Alaskan Cruise Overview

We finally made it! A 7-day Alaskan cruise was the whole point of this huge road trip, so let’s take a look at what cruise we chose and why.

Princess Cruise Line

As the title suggests, we went with Princess Cruise Line. I was leaning in that direction anyway, having heard that Princess was particularly known for the excellence of their Alaskan cruises. Further sealing the deal for us was that in 2015, Princess was celebrating their 50th anniversary with special sales, extras, and onboard events. They’re celebrating 50 years cruising to Alaska this year, so definitely check out that sale and see if it’s worth it!

We got a discounted overall rate, and a drastic one for the third person in the room (me!) And by booking during this time we got some onboard credit (I think $50?) and free specialty dining for two, which my parents enjoyed. There were also special events and giveaways during the cruise, which I’ll cover in the following posts.

Many other cruise lines also sail to Alaska. I looked into Royal Caribbean which was a little cheaper, but only sailed out of Vancouver and not Seattle. I felt Carnival Cruise Line was too cheap for my parents to enjoy, and Disney is a little too expensive and also not quite right for us (though I’d love to go on a Disney cruise someday!) Other cruises left out of Vancouver or were only one way, which would be cool but was not within our time budget on this trip.

In the end, we paid $732 for the three of us to sail out on September 5, 2015, for a seven-day round-trip cruise to Alaska from the port of Seattle. Which is a pretty decent deal for our vacation dollar. That ends up being $244 per person for the week, or about $81/night per person for a place to sleep, plus all meals and entertainment. We also added on several excursions which I’ll talk about in the following posts.

Glacier Bay vs. Tracy Arm Fjord

One of the bigger decisions we had to make early in our planning was whether we wanted to see Glacial Bay National Park or Tracy Arm Fjord since most Alaska cruises sail to either one or the other.

Glacier Bay National Park is one large bay that takes a full day to sail in and out of. You are more likely to see wildlife here and have better weather. Plus, a park ranger will come aboard and give expert commentary throughout the day. From the deck of your cruise ship, you will be able to view 8 glaciers (out of 11 in the park) usually culminating in the Margerie Glacier which moves fairly quickly and “calves” more often. Calving is when a piece of the glacier falls off the edge with a mighty CRACK like a thunderclap, and it’s a big deal if you get to see one.

A visit to Tracy Arm Fjord takes cruisers to view two sides of one glacier (Sawyer Glacier) but it is a narrower inlet and generally a more intimate experience. You are able to get very close to the canyon walls and the glacier here, much more so than Glacier Bay.

The general consensus is that if this is your first (or only) cruise to Alaska, then Glacier Bay is more recommended. If you have already seen that, consider Tracy Arm for a more up-close experience.

Look into Obstructed View Cabins

A few things saved us several hundred dollars on this cruise. One was sailing late in the season, in September. The other was choosing a cabin that had a porthole (oceanview) but was behind the lifeboats, so our view was blocked somewhat. But our window was in between two of the boats, so it wasn’t bad at all. Having some sort of window is miles better than having an indoor cabin. At least this way you get some natural sunlight in your room and a view of the horizon, which helps me personally with any seasickness.

For example, when looking at an August date for this cruise (and these are 2015 rates, mind you) it was $790 for an interior cabin, $1182 for an oceanview cabin. But an obstructed oceanview was $880, a significant savings over a regular oceanview. By choosing a later date and with the 50th anniversary discounts, we were able to get that down to $732 for three people.

We took advantage of what deals were available when we were looking but there are discounts to be had even when it’s not a cruise line’s 50th anniversary! Check out cruise prices during Wave Season–January through March, when many cruise lines are offering extras to get the season’s cruise ships booked up as much as possible. You can also find amazing deals on last minute cruises, when cruise lines are looking to fill up empty cabins right before sailing.

Itinerary & Excursions

What follows is the ports we visited during this cruise and a sneak peak into the excursions we purchased. For more details, stay tuned to future posts as I break down our cruise day by day.

Day 1–Day at sea, sailing up to Juneau and Skagway, which will be the most northern point on our trip.

Day 2–Juneau from 11 am-10 pm. We walked around town before taking an excursion to see Mendenhall Glacier and go whale watching ($126/person.)

Day 3–Skagway from 5:30 am-8:15 pm. On this day we took the White Pass Summit Railway excursion for $130/person, with plenty of time to look around town.

Day 4–Glacier Bay National Park from 6 am-3 pm. A day transiting the bay with a guide on board and almost everyone outside on deck. It was fun!

Day 5–Ketchikan from 6:30 am-1 pm. We didn’t do an excursion here but instead, took a bus out of town to a state park.

Day 6–Victoria B.C. from 7 pm. to midnight. With such a late port time, we opted for an evening tour of Butchart Gardens for $70/person.

To Be Continued…

Again, watch for the next posts for more details of what there is to see in each port and what we were able to do!