Are Alaska cruises as fun for kids?

[Luckymommatoo]

Okay, so we haven't even sailed on our FIRST cruise yet (less than two weeks!), but I've always wanted to sail to Alaska. Thinking of booking Alaska while we're onboard. Worried that it won't be as fun for the kids, though (they are 8 and 10), and that seven days will seem LONG.

Thoughts? Do they kids love it just as much even though it can be cold and rainy? Thanks!

 

[CDRT]

Okay, so we haven't even sailed on our FIRST cruise yet (less than two weeks!), but I've always wanted to sail to Alaska. Thinking of booking Alaska while we're onboard. Worried that it won't be as fun for the kids, though (they are 8 and 10), and that seven days will seem LONG. Thoughts? Do they kids love it just as much even though it can be cold and rainy? Thanks!

We just got off the Alaska cruise on June 30th. My kids are a bit younger than yours at 4 and 7 but there was never a moment with out something to do. My kids swam 4 days at least, played in club, met characters, went to dance parties, and the show in the evening are amazing. You will never lack of things to do. If you want to go book it. You will see after your first cruise there is always something going on. Your kids will love it even if the weather is bad.

 

[bksaffle]

My kids are both 11 and they started cruising when they were 5. We have been on 10 different DCL cruises, including the Alaska cruise on May 24th. Hands down this was their favorite cruise. They are already asking when we can take another Alaskan cruise. There are always things to do, never a boring moment, unless you chose not to do anything. The longer the cruise the better in our mind.

Alaska is absolutely amazing, so much beauty everywhere. So different than cruising the open seas in the Caribbean....there is always something to look at, especially whales, sea lions, eagles.

Be careful, you may get hooked. We did and it is our favorite way to vacation. We always ask our kids what kind of vacation do you want to take, and every time they respond....lets take a Disney Cruise.

 

[LisaRN97]

Alaska will be our third Disney cruise with our girls (9,8) and I have to say, they have been the most excited for this one out of all three!!

 

[jetskigrl]

We are going to Alaska next month (woo hoo - it sounds so good to finally say next month, LOL). My kids have done Bahamas, Mexican Riviera and Caribbean but they both say Alaska is what they are the most excited about. But they are a bit older (16 and 11). Both my kids love seeing wildlife and are looking forward to watching the scenery and looking for whales from the verandah, etc.

LOL - I see 7 days and I'm worried it will be too short (it really is only 6 full days and of those, 3 are in port). I have been looking at the navigators from previous cruises and am trying to figure out how we will fit in everything that we want to do

 

[tweis]

We had Alaska booked for 2015 but I was promoted at work which really changed when I could schedule my vacation times so we had to cancel. I've started thinking that it was probably for the best because even though they are currently 11 & 12, I don't think they would love the cruise. They would like being on board and enjoying the activities but most of the excursions for Alaska that I am interested in are VERY pricey and I want them to be at an age where we all can enjoy them. My 12 year old is afraid of heights right now and would not be interested in landing on a glacier like the rest of the family would, so I'm hoping he will grow out of it in a few years OR by then maybe I won't mind leaving him on the ship.

Every family is different and your children may love Alaska right now but I think we would probably be spending a lot of money on something that we aren't going to be able to enjoy to its fullest potential.

 

[mjackson]

Alaska was our 5th Disney cruise and for my kids 14, 10, and 5 they enjoyed this the most of all. Besides the tons of fun they had on the ship they enjoyed the port adventures more. Every port offers something different as we went whale watching, train ride, national parks, zip lining, and touring. We wanted to do more things such as dog mushing, bike trails, glacier top tour, fishing, etc and did not have time. We can take this cruise again and have a different experience not repeating our last cruise. I constantly heard from my kids that they loved Alaska. Also don't discount Vancouver as one of your ports. We spent 2.5 days there and they had just as much fun.

 

[jetskigrl]

Alaska was our 5th Disney cruise and for my kids 14, 10, and 5 they enjoyed this the most of all. Besides the tons of fun they had on the ship they enjoyed the port adventures more. Every port offers something different as we went whale watching, train ride, national parks, zip lining, and touring. We wanted to do more things such as dog mushing, bike trails, glacier top tour, fishing, etc and did not have time. We can take this cruise again and have a different experience not repeating our last cruise. I constantly heard from my kids that they loved Alaska. Also don't discount Vancouver as one of your ports. We spent 2.5 days there and they had just as much fun.

Oh, that is true. I'm having the same problem with Vancouver. We are flying in Saturday afternoon and spending two nights there and I am already trying to figure out how to see everything we want to see there before we even get on the ship.

