Alaska with kids (between 8 and 14 years old), which ship if you've sailed recently?

[TravelGirlinDallas]

17 minutes ago, CamaCama said:

Radiance is out just so we go in/out of same port for convenience.  Just priced Brilliance and Ovation. We save $2,500 with Brilliance.  Worth it?

I'm partial to Ovation. However, be sure to continue to price your cruise online between now and your final payment date. Royal had a "kids sail free" sale (12 and under) right before our final payment, and we were able to call and reprice our cruise with our son's fare removed, which saved us $$$$.

[CamaCama]

3 minutes ago, TravelGirlinDallas said:

I'm partial to Ovation. However, be sure to continue to price your cruise online between now and your final payment date. Royal had a "kids sail free" sale (12 and under) right before our final payment, and we were able to call and reprice our cruise with our son's fare removed, which saved us $$$$.

It's mid-June so I doubt it but I always check daily for price changes once we book! 🙂 

[TravelGirlinDallas]

2 minutes ago, CamaCama said:

It's mid-June so I doubt it but I always check daily for price changes once we book! 🙂 

Our cruise was in mid-July, right in the middle of the summer, so I was really surprised when I was able to get that deal. You never know!

[CamaCama]

4 minutes ago, TravelGirlinDallas said:

Our cruise was in mid-July, right in the middle of the summer, so I was really surprised when I was able to get that deal. You never know!

Oh wow! Nice! The current kids sail free that started today doesn't include it but i'll be sure to check.  

[Ret MP]

3 hours ago, CamaCama said:

It's mid-June so I doubt it but I always check daily for price changes once we book! 🙂 

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/best-price-guarantee-policy

 

What is the Royal Caribbean Best Price Guarantee Program?

A

 

 

Spot a better price on your booked cruise?

Our Best Price Guarantee lets you take advantage of a better price within 48 hours from the time you booked— just give us a call or use our online form. You’ll receive the difference as a non-refundable onboard credit inside final payment or rate adjustment outside final payment.

For more information on the Cruise with Confidence Best Price Guarantee for sailings booked on or before March 31, 2022, that depart on or before September 30, 2022, click here.

 

[thrifty99]

17 hours ago, CamaCama said:

Radiance is out just so we go in/out of same port for convenience.  Just priced Brilliance and Ovation. We save $2,500 with Brilliance.  Worth it?

That’s a tough one.  $2,500 pays for a lot of excursions and may allow you to do an extra special excursion.  Maybe a family helicopter ride to a glacier you couldn’t afford if paying more for Ovation. 
 

Since you sailed on Odyssey and didn’t like it then maybe take the savings and try Brilliance. You are out on excursions a lot with Alaska sailings.  Out of curiosity, what didn’t you like about Odyssey?  Did your kids not like it?  Smaller ships like Brilliance usually not favored by kids. 
 

In summary, if $$ not an issue and won’t hold you back from doing any excursions I’d still choose Ovation as more to do and a great cold weather ship. If the $$ savings will allow you to do a “once in a lifetime” family excursion in Alaska, that will be more memorable in 5 years than bumper cars and shows. 

[CamaCama]

1 hour ago, thrifty99 said:

That’s a tough one.  $2,500 pays for a lot of excursions and may allow you to do an extra special excursion.  Maybe a family helicopter ride to a glacier you couldn’t afford if paying more for Ovation. 
 

Since you sailed on Odyssey and didn’t like it then maybe take the savings and try Brilliance. You are out on excursions a lot with Alaska sailings.  Out of curiosity, what didn’t you like about Odyssey?  Did your kids not like it?  Smaller ships like Brilliance usually not favored by kids. 
 

In summary, if $$ not an issue and won’t hold you back from doing any excursions I’d still choose Ovation as more to do and a great cold weather ship. If the $$ savings will allow you to do a “once in a lifetime” family excursion in Alaska, that will be more memorable in 5 years than bumper cars and shows. 

That's what I'm thinking, take that money and do awesome excursions at all 3 ports. 

We were on odyssey in Nov 2021 to mexico.  It's a very indoor focused ship which is why I think they would enjoy Ovation in alaska but in warm weather there were no water slides, not enough pools, splash pad area was small/boring, no mini golf, and we missed the boardwalk on that type of sailing.

