Alaskan Cruise

[Alexle2007]

DS9 will be "moving up" to middle school after next school year (so Fall 2017). He would like to go on an Alaskan cruise so it seems like the perfect gift to celebrate this milestone. I've looked at the Disney cruises and that is all we have previously done but their pricing for Alaska seems excessive since we would want a verandah. Does anyone have another cruise line they would recommend? Obviously, it needs to be kid friendly. Thanks for your help!

 

[barkley]

cruise critic has lots of good information on this.

based on my personal experiences-avoid holland america cruiseline (they may say they have kid's programing but it was horrific-heck the adults under 60 were bored w/ lack of activities/, but check out royal carribean (a friend went with a family group with kids ranging from very young thorough older teens on rcl to Alaska -said everyone including tweens and teens all loved it).

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

DS9 will be "moving up" to middle school after next school year (so Fall 2017). He would like to go on an Alaskan cruise so it seems like the perfect gift to celebrate this milestone. I've looked at the Disney cruises and that is all we have previously done but their pricing for Alaska seems excessive since we would want a verandah. Does anyone have another cruise line they would recommend? Obviously, it needs to be kid friendly. Thanks for your help!

I went on an Alaskan cruise to celebrate taking the bar exam after law school. I am a Royal Caribbean diamond member, so I am pretty loyal to that cruise line. I went the end of March. I can't speak too much to the pricing because I used reward points to pay for it, but I don't think it was excessive. The cruise was really great and I always love Royal Caribbean. I know that they have a lot of kids programming and it is very kid friendly, so there will be lots for a 9 year old to do on board. Dining is also really flexible with lots of options for kids. Shore excursions were great. I went on a Glacial hike, whale watching, a boat to a rain forest island, etc. There is a lot of variety and great active excursions in addition to the "bus tour" type trips.

I think due to the time of year that I went, the crowd was mostly older (many people that were 60+ with a significant number that were 80+), but that didn't lessen my enjoyment of the cruise in any way. You would probably see more families in the summer months for an Alaskan cruise.

 

[havaneselover]

I went on an Alaskan cruise to celebrate taking the bar exam after law school. I am a Royal Caribbean diamond member, so I am pretty loyal to that cruise line. I went the end of March. I can't speak too much to the pricing because I used reward points to pay for it, but I don't think it was excessive. The cruise was really great and I always love Royal Caribbean. I know that they have a lot of kids programming and it is very kid friendly, so there will be lots for a 9 year old to do on board. Dining is also really flexible with lots of options for kids. Shore excursions were great. I went on a Glacial hike, whale watching, a boat to a rain forest island, etc. There is a lot of variety and great active excursions in addition to the "bus tour" type trips.

I think due to the time of year that I went, the crowd was mostly older (many people that were 60+ with a significant number that were 80+), but that didn't lessen my enjoyment of the cruise in any way. You would probably see more families in the summer months for an Alaskan cruise.

In March??? That was brave!

I'm interested as well but I am DCL loyal and with saving 10% by booking onboard and paying with gift cards, the price premium shouldn't be as large for me. Otherwise I'd seriously look at RC.

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

In March??? That was brave!

I'm interested as well but I am DCL loyal and with saving 10% by booking onboard and paying with gift cards, the price premium shouldn't be as large for me. Otherwise I'd seriously look at RC.

It was the end of May, I got that wrong! The weather was actually quite nice. It was in the 70s most of the time. It was early enough in the season that whale watching was quite good and the mosquitos weren't insane. When we were "parked" next to Hubbard glacier, it was definitely cold on deck. But they were serving hot chocolate which helped warm my sister and I up. It was really a great trip and I loved it. No regrets.

 

[mjkacmom]

We like NCL, but RCCL and Carvival all seems to have good kids clubs.

My kids all got iPhones for 6th grade graduation.

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

It was the end of May, I got that wrong! The weather was actually quite nice. It was in the 70s most of the time. It was early enough in the season that whale watching was quite good and the mosquitos weren't insane. When we were "parked" next to Hubbard glacier, it was definitely cold on deck. But they were serving hot chocolate which helped warm my sister and I up. It was really a great trip and I loved it. No regrets.

Got it wrong, it was the end of May! My brain isn't working this morning. It left 21-May-2010 to be exact, just looked it up.

