Cruising Alaska (even with a toddler)
Written: Dec 30 '99
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Product Rating:
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Pros: great excursions, lots of glass windows
Cons: no privacy room dividers, expensive childcare for kids under 3
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| kymber's Full Review: Royal Caribbean Rhapsody of the Seas |
What I liked best about cruising Alaska was the excursions. Where on other cruises, I looked forward to all the shipboard activities, in Alaska, the excursions have more to offer then historical site seeing. Some of the choices you’ll have in Alaska are hiking, riding a bike “down” mountains, general bike tours, nature exploring, helicopter rides to glaciers, panning for gold, kayaking, train rides, salmon feasts, etc. All this on top of the regular sightseeing from a bus and shopping tours. This is the perfect cruise for active families.
What I personally enjoyed most about the Legend of the Seas was how much glass the boat has -- floor to ceiling glass. It was perfect for viewing the wildlife and great sights. The Solarium, decorated with a Roman/Greek motif is beautiful. Ask me how wonderful it is to be sitting in a hottub, surrounded by glass, looking at snow capped mountain peaks! And I have to admit, the pizza parlor that is located right next to the pool and hot tubs, is very convenient! We found the free pizza was a great lunch or afternoon snack.
On our trip, we selected a suite with a veranda. Now many people wouldn’t pay extra for a veranda, but in our case it was worth it. We were lugging so much stuff, including a large stroller, so the extra space came in very handy for storage. Plus, whenever the baby was napping I could go out, sit on the veranda and curl up with a good book and watch the beautiful scenery. Heck, one night we even saw a pod of whales swimming by the boat. We wouldn’t have seen that without the veranda.
We also paid a bit more for the “suite”. Now this suite wasn’t spectacular, but it did have a tub, which we needed to bathe the baby, and it had a refrigerator for bottles. This was part of the reason we decided to pay a bit extra. Plus it gave us a smidgen of extra room for the crib. What we wished they had, but didn’t, was room dividers or screens to put up so the baby couldn’t see the bed and give us parents more privacy.
I think the hardest part about cruising with a toddler is the fact that on cruises, dinners are 2 hours plus affairs. This just doesn’t work with toddlers. My husband and I always had to trade off who lost dessert to take the baby for a walk. However the waiter was always nice enough to give us an extra piece to bring back to the cabin for whomever was on baby duty.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
kymber
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Member: Kym
Location: Eastside Seattle
Reviews written: 16
Trusted by: 25 members
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