Kids are a problem. SOme parents insist on taking their kids anywhere and expect the world to adapt and indulge them as they are indulged at home. Some cruise lines discourage children simply because some of us old folks like it that way are are more likely to cruise with them. We've paid our dues and have missed some pleasures because they were not appropriate for children. So why put up with them now?
On the other side of the coin, I doubt that Princess is the best and only line to choose. MAybe it's best from the TA perspective, but from mine, there several good lines. In fact, except for minor differences, they are very similar. I'm sure you can find a kid friendly line that you would also like. The search for perfection is, however, elusive.

Aristotle, but on the other forum (Cruise Critic) when I asked the open ended question "what cruise to Alaska is best for kids" EVERY SINGLE PERSON said Princess. So I think it is best. We travel with our kids a lot (they've been to Costa Rica two and three times respectively, Italy, London, Ireland and Mexico) so we know how to handle them. And I also am not afraid to put my foot down with the inlaws. As a matter of fact, they are going on the Cruisetour thing and there is no way that's a good idea with the kids so we're flying home before that part. From what I hear, cruises to Alaska during July are pretty much flooded with families so if there are older cruisers I would hope that their travel agents steer them away from those dates if kids are going to be a problem for them.

Oh, and gail, my kids would actually like the 10 hour nature ride! :0) Probably because of Costa Rica, but we've taken several all day bus/boat type nature tours and they do great on them. Love them animals! It's the straight scenery that will bore them silly. Hence the no Cruisetour...

Good god you would think I could get my thoughts straight to put everything in one post, no? My FIL is frail (which is why we can't put this cruise off, it seemed a good compromise family vacation considering we are active and he can no longer be) so I know there is no expectation that we will do everything together simply because he isn't able to.

Monica I have a few points I would like to make here. Number one...I personally believe that your worries should be about your children having fun, not what anyone else thinks of them. As long as you are on a family friendly cruise line(by the way..Princess is extremely family friendly) you have done your job as far as any adults aboard goes, and any adult that has a problem with having children around is unGodly anyways, so who cares ;)
Number 2, as I mentioned Princess is extremely family friendly, but different Princess ships are geared towards different crowds. For instance, the Island Princess cruise ship is a slightly smaller ship that has more balcony rooms, of course to fit in all the standard Princess amenities they had to reduce the size of others, and in this case it is the childrens activities centers that took the hit. So this would certainly not be my first choice for a family cruise, you can take a look at my website and find all kinds of articles about Princess cruise ships, but in case you don't make it there I will suggest the Golden Princess cruise ship for your family cruise vacation. The Golden Princess caters to kids as well as adults and you will find plenty of entertainment for everyone.
There are several dining options aboard a Princess cruise, so if you are really that worried about how others perceive your childrens behavior, you can opt for anytime dining, or quick dining like pizza and burgers and such. The only time you would need to worry about others would be if you are planning on taking advantage of formal dinners, which your children would probably not enjoy too much anyway.
One last thought...since you are planning on the Alaskan cruise, be sure you book balcony rooms so that you can enjoy the scenery even from bed, it is well worth the extra money!

Thanks Islandprincesscruise! My MIL is booking the rooms and if she can't afford a balcony, that will be that. I know that she knows they're the best, but she's buying tickets for eight people total... We are probably going on the Coral Princess from Vancouver to Whittier because they want to take the cruisetour part to Anchorage. I read the itinerary on that and it sounds like a lot of sitting on trains and busses so we're skipping that with the kids. But the Coral Princess has a youth center and programs and a kids splash pool and regular pool, so I think it's also family oriented.

Is there a difference between the behavior of children of indulgent parents and self indulgent adults? I disagree that kids are a "problem". I think our adult son of 27 yrs. is far better as a person because of all the traveling we did with him since he was quite young. He has had a chance to see that many in this world aren't as fortunate as we are here. As I think of all the places we've been I can't recall children being a problem. If there has been problems its from adults who don't act their age.
That being said I think Princess would be a good choice for a cruise line but for children of that age I do wonder if Alaska is the best choice. Its true that the age deomgraphic for Alaska is mostly older adults. I would think a cruise to the Caribbean would be better for kids of that age. Good luck with your choice. Larry :-)

Of course the Caribbean would be a better cruise choice, or for our family a non cruise vacation. But the FIL wants to see Alaska and is so adamantly not the Caribbean type (plus he's not healthy enough to take a regular vacation) that Alaska it is.

OK. If the MIL is booking the rooms then Princess it will be it seems. We cruised Alaska on the Sapphire Princess BTW and it was wonderful. As long as you are going on Princess then you should look into the excursions as this is the best part of an Alaskan cruise. The sights are amazing. Any questions about this please ask. Larry :-)

My opinion- book on a Princess Cruise line that states that they are more accomodating to kids as I've read in the above posts it sounds like there are some options compared to some of their other ships-
I do not care to travel with other peoples wild kids- now if they are well behaved, polite, and considerate of others, dont mind them at all-
However, I think this would be just one more good learning experience for kids to learn discipline of how they can act and to whom and where.
Take the kids and expect out of them good behavior where necessary- such as a sit down dinner, at an adult pool area, etc.. however, they can be regular rowdy kids in the areas designated and on your own family time away from other aboard passengers. and other than that, dont worry about the opinions/thoughts of others
also, I recommend booking the balcony room as that is what Alaska is all about compared to Mexico, Caribbean etc.. and if the MIL doesnt want to pay I would sugggest you guys pay the difference of what she is putting towards the standard room and upgrade yourselves to the balcony room. Really- I recommend it! You wont be disappointed in the extra money spent.

