2014 Alaskan Cruise for Family

Hi everyone! We are looking at a cruise next summer in either June or July for my family, with kids 16, 14 and 12. Obviously, in Alaska itinerary is our main focus, but with that, I do want a ship that is pretty family friendly so my kids are not extremely bored on sea days. Looking around, I am very overwhelmed by all of the options, so I am looking for help. What are the must see ports? Is it better to have a roundtrip from Seattle or Vancouver to Anchorage? I have mainly looked at Princess, Norwegian, Celebrity and Holland America but there are just so many. Any suggestions would be great!

Also, we are looking for port intensive cruises so the less sea days the better!

there are ONLY 6 inside passage Alaska cruise ports, so I suggest you read up on each one, determine which ones are your interests and have activities selected that you would want to take. Unlike the Caribbean, every port is very worthwhile to visit and very different from the others. Alaska By Cruiseship and Fodor's Alaska Port of Calls are good starts, try your library for Alaska more travel books. There are only 2 more mega ship cruiselines to look at- RCI and Disney. All the lines have good kids programs.

It is up to YOU what itinerary you choose, one way or round trip. BOTH can be perfect selections, depending on your interests. IF you have a couple weeks then a one way could work out well. An alternative- is to spend a week visiting, Vancouver Island, Wa etc. again depends on your interests. It doesn't matter what other people do. :)

I suggest you have a family meeting and give, research tasks to everyone. I also think, your "sea days" thinking may be a little flawed. Sailing Alaska isn't open ocean, lots of scenery and potential wildlife sightings- a good pair of wide angle binoculars are necessary. :)

Reading through several trip reports would also be helpful to you. It will give you a reality based idea what sailing Alaska is like. The key, is to involve the kids in the planning.

Alaska is port intensive. You'll have from 4 to 5 ports in 7 days.

Where are planing on cruising from and for how long ? You have three options for starting from Vancouver BC , Seattle or San Francisco.

Vancouver and Seattle are normally 7 day rtn cruises. San Francisco is a 11 day rtn cruise.

Keep in mind that Seattle has 5 port days . Vancouver has 4 port days. San Fran has 5 ports. Most cruise spend one day cruising either Tracy Arm or Glacier Bay.

When look at ports check how long you are in each port.

Our favorite Alaska cruise is a 14 day rtn Vancouver . It saves us the cost of airfare because we drive directly to Vancouver.

On Alaskan cruise a passport is highly recommended. The are excursions in Skagway that cross the Canada/US border into the Yukon territory .

Canada requires passports to enter the country.

We have done the Alaskan cruise with our kids, they loved it. The first cruise we did was with Princess, starting in Vancouver and we flew home from Anchorage. It was a wonderful trip, and there was plenty for the kids to do (they were 12 and 10 at the time) We decided to do the Alaskan cruise once again for July 2014, but we wanted to spend more time in Alaska. This time we are trying Celebrity, I loved their land tour options and I am very excited about their cabins (they look great!) We are traveling with our teenage kids, 18 (girl) 16 (boy) and my niece (12) and nephew (15), and of course the extended family of adults. If you are traveling in July, we are doing the Celebrity cruise tour 5B starting in Anchorage on July 20th. The cruise leaves from Seward on July 25th. We have a great roll call, if you decide to book the same cruise! ONLY 225 Days until we leave! :)

Alaska is port intensive. You'll have from 4 to 5 ports in 7 days.

Where are planing on cruising from and for how long ? You have three options for starting from Vancouver BC , Seattle or San Francisco.

Vancouver and Seattle are normally 7 day rtn cruises. San Francisco is a 11 day rtn cruise.

Keep in mind that Seattle has 5 port days . Vancouver has 4 port days. San Fran has 5 ports. Most cruise spend one day cruising either Tracy Arm or Glacier Bay.

When look at ports check how long you are in each port.

 

Our favorite Alaska cruise is a 14 day rtn Vancouver . It saves us the cost of airfare because we drive directly to Vancouver.

