping in Anchorage, I thought they were either starting or ending in Stewart. However, if I was misled about the number of kids during the summer, I may reconsider when we travel. I would prefer to do Alaska when it is at its best...

 

Royal Caribbean's cruise ends in Seward. Some of the other cruise lines may end in Whistler if I recall. But then everyone gets transferred up to Anchorage to fly home. Most choose a train or a bus to transfer. We chose a private tour that hit several sites on our way back to Anchorage. Some of the most striking scenery was between Seward and Anchorage. Next time we want to do southbound and are going to try to get to Seward a couple days early and see some sites before doing our southbound.

[RSLeesburg]

Royal Caribbean's cruise ends in Seward. Some of the other cruise lines may end in Whistler if I recall. But then everyone gets transferred up to Anchorage to fly home. Most choose a train or a bus to transfer. We chose a private tour that hit several sites on our way back to Anchorage. Some of the most striking scenery was between Seward and Anchorage. Next time we want to do southbound and are going to try to get to Seward a couple days early and see some sites before doing our southbound.

 

Oh, I get it. I priced out my air flights directly to Stewart. I will have to check flights to Anchorage :)

[negc]

We've gone twice late May/early June and the weather has been fine. It was a little chilly on deck when cruising Tracy Arms but nothing that a few layers of clothes, gloves, and ear covers couldn't handle. We couldn't go as far up Tracy Arms as they sometimes do because there was still a lot of ice. Still it was far enough to get the "wow" factor. A couple of days my boys even wore shorts.

 

The only reason I would advise going northbound vs. southbound is that more flights go into Vancouver than Anchorage. If, for some reason, you get delayed on your flight, you have a better chance of getting to the ship on time. I know one couple that completely lost their cruise because they could not get to Anchorage in time to catch the ship and by the time they could catch up with the ship, half the cruise was over and they would have missed the best part for cruising the glaciers--Anchorage to Skagway. They didn't want to fly into Anchorage a day early because the hotels were so expensive so they had no "wiggle" room. Talk about being pound foolish (lol).

 

Tucker in Texas

 

Conversely there are more flights home from Vancouver and Seattle than from Anchorage or Fairbanks and a shorter flight home at the end of your trip is IMO better than the longer one from Anchorage or Fairbanks. We also found that the land portion was rather intensive and appreciated the time onboard to rest and recover from the rigors of tje landtour and Vancouver is such a wonderful city that we try to include a couple of days there at the end of our cruise.:)

[ckfred]

We sailed on the Rhapsody on the 7-day, round-trip cruise out of Seattle. Someday, we night do the other cruise, but we were very happy with the Sawyer Glacier cruise.

 

Except, we never saw Sawyer Glacier. A Princess ship was scheduled to be in Tracy Arm Fjord on the same day. The State of Alaska doesn't like 2 large ships in Tracy Arm Fjord on the same day. RCI figured that out before Princess, so they got permission from the State to go into Endicott Arm Fjord. That is normally off limits to cruise ships, unless 2 ships are scheduled for Tracy Arm.

 

Because of the shape of the fjord, a ship can get closer to the glacier at the top of Endicott Arm than it can in Tracy Arm.

 

To answer your question about which side, I say starboard. When the ship goes up a fjord to view a glacier, the ship always does a left turn to face the glacier, then turns left again to head down the fjord. So, with a starboard cabin, you won't have to leave to have a view of the glacier.

[Clarea]

...Except, we never saw Sawyer Glacier. A Princess ship was scheduled to be in Tracy Arm Fjord on the same day. The State of Alaska doesn't like 2 large ships in Tracy Arm Fjord on the same day. RCI figured that out before Princess, so they got permission from the State to go into Endicott Arm Fjord. That is normally off limits to cruise ships, unless 2 ships are scheduled for Tracy Arm.

 

Because of the shape of the fjord, a ship can get closer to the glacier at the top of Endicott Arm than it can in Tracy Arm. ...

Same thing happened to us last summer on Rhapsody, except the reason was that were was too much ice in Tracy Arm. It was the Dawes Glacier we saw in Endicott Arm, and Captain Rob got us very close.

[Tucker in Texas]

Thanks for the advice. I did not notice any of the cruises I looked at stopping in Anchorage, I thought they were either starting or ending in Stewart. However, if I was misled about the number of kids during the summer, I may reconsider when we travel. I would prefer to do Alaska when it is at its best...

 

You didn't mention if you are considering doing a cruise/tour. We did not do it because it doubles the price and with four of us, that was a big chunk of change. Cruise/tours usually include a hotel at the beginning/end. So if you are ending your cruise/tour in Denali, they put you up overnight at the end and you can get a morning flight out the next day. If you are ending in Vancouver, they will put you up when you arrive in Anchorage before starting the Denali portion.

