Planning a family cruise to Alaska
 

We are planning a family cruise to celebrate our 50 wedding anniversary, husband's 80th birthday and son's 50th birthday. We will have 6 adults, 3 children ages 9 and 11. Any suggestions as to cruise lines.

We went on Princess in 2008 and had a wonderful time. Some thoughts as you plan. We went mid-June and were on board for the summer solstice - although temperatures were a little cool, the constant daylight was a thrill. If you have trouble sleeping in light, bring eye shades as the cabin curtains were a little transparent.

If you have been on other cruises, Alaska cruises are bit different in atmosphere. Much more casual - even "formal nights" in dining room really meant any kind of dress pants or any dress for women - a tie for men. Also, we found it to be a rather sedate and early-to-bed crowd (not that we are big partiers). Once at 11 PM my husband and I (in our 50s) were looking to buy our recently-21 year old son a drink and most of the ship bars were closed.

Budget for a considerable amount of money for port "excursions". There is really little to see in various ports other than cruise-line owned t-shirt and jewelry shops without additional transportation to something - plane, helicopter, bus, train, small boat - a wide assortment. That is why the excursions, either bought privately or thru cruiseline cost so much. For 9 people, the cost of these really would add up.

We did not see many kids on board - perhaps other lines would have more kids - but also we went rather early in the season and families often travel later in the summer.

Have a great trip - Alaska wa amazing.

Ditto everything that Gail said. (She is Da Bomb). We also sailed on Princess, but in August. We went on a bear watching excursion, whale watching with Capt. Larry, and on the Railroad trip in Skagway. All but the bear trip might be appropriate for Seniors. (Bear trip involved 1mile walk). Recommend you check Cruise Critics web site. They have fabulous information, tips on what to pack, excursions. Alaska is another world, and a once in a lifetime experience. Best of luck to your family.

One excursion that everyone would love - but is very expensive - is the helicopter landing/glacier walk on Mendnhall Glacier (out of Juneau). Yes - even the 80 year olds assuming they can walk without a cane or other device. They pack you in a tiny helicopter with about 8 people. The pilot is about 14 (OK - maybe a little older, but to a couple of people in their 50s he seemed way too young to have our lives in his hands). I hate flying, I hate tiny aircraft, and I hate heights - but this trip was incredible after I decided to open my eyes and look down at Juneau.

They dump you on the glacier, a guide does a walk and talk for about a half hour, and then back into the helicopter.

Only bad thing about it is that since the helicopter is so small, they make you disclose your weight so they can distribute it properly - and if they think you are lying they put you on a scale.

I second the suggestion of going to Cruise Critic which has lots of info and was helpful to me on my one and only cruise I have ever done (to Alaska in August 2007). The Cruise board on this site is also helpful. We went on Regent, which offers ships which take fewer passengers than most of the others, generally about a third of the number of passengers than the large cruise shops, which we enjoyed a great deal. The captain could spin the ship on a dime, and so everyone on board could get a 360 view of everything; that was a fantastic feature. See http://www.rssc.com/cruises/default.aspx?RegionId=ALSKA for info.

If you want a cruise with even fewer passengers and a well-trained naturalist staff and lectures, etc see http://www.expeditions.com/. These ships don’t have facilities like spas, swimming pools or multiple restaurants, which is why our group ultimately ruled it out, but they do look very in-depth and interesting. (And you may not use a pool in Alaska in any month in any event).

I agree that excursions are a must and also will add up; but you do not always have to book through the cruise line, that is where Cruise Critic will help you to find alternatives which can be cheaper and in some cases better. Also, your cruise agent should get you either discounts or onboard credits as part of your package, and you can use these towards excursions. Book excursions early, as soon as the booking dates open (you can do this by e-mail.)

For specialty restaurants on board, I would also book as soon as the booking window opens. (The one thing I did not like about cruising was having to eat on board each night; although the lack of restaurants in port was helpful on this regard as we knew we were not missing out on much in town.)

The routing options are usually to go north from Vancouver or south from Seward. There are some variations on this route. I don’t think it makes a big difference where you start or end; it would depend on what date you want to depart and how much time you want to spend on either end (i.e. going to Denali first or last, or spending time in Vancouver). Some trips include Glacier Bay and some don’t, look at itineraries.

If you take the route going north, get a starboard cabin if possible, if you are going south, get a port cabin. Views are a bit better on the inside passage in this direction, IMO.

I would recommend a balcony if you can get one in your cabin. While it is cool many days and nights, it is perfectly pleasant to sit outside in a coat to watch sunset or sunrise without having the leave the cabin, and it is wonderful at night to step out and see the stars.

I went on an Alaskan cruise with friends in August, 2009. We cruised roundtrip from Seattle on Holland America's Zaandam. We had a wonderful trip and Alaska is amazing. We had two formal nights on the Zaandam and most people dressed accordingly. Of course, if you don't want to dress up, you can always go to the buffet on the Lido Deck. We cruised to Juneau, Glacier Bay (spectacular), Sitka (our favorite), Ketchikan and Victoria, British Columbia. This was my first time to Alaska and my first cruise on Holland America. The clientele on HAL is a little older, but during the summer months there will be families for sure. There were children on our cruise, but they kept them very busy.

As another poster stated, excursions in Alaska can be very expensive, so you will want to plan for that.

I think you have chosen a wonderful way to celebrate your 50th anniversary with your family! Congratulations!

We did the Sun Princess in July 2002 (2 adults, kids 12 & 14). We had a great time and the older boy enjoyed the cruise's teen program (younger boy is more of a loner)

Shore excursions - Train in Skagway was excellent.

