Alaska cruise with teens

[spm1198]

We are considering an Alaska cruise in late Aug, 2018. Our kids will be 15 and 16. Looking for feedback from anyone who has done this cruise with teenagers.

 

[Drusilla99]

We did a 7 day last summer with our dd16 and dd14 at the time. We all prefer warm weather destinations, but decided to just do this so it's off the list. The girls were in vibe together for the first time and enjoyed that. They liked the Skagway train up/bus down, but couldn't wait to get back on the ship while we spent the afternoon in town. In Juneau they did the teen only zip lining & LOVED it, probably their favorite thing, but then it was right back to the ship. In Ketchikan we saw the lumberjack show and then they rushed back to the ship. They really liked that it was light later, so the days lasted so long. They made a lot of friends and there were good movies playing. We also had really nice weather, so afternoons at the pool were perfect and not crowded at all. We are all glad we did it and had a lot of fun, but it's not a destination we are eager to do again.

 

[Geomom]

My girls were 12 and 16 on our Alaskan cruise last summer. In Skagway, they loved the Chilkoot Charters Yukon (bus up/train down) with dogcart ride. Their favorite part, was of course, anything with the dogs--so dogcart ride, playing with the puppies, plus the bbq chicken lunch. DD16 has always wanted to go to Alaska anyway...was actually sad that we weren't going to Denali, but we weren't anywhere near there. In Vibe they had a naturalist program about the Northern Lights--they got to draw their own. DD16 loves art, so she enjoyed that activity. She loved the scenery, etc.

Both kids had a great first cruise! I'd just suggest finding out what types of excursions your kids would like and incorporate it into your trip. DD16 wanted something with dogs, and she loved the kitschy Lumberjack show that we went to in Ketchikan--hunky Canadian and Alaskan men cutting wood--yeah, she was happy! My kids are good on trips in general and are willing to humor us wherever we take them.

 

[disneyfaninaz]

My DD14 loved our Alaskan cruise. She loved everything about the cruise, but especially liked Ziplining in Ketchikan and whale watching in Juneau.

 

[mandylovesdisney]

Following... Thinking of doing this as a graduation trip for our DS in 2019

 

[jenpink]

MY 14 year old loved our Alaskan cruise last summer. She made great friends in the Vibe that she is still in contact with. She enjoyed the Chilkoot Charters train up bus down with dogsled. We also did a whale watching trip in Juneau that she enjoyed.

 

[MUN]

We are considering an Alaska cruise in late Aug, 2018. Our kids will be 15 and 16. Looking for feedback from anyone who has done this cruise with teenagers.

We did it 4 years ago. Our children were 14, 12, and 9 at the time. My 12 year old daughter said it was her favorite vacation. Our two boys loved the cruise as well.

 

[tink1970]

Another DD who is a dog fan! Alaska was one of her favorite cruises ever whatever she and my father did with dogs still ranks up there for experiences. Interestingly she spent little time in the club and she and my DF were up as late as possible doing who knows what I think the long days got them both wound up

It can be an active cruise, a nature oriented cruise or something else...there are a lot of great threads about excursions (DCL and on your own) and get their input on what sounds fun to them. It was a great cruise for our family

 

[xlxo]

Alaska cruise in late Aug, 2018.

I do have a weather concern..... late August is statistically the wet season and September is best for storm chasers.

Try to go July or very early August for the better port weather. It costs more.... I'm willing to pay more for dry weather. I will say to avoid the 5 day trip.... look for the 7 day trip as a minimum.

 

[spm1198]

We did a 7 day last summer with our dd16 and dd14 at the time. We all prefer warm weather destinations, but decided to just do this so it's off the list. The girls were in vibe together for the first time and enjoyed that. They liked the Skagway train up/bus down, but couldn't wait to get back on the ship while we spent the afternoon in town. In Juneau they did the teen only zip lining & LOVED it, probably their favorite thing, but then it was right back to the ship. In Ketchikan we saw the lumberjack show and then they rushed back to the ship. They really liked that it was light later, so the days lasted so long. They made a lot of friends and there were good movies playing. We also had really nice weather, so afternoons at the pool were perfect and not crowded at all. We are all glad we did it and had a lot of fun, but it's not a destination we are eager to do again.

Thanks for the info. The other option is a 7 day on the Fantasy, either western Caribbean or Tortola. We've been on the Fantasy twice, both Eastern Caribbean. I think I'm the only one in the family voting for Alaska.

 

[spm1198]

I do have a weather concern..... late August is statistically the wet season and September is best for storm chasers.

Try to go July or very early August for the better port weather. It costs more.... I'm willing to pay more for dry weather. I will say to avoid the 5 day trip.... look for the 7 day trip as a minimum.

Good to know, thank you! I am trying to avoid July b/c of the price difference.

