May 2024 with kids - Norway or Alaska

[allyfree]

14 hours ago, FionaMG said:

 

Sorry, can't resist. One of my all-time favourites.  😂

 

 

Not bad for Leith-ers 🤣

[DyanaT]

Booked Alaska on Quantum for May 2024 for our 3 kiddos! But haven’t done Norway so my opinion doesn’t count. 🤣 

[mtsublueraider]

On 3/23/2023 at 12:06 AM, uvadover said:

I pondered this a few years ago, on a cruise that was ultimately cancelled due to COVID.  We chose Alaska because of the Ovation of the Seas - seemingly more wow for the kids.  The Norway itinerary was perhaps the Serenade of the Seas - still a great ship, but seemingly less kid friendly.  Also know the Alaska ports are more touristy, but they seemed more accessible for kids.  Can't go wrong either way, though.  I was on the fence, too.\

 

Total aside, but we are using our COVID cruise credits to sail on Odyssey in August.  Europe is amazing, though a different climate/dynamic between Norway and the Greek Isles.

Good news is that both sailings are the same class of ships. We've never sailed on that one so it would be a big treat! 

 

 

On 3/23/2023 at 3:05 AM, Bloodgem said:

Norway on Anthem. As there are discussions being held in Norway to ban larger cruise ships from the Fjords from 2024. 

 

Didn't realize that. I't just hard for me to stomach the HUGE cost of flights. It would cost more to fly to London than the entire cruise. 

 

On 3/23/2023 at 4:52 AM, sgmn said:

Anthem has Norwegian Fjords cruises from Southampton. Perfect cool weather ship though maybe not be able to get into some of the smaller Fjords 

 

To the OP, Alaska is wonderful as are the Fjords. For us it would probably come down to finance. I can drive to Southampton the morning of the cruise, whereas for Alaska I would have expensive flights and hotels to factor in

 

 

Yeah, this is the one that we're looking at. Love all the "glass" you can stand inside and see the beauty outside. Do you happen to know if the Solarium is open to kids on these cool weather cruises? 

[mtsublueraider]

On 3/23/2023 at 4:56 AM, kitkat343 said:

I visited Alaska while pregnant with my first, and Norway with a 2 and 5 year old.  

 

Alaska is great for kids, but Norway is an extraordinarily special cruise.  For me, it is one of the two best cruises I ever took, the other being a Baltic cruise with 2 days in St. Petersburg.

 

I don't know the ages of your kids, but two potential downsides - we couldn't hike pulpit rock with a 2 year old (you might be able to carry your kids, but we can't) and the taxis in Norway refuse to transport children without carseats.  There were times when it was rainy and cold and my kids were tired and whiny and being able to put them in a brief cab ride to get some food to cheer them up would have made all the difference in the world.  I was totally unaware of the car seat problem, so I didn't arrange transportation ahead of time in all of the ports.  The taxi companies are required to provide car seats, but you'd need to arrange that ahead of time. 

 

We visited three very special ports - Geiranger, in which you take a car or bus to various beautiful viewpoints.  This is extremely accessible for kids, although you are in a car for awhile on mountain roads with hairpin turns to reach the amazing viewpoints, so you should bring motion sickness medicine if anyone has trouble with car sickness.  

 

Flam has the amazing railway, and we also visited a goat farm here and had a delicious local lunch.

 

Olden has the Loen Skylift, which takes you to the top of the mountain where you can hike around.

Olden also has the Briksdal Glacier, and there is a troll car (golf car) you can rent to take you most of the way to the glacier.  My 2 year old was able to complete the hike to the glacier (which was a really nice unexpected surprise - I'd sent my husband and 6 year old ahead to the summit not expecting to make it there, but my 2 year old slowly but steadily hiked the whole way.  We tried a stroller, but the ground was uneven and it was so hard for me to push that we needed him to walk.) 

 

With the exception of the cab situation (Which you can solve by arranging private transportation or your kids might be old enough to not need car seats) Norway was extremely accessible for travelers with disabilities and young children.

 

There's a lot more detail about this trip in my signature line.  I would recommend people think about waiting until  their kids can hike if they can't carry them, but the potential restriction of ships in the heritage fjords might make this something you should do now (I took my 3 year old on a Baltic cruise to St. Petersburg and am really glad I did that while I could.  That was in 2017 when Russia was starting to threaten to invade the Ukraine so we waited until the last minute to book).

 

 

 

THANK YOU for all of this information. I'm a huge believer in taking in the experience while there's a chance. I don't want to miss out. Kids will be 8 and 7 during that time and do a fair amount of hiking. We may have to make it happen! Shoudl be able to bring our own boosters to use in cabs by then. Bless their little hearts they're small (like mom and dad) so they've been in the "big" car seats much longer than some of their friends. I'm just glad to know there's so much to do just off the ship. 

[sgmn]

1 minute ago, mtsublueraider said:

 

Yeah, this is the one that we're looking at. Love all the "glass" you can stand inside and see the beauty outside. Do you happen to know if the Solarium is open to kids on these cool weather cruises? 

I seem to remember that on cool weather cruises they post a sign saying Solarium open for families early in morning and late afternoon, for a couple of hours each session. Didn't pay much attention as not travelling with children 

[mtsublueraider]

On 3/23/2023 at 11:20 AM, Crazy planning mom said:

Anthem and Quantum are similar ships.  Alaska is great but with the Norway trip you could stay a couple days in London pre-cruise.

 

On 3/23/2023 at 2:33 PM, Fouremco said:

In a post last month, you mention that lugging around car seats isn't much fun, from which I gather your "younger kids" really are quite young. Quite frankly, I doubt that they would appreciate what Norway has to offer, and given the higher cost, I'd go for Alaska now and hold off on Norway until they are old enough to benefit from the experience.

 

I'll add that, having done both and having loved both, I'd always recommend cruising Alaska first. Alaska is spectacular, but Norway is just that much more stunning IMO.

 

That's good advice. They're 8 and 7 for that trip. Maybe in boosters by then but still. My wife and I did the New England and Canada cruise on Cunard and it was a top experience of my life. I'm wondering if I'll have that "awe" in Alaska like I felt in Quebec City. Or.... maybe the European culture is what we crave. 

 

On 3/23/2023 at 9:03 PM, allyfree said:

You don't say how old your kids are so it may be a moot point, but my preference would be Norway from Southampton to let them experience other countries and cultures ... foreign travel will open up a whole new world to them. Enjoy whatever you choose ☺️

 

Exactly this. Needing to see other places of the planet is SO important. We are a home school family so want to take advantage of the opportunities as we can. 

[SbbquilterUT]

I would also consider the length and expense of the air travel to Europe, particularly if your kids are quite young.  We lived an 8 hour time zone change away from our family and flying with little ones and the days it took to truly acclimate to the time difference was longer than we young adults.  My kids enjoyed Alaska as young teens but choose warm vacations when we can only be away a week.