Alaska in June on the Legend

[SadieN]

Look at hotel prices before you book. Seattle is hosting a huge sporting event in June. Hotels are at a premium.

[theriac]

If you look at Carnival price up front vs others without actually doing a mock booking it may seem like a lot more because doesn't Carnival always show the full price including taxes?

 

Taxes in Alaska are much much higher than other places.

We just booked an Alaska cruise and our taxes were about $200 per person

 

No Carnival doesn't advertise the full price. It's always the cabin price and after going through the booking process they add in the port fees and taxes. Also I found the port fees to be cheaper for my Alaskan cruise then my last Caribbean cruise. Alaska fees $203.25 and my 7 Caribbean was $266.38.

 

Op flights appear to be high in Seattle during the summer as it's their tourist/cruise season. I know you said early June is what you're thinking, but know in mid to late June the U.S. Open is going on raising the ticket and hotel prices significantly as demand is higher. Also after doing some research on Seattle for this time of year I found out the Seattle Pride festival will be going on again raising prices to get to and stay in the city.

 

I hope you can find a cruise that will fit your wants and needs for you and that if you decide to go its a great bargain and is filled with unforgettable memories!

[Captain Carnival]

We just did Alaska this past September (the last sailing of the season) and had an incredible time - see our review "Sea trek II" below.

[webzila]

No Carnival doesn't advertise the full price. It's always the cabin price and after going through the booking process they add in the port fees and taxes. Also I found the port fees to be cheaper for my Alaskan cruise then my last Caribbean cruise. Alaska fees $203.25 and my 7 Caribbean was $266.38.

 

Op flights appear to be high in Seattle during the summer as it's their tourist/cruise season. I know you said early June is what you're thinking, but know in mid to late June the U.S. Open is going on raising the ticket and hotel prices significantly as demand is higher. Also after doing some research on Seattle for this time of year I found out the Seattle Pride festival will be going on again raising prices to get to and stay in the city.

 

I hope you can find a cruise that will fit your wants and needs for you and that if you decide to go its a great bargain and is filled with unforgettable memories!

 

Ok, I guess I was thinking of Southwest Airlines and them showing full fare prices but still taxes seem much higher in Alaska. I just did a quick mock booking and 7 day Alaska from Seattle taxes were $180 pp on Carnival and 7 day Western Caribbean from Galveston was $80 pp

[tamirpr]

We are booked on an Alaskan trip on the Legend in July. This will be our 1st Alaskan Cruise also. Luckily, we got in on the pack and play offer and scored a balcony for 4 people for $1600 so I'm good with our price. Honestly, Alaska has never been high on my list, but DH wants to go.

 

My question for those experienced Alaskan cruisers is what can we expect? We have 2 sons ages 6 and 9. This will be their 9th cruise, but I have a feeling that this will be quite a bit different for them. Are the waterslides open? Someone asked that on the destination board and someone answered and basically ripped them a new one saying how could you want to ride a water slide when you are surrounded by all of that nature. Uh, well, if you're 6 and 9 and have been wanting to ride the green thunder slide, you don't care. You just want to slide.

 

By any chance are you on the July 14 sailing? We are on that one and our 8yo son is going with us.

 

Oh, and to the OP, I think that price is very high. We booked our cabins last summer and paid $1800 pp for the mack daddy aft wrap and $1200 for the ocean suite next to it.

 

I'm good with our choice with Carnival for Alaska. It just depends what you're looking to get out of it. I did price comparisons thoroughly. There are seven of us, and the other lines couldn't touch the price I could get with Carnival. Disney was $20,000 more :O Yes, $20,000! This was the only way we could afford to take 7 to Alaska. If we love it, then maybe we will go back and go further north on other lines. This will be a good taste, though.

