tj&3littlecuties Posted May 22, 2014 #1 Share Posted May 22, 2014 I am so ready for the trip of a life time for our family and have learned so much on cruise critic and travel advisor that I would like to pay a little back. Here are some details of our trip. There are some money saving moments and some all out splurges. I get through the time between vacations by planning the next one and Alaska has been a fun one to plan. We are taking a back to back cruise out of Anchorage on the NCL Sun. We have cruised several other times with NCL and love the flexibility it gives us as a family of 5. There will certainly be times we go to the buffet or get room service and LOVE that we don't have to be at dinner at a certain time. (I hate doing that on vacation!). We will fly with one brief layover in Chicago and get to Anchorage by 8pm. We will spend a cheap night at the dimond center (someone here tipped me off to a $100/night deal) and after a leisurely breakfast, one adult will head back to the. Airport to pick up the one way rental for the next 24 hours to get us to Aleyska for the next night then on to Whittier to board. We have gotten lots of ideas about things to see along the turnigan arm drive and will just meander along taking in the sites. Our family also geocaches and plans to hit a few along the way. The charming thing about traveling with kids is that everything which is new is fun and exciting. We will board the ship and check out every nook and cranny. They will be swimming as long as there isn't ice:). They are simply looking forward to the soft serve ice cream which is their land of milk and honey. Hopefully the cabin we will all share (8216-sleeping all 5 of us) has a magical quality that makes it seem like a castle:). My attitude is that the whole, big ship is our home for the 14 days- so we should be very comfortable. We truly use the entire ship (except the casino), so the room size barely matters. We see every show, do the scavenger hunts, listen to the music, visit the kids club, hit the spa, go to the gym... When we booked, NCL had a "kids cruise free" special which encouraged me to upgrade to a 2 week cruise. This also allowed me to have several different glacier experiences, Our first experience will be Hubbard glacier. Everyone has a set of binoculars which should lessen the arguing... Our first stop is Icy Strait Point. We plan to walk into town as I have heard it is a nice, easy walk and 3 little boys need to be run like horses. Then we will meet Misty Bay for our whale tour. I CanNot wait!! We have boys (12,9,5) who like to pick up frogs, caterpillars, salamanders etc. I can't wait to see the whales, hear the whales and see everyone's reactions. The boat seats 6 and we are 5, so there may be someone joining us. Otherwise, a private tour. Woo hoo! Plus they have cookies. Whales and cookies= heaven! They have told me that they can try to hug the shore for bear spotting as well:) Next is Juneau. We will be exploring on our own. We are going to get a cab to Mendenhall glacier and hike. We may do the tram if it is clear. This is a short stop (7-1) In Skagway, we have independently booked the sled dog and musher excursion. The boat has several opportunities, we chose one in between with the hopes it would be less crowded- plus it was cheaper. The boys could seriously stay and play with puppies all day (who couldn't ?) they are going to be grinning from ear to ear! In Ketchikan, we have booked a tour with Wild wolf. She got very good reviews, can take us hiking while educating us about the totem poles plus does some geocaching too! Right up our alley. Inside passage... In Vancouver for change over. I have gotten some good ideas from the Canada port site about what to do in Vancouver and plan to walk along the water toward Stanley park and maybe visit the aquarium or the klahowya village. We also have our sight set on some chocolates and the steam clock. Inside passage... Back to Ketchican. There are NO issues about being bored with repeat ports because there were so many things in each port that we wanted to do... Going twice meant I only had to narrow it down a little instead of a lot! We are going to divide in this port because my husband and older boys wanted to do some sea kayaking and I just don't trust my 5 year old to be safe yet. Although south East Sea kayaks had agreed to take him in the middle if we decided to do it because he does have lots of experience on a canoe/ kayak....just not enough near whales or oceans or glaciers for my liking. So they will be kayaking while ds5 and I go on the Bering sea excursion. I have become addicted to watching this show on netflix in preparation for our cruise! I feel ready to unload the crab myself. I am excited to see the crabs, other sea creatures and the flocks of eagles on the boat. Back in Juneau - little longer this time. So we are back on the water with Harv and Marv. Since we have kids- they say you must book a private tour. So there we are again. Us and the whales. It is a win/win in my book. My kids don't bother the 100 other passengers, they do't bother us and the price is the same or cheaper than a ship tour. In Skagway - have plans to do a drive and float combo. The train sounded fun... But too long for my active boys to sit. They would probably want to get out their video games or something absurd like that- so