Alaska 2011?

[MaiTaiMary]

I just did a search for Alaska, summer 2011. The only thing out is the Spirit out of Seattle in June. Is that it or am I searching wrong? :confused: Will more be available in July?

 

 

I've never looked into a Alaksa cruise before. $1100 - $1300 pp for a balcony cabin?? Is that typical? Wow, why so much higher?

[5waldos]

There are many lines which cruise to Alaska- are you looking for all and any trips or just Carnival? I think it is only the Spirit that goes for Carnival. As far as the cost- not sure. I have seen then less than $1000 for sure but there isn't the huge competition that there is in the carribbean which may lead to higher prices.

[dustyroad]

ncl, rccl, hol and princess all go too alaska. its hard too miss their ads and talks about them here on the boards. but for me carnival is the best one too go on ;).

[mali06]

We are going on the Spirit in July and those prices are definitely out. We did Princess last time to Alaska and we loved it. We paid as much a few years ago for a balcony on Princess as we are paying next year on Carnival. I have checked all of the other Alaska ships and they are all more than the Carnival prices. Alaska and Hawaii both run at these rates. One of the reasons for Alaska costing more is that they charge a per head tax besides the regular taxes and the port taxes (they were talking about repealing this but don't think that ever happened yet). Plus they only allow a limited number of ships to enter their ports so there are less cabins available which prompts higher prices. This is basically the same situation in Hawaii . . . there are so few ships that actually visit there that the cabins are at a premium. It's all about supply and demand. We love Carnival and the only worry we had was that Princess had a naturalist on board which really inhanced our experience. Once I found out that Carnival also had a naturalist onboard, we were sold! Then the icing on the cake was to find out that Carnival offers a fresh Alaskan fish dish every night in the MDR besides the usual menu. Perfect!

[Fazzdaan]

BTW, the naturalist on our cruise did a great job. She was coming on the PA whenever there was something special to be seen, including whale pods.

[Man of Many Hats]

We are booked on the Spirit to Alaska on the first sailing in May, I just looked and balcony cabins start at $709, A bit less than your price but then we are going in May and it will cooler, but what they hey, we're on a cruise and we're going to Alaska.

[MaiTaiMary]

Yes, I just meant Carnival.

[gusandgidgetsmom]

We are cruising the Spirit to Alaska in Aug 2011. Our rates were about $1850pp (Included all taxes and port charges). We are in an OS and our children are in the aft suite and their fare was just a little higher. We thought the rate pretty good considering that the condo we normally rent in Al for a week in the summer is 2800 and then we have to supply all the food and entertainment. We love to cruise any way and find it a great bargain.

[firefly333]

Holland Am has three ships which they struggle to fill. Iv seen early pricing for $449 starting for a round trip inside. ...then it went to $499 .. I too was surprised how much higher $$$ Carnival was than other lines.

[ChefSusan]

We paid something like $1500/person for our two portside extended balconies for our Alaskan Adventure this past August - and the price was early saver! I think our cabin went as high as $1800/person at one point.

 

You pay more because everything is more expensive - the fuel to run the ships, the port charges, the excursions, etc...

[happylady]

I just did a search for Alaska, summer 2011. The only thing out is the Spirit out of Seattle in June. Is that it or am I searching wrong? :confused: Will more be available in July?

 

 

I've never looked into a Alaksa cruise before. $1100 - $1300 pp for a balcony cabin?? Is that typical? Wow, why so much higher?

 

Not sure where you're looking but the 2011 cruises are all up and posted on Carnivals site. The only prices not posted are OV for the first two cruises in May. ES 7A's on our May 24 cruise are going for $979/pp.

[marym933]

I just did a search for Alaska, summer 2011. The only thing out is the Spirit out of Seattle in June. Is that it or am I searching wrong? :confused: Will more be available in July?

 

 

I've never looked into a Alaksa cruise before. $1100 - $1300 pp for a balcony cabin?? Is that typical? Wow, why so much higher?

 

I have been looking at rates, too. The Carnival balcony rates are actually cheaper than all the other lines. Late August on Carnival is running about $1200 pp. The other lines are $1400 - $1600.

 

The only thing that is keeping me from booking is the itinerary. I can't decide if I should spend more money for a line that does Glacier Bay or take Carnival to Tracey Arm.