Cruisetour pricing

Experienced Alaskan cruisers, I need your help. I have been looking into doing a cruisetour for my husband and I along with another couple. None of us have ever cruised before. We are looking at a SB Denali Explorer tour with Princess in mid-June 2015, begins in Fairbanks, ends in Vancouver. We had this trip priced through a TA, for various reasons - is $7500-$8000 per couple a normal price for an Alaskan cruisetour??

Price includes a 10-day cruisetour (balcony rooms on the ship), roundtrip airfare, airport transfers, travel insurance, and the 3-for-free sale that Princess is currently running. I have seen places where I can get the cruise alone for a much better price, but nowhere can I find better pricing for the land + sea tour, which leaves me at pricing the trip myself & making the arrangements, or having a TA do it.

I don't know about the pricing, but I suggest you take a better look at the cruisetour itinerary. Very few of the 3 day Princess land tours are worthwhile. Most entail lots of travel with insufficient time at the destination. If the itinerary does not include 2 nights at Denali, it's unlikely that you will have sufficient time to actually enter the Park. The "Natural History Tour" does not get into the Park. To enter the Park you need either the "Tundra Wilderness Tour," which is significantly longer and more expensive than the NHT, or the NPS shuttle to Eielson, which is significantly longer but cheaper than the NHT. Either do the land portion yourself, or find a cruisetour that has 2 nights in Denali. Good luck.

We did this identical itinerary 4 yrs ago but only with Holland America. I booked the cruise tour w/ a TA on a HAL ship. I was just checking Alaska and land tours a few weeks ago and prices are much higher than when we booked. As you state, if you book just the cruise then prices are much cheaper. You could always book your own air (I did) once you decide on a cruisetour. Alaska is easy to plan on your own.

I will tell you honestly that 3 days land tour is not long enough, I regret not booking an extra day or 2. As Epixx has stated you will be spending more time traveling from point to point and not enough time to enjoy the land and hotels. We were always packing and unpacking our clothes. We flew into Fairbanks and had late arriving flights so only slept in the hotel that night. Had to be up early the next morning for the train ride to Denali. Got there about noon time, checked into our hotel then headed back out to do the Tundra Wilderness Tour we booked. Do NOT take the Natural History Tour, it is not worth doing it. You only go 15 miles into Denali and turn around again. You will most probably see nothing on this short trip. I changed to the TWT (Tundra Wilderness Tour) right at the hotel because Holland America would not let me change the tour. The hotel was super nice about us changing the tour. We made the change prior to our arrival. I believe that Princess lets you change the tour if you want to and you pay the difference. The wildlife that we saw on the longer tour was absolutely amazing and I know we would not have seen some of these sights on the shorter tour.

So we left the hotel at 2 pm for an 8 hr. tour into Denali. Remember that there are longer days in Alaska and we had almost 24 hr. daylight! We got back from Denali around 10 pm, we were starving (had 6 of us on the tour) so stopped at the lodge for something to eat and then headed to our hotel. We had no time to sit and enjoy the beauty of where we were. This is where it would have been nice to have an extra day. We had to be ready at noontime the next day to board the train to Anchorage and it was almost 8 hr. train ride. We loved the train, spectacular scenery. We had breakfast on our ride to Denali in the club car and we had lunch on way to Anchorage. Food was good and prices were reasonable as well.

So it's up to you but I think that you might be able to get better prices. If you didn't want a balcony then you can definitely shave some $$$$ off the price. We took outside cabins because balconies were expensive and we weren't in our cabins very much.

I will be happy to give you any other information about the tours, hotels, etc. Princess would be using different hotels. Again, as I said I think that you would be happier w/ a longer land tour so you can relax and enjoy all that you will see in Alaska. It is a spectacular sight. We loved this cruise and would do another one in a heartbeat!

If you want to email me I can give you my email address and would be happy to help you plan your cruise. You have plenty of time to plan it but it is good to get started early. I have info on the ports we visited as well.

It is a daunting task planning your 1st cruise but it is fun as well. CC is an invaluable source of info.

Mary

We did 12 nights northbound Vancouver to Fairbanks this past August on NCL, and the land tour portion was ~$1250 pp on top of the cruise. That included transportation, hotels and the TWT in Denali. We thought it was a great deal. Can't comment on airfare as it is so dependent on departure airport and day of week, but I can tell you that flying into Vancouver and out of Fairbanks was not cheap. We used miles, but I checked what the fare would have been, and it was $1250 pp from NYC.

