Alaska cruise tour

[ej'smom]

I have been reading this forum for a couple months now and I am very excited to take my first cruise.

 

My family is planning a family reunion Alaska cruise for the summer 2009. Since the only kids traveling will be my DDs (4 and 13 months at time of cruise) the family has let me pick the cruise line.

 

I see that Carnival and Royal have good kids programs, but we will be traveling with 5 other adults. Would these cruise lines be good for the adults as well? Also, the other adults would like to do a cruisetour and include Denali into the trip. I also like the idea but I am not sure how 2 young kids will do. has anyone ever done a cruise tour with young kids. My oldest travels very well and actually enjoys car rides. I also think she would really enjoy the train portion of the cruisetour. My youngest will not be born for another 10 weeks, so no information on her temperament yet.

 

Any help would be appreciated.

[GORDONCHICK]

Traditionally, young children don't do well on cruisetours because it's a lot of hurry up and wait, stand in long lines and getting on and off buses &/or trains. In fact, most people over on the Alaska board recommend that children under the age of 10 would find them boring and difficult (not to mention testing the patience of parents).

 

Have you thought about renting vehicles and doing the land tour independently? That way you can stop and go when it's convenient for you guys, very little herding, and much more custom tailored.

[ej'smom]

Yes, we have thought of renting an RV and traveling interior Alaska on our own, but we would probably separate from the rest of the family if we did this (which is ok too :)). Actually maybe preferred.

 

Would you recommend a northbound or southbound cruise? I would like to embark or debark in Vancouver and spend a few days there as well.

 

Since it looks like my oldest daughter (4) will be eligible for all cruise lines kids programs and youngest (1) will not be eligible for any, which line would you recommend? There may also be a 16 year old traveling in our group (she is currently protesting thinking she will be bored on the family vacation).

 

Should we look at getting a suite, a balcony or two connecting rooms, for myself, DH, and two DDs, ages above?

[GORDONCHICK]

It really depends on a lot of things as far as the cabin goes. What are your expectations? the cabins, even the larger ones, are still very small. We dont' spend much time in ours, so we book an inside cabin. AND, we only have one child who is old enough for the kids' programs. But when he was still taking naps, one of us would lay down with him. It would have been nice to have an area or another room to be in while he napped. We save the money for excursions and vacationing more.

 

Vancouver is beautiful, but I can't make a recommendation on north or southbound. It may be dependant upon exactly when you are wanting to go. And then again, it may not matter at all.

 

As far as the 16yo goes, I think a lot of times they like to at least ACT like they would be bored, but Alaska is one of the most uniquely beautiful places. If you go in the summer, there will sure to be other teens aboard. When you do book, join the roll call for your cruise and see if anyone else has teens going. I've known of teens emailing each other for months before the cruise, and when they board, they already kind of know someone.

[rebeccalouise]

you are going to hear mixed reviews on Denali. The day we were there in June of 1996 it was dreary and rainy. The bus that takes your through Denali was in desparate need of shocks and we didn't see any animals. Others have probably had better experiences.

 

I love Alaska but really- the cruisetour, which we did through Princess was a bunch of hurry up and wait. I wouldn't do another cruise tour. I was bored and was 31! There are some interesting things inland. I did enjoy Fairbanks, panning for gold and seeing the Ididorad dogs. My then 8 year old son loved seeing the dogs and pups.

 

But I'd prefer two weeks on the ship to one week on the ship and one week on land.

 

With kids the ages you mentioned- don't do any tours!

 

If you are trying to please the whole family- I'd do Celebrity or Royal Caribbean because they offer incabin babysitting at night. Celebrity is still my favorite of the two. Less crowded ships. Celebrity has a better program than Royal or Carnival IMO. The staff is really wonderful and the facility has tons of things to interest kids. You HAVE to have a balcony regardless of what ship you do.

 

Vancouver is a lovely city but so is Seattle and it is usually cheaper to fly there. I know that the Celebrity Infinity does a roundtrip out of Seattle and they also stop in Victoria, British Columbia which is really lovely and perhaps better with small kids. Flat and great for walking from the port into town (about 1 mile).

 

Two things to bear in mind. The days are long in Alaska (more light hours). On the way up, you might be better off on the port (left) side of the ship because the sun will be coming up on the east side of the ship- meaning lots of early morning sun to wake up the kiddies! By afternoon the sun will be on the portside- so this makes it a bit warmer to sit out there. The right side of the ship will be in the shade.

[sdfamily]

I've been planning an Alaska trip for this summer for our family: MIL, FIL, DH, myseld, and 3 DSs (9, 7, and 18 months). Here's what I've learned from many, many hours of reading these boards.

 

- you might want to post on Alaska fourm for more Alaska specific input

- don't want take the Cruisetours (especially with children)

- although Celebrity and RCCL have in-cabin babysitting, would you use it? Picking an itinerary based on babysitting choices for the 1-year old significantly limits your choices. You should pick based on the adult choices, the 1-year old can just tag along.