 

[havaneselover]

It was the end of March and the weather was actually quite nice. It was in the 70s most of the time. It was early enough in the season that whale watching was quite good and the mosquitos weren't insane. When we were "parked" next to Hubbard glacier, it was definitely cold on deck. But they were serving hot chocolate which helped warm my sister and I up. It was really a great trip and I loved it. No regrets.

I only pay attention to DCL and they don't start cruising in Alaska until the end of May so I didn't even realize there were March cruises. I know for Disney the fares are insane from the middle of June through the middle of August so I'm hoping to go in the end of August.

 

[havaneselover]

Got it wrong, it was the end of May! My brain isn't working this morning. It left 21-May-2010 to be exact, just looked it up.

Okay, that makes sense

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

And just for an example, here are the shore excursions that my sister and I did. Since the cruise was free with reward points, we went all out on the shore excursions, but really enjoyed them a lot. I covered mine and sister covered hers. I spent about $800 on shore excursions alone.

DAY 3
23-May-2010
Ketchikan, Alaska

Rain Forest Island
08:00 AM
Total Cost, 2 adults: 254.00 USD

DAY 4
24-May-2010
Icy Strait Point, Alaska

Whales, Wildlife & Brown Bear Search
09:00 AM
Total Cost, 2 adults: 478.00 USD

DAY 5
25-May-2010
Juneau, Alaska

Mendenhall Glacier Guide's Choice Adventure Hike
08:30 AM
Total Cost, 1 adult: 83.00 USD

Alaska Sled Dogs & Musher's Camp
11:00 AM
Total Cost, 1 adult: 135.00 USD

Gold Creek Salmon Bake
05:00 PM
Total Cost, 2 adults: 84.00 USD

DAY 6
26-May-2010
Skagway, Alaska

Bennett Lake & White Pass Adventure
07:25 AM
Total Cost, 2 adults: 552.00 USD

 

[Alexle2007]

It was the end of May, I got that wrong! The weather was actually quite nice. It was in the 70s most of the time. It was early enough in the season that whale watching was quite good and the mosquitos weren't insane. When we were "parked" next to Hubbard glacier, it was definitely cold on deck. But they were serving hot chocolate which helped warm my sister and I up. It was really a great trip and I loved it. No regrets.

Thanks. Did you see any orcas? That is what DS is really interested in seeing. I guess the ones in captivity aren't good enough

 

[tvguy]

cruise critic has lots of good information on this.

based on my personal experiences-avoid holland america cruiseline (they may say they have kid's programing but it was horrific-heck the adults under 60 were bored w/ lack of activities/, but check out royal carribean (a friend went with a family group with kids ranging from very young thorough older teens on rcl to Alaska -said everyone including tweens and teens all loved it).

I respectfully disagree about Holland America. They have been cruising Alaska longer than any other cruise line and because of that have the best permits for the glaciers.
There service is awesome as is their food. On paper, they offer similar kids activities. However, my 2 kids found the kids clubs on HAL and Disney both to be not to their liking. The family activities were better attended on HAL. Several dozen families for the trivia contest, as compared to 3 families for the Disney Trivia contest on the Magic.
We have done 2 Alaska cruises, both on HAL.

 

[barkley]

I respectfully disagree about Holland America. They have been cruising Alaska longer than any other cruise line and because of that have the best permits for the glaciers.
There service is awesome as is their food. On paper, they offer similar kids activities. However, my 2 kids found the kids clubs on HAL and Disney both to be not to their liking. The family activities were better attended on HAL. Several dozen families for the trivia contest, as compared to 3 families for the Disney Trivia contest on the Magic.
We have done 2 Alaska cruises, both on HAL.

I can only speak to our experience-and granted it was awhile ago (back when dvc members could use their points on hal to pay for an entire cruise). it may have changed since then but we were HORRENDOUSLY disappointed not only with the kids club but the cruise in general.

we knew that in no way was hal going to compare (youth activities wise) w/dcl but what was promoted on their website was in no way what was offered on board-in talking to the head of their kid's activities director for the ship we were on (who was very present and hands on despite the lack of offerings) he conceded to us that he felt the marketing was misleading (and confided in us that he had worked previously w/dcl and had accepted a job with hal b/c of their contract w/dvc and their promise to both him and dvc that hal would improve and enhance their youth programing, a job he was awaiting the end of his contract on in order to go back to dcl).

when we did hal the majority of cruisers were without children (median age 60 plus) so there were maybe (including our 2 kids, the ship's doctor's and the captain's 1 who happened to be cruising at the same time)-maybe 12 total. the bulk of activities were board games (old, dated), 'art' (coloring books, kindergarten level crafts), and 'alaskan wildlife education' (sitting in front of a tv watching reruns on dvd of the same old nat geo or pbs type shows that were sold on infomercials at the time).

as far as adult stuff-I've never heard as many complaints about service on any cruise in my life (we've done multiples on dcl, ncl, and celebrity)-MOST from repeat cruisers. I don't know if we just ended up w/horrendously undertrained staff or maybe it was staff who were all ready to resign. just a horrendous experience.


