July 2019 Alaska with Toddlers in Tow

skaggsfamilyDCL

Earning My Ears
Joined
Jan 17, 2019
We are taking our third Disney Cruise in July but changing it up going to Alaska instead of the Caribbean.

I'm wondering what your advice would be for a family traveling with a then 5, 4 & 2 1/2 year old as far as excursions. (SUPER BUMMED my youngest still won't be able to go into kids but the rest of my extended family wanted to do a summer cruise.)

Any advice would be appreciated.

Stops are Ketichkan, Skagway, Juneau & of course the glacier stop. THANKS
 
Hello! I'm doing the same cruise, but in May, and same situation with our little one being just shy of 3. I can't offer advice as to how these excursions are since we haven't gone yet, but here is what we've booked:
Skagway: green jeep self-drive tour in morning, helicopter to glacier dogsled in afternoon
Juneau: morning whale-watching tour with dropoff at Mendenhall Glacier
Ketchikan: float plane tour

If the flight tours don't go up due to weather, we'll probably just walk around the towns a bit. I would love to have done more active excursions like biking, horseback riding or kayaking but it's an excuse to come back when they're older I guess!
 
I would recommend Beyond Skagway in Skagway. We did a day long tour with them. We drove, stopped and looked at nature, drove, stopped and looked did sled dogs, drove, had lunch at a playground, drove, looked at nature, etc. The regular stops were a big deal for my very active DD who was 4 at the time. Each stop included great information for us adults and a scavenger hunt for the kids. We ended up partnering with another family, but they usually do the tours privately. Being in a small group, moving at our own pace, and beating the crowds to all the sights was amazing.

In Juneau we did Rum Runners for whale watching and in Ketchikan we did the Lumberjack show and a crab feast. DD loved it all, but I don't know about how the 2 year old would do.
 
We are on the sailing at the start of July. My daughter turns 2 the day after the cruise finishes. We are going whale watching in Icy Strait Point. Plan on doing the train and a helicopter flight with dog sledding in Skagway. Juneau we are only in for a half day so will visit the glacier and go up the sky tram. Ketchikan we are still deciding on but hopefully bear watching and lumber jack show. I've found all these tours that let you bring young children on. We haven't cruised before so will be last to book any nursery time, but am thinking we will just keep her with us most of the time.
 


We did this cruise with a 9 month old and almost 5 year old. It was fantastic.

Skagway: we did the train tour and really enjoyed it. Our older daughter enjoyed looking for wildlife and at the plants (we saw a bear)

Juneau- we did Mendenhall + whale watching - again, all enjoyed it.

Ketchikan- we did the lumberjack show and I happened to have a friend who lives there so met up with her.
 
We did Alaska when my son was nearly 2. I used an Alaska cruise ports book to plan our activities. In Skagway, we did Liarsville through DCL. My son enjoyed the gold panning and since we were first to arrive to that area, he got playtime with Chip and Dale. We went to Mendenhal Glacier in Juneau. In Ketchikan, we visited the discovery center, went to see the salmon spawning and walked to the totem center. It was a long walk that only worked because we had a stroller.

The nice thing about dcl is that the open houses mean that even your youngest can still play in the kids club if you go to supervise.
 
If you decide to do the DCL Liarsville in Skagway with panning for gold, skits and a salmon lunch, when you walk across the bridge to the panning area, look down in the creek. When we were there, a woman in the gift shop clued us in on the possibility of something in the creek. As she did, that is all I will say. Later, in Juneau, we did the DCL science/whale watching excursion with our 8-year-old granddaughter. She was afraid of the fast boat, noise, rocking, etc. The crew calmed her down, showed her photos of what we would see (and we did) and even let her steer the boat under the captain's guidance. First part included a trip to the Mendenhall Glacier for creek samples of very small critters, which she loved. Last stop, Ketchikan, just the two of us did the Duck land/sea tour of the city. Some rain, but it was under cover. The bus/boat did not go far enough from shore to hit any rough water. It was a fun time.
Good luck in making your choices. Of the eight DCL cruises we have been on the Alaska one is one we would gladly do again. Cruise on...
 


I can tell you from going on the glacier Endicott/Tracy‘s arm Tour boat, that children played quietly at their seats, on the stairs, or stood around the snack bar. I encourage the adults to go, if you feel your children would be able to stay in the children’s clubs while you are on that portion of the tour. Stand outside with your children on the Wonder while the other tour (only two were offered) is running and point out the animals and the glacier so that your children may enjoy that.
 

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