 

[xlxo]

The price difference is those who seek out warm dry port weather.

• The Wonder has a 9 day special sailing in July that includes Hubbard. That sailing is premium priced.
• Avoid the 5 day sailing afterwards... you miss out on two of my fav ports.
• if you look at this link... you can see how August is statistically twice as wet as June....
  http://www.usclimatedata.com/climate.php?location=USAK0116

 

[tigerchic89]

Alaska was my kids favorite of our 5 DCL cruises. They were 16, 14 and 11 when we went to Alaska. They loved Vibe and Edge more in Alaska than in teh carribbean. We've re=booked Alaska in 2018 and the kids can not wait

 

[havaneselover]

The price difference is those who seek out warm dry port weather.

• The Wonder has a 9 day special sailing in July that includes Hubbard. That sailing is premium priced.
• Avoid the 5 day sailing afterwards... you miss out on two of my fav ports.
• if you look at this link... you can see how August is statistically twice as wet as June....
  http://www.usclimatedata.com/climate.php?location=USAK0116

Kids being in school also lowers demand in August. The price difference between 7/23/18 and 8/20/18 is about 30%. That's a huge difference when average rainfall is only about 20% higher in Juneau in August compared with July.

 

[lindaso]

We did Alaska when the kids were 16, 14 and 12 and they loved it. They don't do the kids club at all. I was shocked at how much they loved the Tracy Arm day, just being on the deck and hanging out with their binoculars. They must have eaten 50 ice cream cones while we were sailing to the glacier but they were happy. We did the train/bus trip (saw lots of bears from the road), whale watching (unbelievable) and zip lining, all booked outside of DCL. It was one of our best vacations, highly recommend for teenagers.

 

[Pens Fan]

Our son was 14 when we first cruised Alaska. He absolutely loved it. I actually think that teens are at a great age for Alaska, as they are old enough to really appreciate what they are seeing. They are also old enough to participate in pretty much any excursion you are interested it. We went to Neets Bay by float plane for bear watching in Ketchikan, whale watching and Mendenhall in Juneau and rode 4 x 4's in Skagway.

I think this pretty much sums up what our son thought about Alaska vs. the Caribbean. In Alaska he went to Vibe once - for about an hour. He was too busy doing other things to care about it. He was happy hanging out on the balcony with our binoculars searching for wildlife (as long as the room service chocolate chip cookies kept on coming ) The next summer we were on the Fantasy - Eastern Caribbean - and he spent several hours in Vibe every single day. Had it not been for Vibe, he would have been bored I believe. Our family would definitely pick Alaska over the Caribbean every single time. As a matter of fact, we already have. We will be heading back to Alaska in July.

 

[spm1198]

We did Alaska when the kids were 16, 14 and 12 and they loved it. They don't do the kids club at all. I was shocked at how much they loved the Tracy Arm day, just being on the deck and hanging out with their binoculars. They must have eaten 50 ice cream cones while we were sailing to the glacier but they were happy. We did the train/bus trip (saw lots of bears from the road), whale watching (unbelievable) and zip lining, all booked outside of DCL. It was one of our best vacations, highly recommend for teenagers.

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.

 

[spm1198]

Our son was 14 when we first cruised Alaska. He absolutely loved it. I actually think that teens are at a great age for Alaska, as they are old enough to really appreciate what they are seeing. They are also old enough to participate in pretty much any excursion you are interested it. We went to Neets Bay by float plane for bear watching in Ketchikan, whale watching and Mendenhall in Juneau and rode 4 x 4's in Skagway.

I think this pretty much sums up what our son thought about Alaska vs. the Caribbean. In Alaska he went to Vibe once - for about an hour. He was too busy doing other things to care about it. He was happy hanging out on the balcony with our binoculars searching for wildlife (as long as the room service chocolate chip cookies kept on coming ) The next summer we were on the Fantasy - Eastern Caribbean - and he spent several hours in Vibe every single day. Had it not been for Vibe, he would have been bored I believe. Our family would definitely pick Alaska over the Caribbean every single time. As a matter of fact, we already have. We will be heading back to Alaska in July.

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.

 

[spm1198]

Alaska was my kids favorite of our 5 DCL cruises. They were 16, 14 and 11 when we went to Alaska. They loved Vibe and Edge more in Alaska than in teh carribbean. We've re=booked Alaska in 2018 and the kids can not wait

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

 

[spm1198]

The price difference is those who seek out warm dry port weather.

• The Wonder has a 9 day special sailing in July that includes Hubbard. That sailing is premium priced.
• Avoid the 5 day sailing afterwards... you miss out on two of my fav ports.
• if you look at this link... you can see how August is statistically twice as wet as June....
  http://www.usclimatedata.com/climate.php?location=USAK0116

This link is a great resource, thank you!