I don't understand about the permit concept for glaciers. if you're talking about excursions-we were on the identical glacier excursions that the people who docked the same day on carnival and rcl were on (a non hal company-outside contractors like all other excursions we booked for our trip-cheaper privately than the identical excursion through hal). we observed other non hal cruise ships right in front and behind us doing the inside passage cruise both ways on the cruise-identical route.

I subsequently did celebrity-while they were not what I would consider as having an extensive youth program I will give them the credit that they don't misrepresent themselves.

Thanks. Did you see any orcas? That is what DS is really interested in seeing. I guess the ones in captivity aren't good enough

the year we went it was in early august-we didn't do an excursion for orcas but had many opportunities to see them during our inside passage cruise.

 

[antmaril]

Take a look at Princess. It is my understanding that HAL and Princess (I have been on both to Alaska) have been doing Alaska the longest. I would make sure that any cruise you take includes Glacier Bay, which is spectacular. I cannot comment on the kids' clubs on HAL or Princess, but I think Princess would be the better choice for a 9 year old.

Whatever you decide, have fun! Alaska is fabulous!

 

[IBelieveInTheMagic]

I know you said you want a verandah which is why DCL is out of the price range you are comfortable with. I know DCL can be more expensive, but I encourage you to really compare all the cruise lines and compare apples to apples for the itineraries. For example, I personally feel (as others do) the Vancouver routes are better than the Seattle routes and usually cost more. Most will say Glacier Bay is the route to take although I'll say, I never felt we had an inferior cruise through Tracy Arm (again, my opinion). We are sailing on our 2nd DCL Alaska cruise in August and I always compare (even though loyal to DCL) as I want to know the price difference, what I'm getting for my $, etc. We did verandah on our first sailing in 2013 as the price wasn't so prohibitive for one back then. This year we are doing an oceanview as it saves $2500 for the 3 of us and we all agree, we'd rather be in an oceanview on DCL, than a verandah on another line. BUT THAT'S US We plan on being on deck, whether it be deck 4 and covered or up on deck 9/10 when we need to. When I was comparing previously, DCL was priced the same or even better than others in the oceanview categories. Also, not sure of your dates but also look at different options for the categories as our 8/8 sailing for oceanview was the same as other times (the lower priced tiers although not the lowest in May).

I also encourage you to book excursions through independent companies and that will help you save quite a bit. For the three of us in August, we are doing excursions in every port and I estimate ours to be total of $1000 (or less) and that includes a private whale watching trip.

I have a friend that has sailed with Carnival, Royal Caribbean, DCL (with me), Princess and NCL. She agrees DCL is the best and she didn't have any kids at the time, but her husband is not a "Disney person" so they used NCL for Alaska (out of Seattle) and they enjoyed it. She said besides DCL her favorite would be RCCL.

As others have stated, whatever you do - you'll enjoy Alaska as it's amazing
Heather

 

[tvguy]

I don't understand about the permit concept for glaciers. if you're talking about excursions-we were on the identical glacier excursions that the people who docked the same day on carnival and rcl were on (a non hal company-outside contractors like all other excursions we booked for our trip-cheaper privately than the identical excursion through hal). we observed other non hal cruise ships right in front and behind us doing the inside passage cruise both ways on the cruise-identical route..

Yes, excursions are going to be identical on any cruise line since the cruise lines have nothing to do with excursions.
There are limits on how many ships can visit the glaciers, and HAL has the oldest and best permits. We watched 2 other cruise ships, RCL and Princess waiting for our ship to pass them because HAL had the first access permit. That can be critical is ice conditions change because sometimes only one ship a day can physically get in. And of course, their on board naturalist program has won awards, but I guess not everyone is into that.

