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Cruising with 1yr old and 6 yr old, what cruise line offer the best balance?


mkkao924
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We are planning a family Alaska cruise, and so far we are interested with the following line / ship:

 

RCCL - Radiance of the Seas

Celebrity - Millennium

Princess - Coral Princess

Princess - Star Princess

Princess - Island Princess

Princess - Golden Princess

Holland America - Westerndam

Holland America - Noordam

 

What line / ship offers infant babysitting service (either in-stateroom or in kids center), have you used it before?

What line offers the good/better kids program?

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The coral princess is a Panamax ship and because it is narrower I'd been told on the Alaska board it could get closer to some of the glaciers on the scenic viewing days, and princess does a great job in Alaska. Princess used to let children under 3 visit the kids club with parental supervision, but they redesigned the kids club and their website no longer mentions this option. You might want to contact them to see if this is still an option.

 

 

I'd pick rc for the nursery (just double check if you choose a different ship since not all rc ships have a nursery).

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Our kids were older but my youngest still in the kids program when we were in Alaska on Princess. He loved it!

 

From my research many seem to feel that Princess does Alaska best. A caribe balcony gives tons of space both covered and uncovered. HAL has a reputation for having a more mature crowd and for us Alaska was an older demographic to start.

 

Check the RCI ship to see what it offers for babysitting.

 

PS - we waited til my youngest was old enough for kids club before we cruised so I have zero actual experience with infants. We opted for land vacations because it seemed easier. But more power to you!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

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It's good to know all ships offer kids program, even HAL?

 

I agree that right now HAL and Princess seems to offer the best itinerary for Alaska, and RCCL probably has the best kids / infant program.

 

We took Caribbean cruise when DD was 4 years old and she loved it. So I know she will have a good time again if we take RCCL.

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I would base my decision on what the 6 yr. old needs and wants, vs. the baby. Few if any ships offer services for children that young, and they won't remember the trip anyway. The 6 yr. old will.

 

Yes, HAL has a kids' club - Club HAL - and HAL attracts a lot of family groups in Alaska. Have a great cruise regardless of which line you choose.

 

Roz

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  • 4 weeks later...

We just returned from Alaska on HAL's Nieuw Amsterdam. We picked it for the itinerary but found the onboard experience very dull. We found ourselves dreading the sea days, as there was very little to do. Our son is 10 - not a baby - and there wasn't much for him to do on the ship. The covered pool was not heated, so even the kids didn't want to swim. Why even have a pool with a roof on an Alaska cruise if you're not planning to heat the pool? The kids' club (the tween area) was in a dark room and very uninviting. The counselors did not do a lot to reach out to our son, greet him, or act excited so he would want to go! There was no upbeat, smiling face greeting kids at the door. They had x-boxes but we were told the kids were only allowed to use them at night-even on a sea day. Unclear why. We couldn't blame our son for not wanting to go to Club HAL. I should add that we are older parents (late 40s and 50s) and we, too, were bored with the ship's activities and entertainment. We had been on two Celebrity cruises and loved them. We found Celebrity to be very family friendly with a really happening kids club. Bottom line: I would not choose HAL again and wouldn't recommend it to other families. Just one person's opinion.

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