Alaska Cruise - Norwegian vs. Carnival - with 3 year old
 

Planning a cruise to Alaska to celebrate our wedding anniversary and taking our 3 year old with us. Between Norwegian Pearl, Norwegian Star and Carnival Spirit, which would you pick? If you haven't been on any of those specific ships - but have been on any Norwegian and/or Carnival cruise ship - I would still very much appreciate your input.

We just returned from an NCL cruise, have been on one other and went to Alaska (on Princess) in June. So I can't directly answer your question. Some input, though. NCL with their "freestyle" crusing, primarily around dining options,might be a better choice than standard dining options with a 3 year old. The other comment, which you may not want to hear, is that Alaska cruises tend to attract an older bunch and I am concerned that your preschooler might be incredibly bored. When we went it was far too cold to use pools, primary activity was scenery, and in ports one must take an excursion - either private or arranged by ship - and many would be either inappropriate or have age restrictions - and they all are quite expensive.

We saw very few children, or even teens, on our cruise - although I think NCL or Carnival might have a few more and their kids programs might make the time more enjoyable for him/her.

I agree, that a 3 year old, isn't going to get anything out of Alaska, and may also significantly impact what you do.

Of your choices, I have sailed them ALL in Alaska. BUT I am assuming you are looking at the first/last Carnival round trip sailings??? Otherwise, you have no preference for route??

Glacier Bay is the better itinerary. Look at the whole picture, ports, do YOUR HOMEWORK< find out what is your touring interest. Avoid any tours over an hour, a 3 year old just won't be able to overall, tolerate these.

I think that I would never want to take a 3 year old on any cruise anywhere. Except a two or three day Disney offering.
They won't be happy. You won't be happy. The other passengers won't be happy. And you will have spent a bunch of money.

Thank you very much for all of the replies. I'm curious if toddlers really do have an awful time since both Norwegian and Carnival claim to have great programs specific to toddlers. We are certainly not wealthy, but we really wanted to make this particulary anniversary special - so we were actually considering taking a nanny with us so that our toddler could have a mix of us, the nanny or onboard toddler entertainment to keep him happy. This would be very extragavent for us, but we would hope it would allow us and our toddler to have a good time. For excursions we want to do two -- take the train in Skagway and go dog sledding in Ketchikan. Both of which allow 3 year olds - which makes me think that some 3 year olds would really enjoy it. I realize taking a toddler anywhere is challenging though :). Any families take a toddler to Alaska and have a good experience?

Can't answer your latest question, but one thing that might be important is the number of kids available, even in kids programs, for your child to play with - we saw so few kids that it makes me wonder about that.

And just because an excursion allows toddlers does not, to me, mean they would enjoy it. In Alaska it might mean that it is not too dangerous for a little kid - and so they figure they can soak you for the fare.

You are experiencing the inevitable joy and difficulty of travelling once you have kid(s). We have never stopped our travels, even when our kids (now both in college) were infants - in fact, I just returned from a cruise with my daughter and 2 of her college friends. It was difficult to see our list of travel wishes sitting stagnant for years while we did more kid-friendly things like renting beach houses. And we always took our kids - we did almost no travel without them for 20 years. Whatever you decide, have a great time.

You can NOT expect the numbers of kids sailing Alaska that sail the Caribbean. So smaller groups for the kids centers may be of a benefit. I would definately support the nanny. Would offer you another person, to take over. :)

The train can be a good choice, BUT, it's one of those longer tours, that don't work well with a lot of toddlers. Also, no dog sledding in Ketchikan. That's only avaiable in Juneau or Skagway, and with your "sledding" reference, you are looking at a very costly fly in, unless you really mean a cart ride, out of the same two ports??

A friend of mine cruised to Alaska in August of last year (forget the line) and she said there tons of kids/families. She described it as a great all ages tour. She sent her elderly mother off on a bus tour while she went hiking etc. I am going to try to take a 4,6, 44, and 70 year old in August!