Edited February 28, 2015 by tamirpr

[nybumpkin]

Also don't forget about Seattle! I don't know if you've been or if you're interested in visiting but there's also an entire other portion of the trip to plan if you choose to fly in a few days early to visit. Plus Seattle is very expensive from all my research I've been doing so that's another cost factor too that you need to look at. I'm flying in from Florida so I need to make the trip to the West at least worth my time by staying there for a few days pre cruise to visit all of the sights that city has to offer.

 

Have fun, and if you do choose Carnival I'm on the 6/23 sailing. Plus we will have the infamous John Heald as our CD. I read his blog occasionally and have heard he is a very fun CD who is truly interested into making your cruise the best cruise, which seems rare fro CD's now adays

I completely agree about Seattle. We sailed Alaska on Miracle last year and flew in a few days early since our sons and I had never visited before. It was a lot of fun - we spent a day doing the "touristy" things and visiting with a friend and his family; another day taking the ferry to Bremerton and going to dinner and a show in downtown Seattle; and a day tour to Mount Rainier. My review is at http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2098938.

 

John was our CD last year. We also had sailed with him once before on a cruise in Europe. He's a genuinely nice person.

 

As for OP's question about the slide - I don't recall the slide being open at all on our cruise. However, this class of ship does have a sliding dome over one of the midships pools and people did use it. My sons did not lack for entertainment on the ship.

[Tapi]

Your mention above of getting "close" to a glacier in Glacier Bay is not true in that case.

 

Cruise ships are a much farther distance away than any of the small boat tours.

 

 

Yes. I agree with you. The way to get closer to the glaciers is by booking an (expensive) small boat excursion. If we'd chosen a cruise to Tracy Arm, we would've booked that excursion. It would've cost us an additional $500-$600 for our family of 4, but I would've not risked having to see the Sawyer Glaciers from miles away, or worse, not at all.

 

That's why we chose a cruise to Glacier Bay. While we didn't get as close as if we'd taken a small boat, it was close enough for us! We had amazing views from the decks of our cruise ship. No extra cost!

 

 

 

Edited February 28, 2015 by Tapi

[Budget Queen]

If you look at Carnival price up front vs others without actually doing a mock booking it may seem like a lot more because doesn't Carnival always show the full price including taxes?

 

Taxes in Alaska are much much higher than other places.

We just booked an Alaska cruise and our taxes were about $200 per person

 

 

check out the taxes for Panama Canal and Bermuda. :) Alaska doesn't look so bad.

[CruisingSoon88]

By any chance are you on the July 14 sailing? We are on that one and our 8yo son is going with us.

 

Oh, and to the OP, I think that price is very high. We booked our cabins last summer and paid $1800 pp for the mack daddy aft wrap and $1200 for the ocean suite next to it.

 

I'm good with our choice with Carnival for Alaska. It just depends what you're looking to get out of it. I did price comparisons thoroughly. There are seven of us, and the other lines couldn't touch the price I could get with Carnival. Disney was $20,000 more :O Yes, $20,000! This was the only way we could afford to take 7 to Alaska. If we love it, then maybe we will go back and go further north on other lines. This will be a good taste, though.

 

 

We will be on the July 7th sailing.:(

[Dizzneefan]

We are spending three days in Seattle prior to our June 9 sailing on the Legend. Yes, we have booked the small boat excursion in Tracy Arm , whale watching with Harv and Marv and will soon book the Chilhoot tours rail/bus tour. We are totally pumped for the trip. All 11 of us!

[theriac]

Dizznee if you were on the 6/23 sailing we would be seeing a lot of each other as I have booked the exact same things to do for my upcoming cruise! Have fun and please come back and share your experiences!

[sillychicky]

Going on the Legend June 30th and did the Pack and Play offer so it was very, very cheap. Got a balcony and I'm very excited. I'm brand loyal though and love the atmosphere Carnival brings. My mother-in-law tried another cruise line to Alaska and hated it. She loved Alaska but not the company she went with. Everyone has their own preferences but if you want the best deal certainly shop around. You can also just make sure to earn 2500 points or more in the casino on your next cruise and then get the Alaska one free next time like I did. I earned points on one cruise and have gotten 3 free already this year.

