Alaska cruise with teens

[tigerchic89]

Thanks! In what month did you sail? How was the weather?

we were the last week on May/1st week of June 2016. It was chilly and wet, but we had periods of sunshine. I think we wore jeans the whole time, and had polar fleece layers and our rain coat/shells with us. We received hand warmers as a FE gift that we were grateful to have on Tracy Arm (though we saw the other fjord) day. I wish I had brought waterproof hiking boots, I would have worn them daily instead of my running shoes.

All 5 of us got binoculars as an Easter gift that year, we used them daily and it was nice to not have to share. my husband found them online for $40 ish and the same ones were for sale in a kiosk at the port for $175.

 

[tigerchic89]

This is good to hear! We've done Eastern Caribbean on the Fantasy twice so that's all we know, warm weather cruising. We do go on ski vacations and are traveling to Yellowstone this summer. I feel like 2018 will be a good time to do the Alaska Cruise, but now we are throwing around the idea of a Norway cruise instead.

s.
We did an OBB for Norway scheduled for Summer 2017. We cancelled that one once we realized how much the flights and pre-cruise hotels would cost. We won't do that one until we have 3 weeks of vacation to spend over there to justify the flights.

 

[Pens Fan]

This is good to hear! We've done Eastern Caribbean on the Fantasy twice so that's all we know, warm weather cruising. We do go on ski vacations and are traveling to Yellowstone this summer. I feel like 2018 will be a good time to do the Alaska Cruise, but now we are throwing around the idea of a Norway cruise instead.

Well, the only cruise our son liked better than Alaska was Norway / Iceland. You can't go wrong with either. Have a blast in Yellowstone. We've been there in summer, fall (several times) and winter. It's just spectacular.

 

[lindaso]

In what month did you sail? I'm curious about the weather. My kids were not interested in the clubs at all on the 2 other cruises so I don't see that being different on any future cruises. I'm glad to hear that I'm not the only one with kids who don't do the kids clubs! We are now tossing around the idea Norway. It actually may end up being less expensive than Alaska.

It was July 14-21st and it was hot!!! Our day in Vancouver was actually a record breaking temp and there were very few places with A/C. We had packed all kinds of clothes but didn't need any cold weather stuff at all. It was chilly at the Alaska sign, most of us were in jeans but my middle guy was in shorts.

 

[spm1198]

s.
We did an OBB for Norway scheduled for Summer 2017. We cancelled that one once we realized how much the flights and pre-cruise hotels would cost. We won't do that one until we have 3 weeks of vacation to spend over there to justify the flights.

I was convinced airfare would be outrageous, but I plugged in the same week for this year to get an idea and the flights are slightly higher than Vancouver. In the end, both cruises will be about the same cost. This is gonna be a tough decision!

 

[spm1198]

Well, the only cruise our son liked better than Alaska was Norway / Iceland. You can't go wrong with either. Have a blast in Yellowstone. We've been there in summer, fall (several times) and winter. It's just spectacular.

Thank you! I can't wait to see Yellowstone! We'll be in Big Sky, MT in the winter so we're hoping to have a free day to experience Yellowstone in the winter too.

 

[mouselike-harrier]

We did the Alaskan Cruise in July of 2013. My kids were 17 and 13, and they still thank us for taking it. As others have said, on this cruise we did not spend much time in our cabin unless we were on the balcony looking at scenery. We even saw some whales in the water! My kids loved being on the deck during Tracy Arm day and I had to drag my husband away just to get a picture of us. As far as excursions go, ours was a little limited because of unexpected financial difficulties at the time, but truly it did not matter to them. In Skagway, we did the sightseeing of Lynn Canal on the Navy type boat/raft. I think it was called Skagway Ocean Raft excursion. We loved it and we have my favorite family picture taken of all time while we were on the boat. We did the Mendenhall tour in Juneau, which took us to the glacier, fishery, and town tour. While my kids were initially disappointed that we were doing this, they told me that they liked it better than they expected. Anyway, our weather during July was not bad. Some drizzly mornings and on 1 morning, maybe in Juneau or Ketchikan, they postponed the morning activities. Other than that the weather was great.