Any toddlers (3-5) on Alaska cruises

[lovetovacation]

Hi, I'm wanting to go on another cruise. The hubby won't do the Caribbean and I'm considering Alaska, although we've been before our little one. He won't let her go to any kids clubs so I'm wondering is there enough to do on an Alaskan cruise for a 4 year old? I can't remember enough about the ports to decide if there are little kids activities in Juneau, Ketickan and Skagway. Any experiences to share?

 

Thanks.

Rose

[2ndguesser]

We leave in 6 days with a group of us. Kids ages are 8,6,4,4,3,1. All of the kids will be going to the kids club except for the 1 year old since he's too young. I'm not sure if there is enough to do on the ships for young kids if you are opposed to the kids club. We are going on the NCL Pearl and I'll tell you in 6 days! I do know the rock climbing and bowling say ages 6 and up. We personally have no problem with the kids clubs. They are actually well run from people I know that have used them and usually the kids don't want to leave. They have pajama parties, pizza making, movie night, arts and crafts ect. I hope others on this board with kids club experience will jump in to relieve your husbands concerns. I think it's a great social experience for the kids!

 

As far as excursions - we are all doing the Lumberjack show, whale watching, and dogsledding (on dirt - not snow - unfortunately).

[lovetovacation]

I would love to let her go to the kids club, not just to give me some time to myself but to hang with other kids her age and do fun stuff but the hubby is so against it. Even at home other than daycare, he won't let a babysitter (including grandma, aunts, etc.) watch her. But maybe if he saw the setup, he'd change his mind. After your cruise, come back and let me know how it went with the younger ones.Thanks.

[cb at sea]

You can have time to yourself by letting hubby entertain your daughter!

[6rugrats]

You can have time to yourself by letting hubby entertain your daughter!

 

I love that idea!

 

OP - just exactly what does your husband think is going to happen if he lets your daughter go to the kid's club? Just wondering.

[beachchick]

I love that idea!

 

OP - just exactly what does your husband think is going to happen if he lets your daughter go to the kid's club? Just wondering.

 

I suspect that doesn't matter. If her husband doesn't even allow relatives to watch their daughter, I can't see him changing his mind to allow strangers on a ship to watch her. I gather that when their DD is not in daycare, then mom and dad (maybe just mom, maybe both parents) are with their DD 24/7. (I'm not sure why he would allow a daycare provider to watch her, but not grandparents, aunts, etc. I don't know their family, of course, but I think in general that's very sad. Grandparents and other adult relatives usually enjoy spending time with their grandkids/nieces and nephews and so forth. It's a great way for them to build relationships separate from having the entire family together. What a shame that they are all missing out on that.)

 

I too like the idea of mom getting some "alone time" while dad minds their DD. Every mom I know can use a bit of time away from her child(ren), even though every mom I know also adores her children more than can be expressed in words. Mom's are people too.

 

beachchick

[gisele21]

We just came back from an Alaska cruise. My 5 year old son didn't really care for Adventure Ocean. He was there for an hour and then was ready to leave. He wasn't interested in the activities. I think some of it is because he goes to pre-K and the activities he usually does is older/more interesting. Age 3 activities are a little young for an active 5 year old.

 

So our son spent most of his time with us. On days at sea we did miniature golf with him, walked around the ship, went to some programs. In the afternoons, he went to the pool with us. We could also borrow toys from the kids program to bring to our room.

 

As far as excursions, I took our son whale watching and did WPR - he loved both. In Juneau we rented a car and saw the glacier and salmon hatchery.

 

You can still do things with your 4 year old around the ship. I think our son preferred to spend time with us, even if it was just in the room, than go to the kids program. Nothing against the program, I saw lots of kids there having fun. My son just wasn't interested in it.

[gisele21]

We just came back from an Alaska cruise. My 5 year old son didn't really care for Adventure Ocean. He was there for an hour and then was ready to leave. He wasn't interested in the activities. I think some of it is because he goes to pre-K and the activities he usually does is older/more interesting. Age 3 activities are a little young for an active 5 year old.

 

So our son spent most of his time with us. On days at sea we did miniature golf with him, walked around the ship, went to some programs. In the afternoons, he went to the pool with us. We could also borrow toys from the kids program to bring to our room.

 

As far as excursions, I took our son whale watching and did WPR - he loved both. In Juneau we rented a car and saw the glacier and salmon hatchery.

 

You can still do things with your 4 year old around the ship. I think our son preferred to spend time with us, even if it was just in the room, than go to the kids program. Nothing against the program, I saw lots of kids there having fun. My son just wasn't interested in it.

