Recommended cruise line for Alaska with 4 and 6 year old?

Hi Everyone,

I hoping that someone will be able to help me with planning an Alaskan cruise this August. I have 2 girls who are 4 and 6 years old, and I'm having trouble deciding which cruise line is the best for kids in Alaska. We have been one several Disney cruises, but, due to the cost of their Alaskan cruises, we want to try a different line.

I've checked out several cruise line's websites, but it is hard to tell how welcoming to kids a ship is just by their website. Does anyone have any experience taking younger kids on an Alaskan cruise?

Most of the mainstream cruise lines have kids clubs - Carnival, Princess, HAL, RCCL, Norwegian, Celebrity, etc. - so I would choose based on itinerary, budget, and what city you want to leave from.

Roz

Remember , Alaska is basically about the ports.

First you should decide which port you want. Then whether 7 day rtn or 7 day day to or from Alaska to Vancouver.

For 7 day return to the same I suggest Seattle or 19 from San Francisco.

All the cruise lines do a good job with kids club. July and August will be the peak time for kuds on board.

Holland , Princess , RCI , Celebrity and NCL do 7 day round trips from Seattle. If you have to cruise Sat to Sat then the number cruises will be limited.

Are there a lot of children on a 14 day Alaska from Seattle on HAL? Sailing July 3rd.

By the length and cost many families with kids probably could't afford to do this cruise. Your more like to see more kids on the 7 day or the 14 day round trip from Vancouver.

From Vancouver you can take two 7 day cruises B2B . Each 7 day probably will have a fair number of kids.

You go to Alaska for ALASKA...not for the ship. It's merely transportation. Any ship will do.

As others have said, the mainstream lines will all be fine. Personally we chose Princess for Alaska. It was a nice balance of family with a more classy environment than say Carnival. My son - then 8/9 preferred their kids club to Carnivals. The best was getting the balcony on the Carib deck as it was easily larger enough for the 4 of us, and half covered in the event of bad weather.

Due to costs we opted not to do a land portion - but if you can swing 14 cruise days, I would suggest you make that a 7 day cruise with 4+ days on land to Denali, Fairbanks etc.

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We also used Princess for Alaska and my kids had an amazing time. They were 6 and 8 at the time.

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We sailed Princess to Alaska while I was pregnant with my first. The most popular recommendation is that if you are looking for the best Alaska experience, you would want a 7 day north or southbound cruise, plus a landtour to Denali. The only cruise ships that visit Glacier Bay are Princess and HAL, so those are highly recommended. We sailed the Coral Princess on this itinerary, and it was lovely. HAL and Princess put the Panamax ships in Alaska so you can get close to the sights since they are narrower to fit through the Panama Canal. There were a lot of families on the 7 day Alaska cruise. Princess' kids clubs are excellent, and they used to (and may still) bring a naturalist on board to teach the children about native Alaskan wildlife. If you are choosing between Princess and HAL, I've found the other passengers on Princess to generally be more kid friendly, and their kids clubs have much better hours.

However, it is entirely possible that you may need to choose a roundtrip since it will be much easier with kids. That's what we hope to do in a few years when our kids are bigger, but since we've already seen Alaska that's an easier trade off for us.

The bering sea fisherman tour is amazing - they show you what it's like to catch crabs in Alaska (other families should note that minimum age to participate is 5). It is close enough to walk to from the dock, so there's no need to pay extra for a tour through the ship. Also, the helicopter to a dogsled is amazing. Please note that Temsco is the subcontractor for the helicopter tours for the cruise ships, and you can save 10% by booking directly through their company. Also, if you choose to visit a dog sled camp, please make sure you do it in Skagway, not Juneau since the weather is a bit more stable in Skagway. Also, please try to book your helicopter tour in the morning, since helicopter tours are often cancelled due to inclement weather. If your helicopter is scheduled for the morning, you will have a better chance of it being rescheduled for the afternoon, instead of the tour being cancelled outright. Unfortunately, there is no guarantee that you will be able to participate in this amazing activity due to the unpredictable Alaskan weather.

Slight correction to the above: NCL also visits Glacier Bay regularly, and Carnival has a few trips a year into Glacier Bay. EM

Thanks Essie'smom - I went to Alaska 6 years ago when I was pregnant with my 1st, and I had outdated information.

We have taken toddler grandsons twice to Alaska on RCI Radiance....Amazing kids club (Adventure Ocean).

We have taken toddler grandsons twice to Alaska on RCI Radiance....Amazing kids club (Adventure Ocean).

We are planning to book Radiance southbound for 2018 with three day land tour on the front end. Did you do any of the RCI land tours when you sailed?

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We did Alaska RT Seattle on Princess a few years back. It was July (high season) and there were kids on board. The walls near the kids club rooms were full of artwork and projects by the end of the cruise. Princess and HAL have the longest history of doing Alaskan cruises, and I think do the best job of focusing the cruise on the natural environment, education and their on board programming for Alaska is excellent.

There were lots of kids on board, but they were all well behaved. Alaska cruises are about the ports, not the ship, so by the end of the day everyone, including the kids are all tuckered out and back in their cabins getting ready for the next port day.

From a logistical standpoint, I think that RT Seattle will probably be your best bet with kids. We didn't have to fly to the port, we drove; but I think it would be logistically easier if you are booking flights on a round trip basis than having to book flights to and from different cities. Plus, I would think that after 7 days on a cruise your kids will probably want to get home and not be on vacation anymore.

We went on Carnival Legend this past August with out 7 and 6 year old. They had a blast! There were a ton of activities for families/kids on the sea days, but my kids loved the ports the most.

We had a great trip on NCL Pearl with kids those ages a few years ago

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We are planning to book Radiance southbound for 2018 with three day land tour on the front end. Did you do any of the RCI land tours when you sailed?

 

 

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No, we booked privately, but the exact ones were offered by RCI too.

No, we booked privately, but the exact ones were offered by RCI too.

What private companies did you use for your excursions, please?