May 2024 with kids - Norway or Alaska

[mtsublueraider]

Looking at doing our first Alaska or Europe cruise next May. Any advice on which one would be better with kids? Flights to Seattle are obviously cheaper but I’ve Always wanted to do Europe on a ship. 
 

both would be anthem and quantum but one (Alaska) would be balcony and the other spacious ocean view because of price. 
 

trying to figure how what best choice is with younger kids. 

[uvadover]

I pondered this a few years ago, on a cruise that was ultimately cancelled due to COVID.  We chose Alaska because of the Ovation of the Seas - seemingly more wow for the kids.  The Norway itinerary was perhaps the Serenade of the Seas - still a great ship, but seemingly less kid friendly.  Also know the Alaska ports are more touristy, but they seemed more accessible for kids.  Can't go wrong either way, though.  I was on the fence, too.\

 

Total aside, but we are using our COVID cruise credits to sail on Odyssey in August.  Europe is amazing, though a different climate/dynamic between Norway and the Greek Isles.

[DukeASUGirl]

My very first cruise was Alaska when I was 9. I desperately want to take my kids (11 and 13) on an Alaska cruise, but my husband hates flying, so that limits us to ports we can drive to, but I honestly think Alaska is an awesome cruise for kids.

[Tree_skier]

With kids absolutely Ovation to Alaska.  The ship is great has tonnes to do.  I think the Norway one would be a smaller ship with less activity.  I'm looking forward to doing a Norway cruise but it'll just be my wife and I.  If I had kids I would consider that.

[Ashland]

With kids I would do Alaska. We've recently been on Serenade (Alaska) with our extended family that included kids and not much for them to do.

Waiting for Alaska to open for bookings in 2025 for Quantum to take them all again.

[Bloodgem]

Norway on Anthem. As there are discussions being held in Norway to ban larger cruise ships from the Fjords from 2024. 

[FionaMG]

1 hour ago, Bloodgem said:

Norway on Anthem. As there are discussions being held in Norway to ban larger cruise ships from the Fjords from 2024. 

 

This ^^^, although I thought it was 2025. Could be mistaken.

So if Norway is on anyone's bucket list, don't put it off. Do it now.

 

[sgmn]

3 hours ago, Tree_skier said:

  I think the Norway one would be a smaller ship with less activity.  I'm looking forward to doing a Norway cruise but it'll just be my wife and I.  If I had kids I would consider that.

Anthem has Norwegian Fjords cruises from Southampton. Perfect cool weather ship though maybe not be able to get into some of the smaller Fjords 

 

To the OP, Alaska is wonderful as are the Fjords. For us it would probably come down to finance. I can drive to Southampton the morning of the cruise, whereas for Alaska I would have expensive flights and hotels to factor in

 

Edited March 23, 2023 by sgmn

[kitkat343]

I visited Alaska while pregnant with my first, and Norway with a 2 and 5 year old.  

 

Alaska is great for kids, but Norway is an extraordinarily special cruise.  For me, it is one of the two best cruises I ever took, the other being a Baltic cruise with 2 days in St. Petersburg.

 

I don't know the ages of your kids, but two potential downsides - we couldn't hike pulpit rock with a 2 year old (you might be able to carry your kids, but we can't) and the taxis in Norway refuse to transport children without carseats.  There were times when it was rainy and cold and my kids were tired and whiny and being able to put them in a brief cab ride to get some food to cheer them up would have made all the difference in the world.  I was totally unaware of the car seat problem, so I didn't arrange transportation ahead of time in all of the ports.  The taxi companies are required to provide car seats, but you'd need to arrange that ahead of time. 

 

We visited three very special ports - Geiranger, in which you take a car or bus to various beautiful viewpoints.  This is extremely accessible for kids, although you are in a car for awhile on mountain roads with hairpin turns to reach the amazing viewpoints, so you should bring motion sickness medicine if anyone has trouble with car sickness.  

 

Flam has the amazing railway, and we also visited a goat farm here and had a delicious local lunch.

 

Olden has the Loen Skylift, which takes you to the top of the mountain where you can hike around.

Olden also has the Briksdal Glacier, and there is a troll car (golf car) you can rent to take you most of the way to the glacier.  My 2 year old was able to complete the hike to the glacier (which was a really nice unexpected surprise - I'd sent my husband and 6 year old ahead to the summit not expecting to make it there, but my 2 year old slowly but steadily hiked the whole way.  We tried a stroller, but the ground was uneven and it was so hard for me to push that we needed him to walk.) 

 

With the exception of the cab situation (Which you can solve by arranging private transportation or your kids might be old enough to not need car seats) Norway was extremely accessible for travelers with disabilities and young children.

 

There's a lot more detail about this trip in my signature line.  I would recommend people think about waiting until  their kids can hike if they can't carry them, but the potential restriction of ships in the heritage fjords might make this something you should do now (I took my 3 year old on a Baltic cruise to St. Petersburg and am really glad I did that while I could.  That was in 2017 when Russia was starting to threaten to invade the Ukraine so we waited until the last minute to book).

 

 

Edited March 23, 2023 by kitkat343

[mek]

I've done both and I would take my kids to Alaska way before I would consider a cruise to Norway with them.  IMO, way more activities on land that would appeal to children in Alaska -  Lumberjack show, whale watching, train rides, etc.

[Crazy planning mom]

Anthem and Quantum are similar ships.  Alaska is great but with the Norway trip you could stay a couple days in London pre-cruise.

