PHXscuba Posted January 9, 2007 #1 Share Posted January 9, 2007 OK, fellow CCers, I could use your input! My DH and I would like to take our four (well-behaved:) ) children on a big vacation. At time of travel, they would be roughly 4,7,10, and 13. Other than the obvious Caribbean cruise, we have thought of doing an Alaskan cruise, or flying to Hawaii and either doing an islands cruise or land-based vacation. I would love to hear your experiences with either location and how you kids liked either/both trips, cruise lines, etc. My personal feelings are running toward Alaska right now, but my concerns are whether the youngest would be able to do some of the really cool shore excursions, and price. Thanks!:) PHXscuba "You can't have everything -- besides, where would you put it all?":D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shellie100 Posted January 9, 2007 #2 Share Posted January 9, 2007 I vote Hawaii because I don't consider being anywhere cold a vacation :D:D:D Seriously, though, I've never been to either Hawaii or Alaska, but I have a feeling that all four kids (not just the youngest), would prefer to spend their vacation in the ocean and pool every day. I actually think the less-expensive Caribbean cruise would be the MOST fun for all. The Mexican Riviera would be a blast, too. Good luck whatever you choose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ere Posted January 9, 2007 #3 Share Posted January 9, 2007 I live in HI and have done an Alaska cruise with kids ages 1, 5 and 7. In Alaska, we did everything together like walking the towns, whale watching on a boat, watching the salmon swim, short hikes to see things, etc. If you think your kids would like more action and diversity, Hawaii might be better because there is the aquarium on Maui that is awesome, great beaches everywhere, the volcano on the Big Island (which your older kids would love), cultural shows (hula, fire dancing, etc) that everyone will like. In MHO Hawaii has more diversity in activities and culture for the range in ages of your kids. Alaska is absolutely stunning and should not be missed. Your little one will probably not get too much out of it though. My nephew who cruised Alaska at 5 only recalls playing with his little cousin. Maybe save Alaska until little one is older.... Hope this helps... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ere Posted January 9, 2007 #4 Share Posted January 9, 2007 I live in HI and have done an Alaska cruise with kids ages 1, 5 and 7. In Alaska, we did everything together like walking the towns, whale watching on a boat, watching the salmon swim, short hikes to see things, etc. If you think your kids would like more action and diversity, Hawaii might be better because there is the aquarium on Maui that is awesome, great beaches everywhere, the volcano on the Big Island (which your older kids would love), cultural shows (hula, fire dancing, etc) that everyone will like. In MHO Hawaii has more diversity in activities and culture for the range in ages of your kids. Alaska is absolutely stunning and should not be missed. Your little one will probably not get too much out of it though. My nephew who cruised Alaska at 5 only recalls playing with his little cousin. Maybe save Alaska until little one is older.... Hope this helps... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ere Posted January 9, 2007 #5 Share Posted January 9, 2007 I live in Hi and have sailed Alaska with young kids. I vote Hawaii because there is much more to do with the age range of your kids. I think Alaska is better for older kids as my 5 and 7 year nieces remember very little of Alaska. However, they remember things in Hawaii like the aquarium, volcano, etc. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Onessa Posted January 10, 2007 #6 Share Posted January 10, 2007 Tough choice (but a good one!). We have just one daughter and have done AK twice (when she was 6 and again when she was 7) and HI last year. HI - if you do NCLA "Pride of . . . " ships, you've got a LOT of time to expolore. The aquarium in Maui will be of interest to all ages. The volcano stuff might be too much for the little ones but beyond cool for the older ones. Lots of hiking opportunities. The littlest one might not be able to snorkel but the others would really enjoy it. Most of the other lines/cruises have a lot of "at sea" days so make certain that whatever line you choose if you go that route has a good kids program for all of your kids' ages and/or on-board activities you all enjoy. AK - Great for family hikes. All ages seem to get into the lumberjack show and the totem pole stuff. AK can be a bit more laid back. The time "at sea" is more than an NCLA PO. . . cruise but much more broken up (all the iternaries are pretty similar in pacing of time at sea vs time in port). I love both. We've been thinking of an extended family AK cruise next summer (my DD would be 12, her cousins would be 11, 10, 6, 4 and 3) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerseyjk Posted January 10, 2007 #7 Share Posted January 10, 2007 I was facing this same decision for our April vacation this year ... We haven't been to either HI or AK so I left it up to the kids. I honestly didn't care which place so I asked my three (10, 12 & 14) where would they want to go. It wasn't even close ... Hawaii won in a landslide, which was just fine with my wife who isn't the keenest on cold weather. So I guess my only question is ... have you asked them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PHXscuba Posted January 10, 2007 Author #8 Share Posted January 10, 2007 This is probably a mid-2009 vacation for us, so I really can't in good conscience ask the kids for a while, or I'd never hear the end of it! I know we really can't book anything right now, so I'm just figuring out where to focus my compulsivity!:) As for the "cold" factor in the decision, it really isn't a dealbreaker. We live outside of Phoenix, so by mid-summer, Alaskan glaciers are sounding pretty good to me! I know it would be a different type of vacation than the Caribbean or Hawaii. My kids are pretty into animals so I think any of them could be winners. My husband and I dive, but even if we went tropical, we wouldn't probably sneak off more than once on a family trip. Any more advice? Y'all are great! PHXscuba "You can't have everything -- besides, where would you put it all?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare JSR Posted January 11, 2007 #9 Share Posted January 11, 2007 We have been on an Alaskan cruise twice with our daught. First age 7, second age 10. We have been to Hawaii many times and were married on the island of Maui. We loved Alaska. I think 7 is the min age. Our DD had a great time but I am not sure about your younger child. The excursions that make an impression on the kids are very expensive. Flightseeing, glacier dog sledding etc. I would vote for Hawii and highly recomend Maui. I would do a land based vacation. If you can afford it do both - one one year and the other another year. We did AK last year and are headding to HI this year. Jean Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrogLover215 Posted January 11, 2007 #10 Share Posted January 11, 2007 We sailed to Alaska in August 2006 with our 4, 7, and 12 YOs (and the grandparents). I worked hard to choose excursions that all ages would like (which is not easy) and everything actually worked out really well. Here's a brief rundown of what we did, with emphasis on the 4 YO's perspective. Victoria: The Royal BC Museum was a hit! It goes above and beyond what you might think a museum is like. One feature that really enthralled the youngest children was a wall of Native masks in a darkened hallway. Every once in a while, a few masks would light up and tell the myth behind their design. The Museum is an easy walk from where the ship's shuttle dropped us off. The kids also really loved seeing the totem poles in front of the Parliament Building. The 4 and 7 YOs still talk about the totem poles often. Ketchikan: We booked the Rain Forest Canoe Adventure through the ship. We paddled a 15-person canoe on a quiet, beautiful lake (and there's no pressure on kids to be good paddlers), then took a nature walk through the forest with a guide. The 4 YO was enchanted with the paddling and the mushrooms we saw on the walk. We also went to the Lumberjack Show, which is extremely kid-friendly. Skagway: We rented a van and drove to Emerald Lake, with a stop in Caribou Crossing for a wheeled dogsled ride. The kids got to play with the dogsled puppies. During the drive, we got to watch a contented black bear gorge on berries - from 20 feet away. Memorable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZPam Posted January 12, 2007 #11 Share Posted January 12, 2007 My vote would be for Hawaii. Alaska was beautiful and all but the price of excursions really slowed us down a lot and there were only 2 of us. Can't imagine paying for an entire family. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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