Cruising Alaska with Kids: Part 3

Juneau

If you have read Trina’s blog post then you will already know that this is a great port for whale watching! When we decided to take an Alaska cruise, we knew 100% that this was a top priority for us when considering excursions. We did a little research and determined that Juneau was probably the best choice of locations for our itinerary. Now, in order to make this work well with young children, here is where we went a slightly different route from what others have done. As we all know, the attention span of 2 and 4-year-olds is limited at best. Given this understanding, we realized that booking a full day whale watching and nature viewing excursion would likely result in misery for all aboard. So, as with many things when traveling with young children, we found a suitable compromise. We choose to book a tour that split time between seeing Mendenhall Glacier and a 2-hour whale watching experience. 

We headed off first thing in the morning for Mendenhall Glacier- this really was a fun stop as it gave us an opportunity to see a glacier from a close vantage point (and it was beautiful!) and was a great opportunity to do a little exploring and hiking. There is a beautiful waterfall that is a short hike from the visitor’s center; I would highly recommend making the hike if you chose this stop. That being said, we hit a rough patch with managing small people’s emotions (insert emotional meltdown here), so we opted for the shorter overlook path (flexibility when traveling with kids is KEY!). 

Our bus returned to pick us up and then headed to the not so distant docking point for us to board our whale watching boat. The boat had a large enclosed (heated) cabin where we could all get seated and comfortable as they navigated out to the areas where whales were commonly found. We made a quick stop along the way as we came across a small pod of spinner dolphins (the kids LOVED this!) – they were actively jumping and playing just a short distance from the boat. After a few quick minutes there we continued on our journey and soon thereafter reached our stopping point. It was clear that this was a common spot to find the whales, as evidenced by the numerous other small boats in the vicinity.  It did not disappoint! Within minutes we made our first whale sighting! We remained for the next hour or so with continuous sightings, never moving far from our initial stopping point. 

This particular pod of humpback whales travels seasonally between Hawaii and Alaska. They feed while in Alaska, so they are constantly diving to eat (lots of tail action!) – We had a very special treat on this outing… Our guide explained that within the pod there were four mother/baby pairs this season (there were none last year!) and while we were on our boating trip we saw three of the four pairs! Truly a once in a life time experience! We have already decided that for our next Hawaii trip we will be planning it for the winter season when the whales are back in Hawaii. ☺ 

Following this adventure we returned to our bus and headed back to the ship; keeping our eyes peeled for bald eagles along the drive (they were everywhere!). It seemed that their favorite perching spots were along the light posts that lined either side of the highway.

We still had the better part of the afternoon to enjoy once we were back to the ship since this excursion kicked off early in the day. The kids were done with exploring so we re-boarded the ship, grabbed a quick lunch for them and checked the girls into their respective kid’s club areas. Then Danny and I headed back off the ship with Greyson in tow (Small World Nursery does require reservations and we had not pre-planned this outing, so we opted to take him with us instead of checking for a spot). He quickly fell asleep in the toddler Tula carrier I have (very helpful for traveling with toddlers in my opinion!) and we enjoyed a walk through town and a snack at Tracy’s. I ate the biggest crab leg I have ever seen at the famous Tracy’s King Crab Shack. This is a do not miss stop if you are in Juneau. Brace yourself for the high prices, but it was completely worth it!

So that is how we did Juneau with kids! I would be delighted to answer any questions you have and be sure to check out installments 1 and 2 of Alaska with Kids! If I can help you plan your Alaskan adventure please do not hesitate to reach out!

Autumn Andretta, Manager and Travel Agent

autumn@bluepineappletravel.com