no1racefan1

No whale watching planned so far but maybe that could change. We have been whale watching on previous cruises, but not in Alaska, so it's staying on the list for options for now!

I would not be opposed to this, since we would like to visit national parks whenever possible. I have concerns about the rental car and gravel roads.. Also concerns with what all will be open mid-May. It looks like it will be the week that things are beginning to open up.

Oh! Meant to say, Talkeetna would be a stop on the way from Anchorage to Denali. But I like the suggestion of just bringing our own food. This would be a good day for a picnic! I did look into Fairbanks but the one-way rental fee was an extra $400! I'll check into this again once it's bookable and see if pricing has changed.

Other things to note: DH is 55, I'm 40. We're both in good health and average physical condition. We like to be active and spend time outdoors. This will be our 5th cruise and 2nd on Princess. We are booked in an inside cabin. We did not purchase the Plus or Premier package. I don't drink at all and DH might have 1-2 drinks a day, if that. He drinks plain coffee and water and I usually just drink water. Paying individually for gratuities and wifi is going to be less expensive than a package. We have had very good luck with ship excursions and most likely will book those through Princess. I've compared the ones we are interested in and there's not much price difference if we were to book independently. Exception for things such as Mt. Roberts tramway, that we can just walk up and buy tickets for if we decide to do it.

The biggest thing I am working on currently is budget. My rough estimated budget for this trip is about $12k. To be honest I really need to get it to about half that in order for it to work for us. There are several things I have read or am working on to try to reduce expenses and would love any other ideas people use to cut expenses! A lot of things are wishlist items that will be cut from the budget if necessary. I'm going to go ahead and post budget items in this thread as they come up because I have found that type of information to be very helpful from other people. Here's what we have budgeted: $1,500 Plane tickets (just got an Alaska Airlines cc and will be able to use companion fare and possibly miles. We also have United miles. Should be able to shave off at least $1k if we are strategic about flights) $750 Rental car (have seen for less but estimating high, since they aren't bookable for 2024 yet) $100 Gas in rental car $2,200 Cruise fare (was able to re-fare yesterday and save almost $300--keeping an eye on this!) $160 Denali Airbnb $200 Travel insurance (bought Princess platinum protection. Honestly first time ever buying insurance... I think some of our cc's offer some coverage, need to look into it) $120 Lodging in Glacier View $300 Matanuska Glacier hike $100 Wifi on board (usually don't buy this but it has been recommended to buy since DH has a pacemaker app now) $224 Onboard gratuities $1,300 Shore excursions (obviously totally optional) $150 Lodging in Seward $900 Kayak tour (will try to find less expensive once these are bookable for 2024) $500 Massages/spa (totally optional and will be the first thing to go if needed) $600 Dog sitting (not much wiggle room here!) $100 Guide tips (depends how many tours, etc. DH likes to tip generously when warranted) $60 Extra ship tips $650 Meals/groceries (hopefully less but food is so expensive right now) $100 Airport parking (may have option to fly locally and won't need this) $200 Train to Whittier $118 Transfer to airport (probably just get a taxi instead of transfers) $200 Hotel in Seattle (may not need, depends on flight schedules) $50 Gas to/from Billings (may not need) $400 Miscellaneous $500 Shopping (probably less but who knows) $11,482 Some tips I have seen to help reduce expenses, that may be helpful to others: Discounted Princess gift cards from AARP Maximize credit card rewards (we never carry a balance or spend more than planned) Check Groupon (haven't seen many options for Alaska but I'll check when it gets closer) CCL shareholder credit (we already own shares so just need to apply for this) Use different airlines/be flexible Buy groceries in Anchorage to pack for picnic lunches, etc. instead of eating out every meal

