Alaska without Breaking the Bank?

[ekatiel]

Looking for an Alaska cruise for the Summer of 2015 for me, DH, DS (who will be 9 by then), DS (who will be 11 by then), and my two parents who are in their late sixties/early seventies. I know the itineraries have not been released yet, but I'd like to have a good idea of what we want so we can book as soon as they are released.

 

I've done some reading on here and come to the conclusion that Glacier Bay is a must-do, so that leaves us with Princess, NCL, and HAL. Unless someone can convince me otherwise, HAL is out because of the predominately older demographic.

 

One way cruises with cruise tours seem nice, but also seem very pricey. Is a 7 day round trip out of Seattle going to be sufficient? It's certainly easier on the pocket book.

 

Princess or NCL? We've never sailed either. We've sailed Royal, Carnival, and Disney-- any comparisons with those lines?

 

Also, any shore excursion suggestions for kids? Thanks in advance for any input!

[Budget Queen]

For clarification- your demographic assumptions are not accurate. It is not the Caribbean. In Alaska, with the exception of Disney, demographics are very similar on all lines. Middle aged and above will be the bulk, but all ages sail, AND all have kids programs. If you go when school is out, there will be kids on board.

 

Another reason, you may want to put HAL back on your list, is their, in the past, their kids sail free bookings, which usually come out the fall prior to the sailing.

 

You do know about the big differences sailing from Seattle vs Vancouver round trips? Seattle is the least scenic itinerary, and with time eaten up with a Victoria stop, that is usually only a few hours.

 

Is a one way a possibility? With kids, I never recommend cruisetours, fixed group point to point touring is not the best with families, and there can be significant savings going independent. It is NOT difficult to plan.

 

I'm assuming your budget would be figured out, prior to booking? There can be big discounts with late bookings- if an option?

 

These are questions to ask yourself and the people you are traveling with. The answers should further focus your choices.

 

Head to your library and take out Alaska travel books, the more you know the better your plans will be for what you want out of this trip.

 

As for which cruise line- they all can offer you a great trip. Take a look at the port times, and how you are going to occupy them. Shore excursions are a significant part of seeing the most in your travels. This isn't the place where you just get in a cab at the port. There is so much more to consider, with few poor choices out there. So the reason- I suggest this isn't the place to skimp and with groups, the place to split up.

 

A lot to consider, but also my recommendation to be fully informed and know all the details of what you are booking. :)

Edited November 17, 2013 by Budget Queen

[mapleleaves]

There are a couple of books specific to Alaska cruises; Fodor has 'alaska ports of call' and Ann Vipond has 'alaska by cruiseship'. You can read about cruiselines, itineraries, ports, excursions, sights, activities, DIY options, etc. Also, look at the STICKY above called ' 2013 alaska cruise reviews'. There are RT cruises, NB, SB, cruisetours, and DIY land. Reply #45 has all the trip reports sorted by cruiseline. Perhaps reading about other travellers experiences will help you. You could also use the REVIEW forum on cc; specifically the MEMBER REVIEWS.

[CowPrincess]

Looking for an Alaska cruise for the Summer of 2015 for me, DH, DS (who will be 9 by then), DS (who will be 11 by then), and my two parents who are in their late sixties/early seventies. I know the itineraries have not been released yet, but I'd like to have a good idea of what we want so we can book as soon as they are released.

 

I've done some reading on here and come to the conclusion that Glacier Bay is a must-do, so that leaves us with Princess, NCL, and HAL. Unless someone can convince me otherwise, HAL is out because of the predominately older demographic.

 

One way cruises with cruise tours seem nice, but also seem very pricey. Is a 7 day round trip out of Seattle going to be sufficient? It's certainly easier on the pocket book.

 

Princess or NCL? We've never sailed either. We've sailed Royal, Carnival, and Disney-- any comparisons with those lines?

 

Also, any shore excursion suggestions for kids? Thanks in advance for any input!

 

HAL demographic in Alaska is not very different than any other cruise line's demographic in Alaska.

 

Consider how you are "housing" everyone. If the kids are sleeping in the same cabin as you are, definitely look for "kids sail free" or "3rd/4th pax $99" specials as another poster suggested.

 

I heartily recommend a whale watch with the kids. They will be old enough to enjoy it by then, IMHO. Expensive, yes. One of those things they'll still talk about years from now? Pretty likely ;)

 

As mapleleaves suggested, get some books from the library and read up on the various routes and ports.

 

As to "sufficient", why are you going to Alaska? Not being a smart a** here.... there must be a reason you've chosen Alaska, and knowing that will help you decide what is a "must do".