 

I'm so ready to go!

[Oppalopa]

Going on the Legend June 30th and did the Pack and Play offer so it was very, very cheap. Got a balcony and I'm very excited. I'm brand loyal though and love the atmosphere Carnival brings. My mother-in-law tried another cruise line to Alaska and hated it. She loved Alaska but not the company she went with. Everyone has their own preferences but if you want the best deal certainly shop around. You can also just make sure to earn 2500 points or more in the casino on your next cruise and then get the Alaska one free next time like I did. I earned points on one cruise and have gotten 3 free already this year.

 

I'm so ready to go!

I have never gambled. Could you tell me how much you have to spend to get 2500 points? Thank You

 

:)

[Dizzneefan]

Dizznee if you were on the 6/23 sailing we would be seeing a lot of each other as I have booked the exact same things to do for my upcoming cruise! Have fun and please come back and share your experiences!

 

I'll be glad to!

[GRAMMYTAN]

We are currently booked on the CCL Legend for June 15. When we booked we were seeing posts by John Heald that he would be the CD for this cruise. Lately I have seen posts that he may not or probably won't be on the earlier sailings, but will be joining the ship later in the season. He says he will be posting a new CD schedule soon. We sailed with him on our first Med cruise in 2007, then we had Todd on the 2009 Med cruise. We booked the 2012 Med cruise with the understanding (directly from John Heald) that he would be on our sailing along with Ken Byrnes in the MDR. It turned out that he left the ship just as we were boarding in 2012 and Ken Byrnes went on vacation for a couple of months. It didn't "ruin" our cruise of course but we were really looking forward to being back on board with both of them.

[lovetotraveltx]

Thanks for your feedback, as well as the specific suggestions on itinerary and lines! Although Carnival is all we've sailed on, we're definitely not brand-loyal to a fault. I actually think HAL might suit us pretty well from what I've read.

 

Thanks, too, for letting me know I don't want to miss Glacier Bay. :-) This type of help is what CC is great for!

 

 

We are taking Celebrity Millennium Southbound. It goes to Hubbard Glacier. But, liked the fact it goes to 4 ports and like the port times.

 

Good luck choosing.

[theriac]

We are taking Celebrity Millennium Southbound. It goes to Hubbard Glacier. But, liked the fact it goes to 4 ports and like the port times.

 

Good luck choosing.

 

That was actually one of the itineraries I had interest in before booking the legend because of the offer. Carnivals itinerary can look a bit overwhelming seeing 5 ports at first glance but after looking into port times and seeing how Tracy Arm day is just a scenic sea day it calmed me down because regardless of destination its still a cruise which in my mind should be somewhat relaxing.

[theriac]

I have never gambled. Could you tell me how much you have to spend to get 2500 points? Thank You

 

:)

 

Idk how much it is to get 2500 points, but I don't gamble much and i received the pack and play offer and currently have 3 cruises booked with it. I only brought $100 on my last cruise to gamble with and after the first night I was up $200 and continued to gamble little amounts with Carnivals money and ultimately left the ship up $100. One thing I noticed is they scan your card when you buy chips but don't monitor bets, what you really win or when you cash out so I personally believe I got this because I would buy in and make a few bets and cash out then a little later do the same thing. I play roulette so i don't know about other tables but thats how it worked for me. My PVP also told me as long as i book once or twice a year with these offers even if i don't gamble anymore that i will always be put on the list to get this offer to help fill up ships in the hopes i do gamble because i have been known too in the past according to the casinos system. Im not sure if this will always work but this is my experience with it. Whatever you hear or read will be anecdotal and take it for what it is, but with Carnival as many will attest too what happens for one the complete opposite happens to another and everyone else somewhere in between.

 

Sorry for grammar and typos im on my phone typing quickly at red lights