After selecting a cruise, I penciled out a rough land itinerary for the week before. I considered a lot of different possibilities, including flying into Fairbanks, etc. Two weeks is the limit we set for ourselves to leave our dogs at home and also to take off work at one time. This is still a very rough itinerary and will probably change several more times, but this is the plan so far: Monday, 5/13 Drive to Billings; fly to Anchorage Pick up rental car Stay @ Hyatt Tuesday, 5/14 Drive to Denali; explore Lunch in Talkeetna Stay near Denali Wednesday, 5/15 Morning hike in Denali Drive to Glacier View Stay @ Sheep Mtn Lodge Thursday, 5/16 Matanuska Glacier hike Drive to Seward Stay @ yurt in Seward Friday, 5/17 Kayak tour in Seward Drive back to Anchorage; drop off rental car Stay @ Hyatt Saturday, 5/18 L Alaska Railroad train to Whittier Board ship Sunday, 5/19 Hubbard Glacier Monday, 5/20 Glacier Bay Tuesday, 5/21 Skagway—Chilkoot Hike & Float Wednesday, 5/22 Juneau—explore on our own Blue Bus to Mendenhall Glacier? Mt. Roberts Tramway Thursday, 5/23 Ketchikan—Fishing excursion Lumberjack show Friday, 5/24 Sea Day Saturday, 5/25 Ship transfer to airport Stay night in Seattle Sunday, 5/26 Fly to Billings & drive home Totally open to any input/suggestions at this point. One thing I learned that may be helpful to others as you start to plan your time in Alaska--you can post your itinerary in the Alaska forum on TripAdvisor and there are a lot of knowledgeable locals and travelers that will provide feedback/make suggestions/tweak your itinerary in order to make it more efficient and enjoyable.

It took me about five minutes to research Alaska cruisetours and decide they are out of our price range, so we are going to do a DIY land tour before our cruise. We are kind of DIY travelers for the most part, and avoid tour buses when we can. My research (and other people's opinions) led me to narrow our cruise selection down to a Southbound cruise (so we are doing the land portion first) that visits Glacier Bay. We want to go in mid to late May, our usual vacation time. I was eagerly awaiting Princess's 2024 Alaska schedule, and ended up putting a deposit down on May 18th, 2024 Southbound, departing Whittier and ending in Vancouver.

Step #1 was deciding to book a cruise to Alaska. Like a lot of people, DH and I have had a rough few years since COVID. DH got permanently laid off from his job in May 2020 and due to the scarcity of jobs in his field or related fields, and some pretty serious undiagnosed medical issues, is still unemployed. At this point he is just telling everybody he's taking early retirement 😂 Fortunately just last month we finally found an answer to his medical issues and they should be 100% resolved thanks to a brand-spanking new pacemaker, and I just recently got a wonderful promotion at work, and we are ready to go on a trip! We try to take a trip every year for our anniversary, and a bigger, bucket-list type trip every 5 years, which makes 2024 the year for a big trip! Add to that the fact that we haven't done much traveling since 2019, and I am itching to plan a big trip. There were several places on our list of options: 1)British Isles cruise--we originally were going to do this for our 10th anniversary in 2019 but ended up doing a stay at an AI instead. 2)Trip to Florida combined w/ Caribbean cruise--we actually had a similar trip planned in 2020 that of course, got cancelled. 3)Road trip around New England--because neither of us have ever been to the region and I want to visit every state. 4)Alaska cruisetour--we went to Alaska on our very first cruise and loved it, but we didn't really spend enough time IN Alaska. We were more taken by the fact that we were on a cruise, I think. So, we have decided on an Alaska cruisetour. DH thinks we should do the more active, outdoorsy things while we're still young, lol.

As I've been researching for our cruise in Alaska next year, I thought it would be fun and maybe helpful to start documenting the entire process as we go through planning. Also it is STILL snowing here in WY and I need something to occupy my time... Some of the most helpful things I've read have been about the planning aspects BEFORE the trip. I'm going to use this space to document all of our planning and budgeting, and then I'll review the trip here afterwards! If this is boring or completely unhelpful to you, please disregard 😇

Update to my update: I called back and spoke to a different agent. It took about 45 minutes of mostly being on hold, but he was able to re-fare to the lower price. Actually, he re-fared to an even lower price than what I saw online, which completely made up for the lost OBC, so it was definitely worth the time to call!

No. I paid for the upgraded insurance with my original booking.

Decided to post an update on this topic based on my current experience... this morning I noticed the price of our current booking is down $109pp. We would lose $50pp OBC but all in after fee/insurance adjustments should still net gain about $144. I contacted Princess via Live Chat. The agent was willing to do the re-fare but she quoted me more than what was online. After asking her twice to give me a cost breakdown, I realized she was adding transfers to the total cost, which we do not have booked nor do we want. So, I asked her to remove the transfers. After she removed the transfers, she quoted me a total price LESS than what was on the website, and I realized she was including standard protection instead of platinum protection, which is what we currently have booked. She said she couldn't guarantee the protection plan wouldn't change when she did the re-fare. So, I said forget it and left it as is. I will probably call and talk to another agent and see if they can get this done for me, because $144 is still $144! But it is a lot of work. And I do wonder if she was just going to make an all new booking rather than just adjusting the price. That's what it sounded like.

