Best cruise for family with 8 year old in/out of Vancouver?

[Socks23]

Looking for advice about which cruise line/ship might be best for our family of three including our 8 year old for an Alaska cruise in early July 2024. We have never taken a cruise before so total rookies trying to wade through lots of information. We have 7-10 days and it looks like the best options for itineraries depart from Vancouver. Our priorities are:

1) budget: would like to keep cruise and excursion costs for the three of us at $5000 or less

2) itinerary: would like to experience Glacier Bay and spend as much time seeing wildlife as possible 

3) size: I think, though am not certain, that we'd prefer a mid-size ship, under 2000 capacity (if money were no object we'd pick an even smaller ship a la Lindblad or uncruise)

4) activities: we do not need nightlife or fancy shows or waterparks; our priority is to experience the views from the ship and the excursions. We're interested in seeing and learning about nature/wildlife and culture. BUT, we do have an eight year old and want enough going on for him not to be complaining the whole time! 

 

I have looked mostly at Holland America options because I like their ship sizes and itineraries seem fine but it seems their audience is maybe a senior crowd? Is there a unicorn cruise line/ship that would offer what we're looking for (like Lindblad lite at a quarter of the price tag ;-)?)

thanks! 

Edited January 31 by Socks23
adding date

[nordicacres]

Have you gone through mock bookings to see what your total would be? Our 7 day cruise from Vancouver to Seward has almost $700 in port fees alone plus a $280 service charge just for two people. The budget seems tight, and Alaskan excursions are much more expensive than I personally anticipated. GL!

[Urban trekker]

While more expensive an 8 year old might like the offerings that Disney Cruise Lines has to offer.

[Socks23]

@nordicacres yes, but only on HAL's website where it seems our room, taxes, and port fees would total around $3500. This doesn't seem to include the cost of excursions and I have no idea yet how to figure out those costs. 

[NothingBeatsBaseball]

We did the Sapphire Princess one way from Vancouver last year with an 8-year-old and a 4-year-old. For them never having been on a cruise before, being on the ship and that whole experience itself was mostly enough to keep them entertained. They liked exploring the ship and we had a few bundled up late night walks on the promenade deck where they flopped on the deck ala SpongeBob. 

 

But we packed some surprise gifts (croc charms, small legos sets, hot wheels, etc) that that helped give them something to look forward to. The Glacier Bay day we made sure they saw the glaciers, but we didn't force them to watch the whole time. We stayed on our balcony for a decent time and let them watch movies in the room. We got room service pizzas and ate them on the balcony as a family, which was nice. It was a challenge as a parent to juggle "hey kids appreciate this nature!" with "what is realistic kids this age would appreciate?" but also "how can I relax and enjoy the trip while keeping them busy?". 

 

We didn't do any of the kid clubs. Both kiddos enjoyed the two magic shows we saw on board. We swam once, but the pool was too deep and too crowded for them to enjoy it much.

 

In port, we did the train in Skagway (the 8-year-old enjoyed more than we expected... the 4-year-old slept through it as little did we know but he'd feel sick that night). Renting a car in Juneau was fantastic. We were going to do a float plane trip in Ketchikan but it was canceled due to wind. 

 

 

 

[SoloAlaska]

Excursions can be stupid expensive in Alaska but you also don’t need to do excursions at every port. Most ships dock right downtown and you can walk off and enjoy town very easily. If you’re outdoorsy and active some ports have great hikes as well.

 

For example in Juneau it would be cheaper as a family of three to book a taxi tour to Mendenhall where they drop you off for however long you want and pick you back up at a pre arranged time. There’s a interpretive center there and a nice walk to the waterfall along with other things you can see like the glacier in the distance.

 

Are you looking at doing a one way cruise? If so keep in mind transfers start at about $70 USD each. Also if you’re looking at a southbound I am warning you of sticker shock at hotel prices in Anchorage. A northbound may be cheaper since you wouldn’t have to spend a night in a hotel in Alaska and can take a transfer and hop on a flight back to Vancouver quite easily. I do recommend choosing the transfer with the wildlife center it’s a pretty cool spot and I’m sure your kid would love it.