Alaska Glacier Explorer - with or without the kids??

[wendlle]

I am not looking for a debate or shaming on asking about leaving my kids in the kids club with this post, what I am looking for is opinions from people who HAVE done it before.

I am wanting to do the Glacier Explorer on my Alaskan Cruise in September.
I am a Single Parent going with my two kids, aged 7 and 4.

I am after people who have done the excursion WITH their kids and also from those who have done it WITHOUT their kids and left them on the ship in the kids club.

Of course the cost is a huge factor, I am from Australia. The trip is getting out of hand cost wise due to the poor dollar, I'm spending WAY over our budget and need to cut some things sadly.
I am not sure if my kids will be bored also, or they may love it. I'm not sure.

Just after comments from people who have done both situations so I can weigh up the options.
Thank you.

 

[auntlynne]

If you did a road trip, would your kids look out the window and enjoy just looking at stuff?

 

[soniam]

Honestly, I would probably just skip it. We did it earlier this month. Our son doesn't count though; he's 17, sort of an adult. The glacier we saw in Tracy Arm from the small boat was a little disappointing, but maybe that's because we have seen glaciers in Patagonia. The glacier was fairly small and dirty. They saw some really great stuff from the ship, including a different part of the glacier that was bigger and nicer, whales, and a seal give birth. If we had stayed on the ship, I am sure we wouldn't have seen any of that stuff I would just stay on the ship and enjoy the scenery and hot chocolate with your kids. Seeing their expressions will probably be more memorable than what you even see from the ship. The small boat might be kind of boring for young kids; our 17 year old was kind of bored, but teens get bored easily. We saw small waterfalls up close and a couple of eagles. I didn't feel it was worth the money, but we wouldn't have known if we hadn't done it.

 

[jldcherry]

We did the glacier excursion with our kids (7 and 9) last summer. They enjoyed the first hour looking at seals and the scenery, the rest of the time they stayed inside the boat with my mother-in-law drinking hot chocolate. They made friends with some other kids on the excursion and ended up playing games with them for most of the time. I honestly don't think a 4 year old will stay engaged long enough to make the price tag worth it. As adults who'd never seen a glacier we thoroughly enjoyed it and even got to see it calve. It's definitely not the thing my kids remember most from our trip.

 

[shosh1530]

We did not do the excursion, but I will say my 11 year old only watched the scenery from the Wonder for only about 15 minutes before getting bored and heading to the kid's club. So I think he would have also gotten really bored on the excursion. If we were to go again, I'd consider doing the excursion without him now that I know he was happy at the kid's club.

 

[wendlle]

Thank you for all the information.
I too think my kids would be bored, but I'm having a hard time adjusting to the fact I'd be leaving them on the ship while I am off it.
I know they would be fine in kids club, I already know they will like it in there, it's just my own "mum guilt" I guess.

I've got a bit to think about and time to consider it as we aren't going until September.

 

[sadiecatie]

We also didn’t do the glacier explorer and aren’t sad we didn’t - there was plenty of cool stuff to see from the ship. My daughter (8) also got bored with just looking at the sites after a short while and spent most of the afternoon in the pools. Meanwhile, I sat in a lounger and watched the mountains go by, enjoyed a drink, and popped up to deck 10 for better views now and then. If expenses are getting out of control and you think the mom guilt might ruin the experience for you, just stay on the ship! There will be plenty to see from there.