I replied first to your question and would like to follow up. I am probably in your MIL's place...her age, etc. It is our pleasure to be able to take our daughter/son-in-law/two grandsons on trips. We will take our third cruise with them in June for our 50th anniversary. Our other two cruises have been Mexican Riviera and LA-Hawaii-LA. My husband has Alzheimer's so we will, undoubtedly, lay low and maybe even stay on the ship throughout the Alaskan trip(our third there) and we always let them choose their own shore excursions and I think Alaska is ideal for a huge variety of on shore experiences and we pay for whatever they want to do. I think you are being far too worried about the behavior of your children or the boredom of your children. Just go with the flow, be thrilled that your in-laws are able to do this with the family. Kids are usually great unless they are in a crowd of others that can lead them astray, that just isn't going to happen. We've been on many cruises and I've never seen many instances of behavior that I thought were out of line. You also can always say that you all will go your way and meet at dinner every night...that way they don 't have to get up early and pull themselves to eat b'fast, lunch or do shore excursions with you. At our age, just being on the ship in beautiful scenery is enough!!!

Love your reply desertduds! I am in the planning stages for an Alaskan cruise Summer '10 - we are between 30 - 35 years of age but I dont care if I'm with kids or the elderly- I am going for the scenery and beauty of it all

I have read every response, with special attention to later comment by OP. Here is my self-proclaimed expert opinion.

This is going to be a good trip for all involved. You are going into this with a realistic and flexible attitude, your kids are experienced travelers. There will be some minor disagreements while on the trip - there always are with travel because when else are you with anyone for this amount of time - but it will be a memorable trip that all generations will cherish forever.

Hope you see a whale, moose, bear, lots of glaciers. Let the cruiseline take as many staged photos on board as they can and buy a few - you will want them later.

And since you are skipping the cruisetour (wise choice) if you have the time and money, consider staying in Alaska for a few extra days, renting a car and seeing a bit of the area - for you I might suggest a few days on Kenai Peninsula (as opposed to Denali).

And if you can possibly afford it, try to get the kids on a helicopter to do the glacier landing thing in Juneau. Very pricey but very worth it.

gail, thanks for your comments. I also really want to see a moose, bear and whale! We are definitely doing the crab boat tour, not sure the helicopter is in the budget though...

MonicaRichards, I have been on several Princess cruises and have observed many children of various ages. I have not seen any bad behavior (well there was the tweener who took off and had the Youth Security people scouring the ship at 2:00AM--I saw them accompanying him while I was on my way to the buffet) But he didn't disturb any passengers. Not like the adults who burned incense in their room and set off the smoke alarm. Come to think of it, that time I was coming back from the buffet. Also, I have observed worse behavior in the dining room from adults than from children.
I don't know about the Coral, but many Princess ships have a pool dedicated for children, another reserved for adults only and one or two for anybody, that is "family style."
Go and enjoy your cruise.

We went to Alaska on the Sapphire Princess a few years ago with my parents and 10 year old son. There were people of all ages and lots of kids, if it was mostly older adults did not really notice. We all had a great time doing our own thing and then enjoying dinner together. Our son enjoyed the kids club and had fun at the production show and dancing with me at a lounge show. You should have a great time and so will the kids.

Thanks everyone! I went with the MIL to the travel agent today to book the cruise. Diamond Princess, we got a room for four and a room for two with balconies that adjoin. Sounds like a disaster in the making, but the inlaws will stay with the kids while we go out dancing or whatever which will be Wow! Crazy different because we haven't done that pretty much since they were born. I am starting to look forward to it, Alaska and cruises in general aren't my thing but I'm coming around!

I am so curious to find out how the cruise went with your family. We are looking at the possibility of a family cruise to Alaska in September 2012. It sounds amazing but our girls will be 5 and 9. I have the same concerns that you voiced above.

How did it work out for you?

took one set of grandkids when they were about 10 and 12. They had a ball!!! I told them they had to show up for dinner so I could be sure they didn't fall off the boat. Lots of planned activities, (saw a gang of them race by the dining room on the outer deck with water pistols having a blast). Just be sure they have a supervised Kids Club.

We went on an Alaska cruise with my inlaws and our two kids five years ago when our daughters were 10 and almost 4. We sailed northbound out of Vancouver on the Diamond Princess followed by a cruise tour for five days after. We left on the cruise just after our daughters finished school the third week of June and, if I remember correctly, there were about 100 or 120 kids on the ship. We all had an amazing time - the girls loved everything that had to do with wildlife or sled dogs! The cruise tour was less kid-friendly than the cruise portion of our trip but my girls are experienced travelers and they were fine.

I have a full description of our trip on my travel blog at http://www.gonewiththefamily.com/gon...dv/alaska.html if you are interested in all the details.

Lisa