Cruise + Independent Alaska travel with 3 kids-Help!

[cnrhall]

I am planning an Alaskan cruise for next May or June with 3 children ages 3, 6 and 9. I'm still choosing the exact cruise we're taking. We would like to do some land touring while in Alaska, either on our own, with a tour company, or with the cruise line. We like places that are a little of the beaten path, but are not thrill-seekers.

 

My mom, who cruised Alaska with Princess several years ago is under the impression that an independent trip by rented minivan is not a good idea. She believes that the roads are often in poor condition and that driving distances between destinations is too long. She did a Princess cruise/land tour and said she would not change a thing.

 

I am looking for advice on doing this trip. Should we do land and then cruise or the other way around? Should we stick with the cruise line or take off on our own? Any other tips?

 

Obviously, with 3 kids, cost is a factor.

 

Thanks!

[boulders]

I'm taking my 3 kids to Alaska this summer. They're 3, 10 and 13.

 

I looked into land tours by myself and doing a Princess cruisetour. The rental of a minivan was going to be about $300/day :eek:! Also, I'm a widow, so was a little nervous about traveling on the long hauls by myself. I got a great deal on a 13 day Princess cruisetour, but then decided that it would cost more than what I'd planned, since meals and most activities aren't included and that the kids would likely be bored.

 

So, we're just doing a one week northbound cruise. I'm renting the minivan for the trip from Seward to Anchorage on the day we disembark. We'll take in some sights on the way.

 

If you're doing landtours, people on the Alaska board recommend doing the cruise second so that you can rest up from all your touring.

 

If money was absolutely no object, I would do a landtour with Adventures by Disney before the cruise. We did a trip with them to China last year and had a fabulous time. Their tours are aimed at families with kids, rather than the cruisetours which are aimed at retirees. The tour with them would be 10K+ for a family of 5 though.

 

My second choice would be a landtour without the cruisetour before the cruise. You'd be able to go at your own pace and see the sights that you want and take potty breaks when the kids want. ;)

[cardbucfan]

If you haven't already done so, check out the Alaska board. There are tons of threads addressing this topic with suggestions for what to do. We are doing our first Alaska cruise in just a few weeks and decided to do the cruisetour. It certainly would have been less expensive to do it on our own (4 people) rather than through the cruiseline and we could have spent more time in places that we didn't know about at the time we booked but know about now! However, I'm still glad about the cruisetour because letting them do all the transportation and luggage wrangling means both DH and I get a vacation and don't have to do the driving. Also, I think the kids can walk around the train vs. sitting the entire time in a car. From what I have heard the roads are fine but the distances are long.

[cnrhall]

I've done a ton of research today. It looks like adding a 4 day land tour to the Princess Cruise I have in mind would cost $1000 more per person. That's $5000 for our family of 5. Surely we can do the land portion to Denali in an enjoyable way for significantly less than $5000. We don't mind long drives as long as there is good scenery and interesting places to stop along the way. My children are excellent travelers.

 

I'm still open for all suggestions! Thanks.

[Paumavista]

We did a southbound cruise on Princess 2 weeks ago and spent 4 days in Alaska on our own prior to the cruise. We decided that our kids (8, 9, 20)would not do well on an organized tour (and after taking the train from Anchorage to Whittier on the last morning I am REALLY glad we did NOT do a cruise tour - my kids would have been TERRIBLY bored & we would have been stuck to a schedule)

 

We arrived in Anchorage on Tuesday evening and picked up a rental van (really liked the extra room), returned it on Saturday morning and caught the train then to Whittier to meet the ship.....our Van was under $400 for the 4 days...we booked in March for a May rental (I'd book asap...you can always cancel if you find a better deal).

 

We rented a 2 bedroom condo in Girdwood for about $150/nite. We decided to mainly stay south of Anchorage for this land trip. On the first morning we drove to Seward and took a small boat cruise into the Kenai (it was the highlight of our entire trip). Over the next couple days we drove to Exit Glacier, Portage Glacier, the nature Conservation Center, had a good time gold mining at Crow Creek, drove to Hatcher Pass, and visited the Anchorage Natural History Museum. All these are wonderful kid activities and we could do them at our own pace!

 

If you plan ahead the costs don't need to be prohibitive. We shopped in Anchorage for food on our way to the condo the first evening. We mainly picked up dinner foods and cereal for breakfast....figuring we'd be on the road at lunch. The cost of a one-way rental car the final morning was about the same as the train.....it turned out to be very convenient to turn in the rental car, turn in our bags and board the train, which drops you right in front of the ship (you see your bags later in your room).

 

At our ports of call we also rented a car and toured on our own.

 

Have a great trip!

