Alaska cruise and kids

[lakes123]

We have 8 and 11 yr old boys and are considering an Alaskan cruise. We were wondering whether they would find it interesting enough and would they be able to swim on the ship?

[Keith1010]

Welcome to cruise critic.

 

You can get a lot of good information on the Alaska Port Of Call Board.

 

It might be cool for swimming but since the pools are heated they might be able to do it.

 

You can plan a number of nice things in the ports that they should like.

 

When our children were the ages of your children we did to consecutive Alaska cruises with them over a two year period and they enjoyed them.

 

While young we did Salmon fishing with them in Ketchikan and they both had a very nice time.

 

We also did a salmon bake with them in Juneau and also panned for gold. They enjoyed that too.

 

Keith

[swamp1sg]

There's a variety of excursions. NCL had a very good children's program and most of the shows I think children would enjoy. (I taught that age group for 37 years.) We loved the White Pass Railway in Skagway. Juneau also has a cable ride that goes up to Mt. Roberts. There are many Native American exhibits, especially Sitka.

[chipmaster]

Alaska is wonderful!

 

The kids club are in operation in the summer, and lots of kids on all the mainstream lines. My kids 10 to 16 enjoyed the club, pool for a bit. Maybe its just us, but they enjoyed the shows, bingo, sit down meals, also enjoyed some of the port stuff to, YMMV.

 

We have 8 and 11 yr old boys and are considering an Alaskan cruise. We were wondering whether they would find it interesting enough and would they be able to swim on the ship?

[jasbo49]

From my limited experience, the pool is virtually worthless on an Alaska cruise. The weather is mostly cool and cloudy. And the fact that no one wanted to be outdoors made the indoors more crowded. You could walk around 10 minutes with your food getting cold and still not find a table near the buffet. On a warm weather cruise, lots of people are sitting outside and the crowding isn't so intense.

 

There are some sights and experiences you can get in Alaska that you can't get anywhere else, and only you can guess whether your kids would gravitate toward them. If you and your kids have not been on a cruise yet, I would try something to the warm places first.

 

Jim

[cruisela2012]

I cruised Alaska last summer with a 3 & 6 year old (even younger than your kids). Both boys swam everyday - the pools are heated. I just sat on a chair in a coat with hot chocolate watching them have a blast in the pool. We did the whitepass railway in Skagway; whale watched in Juneau; and saw the lumberjack show in Ketchikan. The kids loved all of it and had a great time telling their friends about the glaciers, whales and even the bear we saw on the railway when we got home - things the other kids had never seen

[SadieN]

Depends on the weather and ship if they can swim in the pools. One year it was t shirt weather and another it was winter jacket weather.

 

Our girls loved snorkeling in Ketchikan.

[GORDONCHICK]

There are ships that have solariums where it would be warmer to swim. Our DS has cruised to Alaska twice - once at 5 and the other at 10. The excursions he enjoyed were whale watching in Juneau (sadly, Have & Marv's doesn't take kids under 13 now unless you charter the whole boat - but there are other independents who do), the DUCK tour in Ketchikan, WPRR in Skagway through Chilkoot, the tram in Juneau, and the Raptor Center in Sitka.

[MrYellowDuck]

We've been on two Alaskan cruises with young children; both on Princess ships.

 

Your kids will love it since there is plenty to do. There's the kids' club option but we've never used this. You'll find kid friendly shore excursions aplenty. Kroschnel Films Wildlife Park is a 100% sure hit with kids and adults and it's medium-priced by cruise standards. Kids love dog mushing too but it's very expensive for a family.

 

You can swim in the pool with certainty so long as there is an indoor pool option and the weather is not extremely rough - both Princess ships we have sailed with to Alaska have had a conservatory with retractable roof that was closed to keep the warmth in. Outside pools may be open (we had one open and one closed) but a significantly higher level of bravery is needed to use them - it may well be freezing cold.

[ajbug]

Depends on the ship so check out the amenities and make sure they work for your kiddos. Typically the bigger the ship the more activities are available for everyone, including kids. I've been to Alaska on RCI's Radiance and Rhapsody and found Radiance to be a little more kid-friendly. They have indoor pools and hot tubs so swimming was an option, although I didn't spend much time swimming.

[dsrdsrdsr]

If the pools are heated, they can swim in them whatever the air temperature. They might just want to be a bit nippy getting out of the pool and into a towel/the cabin. Besides, it won't be that cold in Alaska in the cruise season -they don't sail in the depths of winter.

[rocklinmom]

We just got off the Golden Princess from Alaska two days ago. My kids are similar ages to yours (14, 12, and 8). There were lots of things for them to do and some great family excursions. In Juneau we did the whale watching cruise and Mendenhall Glacier combination tour and loved it, even though it was pouring rain. In Skagway we did the White Pass Railroad (I can't recommend that though because we were all very bored by the second half of that train ride) and the Musher's Sled Dog Camp. The sled dog one was the most fun we had the whole cruise! The kids just loved it, especially the dogsled ride and holding the puppies. In Ketchikan we did an eagle, totem pole and lighthouse catamaran excursion that was very interesting for them too. Lots of wildlife to see and hot chocolate :)

In Victoria we just did a horse carriage ride around town and that was perfect for us.

Don't worry, even though it's cold in Alaska there were still plenty of kids in the swimming pools on the ship. One of the pools on the Golden was covered so that helped. And we had one sunny day for the outdoor pool, which was also heated.

Your family will love Alaska! We had the trip of a lifetime!

[GoBama1]

What port did you use? What cruiseline? We have a 3 yr old grandson and 6 yr old granddaughter that will be another year older when we want to cruise (2013). What things did your kids not like and what was their most enjoyable. Did they get bored?

Thank you.