Alaska with kids - pre-cruise & ports on our own

[Kerry's Girls]

We’re off the Southbound Radiance of the Seas cruise. My twin 8 year old girls and I were joined by three other families, totaling four 8-year olds and one toddler. I did most of the port planning for our entire group and it was really a perfect trip – mostly because of all the information I found here (and the amazing weather), so I wanted to share our experience for the next families planning Alaska.

Anchorage: We stayed at the Embassy Suites. Easy airport shuttle, great hot breakfast included. Friendliest employees I’ve met anywhere in the world – these folks are on serious happy pills. Embassy Suites sent an email about a week ahead asking for any special requests – I requested a crib, extra towels, robes and that the sofa be made into a bed on arrival since we landed late at night. It was all handled perfectly.

Day two I picked up a one-way rental car from Hertz at the airport. Got food/supplies at Wal-Mart before hitting the road. The drive from Anchorage to Seward was easy and absolutely spectacular – waterfalls everywhere. We stopped at Potters Marsh and the Wildlife Station to break up the drive, both of which were huge hits with the kids (who were all shocked that we didn’t pass one fast food place in 3 hours of driving).

Seward: We stayed at Box Canyon Cabins for two nights - a fantastic place to be pre-cruise. It’s about 3 miles from town, but after we returned our car the next day it was easy enough to call Mike’s Taxi when we needed to go somewhere. Box Canyon is near Exit Glacier where there is an easy and beautiful one-mile stroller-friendly loop hike. There was still snow in piles along the trail, so the kids had a snowball fight. The day before the cruise we did the Major Marine tour and saw constant wildlife (puffins, otters, seals, whales). The toddler and his mom did not join us on this or the other boat excursion we did later in the cruise, but the rest of the kids loved it. They offer a buffet lunch, but we brought Subway sandwiches purchased across the street.

Juneau: The $16 r/t bus to the Glacier made for an inexpensive yet stunning port day. Easy walk with the stroller to the waterfall/glacier viewing. Nice big beach area for the kids to run around, skip rocks and get right up to the falls to feel the water. We also saw a porcupine up a tree along the path.

Skagway: Rented a minivan for the day from Avis. Rather than the 5 hour r/t drive to Emerald Lake, we drove to the Suspension Bridge 30 minutes away (though we kept stopping at turn-outs). Again, stunning scenery unlike any we had already seen. The Murray’s Guide provided lots of information of interest to the kids, with the added bonus of giving us a 50% discount on the bridge admission. On the way back, we twice saw a bear on the side of the road, snacking on daisies. At 5:30 most of us did the Ocean Raft speed boat tour – another highlight of the trip. An unexpected part of the fun was dressing in the ridiculous astronaut suits (for warmth & floatation) and taking pictures. We saw so many bald eagles we stopped pointing them out, plus seals, waterfalls, an eagle’s nest (huge).

Icy Straight: We just took a walk along the paths of the gorgeous forest and then along the beach – a really nice, easy day, which was a needed break for the kids after going non-stop the day before.

Ketchikan: Rented a van to drive to the totem pole park (kids loved it) and then to Ward Lake where we had planned to do a rain forest walk, but the kids wanted to just skip stones into the lovely lake, so that’s what we did. It was a nice way to finish up our ports.

Vancouver: We did the hop on/hop off bus. NOT recommended and a shame we ended the trip with it. This is usually a great way to get an overview of a city, but there were not enough busses to be able to get off and on, and the stops weren’t of much interest if you couldn’t explore. Wish we had just taken taxis to Stanley Park, which looked amazing.

Note about cabin - I couldn’t decide between an ocean-view or balcony (on previous cruises, we have had everything from a 2 bedroom suite to inside). I finally booked a balcony for this trip (about $1,000 over the cost of an ocean view) because it was going to be light most of the time and I figured this would be our one trip to Alaska. In retrospect, I’d have rather saved the money. Though I loved having coffee on deck every morning and being able to step outside, for me, I’d have rather put the money toward a float-plane excursion or our next cruise.

Happy to answer any questions.

