Alaska with 7, 6, 4 year olds. HELP!

[mscg2000]

We are planning on a cruise in summer 2112 and would like your advice regarding accommodations. If you've traveled with 3 young kids, how did you do it? Family room, adjoining, across the hall? What are the pros and cons of the different possibilities?

 

Also, which cruise line would you recommend? We would prefer a round trip cruse for financial reasons.

[cb at sea]

I would want connecting cabins...one for the kids and their messes, and one for hubby and myself. You're only a step away, but in the same space and you can shut (not lock) the connecting door for some privacy at night. The kids are closer to you in a connecting cabin than in their own bedrooms at home!

Unless they were older teens, I wouldn't do the "across the hall" thing....and I simply would NOT want to have to share the same space for an entire week....connecting rooms, it would be!

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Princess is very big there

[jac1976]

We leave in 10 days for our Alaska cruise on the Sapphire Princess, round trip out of Seattle. I have a 6 year old boy and 3.5 year old girl. I'd be glad to give you a report on our experience when we return.

 

Many people say that when cruising Alaska, it should be more about the itinerary and that you should be sure to get a cruise that goes to Glacier Bay. I preferred to do a round trip cruise for various reasons, and chose the Sapphire Princess.

 

We looked at Disney as well, but the cruise was going to be $5K more expensive, and we just did Disney in March, so I felt fine passing. A big complaint about their 2012 itinerary is also the fact that the time in port was shortened by quite a bit.

 

Another thing to note (which clearly did not change my decision to take my kids to Alaska) is that your choices for excursions are limited, especially when taking children under 5. As I said, it didn't stop us, and I am excited about the excursions we have planned, and my kids can't wait.

[chipmaster]

I've done a family room on Disney, nice arrangment. That being said, Disney scenic cruising is Tracy Arm, not the best, but okay. Ports are the same, but part of Alaska is the scenic cruising. Not of any value to why I would choose cruising Disney in Alaska.

 

I for one would pick HAL, Princess, NCL or even Carnival for a Glacier Bay/Hubbard scenic cruising and live with 4 to two inside cabin, two outside, inside/outside. Probably wouldn't do the suite thing as pretty expensive versus the other options.

 

Some people live to cruise in spacious balcony suites, I cruise for the moving hotel, ports/excursion, 3 sitdown meals, kids club and all the fun stuff. While a view cabin or privacy with my SO is nice, not the priority.

 

I've done kids with me in a stacked /bunk and inside, it's tight. With small children its doable, always a balance between value, budget and what is important.

 

I for one would sacrifice a suite or balcony for taking them on a great excusion. In Alaska there is a lot of free deck space for enjoying views day and night and during the scenic cruising, just insure everyone dresses accordingly. Actually more fun a bit nippy and wet, as it feels real too!

 

That being said I would book two cabins adjoining, across and put me in one with a couple kids and my SO in the other with the 3rd with the view. Now whether we end up having all the kids sleep togather and we sleep in the other depends on the maturity and sleeping patterns of your kids :D We dids this for our Alaska cruise and enjoyed the early light and late daylight togather and our kids slept in in the "inside." Saved money and had best of both worlds, YMMV.

 

If value is the focus, roundtrip, inside two rooms and use the savings for excursion. Just be aware some of them may be limited given your child's age, or you can leave them on the ship.

 

 

We are planning on a cruise in summer 2112 and would like your advice regarding accommodations. If you've traveled with 3 young kids, how did you do it? Family room, adjoining, across the hall? What are the pros and cons of the different possibilities?

 

Also, which cruise line would you recommend? We would prefer a round trip cruse for financial reasons.

[Marie51]

I have traveled with 3 young children and we always get connecting cabins....the ones that have a door actually in the room that connects the 2 rooms. You can put the kids to bed and close the door. You will have to book one adult in each cabin but once on the ship they don't care where everyone sleeps. You have the advantage of 2 bathrooms, 2 closets and extra drawer space. I would not put such young children across the hall.

Connecting cabins usually book fast so secure them once you've made your decision.

[Essiesmom]

Celebrity Infinity cruise R/T from Seattle and the M class of Celebrity have wonderful Family Verandah (FV) cabins for five with balconies as big as the cabin. EM

[Backstage Traveler]

We have cruised several times with our 3 children at various ages. They are now aged 9, 7 and 5. As you probably know, the biggest problem is finding accomodation in one room or suite for 5 passengers. On many lines, even the largest suites only accomodate 4.

