Semi mm alaska

[chpmnk1015]

Hi. So semi mm as want to do this cost effectively.. anyone ever do Alaska cruise or trip? Starting to save for next summer and want to start planning now or getting ideas now..kids will be 16/15 when we go..4 of us. Coming from nj. Any recs, sites, advice welcome.

[heygrey]

I would ask on ML. I know several posters have gone to Alaska and would have great advice, but they probably won’t see this post to reply!

[chpmnk1015]

May 14, 2023 11:24:11 GMT -5 heygrey said:

I would ask on ML. I know several posters have gone to Alaska and would have great advice, but they probably won’t see this post to reply!

Thanks.. Never been on that chat board but will go check it out

[RockNVoll]

You could post on the Travel board too, but ML definitely gets the most traffic.

Someone actually posted about Alaska recently (do a search) and I'll respond with the same advice--you can save a ton of money if you book your excursions yourself rather than using the services the ship offers. They'll try to scare you by saying if you book independently they could leave you behind if your excursion runs late, but the truth is that the independent operators are really, really, careful about getting you back to the boat well in advance because it would only hurt their business to develop a reputation for causing people to miss their ship. We booked all our excursions ourselves and they all went completely smoothly.

[wanderingback]

I went 2 years ago, not on a cruise. I went alone, so I didn’t find it too expensive but I also didn’t book a ton of excursions but there is lots you can do.

I rented a car and drove the 6 days I was there. The car rental was more expensive then my business class flight cause it was during a time when rentals were so expensive but otherwise to me it seemed like a reasonably priced trip.

I’m biased cause I’m not a fan of cruises in general but I thought it was wonderful to be able to drive and stop off at places as I saw them. I figured out where I wanted to go and stop by looking at blogs searching Google for "Alaska road trips."

[wanderingback]

I can give more specifics if you’d like when I’m on my computer and not on my phone.

[chpmnk1015]

May 14, 2023 13:03:55 GMT -5 wanderingback said:

I can give more specifics if you’d like when I’m on my computer and not on my phone.

I would love that.  Thank you!

[Deleted]

We leave in a few weeks (first week of June). We're doing NCL. We compared Costco to Cruise Critic and a few of the other sites and ended up going directly through NCL but are booking excursions in most ports on our own to save quite a bit. Once you hone in on a cruise, then you can figure out what excursions to book independently.

[Deleted]

Oh and summer 2024 is already booking so for best choice of cabins, it would be worth making a decision now and putting down the deposit. I think full payment is due like 90 days out.

I'd also skip taking the airfare option they offer as a "bonus" because the itineraries are terrible. We could do a non-stop from New Mexico to Seattle in 2 1/2 hours. Their itinerary had two stops and took ten hours. Not worth it for us.

[Deleted]

pandce.proboards.com/thread/636098/alaska-cruise-shore-excursion-recommendations

[Deleted]

Not that you'd do a Disney cruise but there are some excursion tips in here - pandce.proboards.com/thread/637119/alaska-on-dcl

[krystee]

We are booked on an Alaska cruise for June 2024 on Royal Caribbean’s Ovation of the Seas. I’m excited! We have an 8YO and 5YO, so we wanted the mix of fun cruise activities/kids clubs and the incredible nature, and not have to worry about lots of logistics and planning.

[mcmel]

Alaska is magical. I can only offer what to do advice, not MM advice, bc I blow an ungodly amount of money every time I go. I have the most incredible time though! Lol

[quesyrah]

May 15, 2023 13:25:01 GMT -5 mcmel said:

Alaska is magical. I can only offer what to do advice, not MM advice, bc I blow an ungodly amount of money every time I go. I have the most incredible time though! Lol

Can you post some hotel/sight seeing recommendations?

My kids (9 and 13) really want to see Alaska. I thought we would do a cruise, but we just took a 4 night cruise and they didn’t love it. So now I need to explore other options.

[gretchenindisguise]

We went to Ketchikan last summer on somewhat of a whim. It was cheaper/easier to get to from Southern California than our original plan of a midwest trip.

We stayed in airbnbs and were lucky enough to be able to borrow a friends car. We absolutely loved it. We were there long enough to do touristy things (seaplane tour, bering sea crab tour, kayak trip (that ultimately was canceled because of weather, so that's on our list for next time) and had time to just chill and explore the island. We went on hikes, we hung at the beach, we went to see bears, we ate good food. We were there over 4th of July and they had a fantastic community celebration. We all loved it (we had a nearly 13 and a 7 yo with us).

