lukababe Posted February 12, 2008 #1 Share Posted February 12, 2008 Hi, we're looking to take an Alaskan cruise out of Seattle this summer, and most of the ships are very comparable for me and my husband, but who has the best kids program for my 7 and 8 year old boys may be the deciding factor. I've read what is listed on the webpages, but what I really want to know is from first hand experience of those who have put their kids in those programs. How much fun did they have, what did they do? It will be our 20th anniversary and I want to make sure the kids are well taken care of :) Thanks.. The cruise lines leaving from Seattle we are considering are NCL, RC, Princess and Holland America. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RN7997 Posted February 13, 2008 #2 Share Posted February 13, 2008 Are you chosing an Alaskan cruise for yourselves or more for an educational experience for your boys??? I am not trying to be smart. The reason I ask is b/c I was looking into an Alaskan cruise before I decided on the Caribbean again with mine, who are 8 and 10. I read alot on the ports of call board and realized even if you get a good deal (which I did with RCCL) the excursions are VERY expensive and lets not even talk about airfare from the eastcoast. That may not make a difference to you but also keep in mind some of the excursions have minimal age requirements of 8 y/o. (I only say this b/c I saw your one child is 7) We really want to go to Alaska to enjoy it ourselves but also b/c it will truely be an educational experience for the kids, but we wanted to go all out and go to the glaciers by helicopter etc. I started doing my homework and quickly decided it wasn't quite time to do that trip with them yet. Please don't be upset for my response. I am sure others here will disagree but that was my thoughts so I wanted to share, especially since my kids are the same age range as yours. As far as RC's kid camp we only cruised with our kids once before and they loved it. I will say I expected more kids to be at the late night camp and on our sailing there wasn't many in that, so the kids were bored. Other than that it was great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RN7997 Posted February 13, 2008 #3 Share Posted February 13, 2008 Are you chosing an Alaskan cruise for yourselves or more for an educational experience for your boys??? I am not trying to be smart. The reason I ask is b/c I was looking into an Alaskan cruise before I decided on the Caribbean again with mine, who are 8 and 10. I read alot on the ports of call board and realized even if you get a good deal (which I did with RCCL) the excursions are VERY expensive and lets not even talk about airfare from the eastcoast. That may not make a difference to you but also keep in mind some of the excursions have minimal age requirements of 8 y/o. (I only say this b/c I saw your one child is 7) We really want to go to Alaska to enjoy it ourselves but also b/c it will truely be an educational experience for the kids, but we wanted to go all out and go to the glaciers by helicopter etc. I started doing my homework and quickly decided it wasn't quite time to do that trip with them yet. Please don't be upset for my response. I am sure others here will disagree but that was my thoughts so I wanted to share, especially since my kids are the same age range as yours. As far as RC's kid camp we only cruised with our kids once before and they loved it. I will say I expected more kids to be at the late night camp and on our sailing there wasn't many in that, so the kids were bored. Other than that it was great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rebeccalouise Posted February 13, 2008 #4 Share Posted February 13, 2008 First of all- I have taken my sons on several Alaskan cruises and they enjoy any cruise. But I loved Alaska and it is a great escape in the summer. The air is crisp and clean and I think it is a much more relaxing cruise than a Caribbean one. As for excursions- you can keep these to a minimum and splurg on one that appeals to the whole family. I woudn't personally do the helicopter ride. I have been to Alaska four times and managed to enjoy it without spending a fortune on excursions. Now for my suggestion- do the Celebrity Infinity out of Seattle. I can guarantee that you will have some romanitic relaxing moments with your husband- while the kids are begging to go to the Fun Factory. At night if you want to try the specialty restaurant (which I highly recommend)- the kids can eat with the other children in the buffet. This frees you up for an adult meal whenever you want. They charge $ 6 per child for this and it is available every night except the day of embarkation. I have tried all the mainstream lines and I can't think of a better youth program. I also love the Millenium Class ships. Lots of glass. Do yourself a favor and get two connecting balcony staterooms- the scenery is spectacular and the kids may enjoy just using binoculars on the balcony- to see whales, sea otters, bald eagles and glaciers. I think they are a perfect age to appreciate the scenery- although most kids are more interested in playing. As for onboard activities for the kids- there are scavenger hunts, bingo, dance parties, karoke, arts and crafts, etc- you may never see them the whole trip. For excursions- do something with dogsleds- they love that. That was my 8 year old sons favorite excursion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rebeccalouise Posted February 13, 2008 #5 Share Posted February 13, 2008 dulicate posts sorry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lukababe Posted February 13, 2008 Author #6 Share Posted February 13, 2008 Thanks for the responses so far. I'm keeping them all in mind. I'm not too worried about the excursions, my boys learn something on every trip we take and we always do it on the budget side. (They're still talking about the week in Colorado from last summer). I think they will both learn and have fun. Keep the ideas coming please! Im hoping to make a decision by the end of the week. Every vacation we're with them 24/7 so it will be nice to actually sit around a pool without an eye on the kids in the water. