Questions about Alaskan cruise on Edge with kids

[Gr101997]

My wife has been dying to do an Alaskan cruise. We wanted to wait til our kids were old enough to be able to enjoy it and do most excursions. We're looking at the summer of 2025. When I googled "best cruises for Alaska", The Edge came up as the #1 in UsNews Travel for Alaska. When I was looking through the review, it said one of the Cons was there wasnt enough for kids entertainment. We have done Carnival, Disney and Royal with the kids. They honestly arent big fans of kids clubs but those ships also have plenty of stuff for kids to do otherwise. Does Celebrity cater to a more adult crowd? Im not looking to compare to another line, just want to make sure they will have stuff to do on their own. I know this will be more of a siteseeing, adventure of a trip then one of the Caribbean itineraries were used to but I just want to make sure when we are on the ship, theyre not going to be bored out of the minds and we have to let them play on their phones and stuff. 

 

Thanks in advance. 

[cruisestitch]

You don’t say how old they will be and that makes a difference.

 

celebrity does cater to a more adult crowd and there won’t be slides and climbing walls but it’s Alaska, not the Caribbean, so those things might not be usable even if they had them.  

[BOB999]

What sorts of activities do your kids enjoy doing on ship?

 

Celebrity doesn't feature water slides, rock walls, rides or (to the best of my knowledge) game rooms, so depending on the types of activities they enjoy onboard, they may find Celebrity boring.

Edited December 30, 2023 by BOB999

[Gr101997]

Sorry, theyll be 11 and 13

[PTC DAWG]

I wouldn’t take kids that age on Celebrity myself…it will be nothing like those 3 lines you referenced. 

Edited December 30, 2023 by PTC DAWG

[RichYak]

38 minutes ago, Gr101997 said:

When I googled "best cruises for Alaska", The Edge came up as the #1 in UsNews Travel for Alaska.

I would place 0 emphasis on this particular search result. No weight at all. US News has no idea what suits you best.

 

For Alaska cruises, I feel that Alaska is the attraction, less so the ship. Itinerary should be your focus. For that reason, there are many Celebrity loyalists that would tell you that Celebrity might not be the best choice for this region. For instance, some consider Glacier Bay a "must see". No Celebrity ships (to my knowledge) go there.

 

Do your research and choose accordingly. Start the process with choosing one way or round trip? If one way do you want to add a land tour before or after in Alaska? If r/t, from Seattle or Vancouver (with more scenic inside passage route)? After those choices are made, narrow down to specific itinerary. Only then would choosing a ship come into play for me.

 

Good luck!

[WestLakeGirl]

What do the kids like to do?  Only you can judge if they are likely to be bored or how great their need to be entertained is.

[Gr101997]

2 hours ago, RichYak said:

I would place 0 emphasis on this particular search result. No weight at all. US News has no idea what suits you best.

 

For Alaska cruises, I feel that Alaska is the attraction, less so the ship. Itinerary should be your focus. For that reason, there are many Celebrity loyalists that would tell you that Celebrity might not be the best choice for this region. For instance, some consider Glacier Bay a "must see". No Celebrity ships (to my knowledge) go there.

 

Do your research and choose accordingly. Start the process with choosing one way or round trip? If one way do you want to add a land tour before or after in Alaska? If r/t, from Seattle or Vancouver (with more scenic inside passage route)? After those choices are made, narrow down to specific itinerary. Only then would choosing a ship come into play for me.

 

Good luck!

Thanks. Some good info here. Going to look around a little more. I was hoping this site would have some more reviews and info but it seems kind of sparse. 

 

As for what the kids do, typically they hit the arcade, the pools, hot tubs. Been lucky where theyve made friends on the last few we went on and then they just kind of hang with them and roam around.  

[crusinthrough]

Alaska cruises in the summer are filled with kids.  Water slides are good once or twice but no kid is entertained on a water slide for seven days.  The same with similar type of bells and whistles added to attract families.  You create your own memories and entertainment as a family.

[Northern Aurora]

15 minutes ago, Gr101997 said:

Thanks. Some good info here. Going to look around a little more. I was hoping this site would have some more reviews and info but it seems kind of sparse. 

 

As for what the kids do, typically they hit the arcade, the pools, hot tubs. Been lucky where theyve made friends on the last few we went on and then they just kind of hang with them and roam around.  

