Traveling with Toddler -- Cruising Alaska advice, please

[teachere]

We are taking our first cruise to Alaska (with Celebrity). We are bringing our adorable, 23 month old daughter with us, but we are not sure what to do while we are there. Our stops are Sitka, Juneau, Ketchikan, and Victoria (BC). Any suggestions for mild excursions or activities while ashore? Any ideas for making the trip smooth for her? Any and all suggestions for toddler traveling appreciated!

[karatemom2]

My kids aren't in the toddler stage anymore, but I remember it very well! My best advice would be to choose one or at the most two activities in each port that are toddler friendly so as not to overdo it and end up with a cranky traveling companion.

 

From our experience the following things are something a toddler might enjoy in the ports you mention:

 

Sitka: National Park, Raptor Center, New Archangel Dancers

Juneau: Mount Roberts Tramway, Whale Watching, Salmon Hatchery

Ketchikan: Lumberjack Show, Saxman Village or Totem Park, Duck Tour

Victoria: Inner Harbour Street Entertainers, Royal British Columbian Museum

 

Have a great time!

[RandomIam]

We did the same itinerary when our boy was 10-months old. We will be doing it again in September. Now he is 2 1/2 and we will have a 10 month old girl!

 

In Juneau, we went Whale watching with Capt. Larry. Your child will love it. You get so close to the whales it is really awesome! We were able to leave him with grandparents to go up the mt. roberts tram.

 

In Sitka we took him on the Sea life discovery tour. It is a semi-submersible vessel and shows you all kinds of marine life. He loved touching all the different things (starfish, sea urchins, etc.) and even tried to eat one! He also loved the Raptor Center where you can see bald eagles up close. We walked to it and they let us in free!

 

In Ketchikan, we did the lumberjack show. Noah loved the noise and excitement and was even chosen to come up in front of the crowd and got to take home a souvenir chair from one of the lumberjacks. THe rest of the time we just walked around to stores as ketchikan is a short stop.

 

In Victoria we rode the bus downtown and took a horse-drawn carriage (you will find them on several corners, ours was by the wax museum). This was a nice way to see Victoria.

 

Hope that helps

[VPIcruiser]

Teachere when is your cruise? We leave on May 23 on the Infinity.

 

Karatemom 2 and RandomIam thanks for the advice. I posted a question a while back asking about the Sea Life Discovery Tour and I didn't hear back from anyone. I think our DD, 15 months, and DS, 35 months, would love this. I will show DH your post because he was asking me about this tour this week.

 

We plan on going to the Raptor Center in Sitka.

 

We are also considering the lumber jack show in Ketchikan. The duck tour sounds fun also. We did it in DC when DS was 10 months old.

 

I would also like to take a carriage ride. We did this in Bermuda when DS was almost 15 months old and he really enjoyed it.

 

In Juneau,we will probably take the bus out to Mendenhall (the kids alway love bus rides) and maybe the tram up Mt. Roberts. We thought about the whale watching but decided to wait until they are older. One b/c it will be cold and two b/c we are cheap. Well not that cheap, we will probably go back when they are in elementary school and do the whale watching trip.

 

Thanks again for the advice.

[jellytheory]

We leave Thursday on NCL from Seattle, roundtrip. My mom is coming to babysit our 21 month old daughter, but we do plan on bringing her whale watching (3 hours) in Victoria and on an evening train ride in Skagway.

 

Those are the only excursions she will be doing. Other than that, she will hang out on the boat, except for Juneau where we will have time to walk around for a couple of hours.

 

Good luck and enjoy your trip! I will try to post after our trip with more suggestions...

 

DD

[vids1375]

Hi! Teachere - when do you leave for your cruise and which ship? We are going on the Infinity on 6/6 from Seattle with our 21 month old son (he's now 20 months old). Some of the suggestions in this thread are great - we were actually thinking of hiking with him on our back but maybe some of these other ideas - like lumberjack show, Raptor center etc might be more enjoyable. Thanks for the great advice!

[teachere]

We are actually leaving this Friday! (May 16) Yeah!!! I asked a few friends and then someone suggested that I check here for information. It is too late to book excursions online, but we can add/change when we get there. Still not 100% sure what to do. The lumberjack show has been recommended a lot, but that is the same day that we have the float plane booked. I guess the flight on the plane to Seattle should be telling on how she may behave on the excursion. ;)

[mprucha]

Thanks for the info about ideas for toddlers. I just now posted a thread about this very topic so I already have started getting some great ideas.

 

Hopefully people will continue this thread with more ideas!

[vids1375]

Hi! Teachere! How was your cruise? Did your daughter have a blast? What worked for her and what didnt? I would love to know your thoughts - we leave this Friday with a 21-month old.

[VPIcruiser]

I posted a review of our cruise to Alaska on the family board. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=784592

 

I really appreciate all the help I received from these boards.

[Budget Queen]

Please no flames, but if you aren't already aware, Celebrity is a more formal ship. Please be prepared for the dining options and exit if needed from formal dining if need be. The long extended multi courses aren't likely to be well tolerated by toddlers.