On Alaskan cruise a passport is highly recommended. The are excursions in Skagway that cross the Canada/US border into the Yukon territory .

Canada requires passports to enter the country.

It appears you are considering the glacier sailings as a port? There are no cruises that have 5 "ports" on a 7 day cruise- where the ship docks and you get off the ship. Many sailings have 3 ports, and with most round trip Seattle cruises, having a 6p-12a Victoria stop hardly enough.

Very good point about port times.

Hi everyone! We are looking at a cruise next summer in either June or July for my family, with kids 16, 14 and 12. Obviously, in Alaska itinerary is our main focus, but with that, I do want a ship that is pretty family friendly so my kids are not extremely bored on sea days. Looking around, I am very overwhelmed by all of the options, so I am looking for help. What are the must see ports? Is it better to have a roundtrip from Seattle or Vancouver to Anchorage? I have mainly looked at Princess, Norwegian, Celebrity and Holland America but there are just so many. Any suggestions would be great!

I read your posting again and I think you are asking whether to do a round trip or a one way between Vancouver and Anchorage [which is really Whittier or Seward].

There is a big difference between these 2 options. How long do you have for vacation? If you can spend a few days touring Alaska before or after the cruise then you get to see much more of the state. If you only have a week a RT makes more sense. [for time and money]

Regarding your question about ships. I have only taken one cruise to AK so I can not say one ship/line is better than another.

However, in Alaska we were up early almost everyday. We spent most of our time ashore. At night we were really too tired to do much. I don't think we went to a single show on the cruise. We spent all of our time on deck or in a lounge looking at the scenery.

Yes--we had an inside room. We spent our money on excursions. You do not have to have a balcony cabin to have a great cruise. do what you can afford.:)

IMHO one way is better than roundtrip as you always get more scenic crusing in Alaska if you can swing the overhead of airfare.

If you are going in the summer all the major lines should have lots of kids and activities. Which ship really comes down IMHO to what the paying parents prefer. Personally I'd look at Princess first, as they have the most sailings and are a good balance in value and have many sailings to Glacier Bay the highlight scenic cruise. Almost all the ships stop at the same ports so beyond ship and scenic cruise decision between Glacier Bay, Hubbard, and Tracy Arm the cruiseline is the next thing.

Hi everyone! We are looking at a cruise next summer in either June or July for my family, with kids 16, 14 and 12. Obviously, in Alaska itinerary is our main focus, but with that, I do want a ship that is pretty family friendly so my kids are not extremely bored on sea days. Looking around, I am very overwhelmed by all of the options, so I am looking for help. What are the must see ports? Is it better to have a roundtrip from Seattle or Vancouver to Anchorage? I have mainly looked at Princess, Norwegian, Celebrity and Holland America but there are just so many. Any suggestions would be great!

IMHO one way is better than roundtrip as you always get more scenic crusing in Alaska if you can swing the overhead of airfare.

I agree--but, if you can not add on a few days to tour the mainland the extra travel expenses do not make sense.

I agree--but, if you can not add on a few days to tour the mainland the extra travel expenses do not make sense.

For me, I have not paid more when I have done one way cruises. I have gotten really good prices on one way which balanced out for having higher air prices. I have done (2) one ways and both were cheaper with air than the RT with air at the time of booking.

As far as time flying to Anchorage, from where I live, I have to fly all day regardless if it is to Seattle, Vancouver or Anchorage. I have no direct flights so it is not a big deal.

Thanks for all of the responses! So looking around, I noticed that Royal Caribbean has an itinerary on the Radiance of the Seas that stops at four ports (Juneau, Ketchikan, Skagway and Icy Straight), making this seem like the best option to me. It starts in Seward and ends in Vancouver so we would probably spend a few days touring Alaska before and then spend a day or two in Vancouver. What are thoughts on this?

That would a great t rip. Vancouver is a fantastic place to visit. May attractions are close together so that you won't need a car.