[mcmel]

May 15, 2023 13:59:17 GMT -5 quesyrah said:

May 15, 2023 13:25:01 GMT -5 mcmel said:

Alaska is magical. I can only offer what to do advice, not MM advice, bc I blow an ungodly amount of money every time I go. I have the most incredible time though! Lol

Can you post some hotel/sight seeing recommendations?

My kids (9 and 13) really want to see Alaska. I thought we would do a cruise, but we just took a 4 night cruise and they didn’t love it. So now I need to explore other options.

Of course. I could talk about Alaska all day.

Do you want to see the northern lights? Bear? Whales?

All of those change the time you should go

Best whales- early June

Best bear- July and September

Best northern lights- February and March

If you went to Fairbanks in February/March I would book a northern lights tour (or two), snow mobile, visit reindeer ranch, go to a hockey game, visit Chena Hot Springs (I don’t think kids are allowed in the springs just FYI), look for moose, see the ice art championship, and visit museums.

If you went during the summer I would fly into Anchorage, explore there for a day, drive up to Denali for a few days hiking and doing one or two of the tours such as glacier walk or white water rapids, drive down to Seward for a couple of nights where I would book a Major Marine whale/glacier tour, hike Exit glacier, visit the Sealife Center, and stroll the harbor looking for otter. Drive over to Homer to view bear and walk the beaches looking for marine life.

It’s life changing.

I don’t have any hotel recommendations because we stayed at AirBnBs. I do know that if you don’t have a car in Seward I would stay in the Harbor 360 hotel bc of convenience.

If you ever decide to do a cruise there are some top notch tours at those ports too. The places I mentioned aren’t along the cruise pathway. Those places would be like Juneau, Ketchikan, Sitka, a glacier (Hubbard or Glacier Bay), Icy Strait, Skagway, Vancouver, etc.

[quesyrah]

May 15, 2023 17:52:15 GMT -5 mcmel said:

May 15, 2023 13:59:17 GMT -5 quesyrah said:

Can you post some hotel/sight seeing recommendations?

My kids (9 and 13) really want to see Alaska. I thought we would do a cruise, but we just took a 4 night cruise and they didn’t love it. So now I need to explore other options.

Of course. I could talk about Alaska all day.

Do you want to see the northern lights? Bear? Whales?

All of those change the time you should go

Best whales- early June

Best bear- July and September

Best northern lights- February and March

If you went to Fairbanks in February/March I would book a northern lights tour (or two), snow mobile, visit reindeer ranch, go to a hockey game, visit Chena Hot Springs (I don’t think kids are allowed in the springs just FYI), look for moose, see the ice art championship, and visit museums.

If you went during the summer I would fly into Anchorage, explore there for a day, drive up to Denali for a few days hiking and doing one or two of the tours such as glacier walk or white water rapids, drive down to Seward for a couple of nights where I would book a Major Marine whale/glacier tour, hike Exit glacier, visit the Sealife Center, and stroll the harbor looking for otter. Drive over to Homer to view bear and walk the beaches looking for marine life.

It’s life changing.

I don’t have any hotel recommendations because we stayed at AirBnBs. I do know that if you don’t have a car in Seward I would stay in the Harbor 360 hotel bc of convenience.

If you ever decide to do a cruise there are some top notch tours at those ports too. The places I mentioned aren’t along the cruise pathway. Those places would be like Juneau, Ketchikan, Sitka, a glacier (Hubbard or Glacier Bay), Icy Strait, Skagway, Vancouver, etc.

Fantastic, thank you! Seeing the northern lights would be ideal. Thinking of going in 3 years for a combined 50th birthday/our 20th anniversary trip.

[jewel]

Alaska was my very favorite, and most expensive vacation 😊

We did a 10 day land tour/cruise, booked through Costco. We flew into Fairbanks a few days early and did our thing before joining the land tour. We did a glass top train to Denali, stayed a night there, and then to anchorage to embark. We cruised down and ended in Vancouver, stayed an extra couple days there, took the train to Seattle and flew home.

If you can swing it, I’d highly recommend at least a couple days in inland Alaska. That was probably my favorite part of the trip. It was also the only time we saw the Northern Lights. We were inland for 5 nights or so, and the lights were visible only once, and never while on the cruise.

