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Young Family Alaska Cruise


Cruisewfamily
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Hi All,

 

We are looking on booking an Alaskan cruise next year. There will be five us. The kids will be 6, 4, and a baby. My wife and I have cruises with Celebrity and Carnival but both were 7-8 years ago. We loved Celebrity but didn't really care for Carnival. But that could have been itineraries Medeterainian vs Western Caribbean.

 

Anyway after looking into the different options we would like one that offers childcare for the baby but none of those that go to Glacier Bay do. We are just looking for childcare mainly if we wanted go out a night or two child free. Really just looking for any opinions or thoughts if Glacier Bay is worth not having childcare or any thoughts in general on an Alaskan cruise with young children.

 

Thanks

 

Edited to add: the four we are currently considering are RCI Radiance, RCI Explorer, Disney Wonder, and NCL Bliss(assuming that it has childcare like Escape.)

Edited by Cruisewfamily
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We have cruised on RCI Radiance (Alaska) a few times with extended family that has included toddler and infant grandchildren. Their Nursery and Adventure Ocean programs make it our #1 choice.

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Glacier Bay is certainly a wonderful experience so if you can book a cruise that includes that it would be nice.

 

With that said there are many other great things to see in Alaska and given your situation I would consider Celebrity. I don't think you will find Carnival any different then your previous experience so if you didn't care for it I would pass on that one.

 

Keith

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Even in the summer, the weather is highly unpredictable in Alaska. You might be lucky or have rain the whole cruise.

 

It is usually quite cold and windy, so it's unlikely that you will spend lots of time outside. And you will go crazy if you have to entertain three kids inside the ship for a whole week.

 

So Disney or RCL, for peace of mind.

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How old is the baby? Some RCI ship's do have 'nursery" facilities for those under 3...but not all do!

 

Thank you for mentioning this. After further research Explorer of the Seas does not offer childcare services for babies.

 

We are currently leaning towards a northbound cruise on Radiance of the Seas. It offers more in port time and it does visit Hubbard Glacier. I am still trying to confirm if Bliss will offer childcare for babies like Escape. It does have a Guppies room, but it does not specifically mention childcare like the Escape does. Disney is still an option, but it is just so much more expensive. We could almost take our savings and go on a shorter Disney cruise in the Caribbean with it.

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We loved the Radiance and Hubbard Glacier. It's been some time since I visited Glacier Bay, so I can't compare the two, but the ports are all so great for kids, I wouldn't count out a cruise that otherwise works for you just based on Glacier Bay.

 

Radiance opened their indoor pool (usually adults only) to kids certain hours of the day in Alaska, and there are indoor jacuzzis. We were lucky enough to have beautiful weather when we went in June and the kids swam in the outdoor pool as well.

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I have hesitated a few days about this comment since it goes against my general feelings but . . . Since you are five people, have you considered taking along another family member or babysitter so you can fully participate with the 6 & 4 year old. Alaska is an awesome trip but is almost entirely outside with changeable weather. just a thought and not something I would usually suggest.

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Even in the summer, the weather is highly unpredictable in Alaska. You might be lucky or have rain the whole cruise.

 

It is usually quite cold and windy, so it's unlikely that you will spend lots of time outside.

On our Alaska cruise, in August, the weather was beautiful. Was never cold or windy. You never know what it will be like.

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Interested in this thread as we are planning an alaska cruise with the family, incuding what will be a 3 year old and a nearly 6 year old. My TA suggested Celebrity because they have kids club activities for ship days and babysitting (for a fee) for meals and at night. (And because we have cruised them several times in the Caribbean). But I am trying to find info on what Princess has to offer for families with young kids.

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Interested in this thread as we are planning an alaska cruise with the family, incuding what will be a 3 year old and a nearly 6 year old. My TA suggested Celebrity because they have kids club activities for ship days and babysitting (for a fee) for meals and at night. (And because we have cruised them several times in the Caribbean). But I am trying to find info on what Princess has to offer for families with young kids.

