Alaska 7 Day Cruise June 2018 Excursions with Children

[Crista Haar]

We have a large party going for my parent's 50th anniversary. What excursions would you recommend for families with small children? 6,4 & 10 month old?

Thank you!

 

[tanya0369]

...following also have children coming on the Alaska cruise so excited! Looking to see if anyone has thoughts on the Disney exclusive liarsville excursion.

 

[CalDisneyMomof2]

...following also have children coming on the Alaska cruise so excited! Looking to see if anyone has thoughts on the Disney exclusive liarsville excursion.

We did this and it was just ok. To me, not worth the money. We paid a premium to take a picture with Pluto while we panned for gold. It was fun overall and the food was eh but I'd probably value it at about $50 for adults and $35 for kids.

 

[TestingH2O]

Wet booked all our excursions outside of DCL last summer. My daughter was 5. Feel free to read my trip report to see reviews of what we did.

 

[Ladybugx87]

I was traveling with 9 month old and 5 year old.
In Skagway, we did the train trip up and back. We all enjoyed it.
In Juneau, we did mendenhall glacier and whale watching. That was everyone’s favorite.
In Ketchikan, we did native village * lumberjack show. My 5 year old loved it.

 

[lklgoodman]

We also did the Liarsville excursion and agree with the pp, it was overpriced for what it was and it wasn't very good. I was the most excited about it out of all of our excursions and was very disappointed in it. In Ketchikan we did the lumberjack show and Potlatch park excursion, dd was 6 yrs old at the time(2014) and she enjoyed both. The kids were able to paint a wooden feather that was added to one of the totem poles at the park. They also gave us all a small wooden totem pole to keep, made a nice souvenir.

 

[GPaLarry]

Last June we did the DCL Alaska cruise with 11 (kids ages 7, 10, 12, 16 & 18). With three families we split up our excursions. We, the g-parents, went with the daughter and g-kids to Liarsville. As we walked down the old gold "town" we saw a tent labeled "Press." With a town named Liarsville, it could only be the historic beginning of fake news. The show was fun for the kids and adults as it gave a bit of history about the place. The rest of our group went across the bridge to pan for gold in water-filled troughs. Wife and I walked into the gifts shop and I talked to the sales woman a bit about what the rest of our group was doing. She said, "check the creek." That is all she would say. We walked back and I looked in the shallow creek next to the bridge and, sure enough, they had salted the creek bed with "gold nuggets." I told our youngest "panner" to check the creek and, brother, did she light up. She filled her small plastic bag with nearly real nuggets and the word got out and the rush was on. The food was basic but good, with food for non-fish folks (daughter).
In Juneau we took our youngest panner (rest of her family ziplined and she was too small) on the research excursion to study creek and sea life. First, we went to the Mendenhall Glacier where Leah went down to the stream and looked at small critters in a sample of the water. Later, we boarded a speed boat to explore a crab trap and look for whales and seals. To make a long story short, she did not like the noise, speed, rocking, etc. of the boat and started crying. The female guide took over, showed her a book on what we would see and, later, the captain (only 10 aboard) let Leah steer the boat and explore the instruments. She was totally distracted (not totally happy, but not crying) and rode out the rest of the trip. The captain asked her what she wanted to see and she loves seals, so he made a point of finding a bunch. Later, we saw whales and our little panner got to steer the boat all the way home. We got that book for her later for Christmas.
In Ketchikan we went with our son and his crew on the Duck tour of the city by street and sea. It rained a bit, but cleared up...typical Alaska. Small kids might not be too excited about this except when it hits the water. We had a great time here, too.
All in all our cruise was truly memorable and, at times, magical. The people who run the excursions make them great (or not). We had a great time.

 

[tanya0369]

How many characters were at liarsville?

 

[CalDisneyMomof2]

How many characters were at liarsville?

For our excursion in August 2016 there was one - Pluto.

 

[lorenni]

We are traveling with my parents and our 6 year old and we have booked:

Skagway: Chilkoot Tours Yukon train/bus with dogsled experience. (This is our longest excursion).

Juneau: private 2.5 hour whale watch with Rum Runners

Ketchikan: 4 hour Float plane tour to see bears. (This was the most expensive)

I booked all of them directly with the vendors. None require a lot of walking (good for grandparents) and all include animals (good for 6 year old).

 

[Dug720]

We are traveling with my parents and our 6 year old and we have booked:

Skagway: Chilkoot Tours Yukon train/bus with dogsled experience. (This is our longest excursion).

Juneau: private 2.5 hour whale watch with Rum Runners

Ketchikan: 4 hour Float plane tour to see bears. (This was the most expensive)

I booked all of them directly with the vendors. None require a lot of walking (good for grandparents) and all include animals (good for 6 year old).

Potentially include animals. Only the sled-dog will for sure. The whales and bears are at the whim of the animals.

 

[GPaLarry]

How many characters were at liarsville?

Donald and Chip & Dale, dressed for the occasion.

 

[tanya0369]

Donald and Chip & Dale, dressed for the occasion.

Would you recommend it? What were your children's ages?

 

[lorenni]

Potentially include animals. Only the sled-dog will for sure. The whales and bears are at the whim of the animals.

Agreed – but the odds are in our favor. I’d be hard-pressed to find a single review of any whale watching in Juneau where they said there weren’t any whales. And for the Bears they fly you in on a float plane to a specific place where Bears go where the salmon are running for a specific period of the year. We’ll see something – and at the very least the small person will get to ride in a float plane.

 

[GPaLarry]

Would you recommend it? What were your children's ages?

Grandkids 7, 10, 12, 16 & 18. Only the first three went on this excursion and they loved it.