Alaska cruise appropriate for 5 and 7 year olds?

[aroundtheriverbend]

Hi all, thinking about booking an Alaska cruise for next summer (DH and I have been dying to book one of those for awhile, but have hesitated with the small kids). By then, my kiddos will be 5 and 7. Obviously the ships are geared to the kids, but what about the shore excursions? Anyone have experience with general Alaska daytrips since the Disney ones haven't been announced yet?

Also, is the weather warm enough (or the pools warm enough) for people to swim in Alaska (I think I was seeing temps in the mid 60's in June as an average)?

Thanks in advance!!

 

[abdmom]

DS was just turned 4 when we went to Alaska last year. There are some great things to do on shore. Lots of animal and nature focused trips. IMO, Alaska is a better itinerary for kids, young and old, than the Caribbean or Bahamas.

Unless the pool is indoors, it's usually too cold to go swimming. However, last year at this time, the temps were in the mid-80's in the Alaskan ports.

 

[STLDisney_Freak]

I certainly hope...My children will be 6 and 8 when we go on our alaskan cruise. They looking forward to seeing the wildlife. The pool is heated any time it drops below 75 degrees.

 

[emilyann415]

We were on a 3 night cruise in Feb and the port temp was 58 degrees but the pool was 82. It felt wonderful!!!! For what it's worth.

Emily

 

[sabrecmc]

My daughter will be 5 when we go on the Alaska maiden voyage, so I sincerely hope there will be plenty of appropriate shore excursions! I looked over some of the ones from other cruise lines and they looked really fun. Lots of animal stuff and outdoors stuff...On the Med cruise we were just on, there were plenty appropriate for my 4 year old and several catering specifically to children, with child-friendly activities set up. I don't think they'll be bored!

 

[smb6]

We are booked for Alaska, my younges will have just turned 5 when we go. (also will have 8,10,12,13). I have been looking at excursions on other lines and the we hope to do the White Pass RR- I think the 5 yr old (and all of us) will really enjoy that one! I also plan to do a few things w/out the 5 yr old like a helicopter glacier tour and dog sledding. I think he would be ok on these, but I don't think he would appreciate them for the cost....

 

[aroundtheriverbend]

Thanks everyone, this is great stuff!

 

[tvguy]

It is as appropriate as any other cruise.
The wildlife is amazing, they will be able to spend hours just staring at the land and sea, and ice chunks.
Swimming will be just fine, the pools are heated. Best photo I have of our Alaskan cruise is my family in the outdoor uncovered pool, steam rising, and the Hubbard Glacier in the background.

But full disclosure, I think kids really need to be 8-10 to really make any cruise worthwhile.

 

[5lilfish]

It is as appropriate as any other cruise.
The wildlife is amazing, they will be able to spend hours just staring at the land and sea, and ice chunks.
Swimming will be just fine, the pools are heated. Best photo I have of our Alaskan cruise is my family in the outdoor uncovered pool, steam rising, and the Hubbard Glacier in the background.

But full disclosure, I think kids really need to be 8-10 to really make any cruise worthwhile.

I'd have to strongly disagree with this, but i understand that others may have a different opinion. I think cruising is the BEST vacation to take with young children. We have 5 kids. Currently they are 13, 12, 10, 3, 3. We started cruising when our 3rd child was 2yrs old (so our kids were 2, 3 and almost 5). The oldest 3 have been on 17 cruises (13 DCL, 3 RCI, 1 Carnival). The 3 yr old twins have been on 9 (7 DCL, 2 RCI). They routinely ask about taking another Mickey cruise. We've felt every single one of those cruises was worthwhile. We've taken many trips...dude ranch, theme parks, beach, cities, RV, etc. Cruising continues to be our favorite family vacation.

We are booked to do Alaska on the Wonder. Our twins will be 4 yrs old.

Jess

 

[tvguy]

I'd have to strongly disagree with this, but i understand that others may have a different opinion. I think cruising is the BEST vacation to take with young children. We have 5 kids. Currently they are 13, 12, 10, 3, 3. We started cruising when our 3rd child was 2yrs old (so our kids were 2, 3 and almost 5). The oldest 3 have been on 17 cruises (13 DCL, 3 RCI, 1 Carnival). The 3 yr old twins have been on 9 (7 DCL, 2 RCI). They routinely ask about taking another Mickey cruise. We've felt every single one of those cruises was worthwhile. We've taken many trips...dude ranch, theme parks, beach, cities, RV, etc. Cruising continues to be our favorite family vacation.

We are booked to do Alaska on the Wonder. Our twins will be 4 yrs old.

Jess

I'm the same way with the parks.....learned by experience. Both our kids went to Disneyland for the first time at age 4. But just when we got going, it was time for a nap. No nap, disaster. They were about 8 before they could spent all day in the parks with out getting tired out.

 

[DisneyCruiser2008]

I think it's going to be fantastic... We are 3 families traveling together with SIX kids total, all ages 5 through 8.... We all went on the Mexican Riviera Cruise in 2008 as well (kids were all ages 2 through 5 at that time) and had a BLAST. It was especially a truly magical experience for DS who was 5 at the time. He still talks about the "Magic Ship" and the kids can't wait to go back.

 

[sabrecmc]

I actually think cruising is a lot easier on my daughter than the parks, but she loves both. She's 4 and still naps, so we leave midday for a swim and nap. Quite frankly, this has made the parks a better experience for all of us. Now, we're in FL, have annual passes and go probably 4-6 times a year, so it isn't like this is a once in a lifetime vacation for us, so I'm sure that's part of it. We've been going places literally since the moment I became her Mom in China, so honestly, after the flight home from Hong Kong, everything else is a piece of cake. We just got back from the Med cruise and 10 days pre-cruise touring Europe. She's a great little travel companion. Yes, it means we do things on a bit of a different schedule, but there are so many other benefits that come with going as a family. Plus, these days, I don't mind the forced rests, need to take taxis, etc.!

I think you'll find lots of families on the Alaska cruise. If you're on one of the earlier cruises, you'll probably find mostly families with young kids who aren't working around school schedules just yet. That was our experience on the Med. It was mostly families with young kids. There was more than enough to do and plenty of excursions that young kids could do. I think Alaska will be similar. Of course, my girl would be thrilled if I just left her in the kids club all day, lol.

 

[BobandLee]

I think the 5 and 7 year olds will be just fine.
This is from the experience of taking our grandkids on cruises.
Someone mentioned naps and kids 5. When we first took the grandson he was five. He was up before us and was hard to get to bed each evening.
With so much to do, I think they will be fine.

 

[disneypoor]

We will be sailing with Disney in Alaska next summer as well, and our kids will be 16 and 13. We have always wanted to do an Alaskan cruise and waited and prayed Disney would do one because we knew our kids would be thrilled about it if it was with Disney. I think you'll be fine with your kids' ages. It's Disney. We've been sailing Disney with our kids for many years now, and I thought our kids would eventually outgrow Disney cruises, but my husband and I are finding just the opposite is happening---they want to go even more now that they are getting older.