jjmminc25 Posted March 22, 2015 #1 Share Posted March 22, 2015 Hi. I am a mother of 3 kids - 6,6,8 year olds. They love animals so I am planning a trip to cruise Alaska. The best options for wildlife viewing and kids friendly ships. I have looked at a lot of old reviews and am confused as to whether I should do: - Disney Wonder (very expensive and not a lot of wildlife encounters) - Norwegian Denali Southbound cruise tour (maybe not kid friendly) - NCL - just a cruise but Pearl does not look to have many wildlife excursions) - Royal Caribbean Radiance of the seas Also could I ask for advice on MUST SEE ports for kids. :) Otherwise I could make Vancouver the place for wildlife. As long as the kids see bears as many time as possible and wolves as well - safely! I would be happy. I have also heard that there are conservation areas for bears etc that you can visit as well as orphaned beer cubs. Any help or hints would be greatly appreciated - I am travelling from New Zealand so it is internet searching only at present. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cdwh1902 Posted March 22, 2015 #2 Share Posted March 22, 2015 Hi. I am a mother of 3 kids - 6,6,8 year olds. They love animals so I am planning a trip to cruise Alaska. The best options for wildlife viewing and kids friendly ships. I have looked at a lot of old reviews and am confused as to whether I should do: - Disney Wonder (very expensive and not a lot of wildlife encounters) - Norwegian Denali Southbound cruise tour (maybe not kid friendly) - NCL - just a cruise but Pearl does not look to have many wildlife excursions) - Royal Caribbean Radiance of the seas Also could I ask for advice on MUST SEE ports for kids. :) Otherwise I could make Vancouver the place for wildlife. As long as the kids see bears as many time as possible and wolves as well - safely! I would be happy. I have also heard that there are conservation areas for bears etc that you can visit as well as orphaned beer cubs. Any help or hints would be greatly appreciated - I am travelling from New Zealand so it is internet searching only at present. Thanks Hi, have you also looked at Princess Cruises - they seem to offer really good cruisetours as well, into the Parks etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmf123 Posted March 22, 2015 #3 Share Posted March 22, 2015 The Radiance of the Seas is a wonderful ship for Alaska, nice size and has three acres of glass for views everywhere- including glass elevators that face the sea. Also a great onboard children's program, Adventure Ocean. CC member jennat posted an amazing review of her 12 days in Alaska in 2011. A Vancouver to Seward cruise on the beautiful Radiance, followed by four days in the Kenai Peninsula. Here is jennat's fun review: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1434211&highlight=radiance+alaska+bear+excursion. And here is her bear video (Katmai National Park in Homer, Alaska): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IuS9mTawJRQ. You may also want to peruse the Alaska Ports of Call forum, lots of info on shore excursions: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=55. And as a previous poster suggested, you may want to consider booking a cruisetour (Royal Caribbean, Princess) to see Denali Park, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare geoherb Posted March 23, 2015 #4 Share Posted March 23, 2015 We saw the most wildlife when we took a cruise tour that started in Fairbanks. It was five nights on land before our cruise. One of the stops included an Alaskan wildlife sanctuary where they rehabilitated injured animals. On our round-trip cruises from Seattle, we managed to spot lots of eagles and other birds, whales, and a few mountain sheep. We did not see any bears. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DRS/NC Posted March 23, 2015 #5 Share Posted March 23, 2015 Please remember that seeing wild animals is never certain. Wild animals will appear when & if the animal chooses. You'll probably see eagles & whales from the ship, but bears, moose & others -- who knows. If you visit Seward, there's a lovely aquarium near the port. There are also various farms/sanctuaries is Fairbanks & Anchorage, but you'd have to do a land tour in addition to the cruise. The kids can also appreciate glaciers, mountains, rivers & forests. Have fun! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6rugrats Posted March 23, 2015 #6 Share Posted March 23, 2015 On our Alaska cruise (Vancouver to Anchorage) last year, the only animals we saw in the wild were birds and fish. I see more bears, deer and elk by my house then we saw in Alaska. We didn't take any specific wildlife viewing excursions though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Essiesmom Posted March 23, 2015 #7 Share Posted March 23, 2015 We did a r/t Princess cruise two years ago. Vancouver-Whittier-Vancouver. On the turnaround day in Whittier, we took a ships tour that stopped at the wildlife refuge which was quite interesting. I think you would also get this if you did a cruise that ended in Whittier and took the ship's transfer 'with tour' to Anchorage. EM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LOVINCRUIZIN Posted March 23, 2015 #8 Share Posted March 23, 2015 I am a single mother booking Alaska this summer for myself and my two kids (10,13). With the great deals I have been offered, I will be using Carnival. Have a great time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruiseryyc Posted March 23, 2015 #9 Share Posted March 23, 2015 Just a note on travelling as a single parent. In case you didn't already know this, you will need to have a letter from the children's other parent giving you permission to take the children outside of your country. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AKman2495 Posted March 23, 2015 #10 Share Posted March 23, 2015 I can tell you that the best place to see animals is on some type of cruise tour. There is a wildlife center near Portage that has many animals for safe viewing. Also, the Alaska zoo in Anchorage is good for safe viewing of animals. I know Princess has some tours in certain ports for animal viewing, but a lot depends on the time of year you are coming. The problem with a cruise is that the animals tend not to be where the ships are. So, it have to get away from ports to see them in nature, if you are lucky. Or, as I said, you can extend the cruise to the south-central area, Anchorage, Fairbanks, which has the best opportunities for seeing animals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AKman2495 Posted March 23, 2015 #11 Share Posted March 23, 2015 You should also check out the Alaska board at http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=55 There is a lot of info there that can help you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texas Tillie Posted March 23, 2015 #12 Share Posted March 23, 2015 As someone who has done 2 cruisetours to Alaska, don't even think of taking young children on a cruisetour. The tours require as much as 8 hours plus at a time on a bus or a train. Kids would be miserable. If you want to do the land portion, rent a car so that you control when and where you go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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