[gisele21]

We just came back from an Alaska cruise. My 5 year old son didn't really care for Adventure Ocean. He was there for an hour and then was ready to leave. He wasn't interested in the activities. I think some of it is because he goes to pre-K and the activities he usually does is older/more interesting. Age 3 activities are a little young for an active 5 year old.

 

So our son spent most of his time with us. On days at sea we did miniature golf with him, walked around the ship, went to some programs. In the afternoons, he went to the pool with us. We could also borrow toys from the kids program to bring to our room.

 

As far as excursions, I took our son whale watching and did WPR - he loved both. In Juneau we rented a car and saw the glacier and salmon hatchery.

 

You can still do things with your 4 year old around the ship. I think our son preferred to spend time with us, even if it was just in the room, than go to the kids program. Nothing against the program, I saw lots of kids there having fun. My son just wasn't interested in it.

[gisele21]

We just came back from an Alaska cruise. My 5 year old son didn't really care for Adventure Ocean. He was there for an hour and then was ready to leave. He wasn't interested in the activities. I think some of it is because he goes to pre-K and the activities he usually does is older/more interesting. Age 3 activities are a little young for an active 5 year old.

 

So our son spent most of his time with us. On days at sea we did miniature golf with him, walked around the ship, went to some programs. In the afternoons, he went to the pool with us. We could also borrow toys from the kids program to bring to our room.

 

As far as excursions, I took our son whale watching and did WPR - he loved both. In Juneau we rented a car and saw the glacier and salmon hatchery.

 

You can still do things with your 4 year old around the ship. I think our son preferred to spend time with us, even if it was just in the room, than go to the kids program. Nothing against the program, I saw lots of kids there having fun. My son just wasn't interested in it.

[gisele21]

We just came back from an Alaska cruise. My 5 year old son didn't really care for Adventure Ocean. He was there for an hour and then was ready to leave. He wasn't interested in the activities. I think some of it is because he goes to pre-K and the activities he usually does is older/more interesting. Age 3 activities are a little young for an active 5 year old.

 

So our son spent most of his time with us. On days at sea we did miniature golf with him, walked around the ship, went to some programs. In the afternoons, he went to the pool with us. We could also borrow toys from the kids program to bring to our room.

 

As far as excursions, I took our son whale watching and did WPR - he loved both. In Juneau we rented a car and saw the glacier and salmon hatchery.

 

You can still do things with your 4 year old around the ship. I think our son preferred to spend time with us, even if it was just in the room, than go to the kids program. Nothing against the program, I saw lots of kids there having fun. My son just wasn't interested in it.

[gisele21]

We just came back from an Alaska cruise. My 5 year old son didn't really care for Adventure Ocean. He was there for an hour and then was ready to leave. He wasn't interested in the activities. I think some of it is because he goes to pre-K and the activities he usually does is older/more interesting. Age 3 activities are a little young for an active 5 year old.

 

So our son spent most of his time with us. On days at sea we did miniature golf with him, walked around the ship, went to some programs. In the afternoons, he went to the pool with us. We could also borrow toys from the kids program to bring to our room.

 

As far as excursions, I took our son whale watching and did WPR - he loved both. In Juneau we rented a car and saw the glacier and salmon hatchery.

 

You can still do things with your 4 year old around the ship. I think our son preferred to spend time with us, even if it was just in the room, than go to the kids program. Nothing against the program, I saw lots of kids there having fun. My son just wasn't interested in it.

[karenem]

Just got back from Alaska with a 3 and 5YO. Both of them LOVED the kids' program and didn't want to leave. A lot of the excursions are geared toward older kids/adults, but it's certainly not hard to find enough to do with the little ones. In general I'd recommend booking independently rather than through the ship because you usually will have a smaller group and it's easy to customize. Ketchikan--independent taxi tour. Skagway--rent a car and drive to Carcross rather than take the bus, etc. etc. We' do it again in a second.

[CeleBrat]

Yep--we did the same thing on our Alaskan cruise with our (then) 3 and 5 year olds.

 

Juneau--take the cable car up to the Eagle Reserve. Lots of "little" wildlife and tons of flowers to see up there.

 

Skagway--rented a car and drove to Carcross. Check out Murray's guide. It lists lost of cool things to visit along the way: wild blackberries, abandoned log cabins, the world's smallest desert (really!), and of course, you can stop anywhere to let the kids play in snow. That way the best thing for us since we're from Florida and our poor Florida kids have no idea what snow is...

 

Ketchikan--wandered around the waterfront, visited the themed shopping area, and saw lots of neat jellyfish.

 

Have you visited the Alaska boards on this forum? There are probably lots of people on that board with tips for kids.

 

CeleBrat