We will be on the Coral Princess sailing from Vancouver to Whittier in late June. I am the grandma taking my daughter and her family. We will not take many excursions but instead will rely on short hikes out of the places where we stop and public transportation. Three questions:
1). Can we leave the boys at the kid club on the ship while we do an excursion, or would the ship require one adult to be available on the ship? This would never be the whole day but might be up to five hours. I've been thinking I might stay with the boys and let my daughter and her husband do a zip line adventure. Any recommendation on the best zip line? Is it worth the cost?
2). We want to see a sled dog camp. We do not need to take rides but we do want the boys to be able to hold and pet puppies. Any suggestions as to where to do this? We will also be in Denali.
3). Does anyone have any other suggestions for what to do on land that doesn't cost a huge amount of money?
Thanks so much to anyone who might reply.
Alaska cruise with boys ages 4 and 6
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What ports will the Coral Princess visit on your cruise? That may help to get specific advice
We sailed on Princess in the reverse direction a few years ago. I suggest you do some research here or on various cruise websites about your ports and excursions so you are not disappointed. Unfortunately, there is very little to do at most ports - and no public transportation except for Juneau. In order to see much more than t-shirt shops, it is necessary to take another form of transportation - train, air or tour bus to a location somewhat distant from the port town. This, and the very short tourist season, accounts for the huge cost of most excursions - whether arranged by cruiseline or land-based tour company.
You can still have a nice time, but will miss some of what people hope to see in Alaska. And what a nice grandparent you are to do this.
In Juneau, you can take a bus from very near the pier to Mendenhall glacier. Very worth it, we saw bears catching salmon in the river there (from a wooden walk way).
In Skagway we took a small bus from the pier which was $5 for all day on/off where ever it went. One of the places it went to was a gold dredge which you could tour for $25 or so (my brother and wife paid $50 to do a tour there with the cruise line) .
Ketchican has a nice small museum within easy walking distance of the pier. I think it was either a donation or very small entrance fee.
Thank you, emalloy, and you hit upon our exact stops: Ketchikan, Juneau and Skagway. In addition, we are taking the land tour that includes two 2-night stops at the Princess lodges in Denali. Thus I would like to repeat my request for information about the best place to see and hold/pet sled dogs. I would also be glad to get a recommendation for a zip line location. We are planning to see the lumberjack show in Juneau.
Expensive excursions would be wasted on these two little boys, but they will be happy with an interesting hike that ends at a body of water that they can throw small rocks in! The adults will be glad to get some exercise and enjoy the scenery. I have found quite a bit of information on hikes by looking on the web sites for each place we stop at.
Thanks again for any suggestions.
I think the best source of information about cruises, shore excursions, kids clubs, etc. is Cruise Critic. I would post your queries on the "Princess Cruise Line" forum and on the "Alaska" destinations forum.
www.cruisecritic.com