Our 2024 Alaska Adventure--including planning!

[no1racefan1]

Cruising through Walmart today I found Cuddle Duds and Reebok base layers on clearance for $3!! I didn't necessarily NEED these, but for $15 I am more than set for layering 🙂 I'll use these beyond just our Alaska trip too.

 

Might be worth checking out your local Walmart!

[no1racefan1]

Soo..change of plans! Slightly.

I've been stewing over a visit to Alyeska Resort for awhile. The Nordic spa sounds like our kind of thing and I really want to do something relaxing towards the beginning of our trip to really feel like we're on vacation. So I made a pros and cons list:

Pros:

Nordic spa experience, yes please

On the way to Seward, less driving overall and less gas

Relaxing start to vacation

 

Cons:

Expensive

Won't be able to do Matanuska Glacier hike

 

After stewing over it for the last couple of weeks I finally asked DH if he would choose the spa or the glacier hike, if money wasn't an object. He was all for the spa (he loves hot tubs, hot springs, etc.) So I decided to research the cost difference if I cancelled the glacier hike and the Airbnb we have reserved (both have liberal cancellation policies so no penalties for cancelling this far in advance) and lo and behold... I found that I could book a night at the Alyeska Resort for FREE using Alaska Airlines miles!!! Sold! Now I all we have to pay for is spa passes (discount if you book evening passes) and parking at the resort. And probably more for a meal since we would have been buying groceries/making our own dinner at the Airbnb.

 

Revised costs:

Airbnb -85.59

M Glacier hike -349.70

Gas to Glacier View -30ish?

Groceries for dinner/breakfast/lunch -100ish?

Alyeska Resort room 0.00 with miles

Nordic spa passes 178.00

Parking at resort 27.00

Dinner/breakfast/lunch out 250ish?

 

I think we're actually coming out ahead on this. The room at the resort was about $350 if I hadn't booked with miles.

 

Revised itinerary:

Day 1--Fly to Anchorage

Day 2--Rent bikes, bike Tony Knowles Coastal Trail, drive to Girdwood, stay at Alyeska Resort

Day 3--Explore Girdwood, then drive to Seward and pick up our original itinerary

 

DH's mom wants us to go back to Alaska with her next year so I'll try to fit a Matanuska Glacier hike in on that trip. In the meantime, we're hitting the spa!!

 

[no1racefan1]

I copied this link from somebody else's post:

https://claalaska.com/?page_id=1551  

 

It's a schedule for 2024 cruise ships in Alaska. Looks like we're going to have a 6-ship day in Juneau, phew!

[no1racefan1]

39 days to go!!! Not gonna lie, I have major short timers syndrome... I can't stop thinking about being on vacation in Alaska 😅

 

Not too many updates as far as trip planning. I saw that the place where I booked a massage in Ketchikan has moved locations, and is no longer walking distance from the ship. I decided to cancel my massage. I could have figured out logistics of getting there and back, but that seems to take away some of the 'relaxing' aspects, lol. I thought about booking the fishing excursion with DH but it's up to $420pp so no thank you. None of the other excursions are really calling to me.

 

So, I'm not sure what I'll do in Ketchikan while DH is fishing. Walk around, shop, enjoy the ship with way less people on it...? All of the above!?

 

Other than that I reviewed our seats for all of our flights and decided to pay $154 to upgrade seats on one of the longer flights.

 

I booked our flights almost exactly the day they were available, so roughly 335 days out. The one from Denver to Anchorage has continually crept up in price and is almost fully booked. I'm very glad I'm a crazy over planner that booked everything in advance!! For things that have gone down in price, I've been able to call and/or cancel and re-book at the lower price. This has been true for flights, the cruise, and several tours. If you are trying to travel to Alaska (or anywhere really) on a budget like we are, BOOK EARLY. And know what the cancellation policies are of everything you book.