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjmalino Posted February 13, 2008 #7 Share Posted February 13, 2008 We actually Alaska this past June with our two DS (ages 9 and 8) on Princess (Vancouver to Whittier). The kids really enjoyed the camp. I liked the fact that they did not only the real fun things like scavenger hunts and karaoke night, game night, dinner with camp, etc. but that they also activites that were tied to the certain ports. For example, in Ketchikan, which is known for its totem poles, the kids made totem poles in the camp. When we were in Glacier Bay, one of the rangers who boarded the ship went to the camp and did a jr. ranger program with them. As for excursions, we did a little of both. My DH and I chose one "higher end" excursion that we thought the kids would enjoy, and that ended up being the helicopter tour/glacier trek out of Skagway which ended up being amazing. By the way, when we were waiting to board our copter, it was unloading pax from the tour before us and a little girl about 5 or 6 got off. Good luck with your decision. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lukababe Posted February 13, 2008 Author #8 Share Posted February 13, 2008 I was just reading a link with copies of the kids programs for the cruise ships and I was thinking how exciting the Princess ones look. Hrmmm.. Boys we're going sailing on Princess *no mom argh!* haha. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mousecrazy Posted February 13, 2008 #9 Share Posted February 13, 2008 I can only comment on NCL. We cruised the Star RT Seattle in 2005 when my kids were 4 and 7. First of all, please pay close attention to the ship's itinerary. Make sure you get a good glacier viewing day. Most people say Glacier Bay is tops. I tend to agree...I have also seen Hubbard (which is also spectacular). I love Skagway too. You can rent a car and drive into the Yukon. We saw a bear along side the road on the way. The scenery is spectacular. There is a sled dog camp near Carcross which the kids loved (got to pet the puppies, as well as an interesting museum). I didn't think Sitka was very kid-friendly unless you do a small-boat wildlife excursion which can get expensive. And, check to see if your ship goes inside or outside of Vancouver Island (when going RT out of Seattle). If it goes outside, it will be, most likely, rough seas and no scenery. The inside route will provide better scenery (but it might be at night) and smoother seas, but it's slower. Now to your question about the kids club. My kids loved the Star Kids Crew. They met some new friends and really enjoyed their time there. The counselors were mostly from Canada and seemed to truly enjoy the kids. On our Glacier Bay day, the ranger came on board and talked to the kids (I think their talk was better than the one over the PA system). They hand out a book relevant to the area which is used throughout the week. There are also lots of fun activities...you might do a search for the Kids Crew schedule online to get an idea of the activites. I think you'll find that most of the big ships have great kids programs (this is based on my prior research, not first hand experience). When it came time to pick a ship, I based my decision on the itinerary. We also like the Freestyle dining on NCL. It's especially nice to not have to get 'dressed' for dinner after a day of Alaska adventuring! Enjoy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cruise Leprechaun Posted February 13, 2008 #10 Share Posted February 13, 2008 For what its worth, we have never been to Alaska before but are going this summer. Our 2 boys are a year or two older than yours and after much research we are doing the NCL Pearl on 7/13. It has Glacier Bay which is a must see from what I've been told and the ship is similar to one we were on in Hawaii 2 years ago, Pride of Hawaii, which they had a great time on and we really liked the casual dining with kids too. Finally, when I was comparing different lines a few months ago, frankly it was the best priced. Good luck in your research and if you go with the Pearl maybe our kids will bump into each other. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wrp96 Posted February 13, 2008 #11 Share Posted February 13, 2008 If you are limited to the roundtrips out of Seattle, make sure to look at the itineraries. You really want one that visits either Glacier Bay or Hubbard Glacier. While I love RCCL and I know Princess does a good job as well, their roundtrip itineraries out of Seattle are not that good. Celebrity, Holland America, and NCL have much better itineraries out of Seattle than RCCL and Princess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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