 

I have found, of late, that the kiddie programs are so good that they are mostly out of my hair. It has not been the nightmare they used to be in the "old days" when Mom and Dad got on the ship with four ankle biters and told them the ship docked in one week and they would see them then leaving them to their own devices (lol). They would get bored and that's when you start having trouble.

 

Also, I don't think Alaskan cruises attract the vast number of kids that you find on Caribbean cruises. They are expensive and not a whole lot of activities for them to do in comparison to the Caribbean where there are water activities. Small children aren't really excited looking at scenery.

 

Tucker in Texas

[KruisinKath]

And just to clarify. Royal either embarks or disembarks in Seward, not Stewart. Other lines use either Seward or Whittier, not Whistler. Just in case you check flights, you'll want to be sure you're checking for the right cities.

 

For my trip (in two days!), it ended up being just as much to fly into Anchorage and out of Vancouver than it would have been for a RT Seattle, then flight to Anchorage, then coach or train at the end from Vancouver to Seattle. So you'll definitely want to check a bunch of different RT and multi-destinations, and even one ways. Consider also your tolerance for stops vs. non-stops, as well as the extra time certain options may take (like 5-hour drive from Vancouver to Seattle).

 

Hope that helps!

[Cheryl H]

And just to clarify. Royal either embarks or disembarks in Seward, not Stewart. Other lines use either Seward or Whittier, not Whistler. Just in case you check flights, you'll want to be sure you're checking for the right cities.

 

For my trip (in two days!), it ended up being just as much to fly into Anchorage and out of Vancouver than it would have been for a RT Seattle, then flight to Anchorage, then coach or train at the end from Vancouver to Seattle. So you'll definitely want to check a bunch of different RT and multi-destinations, and even one ways. Consider also your tolerance for stops vs. non-stops, as well as the extra time certain options may take (like 5-hour drive from Vancouver to Seattle).

 

Hope that helps!

 

Thanks for clarifying....I knew it was a town that started with a W. We only do RCCL so I only know Seward.

[Sharkb8]

Nancy,

 

We booked our own cruise, and knew that we wanted to land at Fairbanks and make our way down to Denali, so we went through AlaskaTravel.com. I had parked the website earlier. Our counselor was very informative about other things we could do (like fly to the Arctic Circle ..yikes), and they were able to make arrangements on the train. They had comparable prices to all the hotels (I checked all the prices), and all the hotels have shuttles for air/train, etc. I so enjoyed the train when we were there last, so it's ideal for me. Guilty pleasure .. staying at Kantishna Roadhouse, which is a 6-hour trip each way (if I remember correctly). NO headaches! We added things, and they sent us a fresh itinerary via email. We just got our "papers" the other day, so I'm going to start highlighting.

 

I wished they still offered the 14 night Ultimate Alaska. :( We had it booked for the last year it was offered, and they ended up cancelling that cruise, and sending Radiance to dry dock instead. I was soooo disappointed. That was my 2nd attempt to try to get to Alaska, (and I'm still trying, lol.) I was even able to grab 1600, cause it was just $400 total more than a JS. That cruise obviously wasn't meant to be. :p

 

 

 

Did you book your cruise with them as well, or just the land portion? We already have our cruise booked and turned over to our TA, but I would love to book our land portion with/through them. I already know what I want to do, but if someone else can make all the travel/hotel/transfers arrangements and save me the headache it would surely cause, that would be great. :)

 

Nancy

[Sharkb8]

South America or Panama too ... just sayin'. Penguins!

 

LoL...thanks. We will be traveling with our 4 y/o son, who will probably hang out a lot in the kids club. I wanted to avoid summer months, as I heard that some of he ships can have hundreds of kids on board. My son likes other children, but not sure how he would do with that many kids in the kids club...

 

I was thinking that end of May might work best - but we are keeping our options open. We will be going to Bermuda this fall on Grandeur, and I just saw that RCCL has a 6 night France and Spain out of Southampton in May on the Indy. That also looks great - just not sure if my son is ready or Europe (or they are ready for him)

[Sharkb8]

LOVE the kids' pirate night! I don't think they did it on our last cruise ... unless we were in Chops.

 

 

We did the Radiance of the Seas Alaska cruise the last week of June 2011 with our kindergartener. There wasn't many kids. They offered Adventure Dining 5 of the nights. Our son loved Adventure Ocean and he loved the Adventure dining. I know there were at least enough kids that they did the pirate night where they took the kids up on stage for a song. Our last cruise on Jewel of the Seas up to New England and Canada in October, had just 3 kids in our son's age group. Some nights our son was the only one there. He still loved it.

 

Have fun planning your cruise!

[Cheryl H]

LOVE the kids' pirate night! I don't think they did it on our last cruise ... unless we were in Chops.

 

Yeah, they didn't do it on our last cruise either...not enough kids. I don't think it would have the same effect with 3 kids up there. Ha! Well, they still had pirate night in the club, just didn't go on stage.