Either way, enjoy!!

If you go to princess.com you should be able to find an 11 or 12 day CruiseTour for about the same price as the 10 day by adjusting the travel date. You can then make your own judgement as to the price being right. Other posters have made great recommendations so I'll only mention 2 things. If you have a full day at Denali, your travel agent can substitute the TWT for the NHT for 60$ by calling Princess. Princess has cut back on the time on Princess rail. I think the best segment to do on the train is Talkeetna to Whittier. You can see Denali weather permitting. Don't go too early, check when the TWT starts running. I think it's around May 21.

As others have posted, broaden your search. Princess was the most expensive cruisetour I looked at. They do a full 7 day cruise + land days thus boosting the cost up. I looked at the 7 day + 8 day land for $4400 pp in 2010.

HAL does more 3 or 4 day cruise plus 8 days on land. Cost was $2750 pp in 2010 for days on ship + 8 days on land.

Then throw in NCL & Celebrity who also do cruisetours.

Meals on the land portion are not usually included. HAL offers meal plans separate. Princess has their Connoisseur tours that do include meals, which again will boost the cost.

Go for as long as you can manage, make sure the cruisetour goes where you want to go, and does what you want to see.

A lot of posters on this board advocate independent travel. That's not as enjoyable to me as the cruisetours, but everyone has their preference. Only you know if you want to drive, try to find the sights along the way, try to find accommodations, gas stations, schlep your own luggage, etc.

Have fun planning, then taking your trip. Alaska is an awesome destination!

Thank you to those of you who have taken your time to reply; I really love the friendliness on these boards! :) I have been reading these boards for months now in trying to plan our vacation. After much talking, reading, etc, the 10-day Denali Explorer through Princess is what we decided on looking in to.

I'll fill you in on a few other details. I know on these boards there are a LOT of people who sincerely suggest planning the land portions yourself rather than through the cruiselines. We decided to go through a TA as the other couple we are traveling with are from a different state. This being the 1st major vacation we've taken, there's a peace of mind for all of us in having a TA handle the bookings and details. While I am not opposed to renting a car and driving after all the research that's been done, we have 1 in our group that would rather have our luggage hauled for us and the transportation taken care of so nobody has to drive. One of our group REALLY wants to cruise - I am all for skipping the cruise and doing just a land-only tour, but we are all trying to get what we want out of this vacation. 1 of our group can only be gone from work as long as we are allowing for the 10-day cruisetour. I hope I haven't confused anyone yet! :)

We did look at the 3-day cruisetours with HAL and while the 3-day cruise part appealed to us, the land portions available just weren't what we wanted, and the port times on the Princess cruises all look to be longer than HAL offers. We chose Princess as each of us have had personal recommendations to use the Princess cruiseline. The itinerary for the land portion of the Princess tour we have pricing for is as follows:

Day 1: day spent traveling to Fairbanks, upon arrival, eat if needed and sleep.

Day 2: riverboat tour in Fairbanks, bus to Denali Wilderness Lodge, overnight Denali

Day 3: tour into the Park (if we go, we will make sure we have the TWT), transfer to Mt McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge

Day 4: transfer to Talkeetna after lunch to board train to Whittier where you board ship

Day 5-end: on cruise.

I know there are MANY many more options for Alaskan vacations, and many other things I would love to do, however, given our timeframe and what people's wants were out of the vacation, we felt this best suited our purposes. I chose balcony rooms because this is likely the only cruise I will ever get my husband on and darn it, I want a balcony room! :P - he's more inclined to do an all-inclusive vacation somewhere and skip the ship altogether!

My main question remains, is $7600-$8000 an average price for this vacation? The TA quoted us $3300 pp for the cruisetour, transfers and insurance. Airfare averages about $1350 per couple.

We did this identical itinerary 4 yrs ago but only with Holland America. I booked the cruise tour w/ a TA on a HAL ship. I was just checking Alaska and land tours a few weeks ago and prices are much higher than when we booked. As you state, if you book just the cruise then prices are much cheaper. You could always book your own air (I did) once you decide on a cruisetour. Alaska is easy to plan on your own.

