Alaska cruise for 2 year old and 5 year old

[Deborah_Hogan]

Has anyone done this and have information to share on what was good/what wasn't good?

Also cruises in general.

Thanks!

[HeatherW]

I have been using www.cruisecritic.com to help plan our cruise in September. I believe in the "Boards" section, under "Family cruising" there is a thread about an Alaskan Cruise. This site is a tremendous help!

Be forwarned, though, some people post messages saying it was terrible taking children on a cruise. Sure, if you compare the trip to pre-baby vacations, it will be not be the same. But, DH and I didn't have our DD to leave her at home for vacations anyway!

[ctmom]

We went on a Princess Cruise for our honeymoon and were, by far, the youngest couple on board. We loved it and were not upset by all the older folks but I would make sure, if I was planning a trip with kids, the ship was more "kid-friendly". Good luck!

[hjdong]

DH and I have only done cruises (or most travel) pre-DS and I can only echo what the PP have said. Research the different cruise lines really well. There are definately family friendly and older crowd friendly lines and that will make all the difference. With cruises I think your enjoyment level, as far as the kids go, is probably much more the cruise line and their amenities, and much less what to see or not. We went to Alaska a long time ago, so I don't remember what cruise lines were family friendly (we were avoiding them). The one we went on, Holland America, was not.

We went early in the season, because it was cheap, but there were some things we couldn't see, because it was still too cold (animals were still hibernating, water was still frozen, and it would have been really cold for a 2 year old and maybe even a 5 year old unless they're accustomed to that weather - by early I mean March). I would recommend paying more and going later and being able to actually see everything you're going there to see.

HTH

[Deborah_Hogan]

Thank you so much for the information! It's a quandry for me, because the whole extended family is going, and it is definitely geared toward the teenagers, not the toddlers. My only choice is to manage the situation (and be prepared ahead of time) or skip the trip. This gives me some good info into to make sure the cruise is at least somewhat family friendly.

That cruise critic is a great site. Thanks!

[brubeck]

The PPs are right when they say that some of the cruisecritic messages are down about taking kids. But most of these people are (like me) cruise junkies who cruised a lot before kids. After having kids it is very different, but then any vacation is different, as I'm sure you know. as long as you have a good understanding about what travelling with your kids is like in general you should be fine.

It depends a lot what cruise line you are going on. If you go with NCL or Carnival then your 2 year old will be able to participate in the kids' programs and this can make a BIG difference. On most other lines the kids' programs start at age 3 (and PT'd), although most of them would let you bring the 2 year old into the kis' area to play as long as you stayed too.

On RCCL they have some wonderful 'Aquatots' programs for kids under 3. Essentially these are like a parent-n-me preschool class geared towards the ocean and marine life. I haven't experienced them myself but everyone I know who has says they are great and they appreciate having a specific activity geared towards their younger ones.

Your 5 year old should be fine. They will be able to use the kid program and therefore meet others their own age and participate in activities geared towards their interests.

So my recommendation would be to push strongly for NCL or Carnival, or barring that RCCL.

What other information/tips were you looking for?