Family cruise to Alaska..which ship?

[MaryKat]

We're planning a family cruise to Alaska this summer. My mom is 75, four of us are in our 40's to 50's, two daughters 21, and kids 4 and 6 years old. Any suggestions for the best ship for our family? Money is not really an issue, but we don't like too much formality. Thanks so much.

[plenox]

According to people who have done many Alaska cruises, either HAL or Princess should be good for family vacation. We picked HAL for next year because we found it was the cheapest option with the Port of calls we wanted that fit our schedule.

[Keith1010]

You have several to choose from. I would look into Celebrity, Princess and HAL.

 

All three have done Alaska for many years now and do well with families.

 

Pick the one with the itinerary that you are most interested in.

 

Keith

[NancyIL]

Celebrity and HAL are among the most formal cruiselines. For family cruising, I would say Royal Caribbean, although some here don't think they do as good of a job in Alaska as they do in the Caribbean. NCL is the most informal, with freestyle dining and a casual dress code. They have a very good itinerary on the Pearl that sails roundtrip from Seattle.

 

We loved our Coral Princess cruise, with its great itinerary and beautiful ship. We didn't see a lot of kids on our early June sailing, but according to the Princess Patters, there were quite a few activities for kids. I'm returning to Alaska next July on a HAL ship because I like the itinerary, and because HAL is supposed to do a great job in Alaska. However, if I were cruising with young kids, I don't think HAL would be my cruiseline of choice.

[briangl]

Our family was on the NCL Pearl last August and we had a great time. My 9yo daughter loved the kids club. Glacier Bay was top notch. The ship was less than a year old and the staff was outstanding. I would highly recommend it especially if you don't like all of the formality of the other cruise lines.

[Toyz711]

are you looking at a round trip? or a 1-way with or without time for a land tour?

if a round-trip, look at the NCL pearl out of seattle. great route, with glacier bay...no formality unless you want to dress up and you can eat with your own group..don't have to eat with others, unless you want to.

(NCL star is a great ship, also, just that the pearl has a better route)

[Budget Queen]

You may want to determine, how much time you have and what route you are considering???

 

If round trip, NCL is excellent for freestyle which works out well in Alaska. IF you don't choose the Pearl- with it's Glacier Bay itinerary- then I strongly suggest you budget in $175pp extra for the Star or Sun's add on Tracy Arm jet boat add on tour. You can NOT count of getting any glacier viewing without it- and even with it, you still have a chance for no view, but far superior for wildlife.

[qiangf2]

Princess' style is very close to NCL with its anytime dining(you can also choose their traditional dining). At least two ships from princess go into Tracy's Arm on their RT itinerary from Seattle. However, not every sail can make really deep into tracy's arm because there might be too much ice in the water to allow a safe passage.