[thrifty99]

58 minutes ago, CamaCama said:

That's what I'm thinking, take that money and do awesome excursions at all 3 ports. 

We were on odyssey in Nov 2021 to mexico.  It's a very indoor focused ship which is why I think they would enjoy Ovation in alaska but in warm weather there were no water slides, not enough pools, splash pad area was small/boring, no mini golf, and we missed the boardwalk on that type of sailing.

Got it - I’m definitely an Oasis Class person too. Love the big ships with so much to do and unique spaces like Boardwalk and Central Park. 
 

I think spending the $$$ on some unique Alaska excursions is the way to go. If you think a helicopter excursion onto a glacier would be fun, book it early. Those were all filled by the time we booked our cruise. 

[Tree_skier]

I'd highly recommend Ovation.  We sailed her at the end of August to Alaska and loved her. A previous poster said they couldn't recommend her.  Whatever those issues were they have been resolved.  The crew was fantastic, I never ran into any short suppled items and the entertainment and activities vastly exceed what you will find on the smaller ships. While  I'm sure that the kids will enjoy either one they will enjoy Ovation more.

[CamaCama]

5 hours ago, thrifty99 said:

Got it - I’m definitely an Oasis Class person too. Love the big ships with so much to do and unique spaces like Boardwalk and Central Park. 
 

I think spending the $$$ on some unique Alaska excursions is the way to go. If you think a helicopter excursion onto a glacier would be fun, book it early. Those were all filled by the time we booked our cruise. 

Not sure I could ever get in a helicopter lol but definitely want to do dog sledding, glacier hiking, train ride, local restaurants, etc.

[thrifty99]

20 minutes ago, CamaCama said:

Not sure I could ever get in a helicopter lol but definitely want to do dog sledding, glacier hiking, train ride, local restaurants, etc.

I understand. We enjoyed the train ride in Skagway.

[Ret MP]

A side not here:

 

I'm not usually a big fan of the usual tourist traps,  But, one I enjoyed a lot more than I though I would is the Red Dog Saloon in Juneau.  If you select an itinerary that includes Juneau, I recommend it.  Don't get me wrong here, there isn't really any one thing that is all that great, it's just the whole experience.  Just watch your step while walking around in the place, really thick sawdust or whatever it was on the floor.  

 

The Duck Farts aren't bad, either.

[T-2]

CamaCama, I'm a little late answering you, its been one of those weeks... but for his favorite excursions, this is over 4 Alaska cruises, the first and 4th cruise he did the Deadliest Catch crab boat in Ketchikan.  It was even better the 2nd time and we thought it was amazing the first.  An easy 5 min walk from the ship which gave us the morning free for shopping and exploring Ketchican, one of our favorite ports. 

We have done the helicopter dog sledding on a glacier out of Skagway and tried to do it again our 2nd trip but weather makes that extremely ify- it is good to have a backup- first cruise it was spectacular, 3rd cruise it was canceled the first week of Aug because the weather was already too warm.  It has a super short season.  But Awesome. 

We did the train in Skagway our 2nd trip and loved it but didn't repeat it this time because they had to shorten it due to the damage to the train tracks, if they get it fixed that is a nice trip but better when he was younger and thrilled with trains. 

In Juno there are some incredible whale watching trips but we skip it because we love seeing them down in Puerto Vallarta- but have heard great things if you don't already live near an active whale area. 

Besides the flowrider and the bumper cars, especially teen/tween takeover :0)  he also loved the indoor pool, IFly and the North Star.  Plus the rare chance of being on a Quantum class as they normally were not on our west coast. super glad we went, next we are taking on the Wonder of the Seas, he wants to do All the Oasis class... insatiable cruise lover.  But I love Royal for all the things they have for family memories- irreplacable.   Just know port excursions can run into snags, the ship is the destination too.  Have a great cruise

[Spurschick]