Best,

Mia

[Kerry's Girls]

Yikes!! I don't know what happened to the formatting - and now it's too late to edit - sorry!

[giselleacttwo]

I would love to take an Alaska cruise with the kids! Thanks for the info., it was great! :)

[Keith1010]

Thanks for posting your review/comments.

 

Keith

[emeltee]

Thanks for the review! I'm leaving with my family (including a 4 & 8yo) on Tuesday.

 

A quick question: on Ocean Raft's website, it states only three times: 10, 12:30 & 3pm. Was your 5:30 a special booking?

[Kerry's Girls]

Thanks for the review! I'm leaving with my family (including a 4 & 8yo) on Tuesday.

 

A quick question: on Ocean Raft's website, it states only three times: 10, 12:30 & 3pm. Was your 5:30 a special booking?

 

Yes! When I contacted them, they said none of the times were avail because the ship had booked them all up, but they would add a 5:30 slot for us, which worked out great because we didn't have to rush back from our day. They said they do this all the time, and sure enough, the 5:30 boat was full of others from the ship like us. I told them I was concerned about fihinshing at 7:30 when we had to be back on board by 8:00, but we made it in plenty of time and she said if the boat experienced problems, we still wouldn't be so far that they couldn't get us in another boat and back to the ship.

 

Have a great time - Alaska is great for the kids.

 

Best,

Mia

[emeltee]

I have another question - on the glacier days - did the kids stay with the moms or did they go to the kids clubs?

 

What did the 8 year olds think of the kids clubs in the first place?

[Kerry's Girls]

I have another question - on the glacier days - did the kids stay with the moms or did they go to the kids clubs?

 

What did the 8 year olds think of the kids clubs in the first place?

 

There was only so long the kids wanted to look at the Hubbard Glacier. At that point they'd seen a number of glaciers already. They were really into all the little icebergs in the water, but then the rest of the time was kids club. We waited until we were the closest we were going to get and then got the kids to put on jackets, gloves, etc to go out to look and take some pictures.

 

All the kids LOVED the kids club - it was outstanding. With one exception, the counselors were also amazing with my special needs child as well. If an activity was too difficult or confusing for her, they would make her their "assistant" so she was still participating. The kids were never ready to leave at the end of the night. Mine had really been looking forward to dancing at 70s night, but once they were in the kids club, they didn't want to come back out.

 

Best,

Mia

[powelweb]

Sounds like you had an awesome trip.

 

We did alaska last summer on Princess with our then 8 yr old DD along with my 78 yr old aunt and her 78 yr old friend. In vancouver, we split ways with DH taking DD to the Capilano Suspension bridge while I did the HOHO bus with the 2 senior ladies, which was fine as our main plan was to get off and walk around Stanley Park which was gorgeous.

 

If and when we return to Alaska again, I think we'd give up the balcony, too.

 

Glad you had a great trip

[emeltee]

Did you guys do formal nights? If so, how was the experience with kids?

 

What did your kids wear on non-formal nights in the MDR?

 

Thanks so much for answering my questions! There don't seem to be many posters that talk about taking younger children on Princess to Alaska.

[Kerry's Girls]

Did you guys do formal nights? If so, how was the experience with kids?

 

What did your kids wear on non-formal nights in the MDR?

 

Thanks so much for answering my questions! There don't seem to be many posters that talk about taking younger children on Princess to Alaska.

 

We have always done formal nights since my girls were toddlers. The boys wore button up shirts with khakis and the girls wore dresses (the boys changed before going to the kids club). Alaska was the least dressy cruise I've ever seen. We figured because people were probably coming straight from their tours, where if it's a beach holiday you have to shower/change before dinner.

 

I sailed Alaska with my family when I was a child and it's one of the vacations I really remember. You'll have a great time! Happy to answer anything.

 

Best,

Mia

[BDsquared]

Thank you so much for this! Such great information!

[WendyYC]

Thank you so much for the information!

[Mom2B&Z]

This is great information, thanks for sharing! We were debating how old our boys should be before trying Alaska, looks like 8 is a great age :)