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This or that or is it a no brainer?

tallnthensome

By tallnthensome,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

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tallnthensome

tallnthensome

Posted
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I already have a 10 day Alaskan cruise on the Miracle booked with deposit for August. Family of four extended balcony $500 OBC. Total $4671. Just got a Players Club offer (I don't even gamble) for the Spirit 8 day to Alaska same week, same exact extended balcony, $200 OBC. Total $2793. Two days shorter but almost $$ two thousand cheaper with the players club. Is the Miracle for two days longer out of SFO worth almost two grand more or go with the cost savings and use for tours and Cheers? All opinions welcome. Never sailed either ship.  My daughters are 12 and 14. 

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evandbob

evandbob

Posted
Posted (edited)

For me, the difference in itinerary/port stops could be the major factor.  What ports does the Miracle visit that the Spirit does not? 

 

Consider that I'm not going to Alaska that often, so I would want maximum exposure and experience. Being that the cruise begins in SFO, there's not going to be much "Alaskan" flavor on an 8 day sailing.  The 2 extra days can amount to a whole lot better experience. 

 

While  I'm partial to longer than a week's cruise, but $2K is a significant amount, so it comes down to how it suits the OP's tastes and not mine.

Edited by evandbob
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firefly333

firefly333

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21 minutes ago, tallnthensome said:

I already have a 10 day Alaskan cruise on the Miracle booked with deposit for August. Family of four extended balcony $500 OBC. Total $4671. Just got a Players Club offer (I don't even gamble) for the Spirit 8 day to Alaska same week, same exact extended balcony, $200 OBC. Total $2793. Two days shorter but almost $$ two thousand cheaper with the players club. Is the Miracle for two days longer out of SFO worth almost two grand more or go with the cost savings and use for tours and Cheers? All opinions welcome. Never sailed either ship.  My daughters are 12 and 14. 

I did miracle to alaska and was happy. Both are the same class so not much preference from me.

 

One has a few changes like to the french window cabins...  nothing I know of that would matter to kids. I'd save the 2k. Do a b2b.

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BlerkOne "Live from...." Rare

BlerkOne

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What is the cost of the Spirit cruise without the casino offer? What if next week you get a casino offer for Miracle? You really aren"t comparing apples to 🍎.

 

Southwest flies into SFO and Oakland, and also Seattle. Personally I think you can find lodging cheaper in SFO near the port compared to Seattle. For that matter is driving an option?

 

 

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Illbcruzn4life Great Review Rare

Illbcruzn4life

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34 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

What is the cost of the Spirit cruise without the casino offer? What if next week you get a casino offer for Miracle? You really aren"t comparing apples to 🍎.

 

Southwest flies into SFO and Oakland, and also Seattle. Personally I think you can find lodging cheaper in SFO near the port compared to Seattle. For that matter is driving an option?

 

 

2400 miles is a long way to drive. Yikes!

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Markmom18

Markmom18

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My opinion, since ya asked. Do the less expensive cruise. Because of the obvious … $2,000 can go towards another cruise ! 😄😄

 

We’ve only gone on 1 Alaskan cruise, Serenade of the Seas/ RCI.   We flew from LAX, spent  a couple days in Vancouver B.C., took this wonderful train to Whistler for 2 days, then came back on the same train for our 7 day cruise. One of the BEST family vacations! All it was incredibly beautiful. 🏔🛳💙

 

🛳🛳

Bobbi

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muggo11

muggo11

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We got the same offer and I already had an Alaska cruise on Freedom (now Spendor) booked the week before. So now I am doing back to back Alaska cruises with one day between them. 😍😍. I would take it. Because if you don’t gamble, you may not get such an offer again😍😍

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keels81

keels81

Posted
Posted

I would also go with the shorter cruise and then flip that $2k into a real elite/VIP excursion -- a small whale watching charter or tidepool snorkeling or something really cool like that.

 

I guess the other consideration would be the itinerary - while the schedule is essentially the same, the times for important ports can be vastly different. Take Juneau for instance (primo whale watching port stop) -- on Spirit, she's in port from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., but on the Miracle she's in port from 2 p.m. until 11 p.m. Harv & Marv (probably the BEST whale watching experience you can book in Juneau) does their last run at 3 p.m. Y'all will just have reached port an hour prior to this whale watching ship leaving and you still have to tender into Juneau. Whale Watching is generally a 4:15-4:30 hour excursion, so best case that puts you back in Juneau at 7:30. Restaurants like Tracy's King Crab Shack, etc., start closing at 8 or 8:30 and there's little else for under 21s to do in port after that. On the Spirit, you'd be able to whale watch, explore Juneau and take the tram up to the top of Mount Roberts and back and then eat at Tracy's all before the late afternoon. It's just really how you want to experience Alaska.

 

I never get off the ship in Victoria, so the 8p.m. to Midnight port time on Spirit wouldn't bother me one bit, but that's another consideration as the Miracle is in port from 8 a.m. until 1 p.m.

 

 

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Colorado Cruzer

Colorado Cruzer

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With my math, it's about $1600 less with considering the OBC you lose with the new offer.

Still a good chunk of money and about 1 or 2 excursions worth of money for the AK prices for a family of 4. As long as your flight, lodging, transport costs are the same, I think I would take the Spirit offer.

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Colorado Cruzer

Colorado Cruzer

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Definitely get the crab at Tracy's crab shack in Juneau if you like it even a little bit back home! The best king crab we have ever had and right next to the ship! It was pricey, around $100 for 2 people back in 2014 but well worth it and we still talk about it! The meat that came out of those crabs was huge!

2014 AK Big Meat.jpg

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tallnthensome

tallnthensome

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3 hours ago, Colorado Cruzer said:

With my math, it's about $1600 less with considering the OBC you lose with the new offer.

Still a good chunk of money and about 1 or 2 excursions worth of money for the AK prices for a family of 4. As long as your flight, lodging, transport costs are the same, I think I would take the Spirit offer.

I did just that. I was able to cancel and move my deposit with no penalty . That money will cover Cheers and an excursion now. The cruise is $4700 without the Players Club offer , $2700ish with . The offer I got yesterday in an email for booking doesn’t even work today. Maybe they realized I don’t belong in the Players Club. Too late , haha! 

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keels81

keels81

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Just now, Colorado Cruzer said:

Definitely get the crab at Tracy's crab shack in Juneau if you like it even a little bit back home! The best king crab we have ever had and right next to the ship! It was pricey, around $100 for 2 people back in 2014 but well worth it and we still talk about it! The meat that came out of those crabs was huge!

2014 AK Big Meat.jpg

 

Tracy's is DEFINITELY worth it! We get the bucket deal and usually go twice when we're in Juneau because it's just SO GOOD.

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