I have a coworker who rents out her house one week a year during a very large, local event. Her and her husband plan that week as their vacation and go cruise around in their RV. I don't know what all she has to do to get the house prepared but they have rented it to the same group of people for several years now so I don't think she uses any kind of rental agency.

Funny/not funny story, one time our bags got sent to BLI (Bellingham) instead of BIL (Billings) and they had to ship them to our house because we live 1 1/2 hours away from Billings and were long gone by the time they arrived. I would be scared to book a ticket that included both those airport codes 😂

This could depend on the airline but yes, some do restrict this. United requires you to collect your bag if your layover is going to be more than 12 hours long.

We are going in mid-May 2024. Not only will the road most likely still be closed, but the park may not be fully operational for the season yet when we are there. For those of you familiar with the park--how much time would you allow just to drive the first 15 miles and do some of the hikes near the entrance? We're going to do a DIY land tour before our cruise, and I'm trying to figure out timing. I'm disappointed about the road closure, but this will be our 2nd cruise to Alaska and being we have a lot of other places on our bucket list, I don't know if/when we will go back. I want to be able to say I visited Denali NP, even if we just do a hike. (We're from Wyoming, and have had the pleasure of lots of wildlife viewing in our travels, so I'm not *as* disappointed as some others may be about the road closure.)

Thank you for posting a real, honest review! Actually, knowing gelato can count as a premium dessert makes it much more appealing. DH would definitely take advantage of that!

Man, I would totally pay $3 for GOOD, movie-theater style popcorn. That's one of the few extras on the ship I would spend money on! Not for the popcorn they are currently offering though...

I think this is MUCH less common...I've seen it mentioned occasionally on these boards but doubt it happens on a regular basis. I called Carnival on one of our cruises that dropped after final payment (I've never used a TA, just book direct) and they didn't give me the lower price, but they DID upgrade me to an aft balcony. So it was worth the call regardless. Worst they can do is say no!

449 days, if we can make it work!

Sorry, yes, I live in WY so my final destination will be Billings, MT before driving the rest of the way home. United is the ONLY airline that flies locally and since their prices are ridiculous right now, I'm going to plan for an Alaskan Airlines companion fare, which means we'll have to drive to MT to fly out. Thanks for the helpful replies, I honestly just didn't understand what the benefit would be of getting shuttled to Seattle just to fly from there. Sounds like it will mostly come down to pricing. I've only flown internationally once (Jamaica) and have only flown less than once/year and only as an adult, so I'm trying to become a more educated traveler!

TBH, I was trying to figure out what kind of spa service this entailed for DW! Glad you clarified 😄

It still doesn't make sense, it's no benefit to Princess...but I guess if they want to make everybody do twice the work, fine. I've only been on a handful of cruises (different lines) but every time I've been able to re-fare. Yes, understandably, if you re-fare, you have to accept whatever the new terms are regarding OBC, promos, etc. I've just never had to completely cancel and rebook a new cruise and new shore excursions. Hopefully I won't have to do this with the cruise I have booked for next year! (wishful thinking the price will come down)

That doesn't make any sense, as one could easily just cancel their current booking and rebook at the lower rate (as long as it's before final payment). I know you don't want to do that. I would probably try again with a different person.

I've just started researching and put a deposit down on a 2024 Alaskan cruise, departing from Whittier and ending in Vancouver. I've seen that Princess offers a bus (at $79pp) from Vancouver to Seattle for people who choose to fly home from Seattle. What is the advantage of this? Is it because it is often cheaper to fly out of Seattle? Is it because it would save time going through customs? Would you even have to go through customs in this case? I'm honestly just not super fluent in making these types of travel arrangements and wanted to know if I am missing an opportunity to save time and/or money. We will most likely have to stay the night in either Vancouver, Seattle, or our final destination, as it is still a 1 1/2 hour drive home, so I'm trying to gauge every angle to see what options might be available once it's time to book.