affordable first time to alaska suggestions

Hello from florida. We always wanted to see Alaska. So many options to choose from. The plane fare from florida is very expensive. Need suggestions for a very affordable way to see Alaska. We love Denali Park. Especially tundra wilderness tour. Natural history tour does not go far enough in to see wildlife. I know a big expense is the shore excursions. Also big expense is the food you buy on the excursions. Food prices are much higher in Alaska. Some cruisetours include food. But again they are expensive. Sometimes princess offers low prices on cruises. But with airfare it gets high. Just confused where to start to plan the dream trip of a lifetime.

Do some Googling. There is a website for a private Company that represents many firms that offer tours at various price points. Also, the State of Alaska has an excellent website that offers lots of information and will send a free Alaskan Guide, if there are any yet available for this season. (They have been known to run out of copies.)

First thing I always do is find prices for the essentials. How much for air/hotel/cruise. Figure for food in Alaska not on the ship, it’s going to be at least 50% more expensive than at home. I start here because if I’m going to do the trip, I will have to pay for this stuff no matter what. There are ways to find the best prices on this stuff, like for flights, plenty of fare watch apps, same with cruises and hotels. I don’t insist on five star accommodations, I’m ok with a place that’s just comfortable, safe, and clean, especially if it has a good location because that saves not having to spend a lot on transportation.

As far as everything else, those are extras, you will probably want to do them, but I rank shore excursions based on what I want to do. The nice thing with those is you can book/pay well in advance so it spreads the cost out a bit. For Denali, I’m not booking a set excursion from the cruise line, I’m going hiking and I found the regular shuttle takes me where I want to go for free. One thing I always take is a soft side collapsible cooler that fits in my backpack that will keep sandwiches cold and doesn’t weigh a lot and fits in my hydration pack.

For a cruise, I don’t drink a lot so that saves a lot. I don’t go to the casino. I don’t buy stuff on the ship unless I absolutely have to. The nice thing with Alaska is that it’s still the United States and so at the ports, if you get past the touristy areas, there’s usually a Walmart or similar. The ship will upcharge you for almost everything. Just keep that in mind. Their money makers are drinks, excursions, and the casino.

I’m not a fan of third party excursion vendors because there’s too much risk for me in case something goes wrong, but you can usually find something cheaper than the ships excursion if you research it. Just be super careful, because if they’re late, the ship won’t wait like they will for one of their own excursions, and if the operator doesn’t show, you may not have a good place to go for a refund. But they are usually cheaper than the cruise line.

As far as food goes, a lot depends on whether you want the 5 course full meal or if you’re ok with a sandwich. Personal preference really.

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You don't have to do the excursions in the ports. Look online for each port’s visitor’s information and you will find suggested hikes at each location and they are free. There are some really good ones in Skagway and if you are at Denali you can take the free ranger walks, see the exhibits, watch a movie, and see the sled dog show for free. The Tundra Wilderness Tour is included in some cruisetours but is too expensive to do if you are not on a cruisetour. The much cheaper transit bus in Denali follows the same road and offers a chance to hike if you want to or just ride out and back.

Watch for cruiseline specials and grab a deal. Much easier if you can go anytime. The prices will vary according to how well the cruise or cruisetour is selling.

This is the perfect place to research. If you book early you can get a pretty reasonable price. I booked Radiance of the Seas 13 months out and then price watched. Every time there was a better deal I called and they adjusted my price. If you are willing to book an inside cabin you can save a lot there. We spent our money on excursions as we do not have unlimited funds. It was an amazing trip. I will be writing a review next week. Have fun researching. That’s part of the joy.

Hel We love Denali Park. Especially tundra wilderness tour. Natural history tour does not go far enough in to see wildlife.

It's much cheaper to use the shuttles at Denali National Park: https://www.nps.gov/dena/planyourvisit/shuttles.htm

And for the land portion in Southcentral Alaska having a rental car will let you access more affordable accommodations and dining.

Your food bill will certainly be higher in Alaska because you’re eating out most of the time compared to eating in at home. If you compare apples to apples, food costs may be 10-15% higher, nowhere near 50%. Of course getting accommodations with cooking facilities will save quite a bit since you don’t need to eat out. Not sure about your comment on purchasing food on excursions. We’ve only done that once on an 8 hour excursion in Belize. Most are 3-6 hours long with plenty of time to eat back on the ship or find a local inexpensive place.

Also, cruise tours can be expensive. You have more control over the costs if you do your own trip. Alaska is easy to navigate.

Don’t use booking companies that deal with several different tour operators. They can sometimes be more expensive and/or you’re just giving your money to someone other than the tour operator with a possible added fee. It can be easier to deal directly with the operator than through a third party.

I live in Alaska and we are taking the Princess NB in June. Anchorage has lots of great restaurants, local and popular chains. If our prices may be a bit higher, we do not have sales tax in Anchorage, so that’s a savings there. Most smaller towns will have a local sales tax of around 3 to 6 %. Walmart, Costco, Fred Meyer, Safeway, Target etc competition has brought down our food and goods prices. We even have a Nordstrom. Just some thoughts on shopping in Anchorage. There isn’t much at all in Whittier for shopping, and Seward has a grocery store and lots of tourist shops.

I don't know anything about touring Denali, but I cruised Alaska in 2000 and I'm going back in 2 months. We also have to fly from Florida, and that's just dang expensive - there's no way around it. When we went in 2000, we didn't have extra money for expensive shore excursions, so in Ketchikan we did a totem tour, and there's a lumberjack show, but you don't even need an excursion in Ketchikan. It's a charming town to walk around. In Juneau, we did a salmon bake that was a lot of fun and not expensive, and we walked around town. In Skagway, we found a small mountain to hike on our own.

This time, we have 2 kids now, and we're taking our exchange student and paying for her, so even though we can afford more excursions, and pricier ones, I still want to get the most bang for our buck. So for a few of our tours, I booked independent excursions to avoid the cruise ship markup. Most of the independent operators in the port towns are well aware of the need to get people back to the port on time, and some even have online scheduling based on your particular cruise ship and date. I also don't hesitate to call or email them with questions like that, and everyone I've dealt with is so friendly and helpful. They WANT to make it easy for you.

My biggest advice is just keep researching for the best prices you can find. For our few nights in Anchorage and Vancouver before and after this year's cruise, I researched hotels with a fine-toothed comb to find the ones that met our needs at the best price (Vancouver is e$$$spensive no matter how you cut it).

Good luck! It's a great trip!