Honestly I’d save the money and go with the cheapest option. 
have taken DD to Alaska twice, fist time in 2006 way before the big fancy let’s put bumper cars on ships, and neither time did she have an issue enjoying the ship. Why  - because when we were not in port she was hanging out with other kids she met in Adventure Ocean. Neither ship we did in Alaska was a new ship and she thoroughly enjoyed herself. (Fwiw she just turned 21 and has sailed on RC since she was 8months old and never complained about a ship)

Edited October 7, 2022 by Spurschick

[CamaCama]

On 10/7/2022 at 12:19 AM, T-2 said:

CamaCama, I'm a little late answering you, its been one of those weeks... but for his favorite excursions, this is over 4 Alaska cruises, the first and 4th cruise he did the Deadliest Catch crab boat in Ketchikan.  It was even better the 2nd time and we thought it was amazing the first.  An easy 5 min walk from the ship which gave us the morning free for shopping and exploring Ketchican, one of our favorite ports. 

We have done the helicopter dog sledding on a glacier out of Skagway and tried to do it again our 2nd trip but weather makes that extremely ify- it is good to have a backup- first cruise it was spectacular, 3rd cruise it was canceled the first week of Aug because the weather was already too warm.  It has a super short season.  But Awesome. 

We did the train in Skagway our 2nd trip and loved it but didn't repeat it this time because they had to shorten it due to the damage to the train tracks, if they get it fixed that is a nice trip but better when he was younger and thrilled with trains. 

In Juno there are some incredible whale watching trips but we skip it because we love seeing them down in Puerto Vallarta- but have heard great things if you don't already live near an active whale area. 

Besides the flowrider and the bumper cars, especially teen/tween takeover :0)  he also loved the indoor pool, IFly and the North Star.  Plus the rare chance of being on a Quantum class as they normally were not on our west coast. super glad we went, next we are taking on the Wonder of the Seas, he wants to do All the Oasis class... insatiable cruise lover.  But I love Royal for all the things they have for family memories- irreplacable.   Just know port excursions can run into snags, the ship is the destination too.  Have a great cruise

Thank you so much!!! That is one thing I'm afraid of, this will probably be a one time cruise location for us (alaska) since we live in FL and I hope the excursions we want to do don't get cancelled.  I probably won't tell the kids in advance in case of cancellations.  Have you gone early/mid June?  Is that a good time to go?

[CamaCama]

On 10/7/2022 at 1:42 AM, Spurschick said:

Honestly I’d save the money and go with the cheapest option. 
have taken DD to Alaska twice, fist time in 2006 way before the big fancy let’s put bumper cars on ships, and neither time did she have an issue enjoying the ship. Why  - because when we were not in port she was hanging out with other kids she met in Adventure Ocean. Neither ship we did in Alaska was a new ship and she thoroughly enjoyed herself. (Fwiw she just turned 21 and has sailed on RC since she was 8months old and never complained about a ship)

We're still debating Ovation vs Brilliance.  We will be with family/cousins for the kids so it won't be a big issue if there ship has less to keep them entertained.

[T-2]

CamaCama, we have been twice in early August, then the last 2 years were in late July, I had never done June because they used to have mosquitos if you went too early.  But my brother went in June 2022 and had no mossies, and i never saw any mention of it at all in the threads this year.  I would hesitate to push it to May but I know they did have some nice weather this year in June, the worries with late Aug or early Sept is some of the excursions run into problems with the weather, yet there have been some great sailings even then.  Hopefully the excursions will be more plentiful in 2023, this was a challenging year as they worked to attract employees and get them trained once cruising resumed, I never heard a bad word about any side trips- only lamenting because they were in such short supply or canceled after being booked due to staffing shortages.  

[TwinMamainMN]

We did Radiance northbound, Vancouver to Seward, with our kids in 2018 and loved every second of it. Alaska is about the ports and doing unique excursions IMO. I personally would book the one with the best itinerary (aka Radiance) and use the money you saved towards excursions. Alaska is an expensive cruise no matter how you figure it, but it's not "worth" going if all you will do in each port is walk around the shops and have lunch.

 

Seattle RT didn't interest us because of the short but required stop in Victoria in the late afternoon. Limited time to do anything and the Buchart Gardens are not very close, so travel back and forth eats up a lot of your port time.