To make it MM:
- We went in Sept on the last booking of the year. It was the cheapest, but we also wanted to be in Alaska when it was snowy. We come from a non-snow place, so we were hoping for a cold Alaskan experience.
- We each opened an Alaskan Air CC with enough sign on points to get free one way, first class airline tickets into Fairbanks.
- We took the train from Vancouver to Seattle and flew out from there, which was much cheaper.
- We booked most of our excursions outside of the cruise.

[mcmel]

May 15, 2023 21:40:53 GMT -5 quesyrah said:

May 15, 2023 17:52:15 GMT -5 mcmel said:

Of course. I could talk about Alaska all day.

Do you want to see the northern lights? Bear? Whales?

All of those change the time you should go

Best whales- early June

Best bear- July and September

Best northern lights- February and March

If you went to Fairbanks in February/March I would book a northern lights tour (or two), snow mobile, visit reindeer ranch, go to a hockey game, visit Chena Hot Springs (I don’t think kids are allowed in the springs just FYI), look for moose, see the ice art championship, and visit museums.

If you went during the summer I would fly into Anchorage, explore there for a day, drive up to Denali for a few days hiking and doing one or two of the tours such as glacier walk or white water rapids, drive down to Seward for a couple of nights where I would book a Major Marine whale/glacier tour, hike Exit glacier, visit the Sealife Center, and stroll the harbor looking for otter. Drive over to Homer to view bear and walk the beaches looking for marine life.

It’s life changing.

I don’t have any hotel recommendations because we stayed at AirBnBs. I do know that if you don’t have a car in Seward I would stay in the Harbor 360 hotel bc of convenience.

If you ever decide to do a cruise there are some top notch tours at those ports too. The places I mentioned aren’t along the cruise pathway. Those places would be like Juneau, Ketchikan, Sitka, a glacier (Hubbard or Glacier Bay), Icy Strait, Skagway, Vancouver, etc.

Fantastic, thank you! Seeing the northern lights would be ideal. Thinking of going in 3 years for a combined 50th birthday/our 20th anniversary trip.

2025 is supposed to be solar maximum (I have no clue but they talk about it a lot in the Aurora Borealis fb group I’m in). Everyone is super excited and we’re planning a trip in March of 2025. People say around the equinox is the most promising time.

[definitelyO]

We are going in one month for 8 days. no cruise
flying into Anchorage and renting a car -
spending time in Denali and Seward.

right now - our total cost for 3 (not including meals/gas) is $9,100 - includes RT flights, all lodging, excursions

I researched and found most of my inspiration from a blog I found.

excursions - Denali flight seeing tour and glacier landing
Denali NP guided bus tour
Seward - whale/glacier tour

plus a list of other non-reservation required things.

I started researching - found this blog - and it has been great to help guide our planning.    www.valisemag.com/7-days-alaska/

we are staying in a mix of lodging

Anchorage - Hotel Captain Cook
Talkeetna - Talkeetna Inn
Denali - McKinley Creekside Cabins
Seward - Gateway Hotel
Anchorage - airbnb

[EvieEthelGarland]

May 15, 2023 11:25:50 GMT -5 krystee said:

We are booked on an Alaska cruise for June 2024 on Royal Caribbean’s Ovation of the Seas. I’m excited! We have an 8YO and 5YO, so we wanted the mix of fun cruise activities/kids clubs and the incredible nature, and not have to worry about lots of logistics and planning.

Can I ask about how much you're paying? I just got a quote for Princess in June 2024 for about 3k/pp.  I often see ads and reels for much lower base rate for cruises out of Seattle so I was shocked.  We thought it would be a reasonable way for a trip with my parents but no one is willing to pay that much. 

[Deleted]

May 17, 2023 17:14:01 GMT -5 EvieEthelGarland said:

May 15, 2023 11:25:50 GMT -5 krystee said:

We are booked on an Alaska cruise for June 2024 on Royal Caribbean’s Ovation of the Seas. I’m excited! We have an 8YO and 5YO, so we wanted the mix of fun cruise activities/kids clubs and the incredible nature, and not have to worry about lots of logistics and planning.

Can I ask about how much you're paying? I just got a quote for Princess in June 2024 for about 3k/pp.  I often see ads and reels for much lower base rate for cruises out of Seattle so I was shocked.  We thought it would be a reasonable way for a trip with my parents but no one is willing to pay that much. 

