How are Alaskan cruises?

[Anonymous]

DS just told me he always wanted to go to Alaska. I was interested in going to Seattle and Vancouver and thought we could take a cruise to Alaska.

How are cruises to Alaska?

[Anonymous]

We’ve done an Alaskan cruise and the priority are the ports va ship amenities - It won’t be ideal for pools and water slides but people do enjoy them.

Holland America and Princess would be my recommendations over Royal Caribbean and NCL because they get preferential docking and access.

Of the two, I would consider Princess a better fit for a family over Holland America.

Check out cruisecritic.com and their forums for more info and recommendations.

[Anonymous]

My brother and his family went on a Lindblad cruise there several years ago and still rave about it, but it was expensive.

[Anonymous]

full of old people.

[Anonymous]

We did it with kids and loved it. You really only see a tiiiiiny fraction of Alaska, but everything you see is breathtaking. The cruise part was just ok (and I have enjoyed some cruises) but it is an easy way of getting a taste of Alaska. It definitely wasn't all old people. Tons of families with kids and teens. I would absolutely do it again. Splurge on the excursions if at all possible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We did it with kids and loved it. You really only see a tiiiiiny fraction of Alaska, but everything you see is breathtaking. The cruise part was just ok (and I have enjoyed some cruises) but it is an easy way of getting a taste of Alaska. It definitely wasn't all old people. Tons of families with kids and teens. I would absolutely do it again. Splurge on the excursions if at all possible.

What cruise line did you go on?

I see there is a Disney one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We did it with kids and loved it. You really only see a tiiiiiny fraction of Alaska, but everything you see is breathtaking. The cruise part was just ok (and I have enjoyed some cruises) but it is an easy way of getting a taste of Alaska. It definitely wasn't all old people. Tons of families with kids and teens. I would absolutely do it again. Splurge on the excursions if at all possible.

What cruise line did you go on?

I see there is a Disney one.

We did Royal Carribbean. Always docked, never tendered. It was an old ship that wasn't too exciting.

I haven't done a Disney cruise but a Disney cruise is about Disney and an Alaskan cruise is about Alaska...I feel like combining them would distract from each other, if that makes sense. I really just wanted to surround ourselves in nature and beauty and not kitsch and glitz.

[Anonymous]

I’ve posted a few times about my two Alaska cruises (Hal and rcl) and if you search I’m sure you will find them.
Disney is not the best for this cruise.
We didn’t do princess because the room arrangement was annoying—you can’t put 4 in a room unless you split the king bed.
The RCL radiance was made for Alaska — massive windows in the common areas to enjoy the view. We had orcas swimming along with the ship outside our balcony.
Best to do a one way from/to Vancouver—you see more that way. Easy to add on a drive to anchorage and/or Denali before or after. We did that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My brother and his family went on a Lindblad cruise there several years ago and still rave about it, but it was expensive.

THat looks amazing!!! I am not a cruise person but this looks pretty great

[Anonymous]

Is there stuff to do for kids ages 8 and 11 on a Alaska cruise? If it’s cold is there an indoor water park?

[Anonymous]

We did the Royal Princess cruise long before covid with multiple generations and everyone had an amazing time. Our kids were 11 and 14 back then (eldest family member at the time was 92, did excursions in a wheelchair and also had an amazing time - it was their bucket-list trip to take the cruise with all family members - they have since passed away).

The cruise ships have TONS to do for all ages, all the times, from gyms to trivia to shows (entertainment and educational) to gambling to shopping to naturalists coming on board to kids clubs (my kids are now young adults and the oldest is still in touch with friends made on the ship).

We did a week inland (rented a car) prior to the cruise, and another family did a week inland after the cruise. It is just so far and Alaska is so big to get all the there to only do a one-week cruise!

[Anonymous]

I have been there twice, once on Holland America and once on Regent Seven Seas. Cruises are a great way to see the scenery and wildlife, especially if you choose your shore excursions accordingly. We did a floatplane excursion to see bears, which was fantastic.

As is always the case, the atmosphere and amenities vary widely by cruise line, as each tends to cater to a specific market segment. Some have many activities for children, others have few or none, for example.

This may be helpful in considering shore excursions, and the forum also offers discussions of individual cruise lines: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/33-alaska/

[Anonymous]

My neighbor just went with a 13 year old and other family with two 11 year olds and an 8 year old. They loved it. I think it was Princess?

It doesn't sound like my cup of tea but they had a nice time and the kids had fun on the ship.

[Anonymous]

Travel advisor here. If you want to see "real" Alaska, either do a cruise with a small ship like Lindblad or UnCruise. Or, you can do a land based trip with rail travel. Knightly Tours is a good Alaska land operator as is Salmonberry. It really is a beautiful state and although the bigger ships give you a taste of Alaska, to really experience all it has to offer, you need to go "small".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is there stuff to do for kids ages 8 and 11 on a Alaska cruise? If it’s cold is there an indoor water park?

I went with an 8 and 11 year old. It will be very ship dependent. Most ships there are smaller, in order to navigate the area. So they're often older with not as many features.

Ours had a rock wall, that was only open once when we tried, becuase of weather. Pool closes if the water is under a certain temp. Hot tubs stayed open. Royal has an indoor adult only pool area that may open late afternoon for kids if the main pool is closed.

There was a kids club. My 8 year old doesn't do well in those and didn't go, but I heard other kids around that age loved it. My 11 yo is at that in between age where the club seems babyish but not old enough for the teen club. The port days we kept busy. The sea days, on the last one and becuase of the weather we were a bit bored. We did the fun evening game shows, trivia, scavenger hunts, but by the end of the week the variety seemed poor. No regrets though. Overall the kids loved it.