Need advice on excursions with 3-yr old for a Celebrity Cruise

Hello,

This is our first cruise trip. We're booked on an Alaska cruise with Celebrity Solstice departing July 27th. We're a group of 8 that includes 2 sets of grandparents and 2 kids, age 5 and 3.

I contacted Celebrity to start booking shore excursions. I carefully picked ones from their brochure (e.g. https://webapps.celebritycruises.com/excursion-brochure/celebrity/excursions.php?ship=SL&date=2018-07-27&currency=USD#KEA5 ) that basically indicate minimum age is 2 (so I could take my 3-yr old). Unfortunately (and this is very frustrating), the celebrity representative said that their systems cannot book for age under 4 and claim that their online brochure (based on which I made our excursions plan) is either out-of-date or incorrect.

They said that they will likely not be able to override their systems to accommodate reserving excursions for a 3-yr old regardless of what the online brochure says. They recommended I contact 3rd party shore excursions providers.

I'm looking for any advice on how I should tackle this situation.

Also, do you have any recommendations of which shore excursion providers I should contact to make arrangements on my own?

Thank you so much in advance for all your help!

Best,

Noobycruiseman

Can you tell us what ports you would be stopping at? That would be helpful. There might even be things to do you don't need to book anything for. For example, if you are going to Sitka, the National Historical Park might be something you would like to do https://www.nps.gov/sitk/learn/historyculture/totem-poles.htm. We walked all over Sitka with no problem at all. More on Sitka- http://visitsitka.org/things-to-do

Thank you so much.

Yes, absolutely. Here is our the ship's itinerary (can also be found at: https://webapps.celebritycruises.com/excursion-brochure/celebrity/excursions.php?ship=SL&date=2018-07-27&currency=USD#TA01 ):

July 29: Ketchikan (docked from 7am to 4pm)

July 30: Tracy Arm Fjord (docked from 6am to 10am)

July 30: Juneau (docked from 1:30pm to 10pm)

July 31: Skagway (docked from 7am to 6pm)

July 31: Inside Passage (docked from 6:30pm to 10:30pm)

Aug 2: Victoria, British Columbia (docked from 5:30pm to midnight)

I would call back and see if you get the same answer. Sometimes the phone reps are not the best; or ask to speak to a supervisor.

Thank you. I actually did call back and speak to a different rep. I got the same answer. They are just unable to book for anyone under the age of 4 in their systems. I tried booking online myself too and that didn't work for the 3-yr old either. They were just excluded from the reservation.

I will call back and try to speak with the supervisor too. Thank you.

Thank you so much.

 

Yes, absolutely. Here is our the ship's itinerary (can also be found at: https://webapps.celebritycruises.com/excursion-brochure/celebrity/excursions.php?ship=SL&date=2018-07-27&currency=USD#TA01 ):

 

July 29: Ketchikan (docked from 7am to 4pm) The entire family really enjoyed the lumberjack show; you can book it yourself on line.

July 30: Tracy Arm Fjord (docked from 6am to 10am)

July 30: Juneau (docked from 1:30pm to 10pm) While kids and spouses spent the afternoon on a whale watching/Mendenhall Glacier excursion (which we had done a few years ago), DH and I took GD up the tramway to the top of Mt. Roberts. She loved the little nature center (she has one near her home that is a favorite outing), the caged (can't be released following being shot and having one blind eye) eagle, the views (lots of eagles flying by) and the hiking path. Then it was nap time for grandpa and granddaughter.

July 31: Skagway (docked from 7am to 6pm) Mom and Dad took her on a walking/stroller tour of Skagway, had lunch in town and then they went to the lovely children's playground on 6th street. Check out the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park website (https://www.nps.gov/klgo/index.htm) for more ideas on what to do with kids.

July 31: Inside Passage (docked from 6:30pm to 10:30pm)

Aug 2: Victoria, British Columbia (docked from 5:30pm to midnight) Grandpa and I babysat while kids and spouses went to Buchart Gardens (we had already seen them a few years ago).