[Oscar13]

Take a walk along Creek Street.  Stop and visit Dolly's house.  If you enjoy hiking take the "married man's trail" to the top of the hill.  Wonderful view of the harbor from the top.  

We've been to Alaska several times and always find something new to do.

Happy travels.

 

K2

[no1racefan1]

28 days to go...... current status:

 

1. Making packing lists and figuring out if there's anything we need to buy. DH wanted a new water bottle and I needed some hiking pants, so those have been purchased. I also bought a fanny pack (or belt bag as the cool kids call them these days).

 

2. Stalking the NCL boards to see if anybody over there is talking about their Alaska trips (spoiler alert--they aren't) since that's the only cruise line visiting AK this early.

 

3. Reviewing and re-reviewing all of our bookings to make sure there are no more mistakes, and to see if there's any last minute deals that pop up.

 

4. Stewing over the upgrade process and trying to decide if I should bid $20pp for an obstructed OV. I don't want an obstructed OV, but I'm wondering if I bid on that if it would give me a counteroffer for a regular OV for cheaper than what the OV bid is....yes, totally overthinking it. There's no obstructed OVs listed as available on the website (but I know that's not 100% accurate).

 

5. Doing some spring cleaning around the house and staying busy at work and in general trying to keep myself busy so I don't spend so much time on #1-4.

 

 

[Incredimom]

I'm so so excited about this trip - I just want it to be here already. 24 days until we fly to Vancouver! Is it too early to pack?

 

Everything is done on my end until I can pack. I keep going over all the lists and my schedule to make sure I am not missing anything. I think I need to go spring clean too @no1racefan1 ! 

 

Hope everyone is doing well!

[Editrix]

2 hours ago, no1racefan1 said:

Stewing over the upgrade process and trying to decide if I should bid $20 pp for an obstructed OV. I don't want an obstructed OV, but I'm wondering if I bid on that if it would give me a counteroffer for a regular OV for cheaper than what the OV bid is....yes, totally overthinking it. There's no obstructed OVs listed as available on the website (but I know that's not 100% accurate).

 

 

This was my experience, so please take it or leave it. About eight years ago, my husband and I were sent a move-over offer. We accepted it and had no regrets because we were already on the ship for a back-to-back and agreed to give up our balcony cabin for an obstructed ocean-view. We did not regret our decision, but in our case, obstructed ocean view turned out to be fully obstructed by the tenders. Technically, we had an ocean view, but only when the life boats were out to sea.

 

Save your money. I have followed your messages throughout this thread and you have given your all to the planning of this trip. Don't let the temptation to keep planning lead you astray.

 

You are already golden. 

Edited April 16 by Editrix

[no1racefan1]

2 minutes ago, Editrix said:

 

 

This was my experience, so please take it or leave it. About eight years ago, my husband and I were sent a move-over offer. We accepted it and had no regrets because we were already on the ship for a back-to-back and agreed to give up our balcony cabin for an obstructed ocean-view. We did not regret our decision, but in our case, obstructed ocean view turned out to be fully obstructed by the tenders. Technically, we had an ocean view, but only when the life boats were out to sea.

 

Save your money. I have followed your messages throughout this thread and you have given your all to the planning of this trip. Don't let the temptation to keep planning lead you astray.

 

You are already golden. 

Absolutely brilliant advice, thank you!

[NengEuis]

On 3/21/2024 at 7:44 AM, no1racefan1 said:

 Looks like we're going to have a 6-ship day in Juneau, phew!

Really a five ship day since the Bliss and Encore do some hot berthing and only one of them is there at a time. But still a verrrryyyyyy busy day at the dock! 

EDITED: Whoops I just realized you're there on the 22nd, not the 21st on the Royal. Still a very busy day! 🙂

Edited April 16 by NengEuis
wrong date

[Editrix]

On 12/22/2023 at 12:30 PM, Paula_MacFan said:

We don't sail until early June (cruisetour is last week of May) and our Hubbard Glacier excursion has been sold out for several months. We booked it at $299 and it went up to $339 in the Personalizer a few months ago and has been on the wait list only for quite awhile. Also, every other excursion we booked has gone up in price, anywhere from $10 to $50 per person.