 

We have found that NCL has the best choices when it comes to accomodating a family of 5. The family suites or villas can accomodate 5 (now up to 6, I think), and these are 2 bedroom suites so you can put the kids all together in the smaller bedroom (one bed is an upper pulldown from the wall, so put the older one there), and you get a beautiful large bedroom-bathroom combo, with butler and concierge service too. My only complaint with these suites is that the balcony is very small.

 

Otherwise, we have had to book two connecting cabins, and this works really well too, only it is often more expensive than booking the family suite on NCL (we usually book balconies). I would not do across the hall for two reasons: 1) they are too young to leave alone. 2) I want my husband to be with me in OUR room, not across the hall!

 

Princess has a family room, but they have always been sold out whenever I tried to book one. RCCL has some family suites, but they have either been sold out or way too expensive for us to book. HAL does not have any suites able to accomodate 5 that I could find. Celebrity does have some, as mentioned above, but never available when we want them. NCL almost always seems to end up being our choice, since they have so many more cabins that can sleep 5, there is always one available for us. I believe the Pearl sails RT out of Seattle, and also goes to Glacier Bay, a must-see in Alaska.

 

For excursions: our kids loved the lumberjack show in Ketchikan, and the gold panning in Juneau (review here). They also sat through the White Pass train ride in Skagway, but we needed lots of toys and other stuff to keep them quiet through the whole thing here. The scenery was beautiful, though, and it was worth the extra trouble! (review & pics here).

 

Good luck!

[sacway]

We are home today from a week in AK, RT from Seattle, with our three children ages 9, 9 (twin girls) and 5 1/2 (boy). We have cruised many times in all sorts of accommodations as a couple but are just starting our "family cruising" stage. This is our second cruise with our kids.

 

For this latest trip we booked a 2-bedroom suite on the NCL Star. For us, this was cheaper than booking two rooms, based on the weeks we were able to travel (children's school schedules and my work schedule) but also something we wanted to try. With this suite we got oodles of closet space, a very comfy master suite (bed and bath), a small 2nd bedroom and bath, which could sleep three (but because we are boys & girls, the girls got this room), and a big-enough living/dining room with a small balcony. These have a convertible couch that our little guy slept on. Unlike the many lumpy hide-a-bed couches he's already endured in life, this sofa flips over into a real bed, very comfy, and nice linens.

 

One of the unexpected high points of this trip were family dinners ordered in, rather than taking the kids to the ships' restaurants (did that too, a couple of nights). This suite had a card-table-sized table that we were able to sit five around, nicely. This one plus has me looking at the same suite for our next holiday.

 

NCL Star also has a set of new "family" cabins, they are undivided space with a single bath. We did another cruise in one of those. It is cheaper than the 2 BR suite, and there are more on the ship, so easier to book. But there was a shortage of storage, and no balcony, and really nowhere to get away from each other. My son, an early riser, would wake everyone else so I had to get up with him early and go out to allow others to sleep. This time, he could get up and play quietly by himself while each of the rooms woke up on its own schedule.

[sacway]

OP didn't ask, but let me offer that another high point was our trip on the "fast ferry" to Haines, the day we were in Skagway. The 9 year olds in particular loved being out on deck watching the scenery (in addition to views, we saw lots of eagles and seals) and once we arrived it was a relatively short walk (maybe 10 minutes strolling) to the city's children's playground, which was one of the better ones we've been to, very large and we enjoyed a break from the 10,000 people crowding the streets of Skagway (four big ships in town that day.)

[jimswims]

My kids are older but I really love the 2 bedroom/2 bathroom suites on NCL, category SC. The Pearl does the roundtrip from Seattle on Sundays and does spend a day in Glacier Bay. It was an awesome day for us. Next Year the Jewel will be doing the itinerary that the Star presently is doing. They also have the SC suites but goes to Tracy Arm and not Glacier Bay.

 

Having a butler bring meals to the suite may be one of the best perks for a family. There is plenty of space in the suite at almost 600 sq. feet. I cannot say enough about these suites.

 

Good luck with your search.