Alaska help

[traderneal]

After sailing the Carribean the last three years, we are thinking about doing Alaska towards the end of August. Our main concern is that our two daughters age 5, and 9 will be completely bored out of their skull, and thus make life miserable for us.

 

 

The kids love the camps that they have gone to previously, so that aspect is not a problem. I guess we are concerned that two young girls can only handle so much nature as opposed to playing on the beach or being by the pool.

 

 

Any comments would be greatly appreciated.

 

thx

 

Neal

[mii]

What may help is go to the Portws of Call Board and scroll to Alaska. I remember reading previously the very question you asked about what would excite children in Alaska. There iw a wealth of information over there.

 

Marilyn

[sept10dsm]

After sailing the Carribean the last three years, we are thinking about doing Alaska towards the end of August. Our main concern is that our two daughters age 5, and 9 will be completely bored out of their skull, and thus make life miserable for us.

 

 

The kids love the camps that they have gone to previously, so that aspect is not a problem. I guess we are concerned that two young girls can only handle so much nature as opposed to playing on the beach or being by the pool.

 

 

Any comments would be greatly appreciated.

 

thx

 

Neal

 

Not to worry. Take them. When my children were 6 and 9 to begin with, we went on 4 cross country trips, mainly focusing on National Parks and Historic sites. They had experience in the car with many trips to Disney World. We live in NJ. They are 26 and 29 now (can't believe it, time flies), but they talk about all of the trips, and think how great is was to see all those wonderful places. At the time, they also enjoyed the trips!! My son collected purchased rocks from most areas, they took pictures and loved the new places. A few years ago, I did the Alaska cruise with my daughter, at the time she was 21. We had a blast. My son didn't want to fly or cruise. I guess all the years of driving across the country!! You should go. They will remember. What a great gift to give children. Mine developed the love of History and Nature by visiting so many of our National Parks and just our wonderful country in general. By the way, there were children on the Alaska cruise and they did seem to have a great time. Have a great cruise!!!

[rjg41]

Just a word of advise. Book now! Alaska is very popular this year and a number of Princess cruise dates are sold out or waitlisted in many categories.

[LeeW]

After sailing the Carribean the last three years, we are thinking about doing Alaska towards the end of August. Our main concern is that our two daughters age 5, and 9 will be completely bored out of their skull, and thus make life miserable for us.

 

 

The kids love the camps that they have gone to previously, so that aspect is not a problem. I guess we are concerned that two young girls can only handle so much nature as opposed to playing on the beach or being by the pool.

 

 

Any comments would be greatly appreciated.

 

thx

 

Neal

 

 

Make sure each kid has a digital camera. We had one five year old on our last cruise with a wedding group that took fantastic pictures. Zoomed in, organized the shot and took the picture faster than I could.

[Tina G]

Alaska cruises are full of kids, since school is out. Princess has a great children's program, and the kids tend to make friends quickly. They run in herds around the ship, chaperoned by harried Princess Youth Staff.:p Your kids will have a great time. I don't reccommend the Skagway Railway Excursion, though, as it is long, beautifully scenic, but rather quiet. I have a video of the scenery, with a whining 12-year-old on the audio. That girl whined for an hour!:( I did fell sorry for her, though. The tour just wasn't geared for kids. She would have been happier on a wildlife tour. (Maybe.)

[CassCruise]

We took our just turned 6 and 8 year old last September on a b2b to Alaska and they had a wonderful time - they also swam most days:) - on our cruise there were very few kids but they still had a ball and loved the kids club - we did some amazing excursions and had a truly memorable family holiday .... funny though we had reluctantly decided again the Skagway Rail trip for TinaG's reasons but it turned out to be one of their favourite excursions - our usually extremely easy going compliant 6 year old absolutely insisted we go on this excursion and we all thoroughly enjoyed it!!! horses for courses.......

[cecilterwiliger]

There is nothing quite as amazing as seeing a glacier. I saw my first at 14 and have never forgotten it. That was in the days when the Mendenhall Glacier was closer inland (no water in front of it, we have pictures standing directly in front of it, I was disappointed this time because it has receded so much). Now you have the sail by's where you can almost touch them. I 2nd the train...took it again several years ago and still one of the most memorable times in Alaska and a unique experience. Well worth the price of the ticket. If there is a Lumberjack show on your ports, then that is really fun as well. They would probably also like the village tours with totems and ceremonial dancing. I have traveled extensively from a very young age and remember a great deal of what I saw. When they study it in school, they will have experiences that they can share and relate to. Just be sure to bring back things that they can use later on for reports, etc. Each state has a dept. of tourism that you can contact online and they will gladly send info so that you can give them something to look forward to as well. Give at least 6 weeks for this info to arrive in the mail.

http://www.planetware.com/national-information/usa-tourist-offices-national-holidays-us.htm

Alaska's tourism dept is in Juneau:http://www.travelalaska.com/

 

If you care to see some photos, I've posted them here:

http://www.wunderground.com/wximage/viewsingleimage.html?mode=singleimage&orig_handle=cecilterwiliger&orig_number=2&handle=cecilterwiliger&number=3&album_id=2#slideanchor

 

http://www.wunderground.com/wximage/viewsingleimage.html?mode=singleimage&handle=cecilterwiliger&number=2slideanchor

 

In my opinion, go for it. Their excitement depends on how excited you are and how well you convey that to them. Just by posting the question, you are a concerned parent and they should have a great time.