Alaska with lots of children...

[D. James]

Hi! I'm hoping to get some advice from seasoned cruisers on a potential Alaskan cruise with my family.

 

In your opinion, what is the most economical way - if possible at all! - to accommodate a family of two adults and seven children? The oldest would be 13 at time of sailing.

 

We'd embark from Seattle. I've done quite a bit of research on various family suites, etc. and I don't see a lot that would work for my family and still be reasonably affordable (i.e. not "The Haven"). I DO hear that some of what is offered for larger groups like mine is not available online.

 

Does anyone have experience with this?

 

My youngest child would be two. If a room says "sleeps up to 4" does this include a rollaway/pack-n-play? Wondering if I could book two connecting rooms this way.

 

Thanks for your time and words of wisdom. :)

[A&Jfamily]

which cruise line and ship are you considering? Some ships do have family rooms that will hold 5 and then you could do an adjoining room if available.

 

If not, 3 insides. Put the older kids in the one that doesn't connect. Mine are now 17 and 11 and have been doing this across the hall from our balcony for 4 years.

[ladygal4.4]

If you do three rooms, you will have to have three adults. Carnival will let you do a 5 and four. I doubt they would be adjoining rooms but you can get them pretty close. It would be very tight quarters but doable.

 

The pack and play would count as a member of the room. They don't count size or age of people but bodies.

 

 

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[D. James]

I was looking at NCL or Princess. I'm too new at this to have strong opinions that way.

Thanks for your responses!

[Cruisin' Chick]

I would suggest calling up some travel agencies in your city (better yet, ask other parents, family members, co-workers for recommendations) and ask to speak to a travel agent who is experienced with family travel on cruises. It won't cost you extra to book through a TA, especially one who will take care of you. Trying to do something like this online may end up to be a disaster even if you think it might get you lower fares.

 

Especially important is if you book more than one cabin, that your booking requires "no upgrade." You may have to book one adult in each cabin so make sure these are connecting cabins so that you can keep an eye out on the kids. And yes, even the little one will count as a passenger -- this is a requirement, not by the cruise line, but by the authorities.

 

It may take some doing to get a bigger cabin that will accommodate you so you should start planning far in advance.

[caribsun]

I was looking at NCL or Princess. I'm too new at this to have strong opinions that way.

Thanks for your responses!

 

Call the cruise line and see what they have available.

[D. James]

Thanks, I'll do that!

[kitkat343]

I'd also recommend pricing everything out. My trip to Alaska started as a "well, this won't be too expensive" kind of trip since the cruise fare seemed quite reasonable, but the costs just snowballed as the planning went on. The tourist season is fairly short in Alaska, and labor needs to be imported, along with almost everything else. That means that many of the excursions will be expensive, and lodging if you are planning a land tour to Denali (a 2* hotel near Denali will be priced like a 5* hotel in the lower 48 states). If you are planning on taking everyone on a helicopter to a dogsled tour it is going to get pricey fast. And I'm not sure they would be able to put all of you in the same helicopter - they arrange the helicopters by weight so you might want to contact them directly to ask.

 

The good news is that the port cities are small, so it is incredibly easy to book directly from the vendors and avoid the 10% surcharge cruises will charge for their excursions (Temsco was - at least in 2009 - the helicopter company Princess used for the helicopter excursions). The Bering Sea crabbing tour was excellent, and can easily be booked directly through them. You can easily walk there from the dock.

 

I don't mean to frighten you into canceling - we really loved our cruise, and plan on taking our children to Alaska when they are bigger, but I want you to have a general idea of the total cost prior to going crazy trying to make the cabins work.

[D. James]

Thanks for the recommendation!

Truthfully, I don't think we would pay for any tours; it would be an experience enough to take the cruise and see what we could for free. :) I hadn't considered the logistics of my family in a helicopter either. :)

[caribsun]

This tour is very reasonable and no need to book in advance.

http://www.juneautours.com/shuttle-mendenhall-glacier/

 

We saw eagles and one bear catching salmon from a stream. Its a easy walk up to the glacier.

[cb at sea]

You may need 3 cabins with 9 souls....and you will have to book via the phone...online will not work! There must be an actual bed for each person, whether you'll be needing a crib or not....it has to do with lifeboat capacity....

 

If you could get 2 connecting cabins and another close-by...you and hubby could be alone in one, with the younger kids in the connecting cabin...and the older kids very close by. Have the deck plans in front of you when booking!!!

[topspot]

Once you determine the cruise, make sure to go to the ports of call for suggestions for things you can do. In Ketchikan, you can take the city bus to the Totem Pole Park. We did this a few years ago. The cost of the bus was less than $5.00 per person. I can't remember the cost of the entrance to the park, but it was much more cost effective to do this on our own, and we got to experience some of the locals on the bus.

[A&Jfamily]

Once you determine the cruise, make sure to go to the ports of call for suggestions for things you can do. In Ketchikan, you can take the city bus to the Totem Pole Park. We did this a few years ago. The cost of the bus was less than $5.00 per person. I can't remember the cost of the entrance to the park, but it was much more cost effective to do this on our own, and we got to experience some of the locals on the bus.

 

I second this. Ketchikan is a great port to do on your own as stated above. Of the 3 main ports of call, it is the nicest to walk around. If you go to Juneau, Mendenhal glacier is a must before it melts away. I spent money here on a private whale watching, that then dropped us at the glacier. For 9 people, getting such a private boat might actually be cost effective. Then, in Skagway, we rented a car and drove into the Yukon to Emerald lake. Again, pretty cost effective, even if you had to rent two. And it was WELL worth the trip in. A lot of people on here told me I would be missing so much if I didn't do helicopters, dog sleds etc, but I feel like I got a good taste of SE Alaska, saw tons of wildlife and exposed my kids to something totally new.

 

PS - we were on princess. I have no idea what your budget is, but the Carib deck has extra deep balconies and if you could put the kids in insides across the hall and have one balcony, that would be the way to go.

[D. James]

Thanks for the suggestions and links. Mendenhall Glacier looks lovely; it's just the kind of thing my family would like to do. As it is with cruise tours, I see that many are not appropriate for young children, anyway. We love to hike and check out small towns. :)

 

I ended up finding two adjacent fives on an NCL ship, for those who were wondering. :) And a kids sail free promo, so I'm pretty happy. :)

[ArchMom]

A&J - who did you book to see Mendenhall? We're going this summer with extended family and have a group of 12 total, ranging from a 2yo to grandparents. Thanks!

[6rugrats]

Just the amount of money in tips per day for nine people is scary.

 

You got the third and fourth person in the cabin free, correct? Not all the children.

Edited January 6, 2016 by 6rugrats

[Aelsantokie]

Thanks for the suggestions and links. Mendenhall Glacier looks lovely; it's just the kind of thing my family would like to do. As it is with cruise tours, I see that many are not appropriate for young children, anyway. We love to hike and check out small towns. :)

 

I ended up finding two adjacent fives on an NCL ship, for those who were wondering. :) And a kids sail free promo, so I'm pretty happy. :)

 

We had really good luck with booking with NCL on our spring break cruise. Their rates were cheaper for my family (2 adults and 6 kids) to book four interior than two. Good to hear you got a good promo! We will be in Alaska end of July! What kind of excursions are you looking at with the kids? Alaska excursion prices make me a bit nervous for a bigger family.