 

I will tell you honestly that 3 days land tour is not long enough, I regret not booking an extra day or 2. As Epixx has stated you will be spending more time traveling from point to point and not enough time to enjoy the land and hotels. We were always packing and unpacking our clothes. We flew into Fairbanks and had late arriving flights so only slept in the hotel that night. Had to be up early the next morning for the train ride to Denali. Got there about noon time, checked into our hotel then headed back out to do the Tundra Wilderness Tour we booked. Do NOT take the Natural History Tour, it is not worth doing it. You only go 15 miles into Denali and turn around again. You will most probably see nothing on this short trip. I changed to the TWT (Tundra Wilderness Tour) right at the hotel because Holland America would not let me change the tour. The hotel was super nice about us changing the tour. We made the change prior to our arrival. I believe that Princess lets you change the tour if you want to and you pay the difference. The wildlife that we saw on the longer tour was absolutely amazing and I know we would not have seen some of these sights on the shorter tour.

 

So we left the hotel at 2 pm for an 8 hr. tour into Denali. Remember that there are longer days in Alaska and we had almost 24 hr. daylight! We got back from Denali around 10 pm, we were starving (had 6 of us on the tour) so stopped at the lodge for something to eat and then headed to our hotel. We had no time to sit and enjoy the beauty of where we were. This is where it would have been nice to have an extra day. We had to be ready at noontime the next day to board the train to Anchorage and it was almost 8 hr. train ride. We loved the train, spectacular scenery. We had breakfast on our ride to Denali in the club car and we had lunch on way to Anchorage. Food was good and prices were reasonable as well.

 

So it's up to you but I think that you might be able to get better prices. If you didn't want a balcony then you can definitely shave some $$$$ off the price. We took outside cabins because balconies were expensive and we weren't in our cabins very much.

 

I will be happy to give you any other information about the tours, hotels, etc. Princess would be using different hotels. Again, as I said I think that you would be happier w/ a longer land tour so you can relax and enjoy all that you will see in Alaska. It is a spectacular sight. We loved this cruise and would do another one in a heartbeat!

 

If you want to email me I can give you my email address and would be happy to help you plan your cruise. You have plenty of time to plan it but it is good to get started early. I have info on the ports we visited as well.

 

It is a daunting task planning your 1st cruise but it is fun as well. CC is an invaluable source of info.

 

Mary

Mary I may take you up on this if we decide to go forward with this cruisetour. Thank you for offering your help!

Make your dinner reservation in Denali as soon as you can.... It is a mess and there are long wait times if you do not plan ahead. I am near certain you call the lodge directly to make those, not thru princess.

Just a heads up!

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<<<<<

We did look at the 3-day cruisetours with HAL and while the 3-day cruise part appealed to us, the land portions available just weren't what we wanted, and the port times on the Princess cruises all look to be longer than HAL offers. We chose Princess as each of us have had personal recommendations to use the Princess cruiseline. The itinerary for the land portion of the Princess tour we have pricing for is as follows:

Day 1: day spent traveling to Fairbanks, upon arrival, eat if needed and sleep.

Day 2: riverboat tour in Fairbanks, bus to Denali Wilderness Lodge, overnight Denali

Day 3: tour into the Park (if we go, we will make sure we have the TWT), transfer to Mt McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge

Day 4: transfer to Talkeetna after lunch to board train to Whittier where you board ship

Day 5-end: on cruise. >>>>

 

The biggest question is about your time in Denali. Do you have enough time at Denali to upgrade ???? On Day 2 you probably won't arrive in Denali until late afternoon .... the Riverboat tour is 9-noon then it's a 2 hr drive to Denali so you probably won't arrive until 3ish. And on Day 3 you'll probably leave at noon for Talkeetna. So where's the time for an 8 tour at Denali ?

 

I think you need to look at little more closely at the details of this trip. IMHO it's a very weak itinerary .... you're spending most of your time in transit with only a few hrs at each destination, which is the typical shortfall of 3-day cruisetours.

<<<<<

We did look at the 3-day cruisetours with HAL and while the 3-day cruise part appealed to us, the land portions available just weren't what we wanted, and the port times on the Princess cruises all look to be longer than HAL offers. We chose Princess as each of us have had personal recommendations to use the Princess cruiseline. The itinerary for the land portion of the Princess tour we have pricing for is as follows:

Day 1: day spent traveling to Fairbanks, upon arrival, eat if needed and sleep.