Welcome to cruise critic!

We just returned from a Princess Alaska cruise (round trip Seattle) last Saturday. My DH and I took our 2 kids, their spouses and our almost 3 1/2 year old granddaughter. I've noted in red what we did with her in each port. At her age she still naps - plus we were dealing with jet lag coming from the east coast - so we didn't do any formal (ship or private) excursions with her.

I don't know if you are embarking in Vancouver or Seattle but both cities have lovely aquariums if you have time to spend.

Thank you so much.

 

Yes, absolutely. Here is our the ship's itinerary (can also be found at: https://webapps.celebritycruises.com/excursion-brochure/celebrity/excursions.php?ship=SL&date=2018-07-27&currency=USD#TA01 ):

 

July 29: Ketchikan (docked from 7am to 4pm). I heard good things about the Lumberjack Show, but the same company runs it in Wisconsin. We did the Alaska Crab Tour on the Aleutian Ballad from the Deadliest Catch. She only does tours now. Unfortunately only for 5 and above. Our kids were middle school and up.

July 30: Tracy Arm Fjord (docked from 6am to 10am) Sorry, we went to Glacier Bay, but our trip did have a naturalist/ranger come on board. Was very good.

July 30: Juneau (docked from 1:30pm to 10pm) We went to Mendenhall as well and grabbed a shuttle on the pier. We also did a whale watching tour. Plenty private groups. I would think they would take a 3 year old as we took a 3 year old whale watching in Hawaii, not that he got much out of it but being sea sick! :)

July 31: Skagway (docked from 7am to 6pm) Our trip didn't go here, but we were thinking of a trip that did. The White Pass train was on the list. Expensive, but will do 3 year olds.

July 31: Inside Passage (docked from 6:30pm to 10:30pm)

Aug 2: Victoria, British Columbia (docked from 5:30pm to midnight) We walked around here, stopped at the Fairmount. Walked through gardens. Didn't book anything here at all.

Hope this helps.

I would avoid the train ride in Skagway. Boring for a 3 y/o, 1-1/2 hr up, same back. If you chose to do the bus one way and train the other, she would need a passport. Skagway is a small town with wide streets and lots of space to run and burn off energy. EM

It's possible they won't book it because of liability and/or child car seat requirements. I don't know what Alaska's requirements are in public vehicles like buses or taxis, but it might be worth checking out.

Thank you all so much for your responses!

Thank you all, once again for your responses. It's been really helpful.

I also contacted them back and it turns out that shore excursions are free for 3-yr old so long as the excursion itself is open to 3-yr olds. Some of their reps aren't aware of this.

Details here: https://webapps.celebritycruises.com/excursion-brochure/celebrity/excursions.php?ship=SL&date=2018-07-27&currency=USD#general-information

Excerpt:

CHILDREN'S PRICING: Children's tickets are available for many tours. Pricing will vary according to age. Please refer to pricing scale below:

• Ages 0-3 – Free

• Ages 4-12 – Child Pricing

• Ages 13 and over – Adult Pricing

You might also try booking on line yourself. Also, if you can take the Tracy Arm Fjord excursion on the catamaran. Not a problem for an infant and a great excursion. You get up closer to the Glacier than the ship does and when we went on our way back saw lots of wildlife.

Thank you!

We would have loved to go on the Tracy Arm Fjord excursion, but it is sold out. I'll try my luck with a waitlist but am not so hopeful given that it's so popular.

Oh, and yes! After the clarification that it's free for 3-yr olds, I did book a whale watching cruise excursion online.

Uhhhhh.... I wouldn't recommend the Tracy Arm Fjord excursion for a 3yo. I took it last year (great excursion), but the problem is that it's a 30-45 minute bumpy boat ride from Juneau to the entrance. Once you are in the Fjord, no problem, but I do remember on the boat ride back checking my GPS map on my phone (note: I had pre-downloaded the map for offline use) to see how close we are to the ship. Both my mother and I were under the weather that day too.