Your 3 & 5 year old (as of sailing date) will enjoy being together in RCI Radiance Adventure Ocean (Aquanauts)...open not just on sea days but in port also...no charge even late night hours. Our 3year old grandson loved it. Don't overlook this ship option for Alaska.

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  • 3 weeks later...
following this post! We are considering an Alaskan cruise with an almost 2 year old next summer. So other peoples ideas would be helpful

follow ing as well for late July/early August with twins almost 3, 4,7,8,11 and their three sets of parents. All suggestions welcomed for 7 day cruise.

Edited by Junebug624
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follow ing as well for late July/early August with twins almost 3, 4,7,8,11 and their three sets of parents. All suggestions welcomed for 7 day cruise.

 

 

 

Though Princess is the "leader" in Alaska, I would stay away from ships that don't start child care until 3 as the twins won't have a program. I would look at Carnival and other lines that either allow 2 year olds or else have babysitting services available.

 

We waited a year to cruise so that my youngest was old enough for Carnivals camp program. I made for a MUCH more relaxing cruise being able to send him and his brother to camp so that the adults could have down time. There was plenty of family time in the afternoons, meals and shore excursions so it was a great balance.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

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Since you are five people, have you considered taking along another family member or babysitter so you can fully participate with the 6 & 4 year old.

 

We are 3, and taking Grandma along for the 7 year old! It did make picking a itinerary a little easier. The 7 can go to the kids club, and Grandma is excited to hang out with him too (different states normally). Plus, they have about the same walking stamina...[emoji6]

 

Sent from my SM-G900P using Tapatalk

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  • 4 weeks later...
Interested in this thread as we are planning an alaska cruise with the family, incuding what will be a 3 year old and a nearly 6 year old. My TA suggested Celebrity because they have kids club activities for ship days and babysitting (for a fee) for meals and at night. (And because we have cruised them several times in the Caribbean). But I am trying to find info on what Princess has to offer for families with young kids.

 

When I sailed to Alaska 7 years ago, Princess and HAL were generally considered the two strongest lines for Alaska. The Princess kids clubs have much better hours than HAL, and we were much more impressed with their kids club (we sailed on a HAL cruise that had very few children and perhaps that's why others on this board have reported better experiences with HAL's kids club. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't as strong as Princess or NCL. HAL did a solid job of keeping my 3 year old child happy and letting him glue things on paper plates. Princess and NCL had a lot of interesting activities and developmentally appropriate crafts in their kids clubs. You might want to post in the Princess forum, since they have redesigned their kids clubs within the last year, but they used to bring a naturalist on board to talk to the kids about Alaskan wildife and some of the activities were educational and related to Alaska (but this was several years ago so please check with the Princess or Alaska board to see if this is still relevant).

 

We also wait to travel until our kids are old enough for the kids club.

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  • 3 weeks later...

We just did Explorer of the Seas from Seattle to Alaska a few months ago. It was AMAZING. Our 2&3 year old girls came along and loved every minute of it. My older one has said it was her all-time favorite cruise so far.

 

Explorer is a nice ship but does NOT offer Adventure Ocean of kids under 3 like many of Royal Caribbean's fleet does (as other posters have mentioned). They may, however, offer in-room babysitting for a fee depending on availability.

 

I will be posting our videos of our Explorer cruise within the next few weeks to our YouTube channel so keep an eye out!

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  • 4 weeks later...

I've never cruised to Alaska but I have cruise with Princess with my 3 girls. 1st time aged 4 years ,27 months and 6 months. It was very challenging and I was very conscious of the noise they made and the deep pools and 2 of 3 couldn't go in kids club. Went again this year with Princess again ages 8,5,3 and it was AMAZING! They took my 3 yo on a port day (we did an excursion with the older 2- zipline) and they took her to lunch.

 

Whichever line you choose, I'd wait until the youngest was potty trained and could go to kids club. I know some start younger than others. This is all just my opinion from the yearly land or sea trips we take the kids on and I don't think I could vacation without kids club again.

 

Sent from my MotoE2(4G-LTE) using Forums mobile app

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