An Alaska Cruise on the Ovation

My first visit to Alaska was on our "babymoon" in the summer of 2018. I was absolutely blown away by how beautiful it is there - so much green and clean air. Needless to say I loved my time there and was excited to take my kids a few years later!

Travel:

Probably the most difficult thing about traveling was the time change. We are on eastern standard time so traveling to Seattle created a three hour time change. We flew out of Richmond, through Atlanta and into Seattle where we stayed two nights before our cruise. If you are new to cruising I would 100% recommend traveling at least one night before your cruise is scheduled to depart to ensure there are no issues with travel and you can be on the ship on time. To get to the hotel from the airport, and the cruise port from the city, we did arrange a car service as our kids needed car seats (linked here, though there are many options available).

***Time changes are rough with kids. We immediately incorporated the new time zone upon arrival. Our kids did nap on the plane but this might mean putting your kids down for a nap at a different time than normal so that they are able to adapt. We also put our kids to bed a little earlier than normal the first night as we were all exhausted. Our oldest did wake up at 3am the first night there but after a game of musical beds we got him back to sleep for a couple more hours!! It took about 2 days for our kids to adjust to the new time zone.

Stay:

We sailed on Royal Carribean's Ovation of the Seas. Our room was a grand suite with balcony. We had a king sized bed and a pull out couch for our oldest to sleep on. In the living room there was plenty of room for us to set up our pack and play for our youngest to sleep in (Guava Lotus travel crib). There was a heavy duty curtain that can be pulled to separate the living room from the bedroom which we used for naps and in the evening. Our room had a large bathroom with two sinks and two doors to enter, one from the bedroom and one from the living room. We also had a bathtub which is rare to see on a cruise ship!! I also recommend going with a room with a balcony as that is where we caught the best views of any whales.

***There is a laundry service available on the ship for a fee which is a great option if your kids happen to soil everything you bring! You can also pre-arrange the delivery of wipes and diapers which can help save room when packing.

Food:

We were traveling with both sets of parents for this trip so we tended to eat in the main dining room or the windjammer cafe (buffet style). We also did room service a few days for breakfast (room service is included). There is a kids menu available in most restaurants and there are lots of great options for picky eaters throughout the ship including Sorrento's pizza! We did eat out at a specialty restaurant one evening - Chops Grille - which does charge a fee for each person. The food was very good but the service was extremely slow. It ended up taking almost two hours for our meal which meant lots of walking around the ship with my kiddos while waiting for our food. I would say skip this option especially if you're traveling with small children.

Fun:

Royal Caribbean does a great job catering to families and children! There is a kids area available to those 6 months and up. Kids are divided up by age, similar to how a day care or preschool might be arranged. This area is open for a fee any day at sea and in the evening. We were given a phone where we could be reached should any questions or problems come up while our kids were there. There is also an open play area available during the day for parents to take smaller children. There were toys, slides, games, etc. My kids loved it here so we visited several times. If you have a teen, there are activities and areas geared solely for that crowd as well.

On the ship there was a splash zone but we were only able to use it the first day while in Seattle - it was obviously too cold for the rest of our trip. There is an indoor pool option which was a fun way to get out some energy on our days at sea. There is an area onboard the ship called the SeaPlex where you have access to basketball goals, an arcade (which was one of my kid's favorite things to do onboard), ping pong tables, rock climbing wall and sky diving simulator. There was a long line for days that the bumper cars were open but unfortunately our kids were too little (available for those 5 and up). Another of my kids favorite things to do was check out the bionic bar where robots made them non-alcoholic drinks!

On the days we were at port, our tendency was to explore the towns with our families. Our stops included Juneau, Sitka, Skagway and Victoria, British Columbia. There are many excursions offered for Alaska but we found that most weren't fitting for our 3 and 1 1/2 year old. We did do the White Pass railroad trip in Skagway. It's an excursion that takes you through the mountains on the train from the gold rush era. The scenery is beautiful but our kids did grow bored as this trip took about 3 hours. We had lots of fun exploring the cities, just make sure to bring a a stroller or wagon and your rain coats! (We had several rainy days there). Skagway and Victoria were our favorite stops as there was so much to see in these two cities. Unless you have an excursion planned I found there wasn't a lot to do in Sitka. Of course it was also pouring the rain that day so maybe if the weather is good it may be different! My parents did two separate whale watching excursions and had the most amazing pictures and up close encounters with whales so if your kids are elementary age and older this would be a great option!

Overall I absolutely loved Alaska and would definitely plan this trip again! We don't usually travel with family but having our parents there was definitely a big help. Please offer any comments or suggestions below!! Happy travels!