-the one-way itineraries from anchorage/vancouver give you time in Alaska pre or post cruise.

 

Here's what we're doing: 9-nights in Alaska pre-cruise. We're renting 2 cars and staying 4 nights north of Anchorage. There are lots of day trips to do in that area. Your group could break up and do the trips best suited to them. If there are some willing to do 9 hour shuttle bus ride in Denali, they could probably do it and you could do something fun with the kids. Then, we're going down to the Kenai for 5 nights. Again, lots of day trips to do. The more agressive in your party can plan separate excurions. Also, there are lots of kid-friendly activities. This way there is not alot of packing, unpacking, hurry up and wait, etc. and you get to experience alot of Alaska.

 

I decided on a Princess cruise s/b from Whittier. Princess has anytime dining. That way we're flexible in our eating choices. I thought it would be crazy to try and get 3 kids ready for dinner at the same time each night. The Princess itinerary does Glacier Bay, which I've heard is really spectacular. I also considered the Carnival Spirit which includes Sitka as a stop. I went to http://www.cruisecal.com and you can look at the daily schedules for each ship. What ultimately convinced me was the difference in the 'Alaska' naturalist lectures/activities and knowledge. I thought that the adults in our party would enjoy a more nature-based theme than extra 'bingo' nights. Also, at Glacier Bay the kids have an opportunity to get their Junior Ranger badge. Provided you are going during the summer, there will be plenty of other 16 and 4 year-olds on the boat.

 

As far as cabins go, you definitely want a balcony. With the one-year old you can sit out on the balcony for some quiet time while they nap. The four of you should be fine in one cabin. We booked 2 mini-suites on Princess. One quad (me, DH, DS(9), DS(18 months)). One triple (MIL, FIL, DS(7)). They are next door and connect via the balcony.

 

Let me know what other questions you have. I have done alot of research.

[rebeccalouise]

Anchorage is one of the most boring cities I've ever been to.

 

With little kids- just skip a landtour. They aren't going appreciate any of it. They are simply too young.

 

This little ones like

short train rides

puppies

playing on playgrounds

 

seek these kinds of experiences out and the little ones will be really happy. An expensive inland trip will not thrill them.

 

I did Nome, Fairbanks, Anchorage, Denali and Katzebue. None of it was as good as the scenery from the ship.

[lmg1230]

Last summer we cruised on the Diamond Princess from Vancouver to Whittier followed by a 5 day cruise tour that included one night at Mt. Mckinley Lodge, 2 nights at Denali lodge and 2 nights in Fairbanks. At the time our oldest daughter was 10 and the youngest was two weeks away from her fourth birthday. My parents-in-law were also travelling with us. Everyone enjoyed themselves and no one complained, however, the ship portion of the trip and the shore excursions were more enjoyable than the cruise tour. As others have noted in posts there is a lot of time spent in transit in order to get from Whittier to Fairbanks in 5 days. Our youngest daughter had a lot of energy to burn after having to sit still for several hours a day and we spent a lot of time on trains playing cards and colouring rather than enjoying the scenery. In retrospect, we would have skipped the Mt. McKinley stop and gone straight to Denali as it involved an hour bus ride to and from the train in order to get to the lodge and the mountain was only visible around 3 in the morning for a short time and we missed it. The girls were a bit bored with the bus tour of the park in Denali as we didn't see much in the way of wildlife. One of the most memorable parts of the trip for the girls, however, was the visit to Jeff King's ranch in Denali where they got to hold and play with sled dog puppies and hear Jeff speak about training and racing sled dogs. Our older daughter found it so interesting that she did her school speech this year on the Iditarod and followed the race this month very closely. All in all we are glad that we did the cruise and land tour because it allowed us the opportunity to see part of the world that we really wanted to see and was the most convenient for us travelling with young children and older parents. We may have done things differently if we had known more ahead of time (I hadn't yet discovered this website) but have no regrets.

[jgs2003]

I had posted over in the Alaska and Royal Caribbean threads but since I saw this thread I thought I would post here, too.

 

DH and I are contemplating an AK cruise this August, trying to convince the in-laws to come as well (father in law is in, it's the MIL that is against it). Anyway, our son will be 1 year old at that point, so I have narrowed it down to RCI because of the playgroups and in-cabin babysitting. I figure that we'll feed him and put him to bed, hire the babysitter and then go to dinner ourselves at the later sitting. I'm curious to hear about the AquaBabies program if anyone has experience with that.

 

We are also thinking of doing our own land tour afterwards without my in-laws, possibly renting an RV or something like that, although that will take some serious thinking/research, since I don't know how a 1 year old would deal with that!

 

Any reviews of RCI to AK with an infant would be appreciated!

[rebeccalouise]

you will have a great time. Can't help with the Aquababies.

 

The only suggestion I would make is to do a different month. August tends to be rainy.