Day 2: riverboat tour in Fairbanks, bus to Denali Wilderness Lodge, overnight Denali

Day 3: tour into the Park (if we go, we will make sure we have the TWT), transfer to Mt McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge

Day 4: transfer to Talkeetna after lunch to board train to Whittier where you board ship

Day 5-end: on cruise. >>>>

 

The biggest question is about your time in Denali. Do you have enough time at Denali to upgrade ???? On Day 2 you probably won't arrive in Denali until late afternoon .... the Riverboat tour is 9-noon then it's a 2 hr drive to Denali so you probably won't arrive until 3ish. And on Day 3 you'll probably leave at noon for Talkeetna. So where's the time for an 8 tour at Denali ?

 

I think you need to look at little more closely at the details of this trip. IMHO it's a very weak itinerary .... you're spending most of your time in transit with only a few hrs at each destination, which is the typical shortfall of 3-day cruisetours.

 

Thank you for your insight on the travel times. It's something I've been concerned with from the get-go. I've been having a very hard time with the price of this trip, period. By the time you factor in anything extra you might want to do on land, plus port excursions, this could easily be a $10k vacation! Even if we book just a cruise, and do a land portion ourselves, is that really the ballpark amount we should expect the trip to cost??

The price seems ridiculously high.

I'm one who usually recommends a DIY trip, and this is how the price breaks down for DIY, and I'll price on the high side

Say you arrive in Fairbanks on a Wed night and your ship leaves Whittier on Sat. Replicating your itinerary with a car:

A one-way rental with Avis will be about $800 so $400 per couple

WED pick up car at airport. Hotel $250 a night per couple

THU Riverboat tour, $125 per couple 9-noon. Visit the pipeline exhibit, Museum of the North, Antique Auto exhibit, Culture Center, etc. 2 1/2 hr drive to Denali after dinner. Overnight at Denali $250 per couple

FRI shuttle bus to Eielson Visitor Center 8-4pm. $80 per couple. Dinner, then drive 2 1/2 hrs to Talkeetna to overnight. $250

SAT finish drive to Whittier 4 hrs. Arrive by 2pm. tp g

So per couple, $2000 total:

car plus gas $500

hotel $250 x 3 nites+ $750,

meals $150 day x 3dys= $450,

admissions $300

If you don't want to drive, you could use the train and bus if you add another day.

You need to decide on your sightseeing priorities. Is Fairbanks and the boat tour a priority? Denali? No driving?

If you don't want to drive and can't afford any more time, just fly into Anchorage, take the train to Seward for a couple of nights, then get a private taxi tour to Whittier on Sat with stops at the Wildlife Conservation Center, Alyeska Resort etc.

Decide what your priorities are and that will determine your itinerary. A diy trip is simple to arrange, especially with your limited time.

The price seems ridiculously high.

I'm one who usually recommends a DIY trip, and this is how the price breaks down for DIY, and I'll price on the high side

 

Say you arrive in Fairbanks on a Wed night and your ship leaves Whittier on Sat. Replicating your itinerary with a car:

A one-way rental with Avis will be about $800 so $400 per couple

 

WED pick up car at airport. Hotel $250 a night per couple

 

THU Riverboat tour, $125 per couple 9-noon. Visit the pipeline exhibit, Museum of the North, Antique Auto exhibit, Culture Center, etc. 2 1/2 hr drive to Denali after dinner. Overnight at Denali $250 per couple

 

FRI shuttle bus to Eielson Visitor Center 8-4pm. $80 per couple. Dinner, then drive 2 1/2 hrs to Talkeetna to overnight. $250

 

SAT finish drive to Whittier 4 hrs. Arrive by 2pm. tp g

 

So per couple, $2000 total:

car plus gas $500

hotel $250 x 3 nites+ $750,

meals $150 day x 3dys= $450,

admissions $300

 

If you don't want to drive, you could use the train and bus if you add another day.

You need to decide on your sightseeing priorities. Is Fairbanks and the boat tour a priority? Denali? No driving?

 

If you don't want to drive and can't afford any more time, just fly into Anchorage, take the train to Seward for a couple of nights, then get a private taxi tour to Whittier on Sat with stops at the Wildlife Conservation Center, Alyeska Resort etc.

