Best cruise line for Alaska cruise with young teens

[cheltx]

Planning cruise June 2010 with 2 grandparents, 2 parents and 2 young teens, girl 12 interested in crafts, boy 14 interested in sports/music. Is there a cruise line that offers programs while at sea that would interest these two? What cruise line offers amenities most appealing to this age group? Thanks for your help.

[karatemom2]

We have a 10 year old daughter and 15 year old son and they both very much enjoy Princess. We have been on several Princess cruises now and have found their programs for kids and teens consistently very good. They have some wonderful Alaska itineraries as well and the ships are lovely with great food, service, and activities so everyone in your group will have a wonderful time.

[lorilea]

We sailed on the Carnival Spirit in July 09 with our daughter 12 and son 14. In the Circle C group for 12 - 14 yr olds, she said there weren't any crafts (other than painting a t-shirt towards the end of the week). The younger groups had crafts though. They played card games, basketball and mini golf. They also had Wii Tournaments and Singstar contests.

They both loved the kids group and raced through their dinners so they could get to the group every evening.

There were only 17 kids in the group - mostly boys.

[gertz]

Our experience. Grand daughter 12 month shy of 13. Took her to Alaska three days land train to Whittier. Coral Princess. Her aunt and uncle were also on that cruise.

Being 12 she could not participate in the 13 and up category. So that ended that part, but there were only 20 kids on the cruise anyway.

Turns out the kids facilities were never needed. Between the scenery, swimming, shopping, tours, pizza and hamburgers, dressing for dinner every night, and the shows after dinner. There was no time for kids activities.

Grand daughters words, I like this I hooked on cruising.

She went back to Alaska this year and so did we.

One of our best cruises.

[Budget Queen]

None of the Alaska cruises are going to be jumping with a lot of activites, comparing to the Caribbean. I also would not base my priority on "kids" activities, as all the major lines will offer programs.

 

I agree, that at their ages, with traveling Alaska, get their input into this trip??? Involve them in the planning, ports, activities in Alaska.

[Fogfog]

We are traveling with 14 and 17 yr old boys for our cruise...

with excursions etc it will be pretty busy...we are 3 generations as well.

 

Using Regent because its a smaller ship and the itinerary is good...want to be able to get into the smaller ports.

 

IF I had all the $$ in the world and it was my choice--I'd go Nat'l Geog.

because of the ship, scientists and excursions.

[the2006Junket]

Cheltx,

 

I don't think you can make a poor choice on the ships sailing Alaska. And all the ships have programs for tweens and teens, it really will depend on how many kids are sailing your week as to how active and vigorous the activity is. While we, too considered Regent and Nat'l Geo (which the parents in our group would've preferred), we predicted that our teens would really enjoy all the variety of shipboard fun only a larger ship could provide. We were a group of 5 families traveling together. Among the larger ships, we considered all the lines and ships. This group had previously sailed on Celebrity in Europe. We knew that we wanted a one week southbound voyage that included either Hubbard or Glacier Bay. Beyond that criteria, we ended up choosing based on the ship.

 

Obviously, your days (except for any sea days) are filled with whatever exciting excursions or activities you plan, but we wanted the kids to have fun at night too (so that we could : )) The Radiance had a teen program, which our gang of teens participated in only a few times, because they had friends in our group and quickly made new ones. They definitely made great use of the ship, especially the basketball court for late afternoon and evening basketball and soccer games, they also rock-climbed, mini golfed, worked out in the gym, swam in the Solarium pool or sat in the hot tubs, watched movies in the theater, went to karaoke and enjoyed eating and eating! Sometimes they would hang in one of our suites, play cards, watch a movie and order the complimentary room services.

 

We found the Radiance to be a great fit for our group of teens. The staff was fantastic, service excellent and food very good. The staff and other passengers were very family-friendly. If we were sailing as a group of adults, we would've made likely a different choice (more high-end), but we have found that if the kids aren't happy and busy, then we're not going to have as good a time.

 

Happy planning!!

 

Lynne