Recommendations for destinations with almost 5 yr old boy?

[freckles48]

I am starting to plan for a cruise hopefully in summer/fall 2012. It would be for my husband, myself, and our son who will around 5 by then.

 

I like the idea of Alaska (and maybe on DCL since we are Disney fans), but now I'm concerned that it might be either too boring or cold/rainy for our son (we live in Texas). :p

 

Would the Caribbean destinations fun more for pre-schoolers?

 

Also, this is our first cruise, so would we be better off with something shorter, like a Bahamas cruise?

 

Any and all input in much appreciated!!!

[rebeccalouiseagain]

I've done both and it is very nice in Alaska in the summer. Don't chose based on him. He will love either itinerary. Decide which you prefer. if you are beach people- do the Caribbean. If you love wilderness, whales, sea otters and bald eagles do Alaska.

[jac1976]

Honestly, I would look at the excursions and what YOU want to do and see if it will work with your son. We just did an eastern Caribbean on DCL and are going to Alaska in August on Princess. I have found that his age really limits what you can do on excursions. (Many have a minimum age.)

 

DS (turns 6 next month) enjoyed the Disney cruise a lot. He loved going to the kids club. He would wake up and the first thing out of his mouth would be "Can I go to the lab?" We went to St Thomas, St Maarten, and CAstaway Cay (Disney's private island in the bahamas.) DS doesn't swim enough to snorkel, so our choices foe excursions were limited. We did a bus tour/butterfly farm one day (okay, but I wouldn't do it again) and a semi-submarine tour and aquarium another day (DS loved this- the semi-submarine gave him the view underwater to see the fish, coral, etc.) and on CC we just hung at the beach and he played with friends from the kids club.

 

Alaska was a bit trickier with the age limits. Many of the bear/glacier trips have a minimum age of 7. However, my DS likes to be outside (as does my 3yo DD) so again, we have found things that hopefully will work. In one port we are taking a famous train ride and then being met by a private guide. I liked this idea best b/c it gives us the flexibility to stop and explore if the kids get restless. The other ports there are short activities (lumberjack show in one, cookout dinner in the other) but we mostly plan on walking and exploring the town/surroundings. DS and DD love to explore, so this will work well for us.

 

As for length of time, neither of my kids had issues with a 7 day cruise. In fact, my son almost burst into tears the night before the cruise ended b/c when he asked "What island do we go to tomorrow?" I had to explain that we were getting off the boat to go home. He wasn't happy.

[freckles48]

Thank you for the responses. Sounds like we have good options!

[rebeccalouiseagain]

I took my son on a transatlantic cruise and an Alaska cruise when he was five. He honestly didn't know the difference. Kids love cruises. The ships are awesome to kids. They get to sleep with the parents, which is an added bonus for small children. They love the bunk beds. Their enthusiasm is contagious. So any ship will be fine with them.

 

Coming from Texas, an Alaska summer cruise will be literally a breath of fresh air. You honestly don't have to do any excursions in Alaska. The scenery is all around you as you sail up the inside passage. You'll see whales spouting, bald eagles, the occasional bear. Its great.

 

Pools are usually heated so this isn't a problem.

 

In port you will not be hounded by locals to buy crap and you will feel safe to let your son run around like a five year should do. We had fun in playgrounds in each of the ports. He loved to shop and you can actually find cool stuff to buy in Alaska- unlike the junk in the Caribbean. Your son will probably want some reindeer jerky and they have wonderful salmon to sample.

 

Alaska is sweat-free and you aren't all sunburned and sandy coming back to the ship. You'll feel energized by the 20 hours or so of daylight.

 

I've been 4 times. Love it for any age.

[maileenm]

Thank you jac1976 for the info on the butterfly farm and the submarine and aquarium tours. We are in the middle of planning our excursions for Eastern Caribbean with 8 and 4 year old boys.

We have found that there is very little that we can do as family that isn't sightseeing (which the boys won't do) and we were considering the butterfly farm and submarine thing. WE were wary about the butterfly farm and you just confirmed that we won't be going there. I think for St. Maarten we will be splitting up, one of us does something the 8 yr old can do and the other goes with the 4 yr old to a beach or stays on the boat.

[jam82]

I am starting to plan for a cruise hopefully in summer/fall 2012. It would be for my husband, myself, and our son who will around 5 by then.

 

I like the idea of Alaska (and maybe on DCL since we are Disney fans), but now I'm concerned that it might be either too boring or cold/rainy for our son (we live in Texas). :p

 

Would the Caribbean destinations fun more for pre-schoolers?

 

Also, this is our first cruise, so would we be better off with something shorter, like a Bahamas cruise?

 

Any and all input in much appreciated!!!

 

We live in Texas too. We did an Alaskan cruise last summer with our then 3.5 year old son. We loved a little winter weather in the middle of the heat. We went whale watching in Stika (Boring for me, he loved it.), did the float plane and the lumberjack show in Ketchikan. (Both big hits.), took him to town in Juneau where we walked around and rode the tram to top of Mt. Roberts, and then we took him to the gardens in Victoria.

 

I'd do it again, and we might some day, but my DH really prefers the Caribbean. We've taken DS on 13 Caribbean cruises and he's done various activities in the different ports and seemed happy there too. We've also left him in the kids club when we wanted to have an adult day. It works for us.

 

I'm sure your DS will have a great time no matter what you choose. We sailed on HAL to Alaska, but I'm sure Disney would be even more exciting for him. Choose what you want and I'm sure he'll adapt. :-)

[Ashera0]

I have a five-year old too. He is about to go on his first cruise. We live in Los Angeles so we are going to do the Mexican Riveria cruise so that we don't have to fly anywhere. I have been both on Carribean and Alaska cruises BEFORE my kids were born, and I can definitely say that my son would LOVE the Alaska cruise. I would have booked that instead if it weren't for the convenience of the local port her in Los Angeles for the Mexico cruise. The scenery is so interesting in Alaska ... whales, glaciers...my son would love that at his age. You really can't go wrong either way I expect. I would vote for doing what YOU would like to do and what is easiest!