What is a good price for a cruise tour?

[heatherandjohn]

We want to use our air miles to fly roundtrip to Seattle from Chicago and go on a princess cruise to Alaska. For the two of us, we were quoted a price of $4600-$5000 depending on which sailing (May or June) for a cruise tour incl. shuttle from airport to seattle hotel, one night in seattle hotel, shuttle to airport, airfare to fairbanks from Seattle, coach from airport to princess riverside lodge 1 night, riverboat cruise, coach from fairbanks to denali and stay at princess wilderness lodge 2 nights, natural history tour, coach to rail depot on Denali express to Whittier, AK, cruise on coral princess to vancoucer, BC visiting Hubbard glacier, glacier bay, skagway, juneau, and ketchikan. Also includes coach to seattle airport from vancouver.

 

Is this a good price? I have no idea. I have never been to Alaska. Please advise.

 

Thanks,

 

Heather

[negc]

We want to use our air miles to fly roundtrip to Seattle from Chicago and go on a princess cruise to Alaska. For the two of us, we were quoted a price of $4600-$5000 depending on which sailing (May or June) for a cruise tour incl. shuttle from airport to seattle hotel, one night in seattle hotel, shuttle to airport, airfare to fairbanks from Seattle, coach from airport to princess riverside lodge 1 night, riverboat cruise, coach from fairbanks to denali and stay at princess wilderness lodge 2 nights, natural history tour, coach to rail depot on Denali express to Whittier, AK, cruise on coral princess to vancoucer, BC visiting Hubbard glacier, glacier bay, skagway, juneau, and ketchikan. Also includes coach to seattle airport from vancouver.

 

Is this a good price? I have no idea. I have never been to Alaska. Please advise.

 

Thanks,

 

Heather

 

Where did you get the quote from? If it was from a Princess representative, you might want to call Celebrity, RCI and NCL representatives to see what they have to offer. Or, better yet, find a local travel agent with expertise on cruises in general and Alaska in particular. He or she can help you compare the various offerings and make an informed decision that will result in your getting the best cruise for the best price. Alaska is a great cruise destination but there are many different ways of taking the trip and you need to do some more research to make sure that you see and do what you will most enjoy during your time there.

[pspercy]

I'd say it sounds typical.

 

I used to think the Cruise-tour prices were outrageous until I started pricing a do-it-yourself approach. I'm not talking about camping but staying somewhere nice etc. In the end, for what we wanted, there wasn't much difference so this time I plumped for the cruisetour, likely easier on DW's bad back too.

 

Next time ? Hopefully RV rental and (freshwater) fishing (spin & fly):)

[agabbymama]

You can go to the websites for HAL and Princess, not sure about NCL or Celebrity, and look at their brochures to get an idea of where/what you really want to do. You can also go to the libarary and see if they have Frommer's and Fodor's Alaska travel guides.

 

In August '07, we did an 11 day cruisetour with HAL for $2720 pp. That was 3 day cruise in a blacony cabin Northbound Vancouver to Skagway, then 8 days on land from Skagway up the Whitepass Yukon RR to Whitehorse Yukon, Dawson City Yukon, riverboat on the Yukon River to Eagle Alaska, coach to Chicken, Tok, Fairbanks, dome railcar to Denali and ending in Anchorage, with airfare and transfers. We did pay approx $300 pp for food on the trip, so I averaged it out to $3000 pp.

 

I had looked at Princess, but they didn't really do the Yukon like I wanted, and theirs still included a 7 day cruise, so the cost was $4400 pp without airfare, for 15 days with a balcony cabin on the ship.

 

So if you are looking at $4600-5000 including airfare, sounds reasonable to me. Just make sure what you want to do is included. Have fun planning then taking your cruise.

[Budget Queen]

More important is to be informative about WHAT you are purchasing. In many cases, it is far superior to add time for Fairbanks, cruisetours generally see very little. Denali Park is a highlight of the visit. You do NOT have the tour that is going to allow this, the Natural History tour does not get into the park. So you will have to make changes if you want to do this. The Denali/Whittier train is 10 hours, last two hours are the scenery highlights. This land tour portion is skimpy, in my opinion. The two nights at Denali Park is about the only good thing. Budget 50% more for meals than you would at home. IF I am reading this right, it is a 10 day cruisetour?? If the case, what type of cabin?? Overall, I don't see this as a "bargain".

[heatherandjohn]

Yeah, this is for a 10 day cruisetour, with one night added on in the front in seattle. Also, this was for a balcony suite. This sounded like a lot of money to me, because I have been on cruises before for a lot less. I had no idea if this is a great deal or the going rate. We may forgo the cruisetour, and just do a round trip from seattle and plan to go back. For some reason, I am finding Alaska to be an intimidating trip to plan, and I have planned many vacations to other destinations (both land and cruises). Thank you for all of your expert advice!

[Lookingforfacts]

See if you can do better on airfare. Check "open jaw" airfare . You usually have an option for one way, round trip or multiple destinations. You want multiple destinations. First check on a flight to Vancouver with a return from Fairbanks. Next flight to Vancouver with a return from ANC. Repeat the process with a flight to Seattle.

 

I checked with Continental. You can get a flight to Vancouver with a return from Anchorage for 25,000 miles. I checked from the NY area. Check with whatever airline you have miles with. Many can book a flight with a partner airline. This won't work if your miles are with Southwest.

 

The tours that begin and end in Seattle are more expensive and waste 2 days.

 

Check FF. Post back if you can find something that works. BQ will be happy to give you ideas on how you can save money with a do it yourself tour. Works as long as you allow enough time. More tours open up if you don't need Princess for transportation back to Seattle.

[Budget Queen]

Yeah, this is for a 10 day cruisetour, with one night added on in the front in seattle. Also, this was for a balcony suite. This sounded like a lot of money to me, because I have been on cruises before for a lot less. I had no idea if this is a great deal or the going rate. We may forgo the cruisetour, and just do a round trip from seattle and plan to go back. For some reason, I am finding Alaska to be an intimidating trip to plan, and I have planned many vacations to other destinations (both land and cruises). Thank you for all of your expert advice!

 

Clearly the more you know the better your selection will be. I don't find this cruisetour a good choice, as #1 it is too short.

 

I suggest you head to your library, see if you can get Alaska By Cruiseship, Fodor's Alaska, Frommer's Alaska etc. Find out about the areas.

 

As for touring interior Alaska, it is pretty simple- only one road between Anchorage/Fairbanks. Depends what you do along the way. :) Cruise ports of Whittier and Seward are easy to figure out, and make the preferred choice here, if you care to.

[Lookingforfacts]

Sorry the OP asked about price. Remember cruise lines may discount cabins but rarely offer further discounts on cruisetours. A balcony cabin will cost $1000-$1400. A cruise land tour will tack on an extra $1000-$1500 (and up). $4600-$5000 sounds about right.

 

Princess constantly changes the tours. I thought the R/T out of Seattle only gives you one night in Denali. You might get stuck with the NHT.

[NMLady]

Deleted. I re-read the post and answered my own question.