 

Decide what your priorities are and that will determine your itinerary. A diy trip is simple to arrange, especially with your limited time.

In trying to see what the estimated cost would be on our anticipated travel dates, I tried to set this up. I've gotten a ways into it, finding hotels, etc. Where I am running into an issue is actually getting to Whittier!! I don't find a place to return a rental car. Do you know of one there?

Then I though, ok, let's see what the train is about. Don't see a way to get to Whittier from Denali. I can get from Denali to Anchorage and then I would have to take the bus? Is that right? Not sure we'd make the ship on time if we did this option.

Or my other option would be a bus only?

I have been looking at the two Princess cruisetours from Fairbanks to Vancouver. These are the 2 comparisons:

Tour BB3, which is according to your description. I priced June 5, 2015 on Pacific Princess and got a price w/ a balcony of $2681.59 (on Princess website);

Day 1: arrive Fairbanks and rest of day on your own.

Day 2: Riverboat cruise in the AM and then you head to Denali via motorcoach for arrival at Denali Princess Lodge. Would probably arrive mid afternoon so rest of day on your own.

Day 3: AM tour into Denali (probably Natural History Tour) and then transfer to Mt. McKinley Princess Lodge and rest of day on your own.

Day 4: AM on your own and then transfer to Talkaneetna where you board the domed railroad car to Whittier to board your ship.

***************************************************************

Tour CB3 (June 3rd departure date on Star Princess is almost identical in itinerary except the Riverboat cruise is a bit different.

Day 1: arrive Fairbanks hotel and on your own.

Day 2: Full day in Fairbanks. A visit to Gold Dredge 8, where you can pan for gold. Then, an authentic Sternwheeler Riverboat Cruise takes you to an Athabascan fishing village and dog sled kennels. A hearty miner's lunch is included."

You would have 2 days in Fairbanks. You do not travel to Denali until day 3 and on that afternoon you go into Denali and do the Natural History Tour. There may be the possibility you could change to the longer TWT and see more of Denali. You should check w/ your TA about this.

Day 4: domed rail car to Whittier and transfer to your ship.

Price for this tour would be $2,689.49 (includes taxes, etc.)

The rest of the cruise itinerary is identical to the above BB3 tour.

These 2 dates early June are the cheapest prices, each week thereafter increases in price.

You would then have to add travel insurance and your flights. Realistically, the total price of the cruise, tour, air could be in the $4,000 range and that would not include food on your land tour.

I hope this helps you w/ a comparison of the 2 tours. Basically, you would have 2 days in Fairbanks and one day in Denali on the 1st tour and 1 day in Fairbanks and 2 in Denali on the 2nd tour.

I would opt for the time in Denali if it were my choice.

Let us know if we can offer any other assistance.

Where I am running into an issue is actually getting to Whittier!! I don't find a place to return a rental car. Do you know of one there?

Avis is the only rental car company that has a location in Whittier.

Then I though, ok, let's see what the train is about. Don't see a way to get to Whittier from Denali. I can get from Denali to Anchorage and then I would have to take the bus? Is that right? Not sure we'd make the ship on time if we did this option.

Or my other option would be a bus only?

The train from Denali into Anchorage gets in pretty late. You'd have to overnight in Anchorage and then take a separate train to Whittier the next day.

In trying to see what the estimated cost would be on our anticipated travel dates, I tried to set this up. I've gotten a ways into it, finding hotels, etc. Where I am running into an issue is actually getting to Whittier!! I don't find a place to return a rental car. Do you know of one there?

 

Then I though, ok, let's see what the train is about. Don't see a way to get to Whittier from Denali. I can get from Denali to Anchorage and then I would have to take the bus? Is that right? Not sure we'd make the ship on time if we did this option.

 

Or my other option would be a bus only?

Avis is the only vendor in Whittier.

If you're still looking at FAI - Whittier, you're only options are to use AVIS and return the car to Whittier, or, return the car to Anchorage and take the train, bus, or transfer to Whittier. (Park Connection Bus is 3pm-5pm)

You need another day if you want to take the train. With only 1 departure per day it's very limiting.