 

 

I am late to the discussion, but just some random comments from someone who actually lives in Alaska.  Despite the fact that we live here we have done at least 7 Alaska cruise itineraries as they give us an excuse to visit a very different part of our very large state.

 

First, the best itineraries are those north or southbound 7 nights from Vancouver to either Seward (which is the port Celebrity uses) or Whittier.  This can be combined with a land trip.  We also have done them as a B2B.  The next best option, in my opinion, are the round trips out of Vancouver.  The worst, again in my opinion, are the roundtrips out of Seattle; simply too much time is spent in open water reaching the scenic areas.

 

Alaska cruises, no matter what cruise line, attract multi-generational families.  You will see grandparents, adult children and the grandkids on these cruises.  Even if just parents and kids there will be a great number of families and kids on board.  

 

For more information on Alaska cruises visit the Alaska Cruise Critic forum.

 

And again, my opinion from someone who boarded the Edge in Civitaveechia on October 30 and left her in Sydney, Australia on December 9th, this ship is a poor choice for Alaska.  I had several discussions about this with staff while on board when they would say something like "you know we are headed to Alaska."  The ship is very inward facing.  If you are not in the Retreat there are no forward viewing lounges similar to the Sky Lounges on the S-class ships.  Celebrity has (at least in the past) naturalists on board on Alaska itineraries.  They do presentations in the theater, but also set up in the Sky Lounge during the day looking for whales and other wildlife, chatting folks, and so forth.  I don't know where they can set up during the day on the Edge which would offer that sense of discovery as the ship approaches a pod of whales.

[gcornell]

I’ve taken my kids on many silversea cruises since they were even younger than that. On SS, it’s 99% adults on most cruises. On one, there was only one other kid on the ship.  They had a great time. Don’t overthink it. It’s vacation. It’s Alaska!

Edited December 30, 2023 by gcornell

[jwlane]

4 hours ago, Gr101997 said:

The Edge came up as the #1 in UsNews Travel for Alaska.

That's funny---remind me of how many days she's been on that itinerary.

[gcornell]

Also, forgot to mention we bring our kids on scuba liveaboards which only have 20 guests and never seen another kid. In fact, the captain said they only get kids every few years. Regardless, they have a great time. 

[Whinenowine]

19 hours ago, Northern Aurora said:

First, the best itineraries are those north or southbound 7 nights from Vancouver to either Seward (which is the port Celebrity uses) or Whittier.  This can be combined with a land trip.  We also have done them as a B2B.  The next best option, in my opinion, are the round trips out of Vancouver. 

 

Alaska cruises, no matter what cruise line, attract multi-generational families.  You will see grandparents, adult children and the grandkids on these cruises.  Even if just parents and kids there will be a great number of families and kids on board.  

 

 

Agreed all around here.  I've done the Seward to Vancouver and the Vancouver closed-loop itineraries on a few lines (I prefer the former as well).  My parents had taken me when I was a teenager and I took my kids when they were 11 and 15.  They had a blast and still talk about that trip (even more than our Caribbean and Med cruises with them).  There were plenty of other kids their age (esp if you go in July-early August) and the cruises are port-intensive so they'll be kept busy on excursions on most days. They loved the Orca pod we saw on a small whale boat trip, the super large zip line at Icy Straight point, the helicopter ride to the Mendenhall Glacier, etc (many bucket list type items).  I'm not saying that X is the best line for Alaska (particularly the no Glacier Bay stop), but I can say we had a great time and you likely will too.

[ChutChut]

23 hours ago, PTC DAWG said:

I wouldn’t take kids that age on Celebrity myself…it will be nothing like those 3 lines you referenced. 

I took my then ten-year-old daughter on the Celebrity Silhouette several years back and she loved it. Celebrity is not an adult-only cruise line. There are lots of things to do for kids and adults. 

[SbbquilterUT]

Personally the Edge class, while beautiful, would not be my choice specifically for lack of outdoor access space.  On every other Alaska sail we have been able to spend a lot of time out on the upper decks to enjoy the experience - there is no access to the forward third of the top deck as it is Retreat.  We found this in our Iceland and Norway sailings and would not repeat those itineraries on that class of ship.  I would look at Holland America and Princess for their itineraries that include Glacier Bay National Park.