Alaskan Cruise?

[moogie14a]

Hello,

 

My family is considering a cruise to Alaska in 2012. We've been on several Caribbean cruises. For some reason I'm not as excited @ the prospect of cruising from Seattle to Alaska.

 

A little bit about ourselves, two kids 7 & 4 @ the time of the cruise, we are in our late 30's.

 

Thoughts?

 

Thanks.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Alaska is a great place to go we have been there twice

[paul929207]

An Alaskan cruise is different than a Caribbean one. In Alaska, the scenery is spectacular.

[cruisequeen4ever]

As an Alaskan and a 3 time Alaska cruiser, I highly recommend it! BUT, you must do the 1 way Gulf of Alaska cruise to see the most Alaska! I recommend the Northbound because you work your way to the most beautiful part, Glacier Bay. Enjoy; this is a state full of insane scenery and extreme wildlife!

[shepp]

That's not really enough info to know whether you would enjoy an Alaskan cruise or not.

 

If what you enjoy most about the Caribbean is sitting on a beach, playing in the sand and/or shopping, probably not. I'm on my 3rd cruise up in a couple of weeks. My partner and I enjoy hiking, wildlife- and bird-spotting, and being in mountainous environs, so Alaska's a no-brainer for us. And yes, the scenery is spectacular. But there's a lot of it, and often a good number of sea days. There are plenty of kid-friendly activities in ports (and onboard, of course), but 4 seems kinda young to be wowed by days of glacier-watching.

[karatemom2]

Alaska is exceptionally beautiful and we have done both the roundtrip Seattle and one way cruise and either way you will find it a memorable experience. We also have two children, so I will offer some advice Mom to Mom.

 

Alaska is great for kids, but as enraptured as I am by the scenery, kids can tire of it more quickly than adults so I have found that with children the key is to look for more active pursuits. We have gone hiking, fishing, whale watching, bear watching to name a few. There are also some great cultural and historical opportunities that interest kids involving native cultures and the Gold Rush history. The train in Skagway is great if your children enjoy trains, but we just did the train up one way and drove back with a stops along the way to break up the trip. Seeing the husky puppies is always a big hit with kids.

 

The scenery is amazing, but there is much to enjoy in Alaska that will appeal to all ages and I think if you keep your kids' interests and temperments in mind when you plan your cruise you will find it is a destination they will love.

[Watson's aunt]

Hi I just got off Holland American 14 day cruise to Alaska. I talked to a few people with children. Holland American has a great program for children. do not be surprised if your children only see you for breakfast and dinner or to go to bed. The childen I talked to have a great time. Some kids went ashore with parents. go over to Holland American site I was on the Amsterdam June 10-24

[Backstage Traveler]

We have recently come back from a 1 week cruise to Alaska from Vancouver aboard the Zuiderdam. We did the cruise with our three kids, ages 9, 7 and 5, and my brother who was with us had his 1 year old son. We did see plenty of families on board, and while our kids didn't go to the Kids Club (they never do), I have heard that it is very good.

 

The star of a cruise to Alaska is the amazing scenery, and naturally, little kids don't care about that very much. However, there are plenty of interesting excursions for them to do, like gold panning (we took our kids in Juneau, and they really loved it - see story here), the White Pass train in Skagway (fun to stand outside on the platform while the train is zooming through the mountains!), and the Lumberjack show in Ketchikan.

 

If you don't feel excited about an Alaskan cruise, is it because you think it might be boring? We were a little worried about this, since we had gone once before, but in fact, we all agree that this second Alaskan cruise was as good, if not better than the last, and the kids had a good time also. (Of course, they didn't care too much about the beautiful views we had of the Margerie Glacier in Glacier Bay - see photo at the end of this blogpost - but they kept busy in other ways!)