Will Kids have fun on Alaskan itinerary?

[dawnanne]

We are planning an extended family holiday next summer which will include 7 kids, 7-13 years old. An Alaskan cruise is at the top of the list for a few of the adults, but I'm unsure. Can anyone tell me if this has been a hit or miss with kids of this age, as well as which ships we should consider that will give us the best pool situation, (they're all water lovers).

 

Also, any favorite ports/activities that kids would particularly love?

 

All the kids are very well behaved, well traveled, and great eaters--so don't be afraid to be on our ship :-)

 

thanks so very much!

[mytime53]

Our young nieces and nephews are constantly begging their parents to bring them back to Alaska. I didn't notice where you're from, but it's usually such a different place for kids than what they're used to, that they are constantly surprised. I have seen 12-13 year old boys from several states standing in the parking lot of one of our local schools (they were here on a summer science camp thing) just turning around in circles staring at the mountains, just saying, "wow," over and over again.

[Suzanne123]

We met the nicest group of youngsters on our cruise in July. They were boy scouts with a couple scoutmasters from California. One boy, around 8 or 9, was too young to be with the scouts, so he stayed with his mother and was with us on two tours -- one was the glacier tour out of Whittier and the other was the Deadliest Catch tour out of Ketchikan. I am not exaggerating when I tell you that this kid was so thrilled I never saw him seated more than 10 minutes on either tour -- outside on the deck almost the whole time for the glacier tour and holding an Alaskan King Crab and throwing herring to the bald eagles on the Deadliest Catch -- He must have a thousand pictures. I had fun just watching him.:)

[SFAM]

Our kids last year loved it - they were 8 and 14 at the time. And we went on Holland America, which is not known for massive children's programming. But the stuff they had worked great for our kids.

 

We were worried at by the middle of the ship that they seemed to "dissapear" from us. They always seemed to have something going on when dinner came, for instance. But then we finally figured out that's what was supposed to happen, so we chilled about it. Bottom line, our kids are REALLY looking forward toward next year's trip.

 

They also LOVED the whale watching excursions and touristy things like the lumberjack show in Katchikan.

[Kisigi]

I agree with everyone who has replied so far. The scenery, excursions and wildlife are second to none. Our twin daughters (almost 10 at the time) absolutely loved Alaska.

 

Of course it doesn't hurt to find a ship that can fill in the gaps between all the off-ship activities. We cruised in 2006 on Royal Caribbean's Vision of the Seas (since moved out of the Alaska itinieraries). That ship had a number of pools but the weather, while pleasant, wasn't suitable for swimming in the outdoor pools. The ship had a solarium that would normally be adults only, but was open to kids due to weather. It wasn't crowded and the kids could burn their excess energy. The ship also had a kids club with structured, age appropriate activities that was a hit. I'm sure there are many ships you can choose from that will give you lots of options.

[whale-watcher]

My kids prefer Alaska to any other vacation destination. We all enjoyed whale watching and flightseeing this summer, but their favorite excursion was Kondike Rock Climbing in Skagway. I have also heard positive reviews of the Bear Creek Zip Lining in Ketchikan for families with younger kids. A great low-cost option for families: rent a car or a minivan, and explore on your own, at your own schedule.

[emste]

We just got back a few weeks ago from a two week land/ cruise. We had out three kids, 15, 6 & 4. They all loved it. My 4 year old son actually spent alot of time out on the balcony with his binoculars. We were not able to jam in as much as we would have liked to see, since the kids are younger, but we will be back! It is so different up there that there is always something to see. We went on the Sapphire Princess. My kids loved the kids club. They also had an indoor pool, but we only used it once. We went in the hot tubs outside most times. My kids were a bit upset though, that on the last sea day they drained the indoor pool to paint it. We have sailed to the Caribbean and Panama Canal, first with NCL second with Royal Caribbean. Princess was our least favorite cruise line. It by all means did not take away from Alaska, but we thought that the other two lines had more for kids. Go and enjoy. The kids will love to be able to go home and tell people all that they saw, that many people have not!:)

[bjksgk]

We have cruised 11 times, twice to Alaska, and Alaska is by far my 9 year olds favorite place of all now. She wants to go back again!!! I've only been on Royal Caribbean and Celebrity, so I can't speak for any of the other lines but I'm sure as long as they have a kids program you're fine. I see you've been on Radiance....Radiance and here sister ship Serenade do Alaska, and they open up the Solarium adult pool every afternoon for family swim time, so the kids would get their "pool fix". That class of ship is fabulous for Alaska with all the glass. We loved it! Mt daughter's favorite excursions were whale watching and flightseeing in the helicopter to a glacier. We're from Florida, so everything about Alaska was new to here and a wonderful learning experience. I'm sure your kids will have a wonderful time no matter which cruise line you croose - kids are so flexible!!

[gambit57]

Me and my lil sis had tons of fun at that age. As did our friends who went with us. We liked the outdoor excursion stuff. Even as an adult, excursions are what really make an Alaska trip fun.

 

I liked kayaking the best. It was soo long ago, I can't remember what stop it was at. Just that me and my friend paddled to an island where we got pretty close to a bear fishing on the shore and had a bald eagle fly about 6 feet above us. Bike riding was pretty fun too, but kayaking was the best. I'm not sure what my sis did (I think she was about 9 at the time) but she said she had fun.

[2ndguesser]

They better enjoy it - we'll be there in less than 3 weeks with my 3 kids (6,4,2). We are going on the NCL Pearl because we wanted to do Glacier Bay, wanted to leave out of Seattle, and I want my almost 3 yo to be allowed in the kids club. There really was no choice other than the Pearl once we figured out those 3 things. Pluse the NCL has freestyle dining which means we can eat when we want and don't have to dress up too formal.

 

The Pearl has rock climbing, Wii, bowling, great children's progams, video arcade, water slide (I know it will be cold in Alaska but my kids will try the water slide atleast once!)

 

The excursion we are taking are - dogsledding, lumber jack show, whale watching, Mendenhall Glacier.

 

Good luck.