Best deals for Alaskan Cruises?

[leighi123]

Not sure if this is the right place to ask but anyway...

 

Our family is researching Alaskan cruises. Trying to find a good deal, but on a cruise that will work for our family!

 

Starting location is Reno, NV, so leaving from Sanfrancisco is easiest, Seattle would be "ok" and Vancouver we would have to consider flying to get there to start.

 

We have 4 adults (1 senior, 2 late 50's, and 1 younger adult), and a 8yr old. 2 cabins

 

Cruise lines we really liked were Royal Caribbean and Celebrity so would like cruises of similar caliber, but also wanting to keep cost as low as we can.

 

Timing is flexible, but this summer would be "best".

 

Any suggestions?

[lucky cal]

Most important is what you want to do and see in Alaska and ensuring that the cruise you pick meets those needs.

 

Celebrity has 7-night round-trips from both Seattle and Vancouver. Royal Caribbean has the same out of Seattle. Both have one-way cruises between Seward and Vancouver which is great if you want to extend your time on land in Alaska. To get a San Francisco round-trip you probably need at least 10 nights.

 

You might want to enlist the help of a travel agent. If you're looking at this summer, you may find availability is already quite limited on some dates and ships.

 

Good luck.

[leighi123]

Most important is what you want to do and see in Alaska and ensuring that the cruise you pick meets those needs.

 

Celebrity has 7-night round-trips from both Seattle and Vancouver. Royal Caribbean has the same out of Seattle. Both have one-way cruises between Seward and Vancouver which is great if you want to extend your time on land in Alaska. To get a San Francisco round-trip you probably need at least 10 nights.

 

You might want to enlist the help of a travel agent. If you're looking at this summer, you may find availability is already quite limited on some dates and ships.

 

Good luck.

 

Thanks!

 

We have a travel agent we used before, but we already picked what we wanted to do before talking to him. For this, the goal is to just find the best deal possible, because we don't have a particular destination (in Alaska) or particular date/ship in mind.

 

The whole point is to get my grandma to Alaska, its the ONLY state she has never been to, and she just turned 88yrs old, so we need to do it sooner rather than later. Thought summer would be better for her because she gets cold easy (I know, Alaska...), Kid we are taking is homeschooled and 3/4 adults are retired, so we are more flexible with timing, however, 4/5 of us live in Florida, and visit Reno in the summer, so will avoid an extra flight if we leave after our summer visit there.

 

I haven't been able to find anything at all out of San Francisco.

[pizzalady1]

A quick search on the gnome site shows that Princess is the only line that does Alaska roundtrip from San Francisco. It is a 10 day Pacific Coastal and Alaska.

[msmoger]

You didn't mention if you were planning for this summer or in 2016. Also the type of cabin you want to reserve.

 

Princess has 7 day round trip from Seattle starting at $699 per person for an inside cabin. The 3rd and 4th person in the cabin starts at $374. There are two itineraries.

 

They both call on Skagway, Juneau, Ketchikan and Victoria, BC.. One sails into Glacier Bay (this one starts at $799/pax) and the other sails into Tracy Arm Fjord.

 

A lot of folks, myself included would highly recommend Glacier Bay. I don't believe Celebrity or RCCL sail into Glacier Bay. But of course that's a personal preference.

 

The Princess San Francisco 10 day round trip sailings basically go to the same ports. A couple itineraries add Haines or Icy Strait Point also. However these start at around $1200/pax and a little over half that for the 3rd and 4th in the room.

 

Whatever you decide, you'll love Alaska.

[leighi123]

You didn't mention if you were planning for this summer or in 2016. Also the type of cabin you want to reserve.

 

Princess has 7 day round trip from Seattle starting at $699 per person for an inside cabin. The 3rd and 4th person in the cabin starts at $374. There are two itineraries.

 

They both call on Skagway, Juneau, Ketchikan and Victoria, BC.. One sails into Glacier Bay (this one starts at $799/pax) and the other sails into Tracy Arm Fjord.

 

A lot of folks, myself included would highly recommend Glacier Bay. I don't believe Celebrity or RCCL sail into Glacier Bay. But of course that's a personal preference.

 

The Princess San Francisco 10 day round trip sailings basically go to the same ports. A couple itineraries add Haines or Icy Strait Point also. However these start at around $1200/pax and a little over half that for the 3rd and 4th in the room.

 

Whatever you decide, you'll love Alaska.

 

 

THIS summer! We always plan cruises pretty close to departure.

 

We would need 2 cabins, one would have my parents and be a balcony, and the other would be an inside with me, my son, and my grandma. It would be nice if cabins were close by each other, so grandma can make use of the balcony as well

[msmoger]

THIS summer! We always plan cruises pretty close to departure.

 

We would need 2 cabins, one would have my parents and be a balcony, and the other would be an inside with me, my son, and my grandma. It would be nice if cabins were close by each other, so grandma can make use of the balcony as well

 

I would suggest contacting a good travel agent and acting quickly. A quick search of the Princess website shows prices having gone up (R/T Seattle for 7 days) and availability spotty since my original post yesterday. I wouldn't be surprised if the same was true for RCCL and Celebrity.

[sherryf]

I would suggest contacting a good travel agent and acting quickly. A quick search of the Princess website shows prices having gone up (R/T Seattle for 7 days) and availability spotty since my original post yesterday. I wouldn't be surprised if the same was true for RCCL and Celebrity.

 

I agree! Prices on our cruise dropped significantly about 10 days before final payment, and I was able to get a great price on a balcony. After final payment they went back UP to the same or HIGHER than they had been. I often book late too, but have not seen the significant price drops this year that I usually do.

 

If you plan to cruise this summer, you need to start doing some research FAST! You probably don't want to just jump on the first great rate you see and then regret it later if you find the itinerary doesn't suit your taste.

[cruisevers]

You might also check Holland America. We just returned from Alaska on the Westerdam out of Seattle. It was a wonderful trip and had all ages onboard. Our price was very good, in fact my nieces balcony was $300 cheaper than we paid 11 years ago! The itinerary was fabulous and included Glacier Bay.