But you do bring up a good point that old time cruisers like me have to remember. (My first cruise was in 1980). The cruise industry is changing to adapt to the needs of the mass market cruiser now. Kids clubs are huge. Cruisers now longer want of expect a 3 1/2 hour gourmet experience at dinner. Our Disney cruise was sandwiched between a HAL and an NCL America cruise. Disney was a step up in kids activities, about on par with HAL or maybe a little lower than HAL on food, where as NCL America was just basically your hotel, ALL the real activities were on shore not the ship.

Disney was the first "early to bed early to rise" cruise we were on. The Magic was empty after 10 pm except on New Years Eve, but even then everyone vaporized at 12:05 am. A long long long ways from my first cruise when the nightclub on board didn't even open until 1:30 am!

 

[havaneselover]

Yes, excursions are going to be identical on any cruise line since the cruise lines have nothing to do with excursions.
There are limits on how many ships can visit the glaciers, and HAL has the oldest and best permits. We watched 2 other cruise ships, RCL and Princess waiting for our ship to pass them because HAL had the first access permit. That can be critical is ice conditions change because sometimes only one ship a day can physically get in. And of course, their on board naturalist program has won awards, but I guess not everyone is into that.

But you do bring up a good point that old time cruisers like me have to remember. (My first cruise was in 1980). The cruise industry is changing to adapt to the needs of the mass market cruiser now. Kids clubs are huge. Cruisers now longer want of expect a 3 1/2 hour gourmet experience at dinner. Our Disney cruise was sandwiched between a HAL and an NCL America cruise. Disney was a step up in kids activities, about on par with HAL or maybe a little lower than HAL on food, where as NCL America was just basically your hotel, ALL the real activities were on shore not the ship.

Disney was the first "early to bed early to rise" cruise we were on. The Magic was empty after 10 pm except on New Years Eve, but even then everyone vaporized at 12:05 am. A long long long ways from my first cruise when the nightclub on board didn't even open until 1:30 am!

I've been on four Disney cruises and never seen any of the ships empty at 10 pm.

 

[stacieps]

Cruised Alaska twice, both with Carnival. First time we did a south-bound trip from Whitter, AK to Vancouver (we were able to spend several days in Alaska pre-cruise and drove Vancouver to Seattle for a couple of days post-cruise). 2nd trip (July 2015), we did a Seattle round-trip due to time/cost constraints. I'd researched a lot before both trips and saw lots of opinions/recommendations that cruising from Vancouver was better than Seattle. We thoroughly enjoyed both trips, I didn't really see any negatives to the Seattle trip. I'm considering another in 2 years and would definitely consider Seattle again.

We are a family that cruises often (9 Disney, 14 Carnival, 1 Royal Caribbean, 2 Norweigan) - for me, the itinerary in Alaska is most important. I wanted to make sure we had plenty of time in the ports. On ship, for me, so much time is spent on deck viewing nature, hoping for wildlife sightings, that the cruise line & ship aren't a huge factor. In Alaska, more so than Caribbean, I don't want to spend much time on dining & entertainment - I eat at the buffets and don't go to shows. For these reasons, I eliminated Disney very early while planning Alaska - if I'm going to pay the Disney premium it is because of the amenities (entertainment, dining, etc), and I don't feel that while in Alaska I'd get my money's worth.

Good luck with the decision - I'm sure you'll have a fantastic time whichever line you choose.

 

[phabric]

I have taken 2 Princess and 1 Carnival Alaska cruises.

Some cruises are round trip and others are one way (south or north bound).

All the cruise lines go roughly to the same ports. Try to take a cruise that goes to Glacier Bay only certain cruise lines (Princess and Holland) are allowed to into Glacier Bay.

A great place to get cruise information is Cruise Critic.

 

[IBelieveInTheMagic]

Something I meant to add and it just crossed my mind - also when comparing the ships and itineraries, look at how much time the ships are in each port - the length of time. I can speak for DCL it's a good chunk of time and we've felt like we had plenty of time to do things. When my friend sailed with NCL, some of hers felt shortened and for their Tracy Arm, they spent about 6 hours total so they didn't go all the way in and her itinerary said something like "cruising by Tracy Arm". The same for the routes that sail from Seattle and therefore do their required stop at Victoria - not too much time there. If you find excursions that fit your timeframes, then perfect and no need to worry but just encouraging you to check out the port times and make sure they work for your family for what you want to see and do.

Let us know what you decide on and what you find out in your planning

Heather