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Thanks for all of the responses! So looking around, I noticed that Royal Caribbean has an itinerary on the Radiance of the Seas that stops at four ports (Juneau, Ketchikan, Skagway and Icy Straight), making this seem like the best option to me. It starts in Seward and ends in Vancouver so we would probably spend a few days touring Alaska before and then spend a day or two in Vancouver. What are thoughts on this?

This is the cruise I chose for my family of 3. I have -9yo DD. I liked that 4th port day in ISP, unfortunately we will miss Glacier Bay. The cruise also has nice long port times. We are going July 2014, so I can't tell you how the cruise is only that I agree with 4 port days. Good luck choosing and have a great trip.

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Thanks for all of the responses! So looking around, I noticed that Royal Caribbean has an itinerary on the Radiance of the Seas that stops at four ports (Juneau, Ketchikan, Skagway and Icy Straight), making this seem like the best option to me. It starts in Seward and ends in Vancouver so we would probably spend a few days touring Alaska before and then spend a day or two in Vancouver. What are thoughts on this?

I did this cruise on Aug 31, 2012. We did a North bound cruise. I did a "Live" thread while we were aboard. Here is the link if you are interested.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1697232

Thanks for all of the responses! So looking around, I noticed that Royal Caribbean has an itinerary on the Radiance of the Seas that stops at four ports (Juneau, Ketchikan, Skagway and Icy Straight), making this seem like the best option to me. It starts in Seward and ends in Vancouver so we would probably spend a few days touring Alaska before and then spend a day or two in Vancouver. What are thoughts on this?

This is the same sailing I chose. Does anyone have a recommendation as far as a hotel in Anchorage or Vancouver?

This is the same sailing I chose. Does anyone have a recommendation as far as a hotel in Anchorage or Vancouver?

Hotels in downtown Vancouver will run approx $200 per night. Search one of the large hotel site (Priceline) and might find something cheaper.

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Hotels in downtown Vancouver will run approx $200 per night. Search one of the large hotel site (Priceline) and might find something cheaper.

 

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If you go to the Canada port of call message board there are lots of threads about hotels. They have a few people there that give lots of good advise about all things Vancouver.

Thanks for all of the responses! So looking around, I noticed that Royal Caribbean has an itinerary on the Radiance of the Seas that stops at four ports (Juneau, Ketchikan, Skagway and Icy Straight), making this seem like the best option to me. It starts in Seward and ends in Vancouver so we would probably spend a few days touring Alaska before and then spend a day or two in Vancouver. What are thoughts on this?

we did Radiance a few years ago, and just loved the shyip.. do some research, as when we were in Icy Straight, other than the zip line and whale atching ( which we had already done in Juneau), there was absolutley NOTHING we found to do independantly..we always like to meander about on out own.. but we really didnt find anything,.. not really even much of a town... but i love the itinerary and the ship.. we are going back in august, and chose carnival this time because i love The Miracle and her wrap around aft ballconies.. enjoy!

We are looking into doing either a helicopter or float plane tour in one of the four ports. First, do you guys think a helicopter or float plane tour would be better for a family (16, 13 and 11 year olds), and second, what port would be the best to do it in?

One of the things I tell everyone going to Alaska is to be sure to plan for the cost of the shore excursions. The helicopter tours are in the $350 to $400 per person range, the float plane is easy $200 per person. For a family of 4, that adds up quickly.

Even eating in town gets expensive. In Sitka, we at a Subway. That $6 footlong was $12. Plan these costs into your budget when planning.

There is no single "best" Alaska cruise itinerary. :) You are "missing" something on every itinerary.

Depends on your interests. With time a one way with mainland touring, does offer more, and a good option.

I did RCI last year from Seward, but isn't my first choice for an Alaska cruise, but certainly enjoyable.

Both, helicopter and float plane tours are excellent in Alaska, depends on you what you choose. But, if both can be done, well worth the time and cost. Trips aren't until next year, some Christmas, birthday, holiday "gifts" could perhaps be Alaska touring?