[Hibiscus118]

Looking for an Alaska cruise for the Summer of 2015 for me, DH, DS (who will be 9 by then), DS (who will be 11 by then), and my two parents who are in their late sixties/early seventies. I know the itineraries have not been released yet, but I'd like to have a good idea of what we want so we can book as soon as they are released.

 

I've done some reading on here and come to the conclusion that Glacier Bay is a must-do, so that leaves us with Princess, NCL, and HAL. Unless someone can convince me otherwise, HAL is out because of the predominately older demographic.

 

One way cruises with cruise tours seem nice, but also seem very pricey. Is a 7 day round trip out of Seattle going to be sufficient? It's certainly easier on the pocket book.

 

Princess or NCL? We've never sailed either. We've sailed Royal, Carnival, and Disney-- any comparisons with those lines?

 

Also, any shore excursion suggestions for kids? Thanks in advance for any input!

 

I feel like I was in the same boat as you, minus the kids. I did a lot of research prior to booking as we originally planned to go to AK this year instead of next. When I first started planning I was very much going to try and pack everything in: Denali, Southbound cruise, time in Seattle, etc. In the year that we put it off, a lot of our priorities changed and we just wanted to go to AK and have a fun vacation, not spend hours in the car to and from Denali, trains from Vancouver to Seattle, etc. We also wanted to save money because we have other priorities as well.

 

We ended up booking a RT out of Seattle with Princess. I know a lot of people see is as a poor choice because of less viewing time and such, but it eliminated costs of a train, and ultimately the travel time we also would have spent to get to Vancouver. For us, we only get so much time off so this was a plus to us. We also love Seattle so we will get more time there.

 

We chose The Golden Princess because Glacier Bay is a priority to us as well. We also have been on Princess and have been happy with them. The NCL Pearl and HAL Westerdam (I think) were also on our list because they both went to Glacier Bay out of Seattle. I'm personally not a fan of NCL. Never had a bad cruise with them I just like others better, which is odd since we are younger. We like traditnal dining so I think that has a lot to do with it. Never been on HAL so can't comment on them. I don't think the demographics matter in Alaska. I compare Royal with Princess, although I do love Carnival as well. It's obviously not hard to please me!

 

We booked a whale watch excursion in Juneau, rented a car in Skagway, and are probably going to do the deadliest catch crab fishermans tour in Ketchikan. The only thing that I'm bummed about is that going out of Seattle takes away time from Ketchikan, so if we do that tour we will miss Creek Street, but it is what it is. I'm happy with the decisions we've made. We'll go and get a small taste of Alaska and hopefully get back after we have kids sometime. Good luck on choosing the right cruise for you and your family.

[Budget Queen]

I feel like I was in the same boat as you, minus the kids. I did a lot of research prior to booking as we originally planned to go to AK this year instead of next. When I first started planning I was very much going to try and pack everything in: Denali, Southbound cruise, time in Seattle, etc. In the year that we put it off, a lot of our priorities changed and we just wanted to go to AK and have a fun vacation, not spend hours in the car to and from Denali, trains from Vancouver to Seattle, etc. We also wanted to save money because we have other priorities as well.

 

We ended up booking a RT out of Seattle with Princess. I know a lot of people see is as a poor choice because of less viewing time and such, but it eliminated costs of a train, and ultimately the travel time we also would have spent to get to Vancouver. For us, we only get so much time off so this was a plus to us. We also love Seattle so we will get more time there.

 

We chose The Golden Princess because Glacier Bay is a priority to us as well. We also have been on Princess and have been happy with them. The NCL Pearl and HAL Westerdam (I think) were also on our list because they both went to Glacier Bay out of Seattle. I'm personally not a fan of NCL. Never had a bad cruise with them I just like others better, which is odd since we are younger. We like traditnal dining so I think that has a lot to do with it. Never been on HAL so can't comment on them. I don't think the demographics matter in Alaska. I compare Royal with Princess, although I do love Carnival as well. It's obviously not hard to please me!

 

We booked a whale watch excursion in Juneau, rented a car in Skagway, and are probably going to do the deadliest catch crab fishermans tour in Ketchikan. The only thing that I'm bummed about is that going out of Seattle takes away time from Ketchikan, so if we do that tour we will miss Creek Street, but it is what it is. I'm happy with the decisions we've made. We'll go and get a small taste of Alaska and hopefully get back after we have kids sometime. Good luck on choosing the right cruise for you and your family.