WED pick up car at airport. overnite

THU Riverboat tour and other activities. 2 1/2 hr drive to Denali to o/n

FRI shuttle bus to Eielson Visitor Center 8-4pm. Dinner, then drive 2 1/2 hrs to Talkeetna

a) SAT finish drive to Whittier, 4 hrs. Arrive by 2pm which gives you a few hrs in case of any issues

b) SAT. drive Talkeetna to Anc, 2 1/2 hrs. Return car by 1pm. Take the 3pm Park Connection Bus to Whittier

Cheapest option is to fly into Anchorage and get a roundtrip rental car. But it adds another 3 hrs of driving since you're going to Denali from Anchorage instead of Fairbanks.

WED fly into Anc. Pick up car. Drive to Wasilla ( 1 hr) to o/n

THU drive to Denali,4 hrs. Plan to arrive by 2pm so you have time to see the free sled dog demo at 4pm.

FRI shuttle 8-4. Dinner. Drive to Talkeetna 2 1/2 hrs to overnite

Sat drive to Anc 2 1/2 hrs. Return car by 1pm. Catch 3pm bus

Experienced Alaskan cruisers, I need your help. I have been looking into doing a cruisetour for my husband and I along with another couple. None of us have ever cruised before. We are looking at a SB Denali Explorer tour with Princess in mid-June 2015, begins in Fairbanks, ends in Vancouver. We had this trip priced through a TA, for various reasons - is $7500-$8000 per couple a normal price for an Alaskan cruisetour??

 

Price includes a 10-day cruisetour (balcony rooms on the ship), roundtrip airfare, airport transfers, travel insurance, and the 3-for-free sale that Princess is currently running. I have seen places where I can get the cruise alone for a much better price, but nowhere can I find better pricing for the land + sea tour, which leaves me at pricing the trip myself & making the arrangements, or having a TA do it.

I hate to say it but you folks have boxed yourself into high price territory with your self-imposed constraints. My wife and I are looking at the same cruise with a 5-day land portion and consistently come in well under your pricing.

The 12-day itinerary affords you the choice of 9 sailings per month. Airfare is the wild card. As you might expect, air travel on Fri-Su yields the highest fares with Mon-Thu being the least expensive.

That price is way too high! I would go to Australia for that price. We are booked for next summer on the Oosterdam D5L Fairbanks to Vancouver in July. We selected because of the itinerary. Check it out. Looking forward to our 12 day cruise tour and the cost is about 7000 for two people. That does not include insurance though. Good luck.

I have not much good to say about short cruisetours. The above itinerary that is being considered, has their OWN priorities which may very well fit this choice. But the price also seems high to me. It may be they have a suite cabin etc?

As an example, I did a 4 week trip this summer with my nephew. I do not pay for air- which would have been probably another $1200? with my other costs about $9000. That did include a 4 day tour that was $5000 (Trip up to Prudhoe, and another near Lake Clark). With a super cheap add on cruise- that was less than $1000 for 2.

There are all kinds of ways to travel. Using the purchased coupon books can cut costs, going independent. Booking inside cabins, are usually significant cost savers. :)

For me- it's essential, I get INTO Denali Park- ONLY reason I go there. As I know, a lot of people do not. You don't see rave reviews posted about the NHT, but there may be some people who are ok with it?

This poster needs to sort out their particular detailed priorities and go in that direction.

Thank you to those of you who have taken your time to reply; I really love the friendliness on these boards! :) I have been reading these boards for months now in trying to plan our vacation. After much talking, reading, etc, the 10-day Denali Explorer through Princess is what we decided on looking in to.

 

I'll fill you in on a few other details. I know on these boards there are a LOT of people who sincerely suggest planning the land portions yourself rather than through the cruiselines. We decided to go through a TA as the other couple we are traveling with are from a different state. This being the 1st major vacation we've taken, there's a peace of mind for all of us in having a TA handle the bookings and details. While I am not opposed to renting a car and driving after all the research that's been done, we have 1 in our group that would rather have our luggage hauled for us and the transportation taken care of so nobody has to drive. One of our group REALLY wants to cruise - I am all for skipping the cruise and doing just a land-only tour, but we are all trying to get what we want out of this vacation. 1 of our group can only be gone from work as long as we are allowing for the 10-day cruisetour. I hope I haven't confused anyone yet! :)

 

We did look at the 3-day cruisetours with HAL and while the 3-day cruise part appealed to us, the land portions available just weren't what we wanted, and the port times on the Princess cruises all look to be longer than HAL offers. We chose Princess as each of us have had personal recommendations to use the Princess cruiseline. The itinerary for the land portion of the Princess tour we have pricing for is as follows:

Day 1: day spent traveling to Fairbanks, upon arrival, eat if needed and sleep.