Good deals are possible - we had all of us in a lower deck room at a great price.

Be sure to prepare for the daily tip that is added to your final tab, I think it w2as $10 per person per day when we cruised.

We're in the "small ship" camp ourselves, and have used Cruise West twice. About 120 passengers, and (imho) the best choice for Alaska. Alaska to us is all about the scenery and wildlife - on Cruise West, if they see bears or mountain goats on shore, for example, they basically stop the ship and make sure everyone has binoculars! They have fantastic, included daily excursions (I went from Ketchikan, which is amazing, delightful, and worth getting to a day early) to Juneau, which is also a really neat town. By starting in Ketchikan, you get about an hour of native residents onboard explaining all the family traditions and totem reasonings, and then almost daily get trips to small towns and communities that reinforce that.
In Glacier Bay, we were parked for hours watching the glaciers calve, for example, and the lounge and open deck are packed with all the travelers - we watched big cruise ships come in and circle through with maybe a hundred or so total people seeming to be wowed as we were by the natural beauty.
One grey, rainy evening (in May) we had a huge whale shadowing our boat for about an hour as we were at idle speed, breaching, rolling on his back and waving his flippers at our ship, seeming to think we were company for his solitary self. Very special and amazing! Another morning at 4:45 the pilot came on the intercom (which you leave on in your room if you want to hear about what's arising out there) and announcing quietly into our darkened room: "orca off the starboard bow"....well, there we were by 4:46, outside watching 8 orca to our right and 5 to our left, hunting for their breakfasts. Again: this is Alaska! then we hit the lounge in our pj's and coats for hot chocolate and chatting about the orcas - about a dozen of us that were still out there at 6:30.
Food: excellent, either the lounge buffets for breakfast and lunch, or the dining room for all 3 meals. Cookies in the afternoon, just to keep our strength up! Nice bar area, speakers or entertainment in the evenings, great staff with terrific attitudes.
Dress code: casual, since they expect you to go in and out as scenery/wildlife appears.
All in all: if you're choosing Alaska to get a feel for the state, I highly recommend that this is the way to do it! It's a superb cruiseline.

We did that for my parents' 50th anniversary, in July. Eight adults and six children (ages 8 to 15). We sailed the Radiance on Royal Caribbean, out of Vancouver. You can read my trip report called "Heat Wave in Alaska". We stayed after the cruise to do the bus and train into the interior, which you may not be doing. Highlights of the cruise-only part for my family were:

1. Getting separate, interior cabins for the kids, while the parents had balcony cabins across the hall -- this was a favorite of both the kids and the parents!

2. Spending the money to do the excursions -- very expensive but completely worth it. The memory of standing on the glacier and seeing, up close, that amazing blue color, stays with me. The summit flight over Mt. McKinley was great. Whale-watching was fun. Zipline was fun. That sort of thing.

3. Just being together for all that time to celebrate the formidable accomplishment of a 50-year marriage.

4. Spending an extra two nights in Vancouver and experience some of that wonderful city. I'd go back to Vancouver for a vacation.

Have a wonderful trip!


http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...our-report.cfm

I wrote a trip report on our family cruise celebrating my sister and BIL's 50th in September. You can look at it if you like; the title is Across the Wide Missouri and North to Alaska. Seeing Alaska was a long-time dream of my BIL's, and he passed away last week. We are all so glad we made the trip when we did.

On my wish list!

Check out Holland-America cruise tours.

http://www.hollandamerica.com/cruise...se&destCode=AT

Back in May of 2000, my husband and I, along with 2 other couples, took an exciting 3 day cruise/9 day land tour with H-A and we're still talking about what a wonderful trip it was. Transportation on land was mostly by comfortable motor coaches and trains but we also experienced a ride over the Klondike Mts. on a narrow-gauge railroad from Skagway to White Pass and sailed on a small ship up the Yukon River from Dawson City to Eagle. I just paged through my photo album and here's a list of the places we visited. On the Sea: Vancouver, Juneau, and Skagway. On land: Mendenhall Glacier, Carcross, White Horse, Braeburn, Pelly River Crossing, Dawson City, Eagle, Tok, Chicken, Fairbanks, Denali National Pk., Anchorage and the Portage Glacier. Along the way we had very interesting and exciting adventures walking around the old towns with many reminders of the time of the 1898 Gold Rush. We panned for gold, were entertained at a vaudeville show, saw the cabins of Jack London and of Robert Service, visited museums and an old cemetery, sailed on Portage Lake for a close-up view of the glacier, ate delicious fresh seafood and homemade bearclaws, and took part in a mock trial. Much wildlife was seen: Musk Ox, Moose, Caribou, Bears, Bison, Mt. Goats, Dall Sheep, Huskies, Eagles, and Ptarmigan (the State bird). The 3 days on the ship were fun and relaxing although we sailed the 1st days of the trip and did the land tour afterwards. If I did it again, I would reverse this. Although the land tour was not too exhausting, it seems cruising last would be a better plan. I feel sure everyone in your group, no matter what the age, would enjoy this trip and I note that H-A is still offering this same kind of trip.

It will be helpful for you to find out about Alaska. Head to your library and take out Alaska travel books, especially Alaska By Cruiseship.

I do NOT recommend a cruisetour with kids. The limitations and too structured time is not a great way to go.

Any cruiseline will offer a great cruise. The feature you may want to consider is itinerary. Take into account ports, time in ports, route, glacier, price. Take a vote.