SUPER ALASKA CRUISE
R. Choosing and Booking an Alaska Cruise
Suppose you have read through my site and think you may want to take a cruise to Alaska. Considering that there are many cruise lines, ships, itineraries, and cabins, along with confusing pricing, you may need help starting. Here is how to go about doing it.
Step 1: Get brochures from all the cruise lines serving Alaska.
There is capacity for over ½ million passengers on cruise ships visiting Alaska each year. (I have read that capacity is soon expected to climb to over 1 million per year.) Thus there is a choice of different vacation options. All the cruise lines will happily mail you copies of their brochures and other documentation. The Princess line is extra generous; in their brochure package they will send you a free map of Alaska (useful no matter which cruise line you choose) and a free videotape (good, though it touts their one way cruises since 4 of their 6 ships in the area travel one way itineraries).
All of the cruise lines have 800 numbers and most have web sites through which you can order brochures. The cruise lines traveling Alaska include the following.
- Norwegian Cruise Lines (NCL) http://www.ncl.com/
- Princess Cruises http://www.princesscruises.com/
- Royal Caribbean http://www.royalcaribbean.com/
- Celebrity (line is owned by same parent company as Royal Caribbean) http://www.celebritycruises.com/
- Carnival http://www.carnivalcruises.com/
- Holland America (line is owned by same parent company as Carnival, Cunard and others) http://www.hollandamerica.com/
- Radisson Seven Seas Cruises http://www.rssc.com/
- Crystal Cruise Line (also has longer cruises out of San Francisco) http://www.crystalcruises.com/
- There are also cruise lines like ‘Cruise West’ http://www.cruisewest.com/, ‘Special Expeditions’ http://www.expeditions.com/ and ‘World Explorer’ http://www.wecruise.com/ that operate smaller ships and some small Japanese cruise lines.
Step 2: Decide whether you want to do an inside passage cruise (Vancouver to Vancouver or Seattle to Seattle) or a one-way cruise (Vancouver to Seward or Seward to Vancouver).
Once this is decided, you can eliminate from consideration many of the voyages (and some of the ships/lines) from consideration. If cost is a factor, the inside passage cruise may be less expensive because your air trip will be a round trip flight to the same city (Vancouver or Seattle) rather than two one way flights (Anchorage and Vancouver or Seattle). This decision may also be affected by decisions to add tours before or after your cruise to locations like the Canadian Rockies, Denali, or remote parts of Alaska.
Step 3: Decide on your budget.
Get an idea how much you are willing to spend on your vacation. (When I took my cruise, there were many 7-day voyages available on most of the major cruise lines for $599 to $899 per person advertised). You should note that the prices quoted in the cruise brochures are the full retail prices (akin to the sticker price of a new automobile) that no knowledgeable traveler will pay. Also prices for the same class of cabin on the same cruise will vary depending on when purchased, whether the voyage is being booked as anticipated, who you purchase it through and other supply and demand factors. (Some travel agents can get better prices than others and the largest national agencies purchase large blocks of tickets that can play havoc with rates [downward] if they are having trouble selling them.) To get an idea how much the base fare of an Alaska cruise should be, consult the Sunday travel section of a large city newspaper, the Internet and call up some cruise lines. Also note that even though voyages at the beginning or the end of the season (May or September) have lower retail prices, you may be able to get a similar fare on a voyage in the middle of the summer. Also there are many last minute specials with very very low fares because last minute airfare tends to be high. Thus if you live within a reasonable driving distance from Vancouver or Seattle, this may be a very inexpensive vacation. Note that the prices for the 3rd and 4th person (especially children which can be up to age 18) in a stateroom are very very low (I met some older couples that brought along a teenage grandchild for almost nothing over the cost of air fare) and could make a large balcony suite less expensive than two ordinary staterooms for a family.
Step 4: Decide when you want to travel.
The Alaska cruise season runs from May to September. Late June, July and August tend to be the most popular times to take Alaska cruises because of travelers’ schedules and because the weather will be warmer. But be warned, it rains a lot in Alaska. The cruise lines have no control over the weather, but sail and offer excursions rain or shine. As on my trip, the weather could vary from hour to hour, let alone from day to day.
Step 5: Visit a travel agent.
Since cruise lines tend to do most of their marketing and sell most of their voyages through travel agencies, it would be wise to visit a travel agent (that sells lots of cruises) (but be armed with an idea of how much the cruise should cost and other information). Also the commission on a cruise (even with a good fare) is very large. If you have an agent that you have a good relationship with and gets you good travel prices, use him/her. If not, find a good agent. Frequently large national agencies that do lots of corporate and government travel will have very good rates (especially if you are an employee of the major corporate/government client).
Step 6. Research Air Fares.
In the advent of direct airline Internet booking and Priceline (beam me up), the role of travel agents in booking airfares has diminished. Get an idea how much a flight from your home should cost and be armed with information on specific carriers and prices. Compare these fares with the advertised cruse line fares in the cruse brochures and note that cruse line will probably fly you to Seattle on a route with at least one change of planes, bus you for 3 ½ hours to Vancouver. The return flight will probably be late at night, arriving in the early morning, if you live on the East coast. Note that travel agents can usually get you any air fare available over the internet (if you have information on the fare) and will arrange the flights so they accommodate your cruise. Also note that if you purchase your air transportation through the cruse line, though you will be guaranteed to get on the ship (as described in my day 1 travel), your air itinerary will not be available until a few days before travel.
Step 7: Purchase your tickets.
Based on all of the information gathered from all sources, purchase your cruse and transportation tickets along with tours for before or and after your voyage. You should not base your choice on available excursions, because, the excursions are the same, given by the same companies, for ships visiting the same ports.
Step 8: Book your excursions.
When you receive your cruse tickets a month or two before your trip you should also receive a sign-up sheet and more specific information on the excursions available at each port. I would recommend that you go through them carefully and sign up for them. For more information on excursions, proceed to my excursions page.
Step 9: Pack and go.
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Links to other pages in the Super Alaska Cruise web site