Day 2: riverboat tour in Fairbanks, bus to Denali Wilderness Lodge, overnight Denali

Day 3: tour into the Park (if we go, we will make sure we have the TWT), transfer to Mt McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge

Day 4: transfer to Talkeetna after lunch to board train to Whittier where you board ship

Day 5-end: on cruise.

 

I know there are MANY many more options for Alaskan vacations, and many other things I would love to do, however, given our timeframe and what people's wants were out of the vacation, we felt this best suited our purposes. I chose balcony rooms because this is likely the only cruise I will ever get my husband on and darn it, I want a balcony room! :P - he's more inclined to do an all-inclusive vacation somewhere and skip the ship altogether!

 

My main question remains, is $7600-$8000 an average price for this vacation? The TA quoted us $3300 pp for the cruisetour, transfers and insurance. Airfare averages about $1350 per couple.

What kind of cabin? If an upper cost option, could you downgrade for a cheaper option? There also will be meal costs on land- budget 59% more than you would at home as a ballpark.

You probably are making the wrong assumption in thinking you will be able to upgrade your NHT. I've seen buses leaving around noon, on some cruisetours for the McKinley Princess, with not enough time to TWT. Verify all the details.

Only a general comment, but also thinking leaving the booking up to a TA is fine, many times is not the case. Some haven't even been to Alaska, or only making a couple trips. To really "know" the dynamics, I think several trips, including independent are needed for the knowledge of recommendations to others.

Hopefully this board can further your information for booking selection, and, you, making the right choice for your particular priorities in Alaska travel.

Thanks to all of you who took the time to voice your opinions and advice on this trip. Someday I will make it to Alaska, but not on the trip discussed in this thread. My initial reason for posting was to see if the amount we were quoted was an average amount for the itinerary. Honestly, I can't justify that amount for a vacation, no matter how spectacular Alaska may be!

Alaska can easily be done on a budget, but it depends on your travel style and your interest in planning/research.

For a taste of Alaska, get an inside cabin on a RT Vancouver cruise in May. Use the big public areas on the ship for 360 degrees of viewing. Fly RT into Seattle and take the train to Vancouver. Spend a day or 2 before and after the cruise to see Seattle and Vancouver.

Or do a one-week land trip instead. If you book a yr in advance you can get a RT rental car in Anchorage for a week at $150. Stay in B&B's or cabins for $150 a nite.

Thanks to all of you who took the time to voice your opinions and advice on this trip. Someday I will make it to Alaska, but not on the trip discussed in this thread. My initial reason for posting was to see if the amount we were quoted was an average amount for the itinerary. Honestly, I can't justify that amount for a vacation, no matter how spectacular Alaska may be!

The price sounded high to me. There are two ways you can handle this. You can just do the cruise or you can do a cruise tour. After the first of the year there will be a promotion 'wave season". Look at the offers then. You can probably save some money.

I think you probably got too much information. It's pretty simple....choose a cruise that goes to Glacier Bay and if you want to see Denali choose a cruise tour that includes two nights at Denali. Beyond that do what you want. FYI....Many people find the location of the McKinley Princess lodge outside of Talkeetna to be inconvenient.

OP, you are correct in your deduction that Alaska is indeed an expensive cruise (NOT AT ALL LIKE THE CARIBBEAN CRUISES). That said, our first 7 day cruise came in at around $700 per person including airfare and cruise. We did no additional excursions except a small hop on/hop off van in Sitka to get to the Raptor Center for $7 pp. It is easy to go to Alaska on a budget.

Our 2nd trip I chose the 11 day cruisetour to the tune of $3000 pp. And again only did one additional excursion to Jeff King's Husky Homestead for $45 pp.

I don't cruise in the Caribbean as once was enough for me. Some folks return cruise after cruise to the same destination. I use the cruise as a means of transportation and hotel to see new and interesting places. Europe was even more costly than Alaska, coming in at $6000 pp but that was a 21 day trip.

Only you can decide what you are looking for and what you are willing to pay.

Happy travels whatever you choose!