Trip with 15 year old
Jan 19th, 2009, 06:54 PM
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Trip with 15 year old
Need help. Planning 2 week trip to Alaska this July with our 15 year old son. Should we do a traditional cruise. We want him to have social activities but also important to all of us to get close to nature especially sea life. Does a traditional 7 day cruise make sense and then 5-6 days on land. And on land, should we do a tour or own our own. Help much appreciated!!
Jan 20th, 2009, 02:44 AM
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First, it is possible for 15 yo to survive a vacation with their parents. 5-6 days on land is not much time if you wanted to see both the KP area (esp boat trips out of Seward) and Denali so if those two places are at the top of your list, then I vote for all time to be spent on land, touring on your own. A lot of people also like to include a fishing trip. Print out some trip reports from Fodors and have your son help plan the trip. Family trips are great way to teach your son how to get about in the world.
Jan 20th, 2009, 03:37 AM
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We took 7 day cruise with our 18 and 22 year olds this past summer, proceeded by 1 week on land in rental car.
Rent a car - don't buy a lond/cruise tour. Alaska is very easy to navigate by car - and you get to choose where and what you want to do. I suggest splitting the land time between Denali and Kenai Peninsula - we were advised here that with that amount of time to stay in one place (we picked Seward) on Kenai and see what we wanted from there rather than moving around.
Our adult kids enjoyed the cruise - but social activities are likely to be limited for your son. We saw a handful of young kids, a few teens, but the demographics of the cruise seemed to be almost exclusively 35-65 year olds. If he is outgoing he might find a few pals, but don't promise. (Coral Princess, one-way Whittier-Vancouver)
Rent a car - don't buy a lond/cruise tour. Alaska is very easy to navigate by car - and you get to choose where and what you want to do. I suggest splitting the land time between Denali and Kenai Peninsula - we were advised here that with that amount of time to stay in one place (we picked Seward) on Kenai and see what we wanted from there rather than moving around.
Our adult kids enjoyed the cruise - but social activities are likely to be limited for your son. We saw a handful of young kids, a few teens, but the demographics of the cruise seemed to be almost exclusively 35-65 year olds. If he is outgoing he might find a few pals, but don't promise. (Coral Princess, one-way Whittier-Vancouver)
Jan 20th, 2009, 04:11 AM
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Skip the cruise and spend the money you save on Dogsledding, Flyout Salmon Fishing/Bearviewing. Glacier hiking,Ziplining, Paragliding, etc. Alaska is awesome and the really cool stuff is expensive, but worth it. With two weeks, I would fly to Anchorage and spend 4 or 5 days in Denali and 4 or 5 days in Seward and another 2 or 3 days in Katmai. Be sure and ride the train one way to Seward. We went last summer with our then 13 year old, and we all enjoyed it. She loves to travel with us wherever we go.
Click on link then "view all" then alaska for our pics
http://www.photoworks.com/members/spirobulldog
Click on link then "view all" then alaska for our pics
http://www.photoworks.com/members/spirobulldog