we will try to keep it active with a little more time on the water. Our drive heads in the direction of the train, just not as far and less people. Then we spend the last few days cruising glacier bay!! And Hubbard again. When we arrive in Whittier, we will take the AKcruise connect back to Anchorage which makes a stop at the Wildlife museum...Just in case we missed any along the way! Our flight leaves late and gets us home at 8am. Getting to work by noon may be pushing it...but being off for 2+ weeks has already been extensive. I have downloaded geocaches to our gps in every port which we will search for in our spare time. Plus I may get a little shopping in too;) I can report back after our trip if anyone is interested. I plan to take a gazillion pictures, but I am not sure how to post here. I have learned so much from you all and would be glad to pay it forward. Any ideas from those who are experienced about our plans? Sent from my iPad using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovetotraveltx Posted May 22, 2014 #2 Share Posted May 22, 2014 Loved reading your plans. We do Alaska for the first time next June, 2015. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pusywillow Posted May 22, 2014 #3 Share Posted May 22, 2014 Thanks for posting. I leave soon for my first cruise to Alaska. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j&bcruzing Posted May 22, 2014 #4 Share Posted May 22, 2014 Would love to hear about your trip when you get back. Trying to plan for my family's June 1, 2015 Alaska trip. We are going on the Sun southbound out of Seward. When did you book your flights and hotel room? Have a great and fun trip!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjeffler Posted May 22, 2014 #5 Share Posted May 22, 2014 When did you book your flights and hotel room? Not the OP here, but I would say start booking as soon as you can. I booked my June 2014 flights in June or July 2013. Same with hotels. Depending on where your cruises starts/finishes, there could be limited hotels. We like larger chain hotels and I know the Holiday Inn in Seward was sold out for the 2 days prior to our cruise almost 5 months ago. I put my pre-planning on the link in my signature. Sounds like a great trip. Although my family goes on a lot of trips, we have yet to to a B2B. I really want to do that one day! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Italy52 Posted May 22, 2014 #6 Share Posted May 22, 2014 Would love to hear about your trip when you get back. Trying to plan for my family's June 1, 2015 Alaska trip. We are going on the Sun southbound out of Seward. When did you book your flights and hotel room? Have a great and fun trip!!! We will be on the Sun a couple of weeks after you. :) If you plan to stay in Seward, the Holiday Inn Express (HEI) is a very popular place and books up rather quickly. Whenever we stay in Seward, I make my hotel reservations as soon as bookings become available to secure a room. For air, we use air miles so we book as soon as Alaska Air (our preferred carrier) opens up their reservations. Have fun planning your cruise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DentoAlaska Posted May 23, 2014 #7 Share Posted May 23, 2014 I would love to hear about your experience when you return. We are booked for our first trip to Alaska in July, 2015. Can hardly wait and I love to read about people's experiences here on cruise critic. I would appreciate any information you would be willing to share. Enjoy your trip! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tj&3littlecuties Posted May 23, 2014 Author #8 Share Posted May 23, 2014 We booked the cruise in the spring of 2013. I watched the flights for a while, but they never seemed to budge too much from ohio. We finally booked in September. Then I booked the hotels shortly after that when I would see a deal pop up. Then came the excursions. It was nice to spread the payments out over several months too. Sent from my iPad using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PandRBarry Posted May 23, 2014 #9 Share Posted May 23, 2014 I love planning my trips too almost as much as actually taking them! I am so happy for you that you are taking your boys on this trip. I have two sons two years apart but all grown up now in their thirties. Unfortunately, although we did take some great trips, we never did get them to Alaska. We just didn't have the money back then. We went last year and I kept wishing my boys had got to see Alaska while growing up! It will be such an awesome memory for yours! Have a wonderful trip and make sure you come back and tell us what worked and what didn't! My next trip to Alaska is June 14th and I can not wait! Started my planning last October. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tutuwahineLV Posted May 23, 2014 #10 Share Posted May 23, 2014 You will LOVE your Harv & Marv trip. I've been out with them once before, and am going again this year. Your family will have such amazing memories from this trip! :D and just so you know... Alaska gets under your skin, in about 2 heart-beats. What starts as a once-in-a-lifetime trip ..... many times turns into, we'll definitely be back, as there is never enough time to see it all... Safe travels, Tutu Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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