 

Additional information- It is very easy to get between Seattle and Vancouver for those who may choose to do so. A one way rental car, cruise line buses, independent bus and Amtrak. The rates for Amtrak are usually below $50pp AAA discounts as well. It's an extremely scenic transit, and easy to take the train day of cruising out of Vancouver. Plenty of choices to consider. :)

[Hibiscus118]

Additional information- It is very easy to get between Seattle and Vancouver for those who may choose to do so. A one way rental car, cruise line buses, independent bus and Amtrak. The rates for Amtrak are usually below $50pp AAA discounts as well. It's an extremely scenic transit, and easy to take the train day of cruising out of Vancouver. Plenty of choices to consider. :)

 

I do know this, and it believe I mentioned the reasons why WE chose not to go this route. The OP mentioned price, so I was merely just relating my experiences because many people do have to think about that. You are very lucky that you don't. Like I said, it's seen as a poor choice by many, including you. You are always posting about people doing research to see what they would want to do. I did that, we decided against doing any of these options because it wasn't for us for other reasons other than just the cost. I hope the OP does the same for her family.

[Summerl30]

We have to be in Seattle in June so we are thinking of a cruise to alaska with kids. We have to get 2 rooms because there are 5 of us. We are booking flights next month probably as we have a credit with southwest (June flights aren't out yet). We are hoping to book a last minute trip, so are hoping to be completely flexible. The only stipulations we have is that we go to glacier bay and that since we are going with the kids, we take a ship with a covered pool.

 

Being Canadian from Toronto, we are keen to go out of Vancouver especially because the girls will learn about it in geography at school and spend a day or two there, but it doesn't matter if we don't. The girls can swim and have fun on our first and last sea days out of Seattle if need be. A good deal is more important to us. The kids LOvE taking amtrak, and our whole family can round trip for less than 200$, so we are trying to be flexible either way.

[Summerl30]

And to add on the Seattle rt they will still stop in Victoria so they will still have been to bc, so they will be happy!

[ekatiel]

Thanks for the replies, guys. I will take another look at HAL and at one-way trips. The airfare is what's worrying me about doing a one-way. Are there any discount carriers that have good prices on one-way tickets? I know we could fly Southwest either to or from Seattle and then take a train to Victoria, but what about the one-way ticket either to or from Alaska?! My parents have frequent flier miles, so they would be OK doing one-ways, we're not so lucky. We'd need to buy the tickets, and sometimes one-way tickets are more expensive than round trip. Any cheap one-way Alaska fares? We live in the Houston area, btw, if that info helps.

Edited November 24, 2013 by ekatiel

[NancyIL]

Thanks for the replies, guys. I will take another look at HAL and at one-way trips. The airfare is what's worrying me about doing a one-way. Are there any discount carriers that have good prices on one-way tickets? I know we could fly Southwest either to or from Seattle and then take a train to Victoria, but what about the one-way ticket either to or from Alaska?! My parents have frequent flier miles, so they would be OK doing one-ways, we're not so lucky. We'd need to buy the tickets, and sometimes one-way tickets are more expensive than round trip. Any cheap one-way Alaska fares? We live in the Houston area, btw, if that info helps.

 

Instead of looking at a one-way fare to or from Anchorage, check multi-city routings into one city (Vancouver/Seattle or Anchorage) and out of the other.

[Budget Queen]

Instead of looking at a one-way fare to or from Anchorage, check multi-city routings into one city (Vancouver/Seattle or Anchorage) and out of the other.

 

 

There have been some reports of good rates with a round trip Seattle flight, and a one way Seattle/Anchorage on Alaska Airlines flight. So compare all the options.

 

Certainly, you would have a great time on round trip cruises, if those fit your schedule and budget best. Too often, sometimes, "reports" make them sound less worthwhile. For me, I don't consider one way cruises, unless they are with a give away back to back or I have at least another week for mainland touring. I've always greatly enjoyed my round trip Alaska cruises, which I've done over 10 times. :)

 

This year, was an especially good one for picking up cheap 14 day back to back sailings, late booked.

[dadroy]

I love HAL for the prices and think it is great for adults. Not so great for kids in my opinion. HAL has had interiors for $$450 for a week in the early and late season. We grabbed one of these deals, which also had the 3rd and 4th went free. We did B@B, so 14 days for $1,100 with taxes and port charges.

 

A little tight in the room, but for the price, it was great.

 

Shore excursions can be memorable BUT expensive. We did the helicopter tour of the glaciers and landed on a glacier for half an hour. Absolutely fantastic, but pricey, $350 per person i think. Took my girls and they still talk about it. Seriously, how often can you do a helicopter tour of a glacier.!!!

 

On the boat/float plane to Misty pford, we actually saw a bear swimming from the mainland to an island. All we could see was the head and paws, but heck, another bucket list item checked off.