Judy

[elvo73]

I just got back from Alaska, we went on the Veendam from HAL. It was beautiful and we did all the touring on our own. We rented a car in Juneau and one is Skagway to drive all the way to the Yukon area. The freeway is a 2 lane road, very well maintained. I don't think you will have any trouble doing things on your own. We did booked a Duck tour in Ketchikan and it was fun. The Veendam was a great ship for us, my 2 DDs are 13 months and 5 years old. Club Hal had many activities for our 5 yr. old and the baby stay with us all day, we had a babysitter at night in our room usually from 7:30 to 11 pm.

Have a safe trip and let me know if I can answer any questions. ;)

[cnrhall]

Thanks for the information and encouragement. I know we will do the land portion on our own. Now I'm just trying to figure out the cruise.

 

I've spent 2 days reading these boards and have learned a lot, but I am still stuck in couple of areas. I really wanted to at least have connecting cabins so that my husband and I can sleep in the same room. We cannot afford a suite for 5. According to HAL, not only do they not have connecting cabins on the ships available, but they do not have any other options for a family of 5 besides booking 2 separate rooms. I have not called Princess directly, but from what I've read, they don't offer connecting cabins either.

 

When I booked our New England cruise with HAL 2 years ago, I did so through USAA. They were fantastic and I saved a lot of money through them. I called for this cruise and the TA sounded like a teenager. He just kept referring to the cruise brochures, could not answer any of my questions and gave me a quote for a HAL cruise that was the same rack rate I was given by HAL directly.

 

I've searched for all the posts related to accommodations for 5 and have not found an answer that applies to us. Can anyone help me sort this out or offer a website with collected information on ships/lines/prices/room capacities?

 

Thank you!

[Paumavista]

Anytime I'm not sure I got the right answer or the person didn't seem to understand my question.....I just hang up and call again. You understand that they have groups of people answering the phones and the chance of getting the same person is unlikely unless you specifically ask for them.

 

We sailed on princess a few weeks ago. We had booked an inside cabin for the kids (boys 9&10, daughter 22) and a balcony directly across from them for my husband and myself. SURPRISE....they upgraded us to the family suite.....2 bedrooms & 2 baths connected by a livingroom.

 

We've done the interior across the hall from us before and it seemed to work best. Of course my oldest have at least been responsible teenagers. But call the cruise lines and talk to them.....you should be able to reach a knowledgeable service coordinator and get their advice.

[boulders]

Royal Caribbean has cabins for 5 as well as plenty of connecting cabins.

[Kerry's Girls]

The only way to connect cabins on Princess is to have 2 balcony cabins and then have the dividers between the balconies opened up - but obviously this is not an option with such young children.

 

I have read that there are some RCCL ships with a few cabins where an inside cabin and a balcony cabin are connected - which would be the perfect set up for you (but I'm sure these go quickly - and you'd need to call to check which ones).

 

Best,

Mia

[nothriver]

Celebrity M-class ships have nice Family Veranda cabins. They also have many options for connection cabins. Exactly as someone posted before, if you get someone on the phone who isn't helpful, politely let them go and call back. Some of them don't know anything and don't have clearance to solve problems - yet won't admit that they don't know anything and can't take any action!

 

I arranged an independent land tour for my parents and it was no problem. They are taking the train up to Denali and back to Anchorage. Personally, I'd probably rent a car. That will allow you to to really get off the beaten path, which would be my preference as well. Expecially at Denali where you are pretty much trapped by the large tour company facilities/food/high prices. I think in a car you'd have better accomodations, better food, you kids would be happier and safely installed in carseats if needed, and you'd save a bunch of money as well.

 

There are some nice trip reports from this year and years past, if I remember, I'll post links here when I run across them next.

[nothriver]

Here is a GREAT trip report, I love this one!

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=998528

[cnrhall]

Thank you so much! Those trip reports make me so excited about this vacation. They also make it hard to wait an entire year before going. I suppose the anticipation is half the fun. :)

[bbcruiser]

I've searched for all the posts related to accommodations for 5 and have not found an answer that applies to us. Can anyone help me sort this out or offer a website with collected information on ships/lines/prices/room capacities?

 

Thank you!

 

We have cruised NCl several times and they do have connecting cabins. Many are balcony cabins, some are minisuite cabins, some are mini-suites connected to Owner's Suites. If you book two or three cabins and the ships' Garden Villa Suites are not filled (it has 3 bedrooms and are huge), they often will offer an upsell for a reasonable price (read it on the boards). I wouldn't book the Garden Villa initially unless you can afford them. We have stayed in an AB Penthouse suite which has a separate bedroom and bathroom for the kids. On the NCL Star, they had a pull-out double sofa bed and a pull-down bed above it (I believe they call those a pullman?). There was also a door that separted the master suite from the rest of the cabin for privacy. I've read that on the NCL Pearl, there is only a drape that separtes the master suite. We've been on both the Pearl and Star and the kids love their Kids Crew programs. Although the Pearl is newer and a little more ornate, we have to say we prefer the Star.

 

Check out the NCl site to see if you'd like it. We've had good times sailing on NCL, but are thinking about trying Princess on our next cruise.