Is taking a 3 year old to Alaska crazy? Carnival Spirit

[supernate's mom]

My Husband and I are taking our 3 year old to Alaska with us in Aug 2006. This will be our first cruise. I picked Carnival because of their kids program. Just wanted to know if someone could tell me about Camp Carnival or Alaska with a toddler.

 

Thank you:)

[Cruisin' Chick]

I don't see what the problem would be. When our girl was three, she was on the Paradise with us to the Caribbean. At a few of the ports, we left her in the kids zone -- you just need to sign up ahead of the time for in-port kidsitting. Carnival prefers that your child is with you if you're on the ship during port days so don't keep stopping by to check up on them on nonsea days. They're take your child to lunch, too.

 

Not sure which ports you're going to on the Alaskan cruise. We went to Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway and Victoria on ours with Princess (roundtrip from Seattle). We took our girl (then 7) out on Ketchikan and we took a tour of the town to see the totem poles (that should be interesting to most kids) and other sights. She was scenic-out by that time (we took a train trip up to Seattle to catch the cruise) so we left her in the kids area for the other ports and she was quite happy. Even though she probably would have liked the Miniature Museum in Victoria.

 

If you're concerned about weather, it can vary from week to week on this cruise. We had a lot of rain and fog and it was in the 60s. The week before, apparently warmer and sunnier.

 

In August there will be plenty of kids aboard on your ship.

[dsh0512]

We took the Spirit when my son was three. He had the time of his life. We did 4 days of land siteseeing in anchorage prior to cruise. He really enjoyed seeing all the wildlife. He did very well with just riding around aand looking at stuff.

 

We had a balcony on the ship and he was happy as a clam using his little play binoculars looking for whales.

 

The kids program was wonderful. Because of the small number of kids on board the club was very comfortable and not packed with kids.

 

We have been on 5 cruises with our kids but the staff on the Spirit were the most attentive to our kids needs. Again I think it has to do with there not being that many kids on board.

 

We chose to do the cruise because we wanted to go before our second child was born ( I was 4 months pregnant at the time). We were pleasantly surprised at how much our son got out of the trip. He is six and he still talks about the train ride to seward, seeing the whales and eagles, the glaicers and playing in the kids club.

 

I felt it was the trip of a lifetime. Alaska is well worth it!

[Imani68]

My son was 1.5 years old and absolutely loved it. We had a portable DVD palyer for the long dinners and the walks around the promenade deck tired him out every evening. :)

[shandabyb]

My daughter was almost 3 when we did the Spirit to Alaska. She had a blast, plus there are less kids on the Alaska route more times so they are able to give more individual attention to the kids that are there. My DD was one of only 5 in the 3-5 range (before they accepted 2 yr olds) and they took here because they didn't have that many.

 

She loved Camp Carnival, we had great fun in the ports, and the restraunt staff was fabulous with her!

 

You won't be sorry!

 

Shanda

[Gocruzin]

We were on the Spirit in November for an 8 day Mexican cruise and the whole staff (not just the camp counselors) we so friendly to my 2 year old. I think some of them mentioned going on to Alaska too.

 

My son would not stay in the camp but the staff was great except for one person. They allowed me to let him cry for a few minutes to see if he would calm down because that is what he does here at the gym. No luck but he still has fun aboard the ship. He just loved to walk around, take in the view and loved the glass elevators.