Keep in mind that even if your cruise fare comes in lower than that, you need to figure out your excursion plan too. Even booking on your own can add a great deal of cost depending on what you pick. You didn't ask me, but we're doing a family of four with a family balcony suite for $6500 and our excursion budget is around $2k. If we'd booked all the ideal things we'd wanted to do, I think we easily could have spent double that. 

[krystee]

EvieEthelGarland the cruise price before any excursions or flights is $8,675 for four of us in a junior suite with extended balcony (2 adults, 2 kids).

[krystee]

And yes to the insane prices on the excursions. We could EASILY spend $2,000 PER PERSON if we did all the things we really wanted to do (boat to see the glacier up close, dog sledding, glacier helicopter tour….), but we are going to go much cheaper with the kids being pretty young and our budget not being that rich!

[EvieEthelGarland]

May 17, 2023 17:31:16 GMT -5 @rebeccawelton said:

May 17, 2023 17:14:01 GMT -5 EvieEthelGarland said:

Can I ask about how much you're paying? I just got a quote for Princess in June 2024 for about 3k/pp.  I often see ads and reels for much lower base rate for cruises out of Seattle so I was shocked.  We thought it would be a reasonable way for a trip with my parents but no one is willing to pay that much. 

Keep in mind that even if your cruise fare comes in lower than that, you need to figure out your excursion plan too. Even booking on your own can add a great deal of cost depending on what you pick. You didn't ask me, but we're doing a family of four with a family balcony suite for $6500 and our excursion budget is around $2k. If we'd booked all the ideal things we'd wanted to do, I think we easily could have spent double that. 

Thank you and krystee for responding! I was able to get a quote from HAL for about 7k for 3 ocean view cabins in July 2023. Upgrading to balcony would almost doubled it so my parents might do the upgrade and the rest of us will have a bigger excursion budget. I doubt my parents will leave the ship and I doubt my dad will let us pay for anything.   We might not be able to go this year, but it's good to see much more reasonable options if we can all make it work. 

[chpmnk1015]

Does anyone have a travel agent they would recommend?

[EvieEthelGarland]

May 19, 2023 5:27:12 GMT -5 chpmnk1015 said:

Does anyone have a travel agent they would recommend?

Not AAA.

They're the ones that quoted me 21k when I was able to find what I really wanted on my own for $7k ($14k if I selected the fancier cabin). Another agent might've been better but the one I got did not listen to my parameters. 

[definitelyO]

chpmnk1015, I planned mine on my own - but I've heard people have success with Costco travel if you're a member.

[sandandsea]

We are going later this summer for a 1 week interior passage from Seattle and booked about 3 months prior to the cruise. We chose it based on ports/excursions/ship and our schedule as there are lots of options all summer long. We booked very late so ended up getting a nicer balcony room at the back of the ship than we would have chosen to pay for if there were more options. The cruise (2 adults, 11&7yo) was about $7k and excursions were another $2500 (1 booked for each of the three ports and include sled dogs, glacier raft float, and zodiac boats). We used our southwest points to book our flights.

We did book all excursions through the ship but only because all of the top rated companies had black out days or no availability for the day our ship was in port. Also pricing was very similar to what the ship offered so it was easier to book it all through the cruise line. Sometimes by booking through the ship you also get priority off boarding so it can speed up some of the lines. I also found through pictures and reviews that many of the “nonship excursions” are run by the exact companies and same prices and many of the top things to do in a port are excursions offered by the ship. Trip advisor and cruise critic boards are both great for investigating excursions. There were cheaper excursions available but we wanted more adventurous ones that allowed 7yos so we had more limited options. We also didn’t want to spend $1k per person to do the helicopter sled dog tour so settled on the summer camp one instead.

We are around $10k all in for a family of 4 but that’s with free flights. We also are arriving in Seattle a day early to hit a few landmarks before we embark.

If we had all the time in the world I’d do a one way cruise with land tour and spend more time inland but that’s not possible now with our schedules.

I think by booking earlier you’ll have more options and get better prices.

[sandandsea]

One more note is that our princess price included gratuity for everyone on the ship and unlimited drink cards for all of us. When we compared prices to Royal Caribbean or Other lines the others may have been less but didn’t include gratuity or drinks so it wasn’t that much different and I appreciate the extras being part of our deal.