 

This is also my experience. I booked all of my excursions through Princess for once because, although this will be my 8th cruise to Alaska, it will be my first as a solo and I wanted assurance that Princess staff would know where I was at all times.

 

I paid for my excursions last year. Since then, the prices have increased significantly.

 

. $130 more for Ketchikan excursion

. $100 more in Juneau

. $260 more in Skagway

. $40 more in Victoria

 

The four excursions I booked last year, pricey enough, would cost me a total of $530 more now. For one person!

 

 

Edited April 18 by Editrix

[Paula_MacFan]

1 hour ago, Editrix said:

 

This is also my experience. I booked all of my excursions through Princess for once because, although this will be my 8th cruise to Alaska, it will be my first as a solo and I wanted assurance that Princess staff would know where I was at all times.

 

I paid for my excursions last year. Since then, the prices have increased significantly.

 

. $130 more for Ketchikan excursion

. $100 more in Juneau

. $260 more in Skagway

. $40 more in Victoria

 

The four excursions I booked last year, pricey enough, would cost me a total of $530 more now. For one person!

 

 

I just looked at our excursions after your post.  We booked Hubbard Glacier for $299 and it's now $475!  

 

Others have increased as well, but none as much as that.  It pays to book early.  

Edited April 18 by Paula_MacFan

[no1racefan1]

9 minutes ago, Paula_MacFan said:

I just looked at our excursions after your post.  We booked Hubbard Glacier for $299 and it's now $475!  

 

Other have increased as well, but none as much as that.  It pays to book early.  

I saw that today too! DH's fishing excursion in Ketchikan was booked at $369 and is now $505!

[diesel1973]

If you stay in Girdwood and enjoy Cajun food check out the Double Muskie for dinner.. Also for lunch the Bake Shop is great.

 

 

[no1racefan1]

5 minutes ago, diesel1973 said:

If you stay in Girdwood and enjoy Cajun food check out the Double Muskie for dinner.. Also for lunch the Bake Shop is great.

 

 

Unfortunately it looks like the Double Musky Inn is not open Tuesday nights. I do have The Bake Shop down for a breakfast/lunch idea!

[diesel1973]

There is a restaurant at the ski resort but you must take ski lift up there. Never been there and it is pricey!

[no1racefan1]

On 4/18/2024 at 10:19 AM, diesel1973 said:

There is a restaurant at the ski resort but you must take ski lift up there. Never been there and it is pricey!

Yeah that's not open on Tuesday either, LOL. Which is just as well, it means I can't be tempted to spend that much!!

 

 

[no1racefan1]

I was printing out all of our various travel confirmations and caught something interesting. When we originally booked the cruise, these two days were as follows:

 

Glacier Bay 9:15am-7:30pm

Skagway 7am-8:30pm

 

They are now listed as:

 

Glacier Bay 9:15am-6:15pm

Skagway 5:30am-8:45pm

 

I don't know when they changed as Princess never sent any kind of notification about a change in itinerary. I noticed the Skagway thing a few days ago so decided to review the rest of the itinerary. I saw somebody's post about a different Princess ship shortening their time in Glacier Bay, so maybe its just going to be a thing.

 

Not going to affect us at all, it's just interesting to see what all changes might be a surprise to people who aren't reviewing things regularly. You might remember we also didn't get a notification when shore excursion times changed.

[no1racefan1]

Since we were talking about the increased price of shore excursions, I decided to look at those as well:

 

Chilkoot Trail Hike & Float--booked at 164.95, currently 239.95

Bike & Brew Glacier View--booked at 139.95, currently 169.95

Alaska Fishing & Wilderness Dining--booked at 369.95, currently 504.95

Lumberjack Show--booked at 39.95, currently 43.00 (I cancelled this one)

 

I'll say it again--if you're reading this and haven't booked your shore excursions yet, even if you're going in 2025, BOOK THEM AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!