[DragonOfTheSeas]

For the cruise portion of the trip you need to decide what you can afford and the type of room you want. We sail in all tyoes of rooms. for alaska we went with an inside cabin. We were not in the room very much. I know peope say that about all cruises--but, in AK we were ashore almost all of the times in port.

 

We got up early, since that is when most tours started, and went to bed earlier than on other cruises. [since we are from the east coast and AK is 4 hrs behind our time] We found we were up early because that is what our bodies naturally did and we were wiped out by 10pm.

 

In ports we took the high/low approach. We picked 2 ports to do pricey excursions [icy Strait-whale watch; Skagway-train and van combo with Chilkoot]. In Ketchikan we took the public bus to Totem Bight Park and walked Creek Street. In Juneau we visited Mendenhall Glacier and walked around Juneau. We took the tour of the state capitol that was free]

[genealogyfan]

Thanks for the replies, guys. I will take another look at HAL and at one-way trips. The airfare is what's worrying me about doing a one-way. Are there any discount carriers that have good prices on one-way tickets? I know we could fly Southwest either to or from Seattle and then take a train to Victoria, but what about the one-way ticket either to or from Alaska?! My parents have frequent flier miles, so they would be OK doing one-ways, we're not so lucky. We'd need to buy the tickets, and sometimes one-way tickets are more expensive than round trip. Any cheap one-way Alaska fares? We live in the Houston area, btw, if that info helps.

 

Most airlines don't overcharge for one way fares usually it's the same as round trip. I know with Virgin America I they charge the same for two one way fares vs a round trip. United is the same way usually

 

When I went to Alaska in 2011 I was flying from Los Angeles to Anchorage and then flying from Anchorage to Washington, DC - and got a one way with United of $350 from Anchorage to DC. The cheapest one way from LA to Anchorage was Alaska Airlines -(can't remember what that price was though)

Edited December 15, 2013 by genealogyfan

[VermeulT]

Most airlines don't overcharge for one way fares usually it's the same as round trip. I know with Virgin America I they charge the same for two one way fares vs a round trip. United is the same way usually

 

When I went to Alaska in 2011 I was flying from Los Angeles to Anchorage and then flying from Anchorage to Washington, DC - and got a one way with United of $350 from Anchorage to DC. The cheapest one way from LA to Anchorage was Alaska Airlines -(can't remember what that price was though)

 

Jet Blue charges the same for one ways as RT also.

[grgsuch]

Airfare was a concern for us. I watched for two years getting an idea on prices. We did a multi-destination flight indianapolis to vancouver, and anchorage to indianapolis was 548 that included taxes. It wasn't the lowest I've seen but was good for me from what I had seen the prices go up to. I read a lot of good advice on these boards and really it was just what worked best for me. Good luck on finding what works best for your family. Also, thank you to all who have shared their wisdom. It truely does make a difference in researching such a special vacation. We are lucky enough to be going in July. So keep the wisdom coming!!

[sherylc]

We compared one way vs round trip for this summer for my family of 4. We ended up booking the 11 night RT from San Francisco to save on air (we can drive there in 4 hours). It would have cost us $2000 in air for the four of us for the one way 7 day Alaska trip. We were thinking of doing cruise tour but if you add in all of the cost of excursions on the land portion, we again were likely to add at least another thousand or two. Our 11 night cruise was significantly cheaper than the 7 day cruise plus 3-4 days cruise tour portion plus air. We used the difference to book the more expensive excursions (mostly including flying). Hope that helps.

[Aggiebuttercup]

I enjoyed the round-trip out of Seattle (and a few extra days in Seattle).

 

I was on the Sapphire Princess, and the demographic was older than I had experienced on Carnival or Royal Caribbean in the Caribbean.

 

The cruise was one of my favorites, even though the cruise line was my least favorite. Alaska is just so beautiful :)

 

I'm not taking my kids on that particular cruise until they are older, though. I don't think they'll appreciate it.

[sherryf]

I was on the Sapphire Princess, and the demographic was older than I had experienced on Carnival or Royal Caribbean in the Caribbean.

 

 

The demographic is going to be older in Alaska than the Caribbean, regardless of the cruise line. I've been on Carnival in Alaska and the demographic was the same as my Princess Alaska cruises... but I much prefer Princess.

[sandra4611]

Laura & Dusty,

Your story is our story. We had originally planned to fly to Anchorage, do a 4-5 day land tour and then board the ship to come back. Now we are doing the same thing you are. RT Seattle on Princess. I had a stroke this year AND was diagnosed with breast cancer. Had to quit work so money is crucial. This way we get to see the parts of Alaska that are most important to us NOW. Physically cannot do some of the things we previous wanted so we might as well save some money.