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

Yes yes yes so much to do and see great education.

 

[MousseauMob]

I can't speak for all kids, but my kids LOVE it! We've done it 4 times, and I can see us doing more.

 

[lg3]

OP, I was concerned about the same thing at first - We have always taken dd11 on warm weather cruises and were a bit concerned that she would be bored, or miss the pool time. NO FEAR! She absolutely loved it, especially the Port Excursions. She made a lot of friends onboard, and we literally had to drag her away to eat dinner, etc. She especially liked the dog mushing and zip line excursions. Big thumbs up!

 

[Sw33tpotatoes]

We just got off the Wonder on Monday. I have a 5 yr old and 3 yr old and they both loved it! Lots to do on the boat. They spent most of their time in the club or swimming. We also saw some of the shows on board, met characters and just walked around the ship. We saw seals and whales and they loved the ice burgs when we went to Tracey arm.
Take the kids, they will love it!

 

[SDGoofy]

My kids were 11 and 8 when we did Alaska and it was their favorite compared to a 7 night on Magic and 7 night on Fantasy in the Caribbean.

 

[mwmom]

We just returned home tonight from Vancouver. On the way home, my DD9 said, "Mom, I just want to walk back on the plane, fly back to Vancouver and get on the ship!" This was our first cruise and we didn't do 1/2 of the stuff offered on the ship. We were so busy and had a great time. Your kids are sure to love it!

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

Kids will love it look at this.


http://youtu.be/kAIUmlbKofg

 

[dotfurio]

There is so much to do we couldn't even do half of it. We hardly saw our 12 year old on board she was having so much fun in the club. Our 5 year old also loved the clubs as well as the pool. We picked excursions that the girls really enjoyed - mushers camp, ziplining, glacier, saxman and lumberjack show. We can't wait to go again and do some of the excursions we missed. The only part of the whole trip they hated was tagging along with me while I shopped

 

[busybethie]

My family must be the only family that did not enjoy this trip. Three teenage girls. It was our 8th Disney cruise. While in the Alaskan waters, there were no movies being played on the jumbo movie screen outside, no outdoor music, no 2:00 pool party because it would disrupt the wildlife. The whole trip was very "quite" and we have also enjoyed being entertained by the cruise staff during the afternoons and watching the movies.

My kids didn't use the club areas by their own choice so I can't speak for those areas. We are a very active family and the lower priced excursions didn't meet our needs. All of the active excursions were way out of our price range so that probably added to the "quietness". We did do a whale watching trip that was fabulous but we thought the boat was too quite for us.

Just my two cents. A little too boring for us. Out other family members have loved it and are there now for the 3rd time.

Beth

 

[Luckymommatoo]

Thanks for all the feedback. I think I need to look more closely at the excursions -- both the age limitations and prices, because that could be a factor for us. (And may sway me toward waiting til the kids are a bit older.)

It's definitely on my must-do list, though!

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

Thanks for all the feedback. I think I need to look more closely at the excursions -- both the age limitations and prices, because that could be a factor for us. (And may sway me toward waiting til the kids are a bit older.)

It's definitely on my must-do list, though!

For excursions book independently we did in three ports with six trips and I saved a heck of a lot, ie Misty Fjords I chartered the lane for four of us Original price was cheaper than four people on a DCL tour and they gave me a further 10% discount for booking early so far cheaper time I choose and ours was private not with others.

Did the same in Juneau with a private helicopter far cheaper than DCL it should have been a shared one but we had it to ourselves!! So cheaper cost but no one with us bar a pilot.

See link below in signature.

 

[scgustafson]

Alaska was the favorite cruise of our entire family, including our 9-year old daughter. Not only the excursions, but just the whole ship experience because of the Disney Wonder and its crew. But the excursions were great, in Skagway we rode the train up and took a bus back down. In Juneau, we flew in a helicopter out to the Mendenhall Glacier and rode with the sled dogs. This was the best excursion, despite the 70 degree temperatures on the Glacier and the dogs having to roll in the snow every 1/4 mile to cool down. Our salmon fishing in Ketchikan was the least favorite excursion on the trip, mostly because the fish weren't biting, but the scenery was beautiful. Speaking of beautiful, the entire voyage offered gorgeous scenery, especially in Tracy Arm. Our other cruises have been 4-nights on Disney Dream to the Bahamas, 7-nights on Disney Fantasy to the Eastern Caribbean, and 12-nights on Disney Magic in the Mediterranean. This is the only itinerary that we would every consider repeating.