Help! Alaska Cruise for wildlife with kids - single parent

[jjmminc25]

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

[cdwh1902]

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.

[jmf123]

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.

[geoherb]

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.

[DRS/NC]

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!

[6rugrats]

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.

[Essiesmom]

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

[LOVINCRUIZIN]

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!

[cruiseryyc]

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.

[AKman2495]

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.

[AKman2495]

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.

[Texas Tillie]

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.