Two Quick Disney Alaska Cruise Questions

[FM1]

I have done the Disney California to Mexico cruise that no longer exists and Disney Caribbean and I am planning on going on Disney Alaska but had a quick few questions

1. What month do you recommend going - June, July or August? Or is there no real difference.

2. My main concern is that my youngest daughter will be seven. I am not planning on doing the cruise again. I don't want to regret going on the cruise and then discovering that one of the best excursions I could not go on because my youngest was not old enough.

So question #2 is will my daughters seven year of age restrict us from the top port excursions?

If possible please list some of your favorite excursions and I can look up the age cut offs. Sounds like the Taku Lodge is amazing and has no restrictions. Not sure about the others.

Thanks in advance.

Fm

 

[sharksfinatic17]

We went on the June 22 cruise last year and had great weather all week except for our Juneau day. It rained that day, but we were going whale watching, so it didn't impact our excursion.

For excursions we did - Skagway - Chilkoot Tours - train up, bus back with the addition of lunch and dog cart; Juneau - whale watching with Harv and Marv - now with a 7 year old, you won't be able to go with Harv and Marv unless you book a private tour. We were a group of 10 and had the whole boat to ourselves, so my niece's age wasn't an issue. In Ketchikan, we went on a float plane to the Misty Fjords. All three of our excursions were booked independently. So other than whale watching with HARV and MARV, your daughter's would age wouldn't impact anything. There are lots of private whale watching companies that allow kids, so you can still do it.

 

[jdb in AZ]

I like August. It's often cheaper. The salmon will be running and it's fascinating watching them jump upstream. With the salmon filling the streams, you have a better chance of seeing bears fishing for them. Also the Alaskan fireweed blooms in August, signaling the end of summer. The flowers are a bright pink. I tried to copy/paste a picture but just got an extremely long URL.

Our all-time favorite excursion out of 5 Alaskan cruises was the float plane trip from Ketchikan to Misty Fjords. As mentioned above, we booked privately (right there at the dock -- didn't need an advance reservation so we didn't have to worry about canceling in case of inclement weather) and saved about half.

 

[COASTIEandMATE]

We have cruised Alaska on the Wonder in 2011, 2013 and just got back from the first May cruise!! We like the first cruise of the season, called "spring breakup" in Alaska! We had no rain and no mosquitoes, also fewer ships in ports so less tourists to bump in to!! Please remember that your mileage may vary, Aloha, Karen and Ron

 

[xlxo]

• June to avoid children. Longer days.... especially around the 21st.
• July offers the best dryer weather for excursions. But that dry weather means higher prices for popularity. Late July means fireworks competitions in Vancouver. This year Disney is going a special show two miles West of the cruise port on July 30th!
• August has more wildlife (not referring to the Red Onion). However it starts to get wet..... especially going into September. That second week in August has been wet and stormy in recent years. After two wet Augusts.... my next Alaskan trip will be in July.

Tracy Arm Fjord is one of the scenic cruising days. However do you get to see the Sawyer Glacier 31 miles up the Fjord with the ice congestion? Going in July and August will allow you to see Sawyer and get closer.

Right now in late June.... I'm still hearing there too much ice in the Fjord for a glacier sighting. The Wonder is going to Endicott Arm instead to look for a glacier.

 

[Jess_S]

I have done both the first cruise of the season and last cruise of the season. I wound up having beautiful weather both times. We were prepared for rain in September and only had a drizzle one day. (I'll note that my late May cruise was on HAL and did Glacier Bay, so there wasn't an issue with too much ice for the scenic sailing day).

For excursions, I would check the DCL website to get an idea for age restrictions for the excursions in which you are interested. (I would book many of them independently if you actually wind up taking the trip, but it's an easy way to see the range of options all together). I actually think a 7 year old would be old enough to do a lot.

 

[Pooh2]

We were on the first cruise to Alaska this year and the weather was amazing!
We could not get into Tracy Arm fjord due to ice but went to Endicott glacier instead. Our server said he though they should do Endicott all the time instead of Tracy Arm! It was a fantastic trip.

 

[tnshsms]

I was with Pooh2 on the first cruise to Alaska this year with a 7 year old....weather was great and she had a wonderful time. I have a trip report posted....
http://www.disboards.com/threads/a-...ise-in-all-carry-on-luggage-may-2016.3515261/

if you want to see how it went with a 7 year old. She was pretty bored on Tracey arm day but enjoyed all the other aspects of the cruise. Have a great time!!

 

[tankin]

Just got off the ship with two 8 yo...
Weather was anywhere between 80 in Skagway to 50 on one of the sea days
Mine twins loved the Klondike Gold Fields in Skagway (they have puppies and what kid doesn't love puppies) & the deluxe Juneau tour.
I wouldn't touch the Saxman Village tour and Lumber Jack show with a ten foot pole (rip-off). My kids loved the Lumberjack show but we all thought the Saxman tour was a rip-off. Much cheaper ways to see it.

Twins were bored during Tracey Arm

 

[xavier2001]

I will add my 2 cents that my 8 year old twins LOVED the base camp kids club on Tracy Arm day, it was warm enough for them to be outside and they were able to take in the views while being engaged in some kid friendly activities too, I had to drag them out of there when it closed.

 

[MMR]

I will add my 2 cents that my 8 year old twins LOVED the base camp kids club on Tracy Arm day, it was warm enough for them to be outside and they were able to take in the views while being engaged in some kid friendly activities too, I had to drag them out of there when it closed.

What time was the kids club activity that day?

 

[xavier2001]

What time was the kids club activity that day?

In the afternoon they had a kids club 'base camp' up on the top deck in the outdoor netted sports area. They had balls, hula hoops, blankets, and other outdoor activities going on. My kids enjoyed running around and playing with the other kids while occasionally stopping to take in the scenery. Best of both worlds for them, got to be kids and got to be outside. They did look at the glacier from the balcony with us for a little bit but got bored pretty quick so to base camp they went. I think we took them up there about 230 (I think it started at 130) and dragged them out at 430 to take some photos on the top deck and get ready for dinner. I will say also that by 4:30 the top deck was not at all crowded, by that time many people had gotten bored from sitting out there all day and we got our best panoramic views then.

 

[mommy2allyandaveri]

We used Skagway Shore Tours for the Grizzly Falls zip line for our Skagway tour. My 9 and 12 year old loved it. We had excellent tour guides and we all had a wonderful time doing 10 zip lines. We had no bugs at all and just wore tennis shoes. I was also worried about what shoes to wear so I packed their old school shoes with the intention of tossing them if they got gross, but they didn't and now they can take them to camp. It ended up being 80 degrees this day. Minimum age 6. Booking through Disney was more expensive and their min age is 10. They offer lots of tours.

In Ketchikan my DH and I did Ketchikan Helicopters. It is a small, private, family owned company and we had a wonderful time. Ryan was awesome! We saw mountain goats, with kids and 3 bears. It was really an amazing experience. We did have some bugs on this one, but we stopped in the middle of nowhere and wondered around for a bit.

I can not say enough good things about both tours. Both were booked independantly.

 

[dhardawa]

My son was 10 months when we took our Alaskan cruise and having a baby didn't impact anything we did.