[trivia addict]

Depends on how young the kids are. We have done both and if the children are under 4, I would do neither. I would chose a warm weather destination with beaches and pool time. Last year we took our two and a half year old granddaughter with her parents on the Anthem to Alaska and it was hard to keep her occupied. She didn’t want the kids club and was too young to do any of the active excursions.
Conversely,  when our kids were preteens we took them to Alaska and they had a great time. We waited until they were teenagers to do Europe. They were old enough to have had background knowledge on what they were seeing, and could appreciate the culture and history.

[Fouremco]

In a post last month, you mention that lugging around car seats isn't much fun, from which I gather your "younger kids" really are quite young. Quite frankly, I doubt that they would appreciate what Norway has to offer, and given the higher cost, I'd go for Alaska now and hold off on Norway until they are old enough to benefit from the experience.

 

I'll add that, having done both and having loved both, I'd always recommend cruising Alaska first. Alaska is spectacular, but Norway is just that much more stunning IMO.

[Jimbo]

10 hours ago, FionaMG said:

 

This ^^^, although I thought it was 2025. Could be mistaken.

So if Norway is on anyone's bucket list, don't put it off. Do it now.

 

We Have Jewel out of Amsterdam for Norway end of May 2024. 🙂

[FionaMG]

20 minutes ago, Jimbo said:

We Have Jewel out of Amsterdam for Norway end of May 2024. 🙂

 

Oooh, nice. 😁

I'm doing Norway this July, mum+daughter trip that got covidated early in the pandemic.

[RobInMN]

If you ever think you'll end up doing both some day, do Alaska first.

We've done both. Did the Arctic Circle on Jewel Summer '22. There were some kids of about every age, even some babies, on our cruise. Not a lot, but some.

Even if you do the Fjords, I would not recommend doing Anthem. The Quantum class ships seem to stick to 7 days and do not do the Arctic Circle ports. The Radiance class ships (seems to be Jewel for the next couple years) typically do 12 nights, and go all the way up to Honningsvag, which will allow you to do Nordkapp. (North Cape). This is well worth it.

Yes, there's less for kids, but if they are small enough (you didn't post ages), I don't think they'll miss much. Norway is one that I classify as being for the itinerary, not the ship. Some of the excursions can have you out pretty much the whole day. 

[Ashland]

2 hours ago, Jimbo said:

We Have Jewel out of Amsterdam for Norway end of May 2024. 🙂

We did Jewel out of Amsterdam Arctic Circle July 2022 and will doing her again July 2024  out of Amsterdam British Isles.

[allyfree]

You don't say how old your kids are so it may be a moot point, but my preference would be Norway from Southampton to let them experience other countries and cultures ... foreign travel will open up a whole new world to them. Enjoy whatever you choose ☺️

[allyfree]

6 hours ago, Jimbo said:

We Have Jewel out of Amsterdam for Norway end of May 2024. 🙂

Doing Norway from Southampton in 7 weeks ... love Norway but dislike Anthem although the convenience of UK sail is worth it - even if we have to drive 500 miles to get there !

[akb5k]

If your kids are little go with Alaska. We've done both (AK when my kid was 5, Norway she was 10). The wildlife and activities like dogsledding and the lumberjack show in Alaska were great for a little kid. Norway we did more hiking and science museums and she was old enough for the RIB boats, plus the ship skewed a lot older and quieter. 

[Jenna1983]

I did Norway in September by land with small electric boats in the fjords. Only way there I would do it. They’re quiet and magnificent. Norwegian people loathe cruise ships. 
 

I’ve been told once you do Norway first Alaska will see small/not as wondrous. I’ll know next month I guess! 
 

with kids I’d probably do Alaska. 

Edited March 24, 2023 by Jenna1983

[FionaMG]

6 hours ago, allyfree said:

Doing Norway from Southampton in 7 weeks ... love Norway but dislike Anthem although the convenience of UK sail is worth it - even if we have to drive 500 miles to get there !

 

Sorry, can't resist. One of my all-time favourites.  😂

 

 

[mek]

18 hours ago, Jenna1983 said:

I did Norway in September by land with small electric boats in the fjords. Only way there I would do it. They’re quiet and magnificent. Norwegian people loathe cruise ships. 
 

I’ve been told once you do Norway first Alaska will see small/not as wondrous. I’ll know next month I guess! 
 

with kids I’d probably do Alaska. 

As perviously mentioned, I have cruised to both locations, but as beautiful as Norway was - it was a one and done experience for me while on the other hand, I have been to Alaska on 5 cruises and I could go there again and again.  Alaska is far more spectacular to me than Norway, but to each his own.

[Ret MP]

I've been to both places, once each.  Alaska on a cruise, Norway on a NATO exercise in the Arctic while in the Army.  Both are beautiful.  I've seen Alaska as a tourist and I've lived in the wild in Norway.  And I have always said, like the old commercial, "see America first".  I believe in that.  However, Norway is so so majestic, beautiful, and welcoming place.  So much WWII history.  

[RobInMN]

1 hour ago, mek said:

As perviously mentioned, I have cruised to both locations, but as beautiful as Norway was - it was a one and done experience for me while on the other hand, I have been to Alaska on 5 cruises and I could go there again and again.  Alaska is far more spectacular to me than Norway, but to each his own.

I disagree. Alaska was neat, but Norway, especially above the arctic circle, was absolutely stunning. 

We did B2B Arctic Circle and Iceland & Ireland and actually wished they were reversed, because after doing Norway, we though that as neat as Iceland was, that it sort of lost a lot of that "wow" factor that it would have had had we not done Norway first.

And we had done Alaska 2 years prior and there was no comparison.

Ideally, do both. But like I suggested earlier, if you do both, I'd recommend doing Norway second.