DISENCHANTMENT BAY, Alaska - "The clientele is definitely getting younger," says Captain Jonathan Mercer, discussing the changing demographic aboard his ship, Holland America's ms Oosterdam. Mercer has been at the helm of the Oosterdam since its inaugural voyage in 2003, and his experience is evident as we effortlessly cruise past large chunks of blue ice toward the behemoth that defines a journey into Alaska's storied Inside Passage, the Hubbard Glacier. Standing 75 miles long and 7 miles wide (and still advancing), the massive sheet of ice and snow easily takes up our panorama.
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"We're still 3 miles away," says Mercer. "I plan on going as close as one-third of a mile."
Soon, my two children are staring in awe at the trellises of white and blue ice that make up the largest snowfield they most likely will ever see. Mercer slides the ship to the port side so we can see the glacier calve. Huge chunks of ice slide off the face and splash into the waters of Disenchantment Bay as Jake, 11, grabs the camera and tries to capture the moment.
Alaska was my family's first cruise. We had bypassed the Disney cruises when the children were younger, not having the patience to deal with hundreds of toddlers in a confined space. I wanted a real cruise, one that would appeal to my daughter, Melanie, 9, and to my 77-year-old father. Alaska and the weeklong jaunt aboard the Oosterdam fit the bill handsomely. We liked the fact that Holland America has been taking passengers through the Inside Passage since 1947. And unlike a Mediterranean cruise where you must try to see Barcelona or Rome in a day, six hours is the perfect amount of time to see Juneau, Sitka, or Ketchikan.
We enjoyed two days at sea, traveling close to 900 nautical miles from Seattle to Juneau. Binoculars in hand, we would stroll the outside promenade in the early morning, finding porpoises and some of the humpback whales that make their way to the Inside Passage each summer from Hawaii.
To my landlubber wife, arguably the best part of the trip is that you're sheltered on both sides of the Inside Passage by islands, so there were no powerful swells.
The following might help you decide whether an Alaskan cruise is right for your family.
ONBOARD
The berth: We decided on one cabin with a queen-size bed and two wall-mounted beds. It was a tight space with little or no privacy. Parents with older children should opt for two cabins. The room steward folded back the wall-beds in the morning and set them back up in the evening to maximize space.
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