[Paula_MacFan]

5 minutes ago, no1racefan1 said:

I was printing out all of our various travel confirmations and caught something interesting. When we originally booked the cruise, these two days were as follows:

 

Glacier Bay 9:15am-7:30pm

Skagway 7am-8:30pm

 

They are now listed as:

 

Glacier Bay 9:15am-6:15pm

Skagway 5:30am-8:45pm

 

I don't know when they changed as Princess never sent any kind of notification about a change in itinerary. I noticed the Skagway thing a few days ago so decided to review the rest of the itinerary. I saw somebody's post about a different Princess ship shortening their time in Glacier Bay, so maybe its just going to be a thing.

 

Not going to affect us at all, it's just interesting to see what all changes might be a surprise to people who aren't reviewing things regularly. You might remember we also didn't get a notification when shore excursion times changed.

Ours changed too with the exact same times (we're on Sapphire June 1) and we got a Booking Notice email from Princess a couple days ago on 4/17.  It didn't explicitly say 'hey here's a change in the itinerary' but I looked it over and compared it to our prior documentation and noticed the change.  

 

I was actually very happy to arrive earlier in Skagway as we have a Jeep rented and with 3 other ships in port arriving at the same time we were hoping to beat the crowd.  Now we should be able to with no problems.  And the Glacier Bay time change was only about an hour shorter, so that doesn't bother us too much.  Especially given that other sailings have times of 6am - 3pm or whatever -- I'd much rather have our time of 9 - 6 🙂 

 

[Arkiepig]

Someone in another board posted they had to cancel their cruise/land tour due to health reasons and rebook for 2025.  Price had almost doubled.   I checked my same booking (August 2024). For the same week in August 2025.   It was significantly more.    Planning on enjoying this cruise😊It may be my last for a while!

[wolfie11]

Glacier Bay times are dictated by the Park Service.  There are two ships in each day and they have to coordinate the pilot boat to drop off and pick up the rangers within about 1/2 an hour of each other

[Paula_MacFan]

20 hours ago, Arkiepig said:

Someone in another board posted they had to cancel their cruise/land tour due to health reasons and rebook for 2025.  Price had almost doubled.   I checked my same booking (August 2024). For the same week in August 2025.   It was significantly more.    Planning on enjoying this cruise😊It may be my last for a while!

 

Because it's a dreary Saturday afternoon where I live, I decided to use the time to re-price our upcoming Alaska trip.  We are doing a 15 day Alaska cruisetour the last week of May and the first week of June 2024.  To book the exact same trip with airfare and excursions right now would cost us $5,928 more than what we paid.

 

It really does pay to book early and plan ahead 🙂 

[no1racefan1]

19 days until we're headed to AK!

 

Which means 17 days until vacation begins... 12 work days.... I don't think I've ever been so distracted by vacation before but this one has been a LONG time coming!

 

I'm going to try to do a 'live-ish' review of our trip. I don't spend a lot of time on my phone while on vacation but I have a whole year's worth of dedication to this thread so I owe it to my CC fam to report on the actual trip 🤣

[Incredimom]

4 minutes ago, no1racefan1 said:

19 days until we're headed to AK!

 

Which means 17 days until vacation begins... 12 work days.... I don't think I've ever been so distracted by vacation before but this one has been a LONG time coming!

 

I'm going to try to do a 'live-ish' review of our trip. I don't spend a lot of time on my phone while on vacation but I have a whole year's worth of dedication to this thread so I owe it to my CC fam to report on the actual trip 🤣

 

I have 15 days until we board the plain for Vancouver and I am so excited! It can't get here soon enough. Thank you for sharing your planning and started this thread. It has helped me so much. I do so love rubbing shoulders with planners like me! Have so much fun - wish we were on the same cruise but I'll be boarding a week earlier than you but still on the Sapphire!