Alaska cruise on a budget

[kathy884]

I usually think of HAL or Princess when I think of an Alaskan cruise. We have always thought it would be kind of fun to take one of these, but have never done it, mostly due to cost (pricier than our normal vacation budget) and time (we can only take a week and a few days off of work (no time or budget for one of the land / cruise packages) and it seems like Alaska is so special that doing both together would be if you could the way to go.) I've always thought it would be nicer to cruise out of somewhere other than Seattle too, even though that's more expensive, as you would see more of Alaska.

 

DH, though, has some freebie Carnival balcony passes for two that we could use to take the Miracle, so that would be a big savings as we'd just pay for a third person (taking DS 18 too) and taxes on ours. For this particular cruise too we would fly in and out of Seattle (not my preference, but really inexpensive for us), as we'd have enough freebie miles on Southwest to cover air for all three of us too. Air to Vancouver or Fairbanks is pricey and a long trip. // Thinking never having seen any of the glaciers we'd enjoy the Tracy Arm Fjord too and be quite impressed, even though it's not what people think of as the most spectacular. // Do you think it would be worth it to do this cruise or would you suggest saving Alaska for another time if / when we had more vacation time and a bigger budget and could do a different itinerary on a different line??

 

If it seems worthwhile to do the cruise the next big budget item is excursions. Excursions seem to be very pricey on these Alaskan cruises. We in our budget only have about $500 per person for these, really meaning two expensive excursions and things on our own. Here is what I was thinking. I welcome other suggestions if you think there would be other options that would make more sense and give us more bang for our buck.

 

Tracy Arm Fjord -- Thought this was a place to splurge and do one of the boat tours to get up close -- about $180 pp

 

Skagway -- to save dollars, thought here I'd rent a car, get Murray's guide and do a scenic driving trip with stops, My parents will probably come on the cruise too, so there might be five of us (so we'd split the rental car cost too.)

 

Juneau -- Looking at doing whale watching here, mostly because DS really enjoys whale watching and we haven't done any of this in the last four years or so (about $200 a pop here, so another splurge). In reality, for me and DH we've been on five different whale watching trips over the years, so I'd be more than happy to skip, but I think this is a must for DS with his love of marine mammals and desire to do whale watching.

 

Ketchikan -- Heard this is a nice place for walking around, so due to budget just planning on that here.

 

Victoria -- Have been here on vacation before for a full week, so am pretty familiar with this port (easy enough to play it my ear here with no expensive tour.) // I wouldn't pick this for a port on an Alaskan cruise, but I do love Victoria.

 

I welcome your suggestions. // Main questions: Given big price savings worth it to do Carnival or better to wait till we have a bigger budget and do a different itinerary and different line in your opinion?? // Given a limited excursion budget of about $500 pp what would you suggest? DH and I don't have any particular excursions in mind (open to anything). DS is the only one with a special request for whale watching and would be open to anything after that.

Edited January 19, 2014 by kathy884

[Aj101710]

In my opinion and given your budget per person I would go.

This is what I would do if I were you. All excursions are through Carnival, I have found that the private vendors prices are usually about the same. Plus when I went to Alaska in 2009 I went through all of the excursions with Princess and I didn't mind them.

Juneau- Best of Juneau tour=$199.99per person. 6.25 hrs

Skagway- Best of Skagway-Rail Summit, Trail Camp, Salmon Bake=$229.99 per person 6.5 hrs

Ketchikan-"DUCK" A Historic City & Harbor Tour= $49.99 per person 1.5 hrs

Then go to town and go shopping on your own ( this is what my family did and it was interesting)

Then for Victoria I would rent a car and do my own thing.

So all of those would be around $479.99 which leaves you some money to spare for the rental car in Victoria or shopping in the towns.

 

From what I saw there was no point in renting a car in any of those Alaskan towns we went to because everything was with in walking distance and an easy wall from the pier and not much out side of the towns worth seeing. (as far as I know)

 

That's just my opinion, and if you want to do more expensive excursions like a helicopter ride I'd wait until the next trip.

[em-sk]

For this particular cruise too we would fly in and out of Seattle (not my preference, but really inexpensive for us), as we'd have enough freebie miles on Southwest to cover air for all three of us too. Air to Vancouver or Fairbanks is pricey and a long trip.

 

There are buses form the airport in Seattle to the port in Vancouver as well as rail service between downtown Seattle and Downtown Vancouver.

 

In Victoria it is a 15-20 minute walk from where the ship docks to the inner harbour.

Edited January 19, 2014 by em-sk

[Budget Queen]

I don't agree with the above recommendations. There are many touring options, your choices, whale watching is a great choice with the interest. A car rental for the Klondike Highway can be a another great day- as well as cost saving.

 

Carnival does a very good job in Alaska, I'm hoping Michelle continues on board, again this year (I am booked on 2 Miracle sailings) She is a gifted naturalist. :)

 

I am a firm advocate of the Tracy Arm add on tour. But people do enjoy a ship sailing, determine what may be good compromises for you?

[Nancyquilts]

My advice would be not to put the cruise off. Getting old comes too fast. Besides, in future years you may be able to take the cruise/tour you really want, and you'll have the memories of this one to recall.

[Lady Anna & Sir Troy]

I agree with BudgetQueen and your plan is a sound one. In Ketchikan I would take the blue bus for a $2 round trip to totem bight park and use this link to print a guide beforehand - http://dnr.alaska.gov/parks/units/totempol.htm. The visitor center also has some good walking tours that you can pick up information on when you get there.

 

Most of the time I prefer private vendors, but there are a few I prefer ship tours. I haven't done enough to make recommendations on Alaska specifically, but I would think almost all boat tours (with the exception of the Tracy Arm type) are done better with smaller groups. For a budget I would consider Juneau Whale Watching or Orca Enterprises for around $120. If you can splurge use Harv and Marv for all 5 of you at $149 each, and you get at least a 1/2 our extra. I think you can include a visit to Mendenhall Glacier with the visit - but check with the vendors first.

 

L.A.S.T.

Edited January 19, 2014 by Lady Anna & Sir Troy

[donaldsc]

For Alaska, you determine your cruise ship choices by -

 

1) Itinerary

2) Itinerary

3) Port times - some have really lousy arrival and/or departure times. Do you want to get into port at 7:00 AM and depart at 1:00 PM or else arrive at 2:00 PM and depart at 11:00 PM. Both options stink.

4) Anything else.

 

I was going to put itinerary three times but I think you get my drift.

 

DON