how far in advance to book Alaska cruise

[thenars]

So after taking our first Caribbean cruise with Princess this year, we're thinking about planning a cruise to Alaska this summer with (adult) family. I've read that Alaska cruises are pretty popular and things tend to sell out quickly (excursions? cabins with a view?), but with the holidays coming up I don't think we'll be able to start planning until January.

 

Most likely we will look into doing the one-way 7 day cruises (I heard southbound is better than northbound?). Adding on a cruisetour may be out of our budget but it's not completely off the table yet (and maybe those fill up too?)

 

So are we fine starting to plan in January? Should we be aggressive and try to book everything as fast as possible or do we have some time still?

[TheCalicoCat]

We booked for 2012 as soon as the dates/itineraries were set & available for booking.

 

Within the last month, we booked a private tour & are about to book a tour through the cruise line shortly (January).

We also recently booked out airfare - needed to wait until we had enough miles on our CC. We are flying into Seattle & taking Amtrak to Vancouver (we have the train booked) & sepnding the night in Vancouver before boarding our ship. (We have that hotel booked, but not the hotel for after the cruise. My husband is in charge, so I did not ask too many questions.)

 

If you do a cruise tour (we don't have enough vacation time) I would suggest touring first & cruising last - more relaxing on the ship than on the bus/train...

 

(Our cruise is RT but I can't imagine southbound being that different than northbound.)

[chipmaster]

This YMMV, there are many many cruise options with departures from Seattle, Vancouver etc. They almost all stop in the same ports with slightly different timings. If you have your heart set on a specific ship/cruiseline, want a specific cabin/balcony and also Glacier Bay you can't be too early. If you are less picky on line and scenic cruising you could likely wait till past the new year.

 

I know last year I waited till late January to lock down and by that time some options were already gone for Glacier Bay on my first choice line. It all comes down to many factors, of which one of the most important is the larger economy.

[Cruiser304958]

The earlier you book, the better. You'll see that many categories of cabins on many sailings are already sold out, and the 2B Verandah on the Celebrity Millennium that I booked in June is now priced $1,001 per couple higher!

[Alaskanb]

So after taking our first Caribbean cruise with Princess this year, we're thinking about planning a cruise to Alaska this summer with (adult) family. I've read that Alaska cruises are pretty popular and things tend to sell out quickly (excursions? cabins with a view?), but with the holidays coming up I don't think we'll be able to start planning until January.

We booked a year in advance--some cabin categories are sold out on our cruise.

 

Most likely we will look into doing the one-way 7 day cruises (I heard southbound is better than northbound?). Adding on a cruisetour may be out of our budget but it's not completely off the table yet (and maybe those fill up too?)

Cruise tours fill up too--we are doing northbound--a personal choice as I want the excitement to build. Setting up an individual tour on your own is fairly easy.

So are we fine starting to plan in January? Should we be aggressive and try to book everything as fast as possible or do we have some time still?

I would start as soon as you can afford it to get cabin and flights (and car rental) arranged. Only you can decide when that is.

[deladypilot]

Usually the earlier you book, the cheaper the cruise is. We just booked our summer 2013 Alaskan Cruise and got a wonderful price for a mini-suite.

 

Since you have cruised before make sure you ask about past customer pricing for that cruise line. Often you get better prices or perks, but dont be afraid to check out other cruise lines as well.

 

I think you will be fine if you wait until January, its only 3 weeks away

 

Best of luck and have fun

[dread_pirate]

This YMMV, there are many many cruise options with departures from Seattle, Vancouver etc. They almost all stop in the same ports with slightly different timings. If you have your heart set on a specific ship/cruiseline, want a specific cabin/balcony and also Glacier Bay you can't be too early. If you are less picky on line and scenic cruising you could likely wait till past the new year.

 

I know last year I waited till late January to lock down and by that time some options were already gone for Glacier Bay on my first choice line. It all comes down to many factors, of which one of the most important is the larger economy.

Which was your first choice line? Glacier Bay is important to us. Unfortunately, we'll probably be booking later, but I'd like to know where to start looking! Thanks.

[account4fun]

Which was your first choice line? Glacier Bay is important to us. Unfortunately, we'll probably be booking later, but I'd like to know where to start looking! Thanks.

 

 

We really prefered Princess because it stopped in Glacier Bay and Hubbard. We also booked a cruisetour and really made a huge difference seeing the land side of Alaska as well. If you can afford it I would do it.

[kr9457]

The cruisetour that we booked with Celebrity for July 15th is sold out. As is most of the conceirge rooms for other dates. If you know you are going I won't wait too long.

[Keith1010]

The earlier the better so that you have as many choices as possible for the selection of staterooms.

 

Keith

[MileHighAko]

I booked our Sept 2012 cruise the day it was available (Carnival glacier bay) to ensure I was able to get the balcony that I wanted. Since then the price has gone up a bit and all of the rooms I would have liked to sail in are taken. So earlier the better is a good rule of thumb.

[Budget Queen]

Book when YOU are ready. It doesn't matter what others have done. There is plenty of space still left. There is a far worse feature with a rushed booking that isn't the right choice. I've booked in all timeframes from early to late.

 

The most important, is to KNOW what you are booking, meaning the cruise and interior Alaska touring. Know, what the interior Alaska travel is all about. This board is frequently the sounding board for facts that, frankly, should have been known before booking.

 

I do NOT agree on the "direction" claims, each has benefits and having done both many times, myself, IF you are doing the southbound due to being able to "relax" on the cruise then you may have a poorly planned interior Alaska choice.

 

Do not be in any rush to book anything until you are ready with your entire plans in place.

[Putterdude]

If you are focused mainly on price then invariably there is a big sell off and discounting of cabins in the late spring and early summer. For at least the last 10 years there has not been sufficient demand to fill ships at the introductory or rack rate. Even the reduction of ships sailing to Alaska several of years ago proved not to be the cure. Then last season Disney deployed the Wonder to the route and this upcoming season Princess is adding the Star. So while I quite agree that you may not get your pick of cabins, excursions or tours, you can often save a lot of money by waiting for the promotions to begin.

[Jenefercruiser]

I agree we booked our cruise quite earlier and I believe we had a good deal.

[gertz]

Tend to agree with BQ and Putter--here.

We have booked early, late and in-between and have generally found what we want.

Also agree there is a difference in scenery between North and Southbound.

Price is generally my no. 1 objective.

But a word of caution. If it is critically important to you to have a specific anything then book when it is available. And some cruise tours do book up early and we are taking our 1st one this year for an anniversary present for us sort of a no brainer.:D

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

As soon as possible it is a hot place to go ....

[creasad]

great idea about taking amtrak to vancouver! Prices are about 250 more pperson for me so that is a good option. I haven't booked yet either - keep wondering if there is an after holiday deal....there wasn't one for thanksgiving so not sure why i think there will be one for xmas. I guess 12k seems like a lot for 3 balacony cabins and airfare.....(taking baby on first cruise with both sets of grandparents). :D

[Krazy Kruizers]

This past June we did HAL's 14 day Alaskan cruise.

We loved it so much that when we got home we booked it again for July. This way we got the cabin we wanted.

There is nothing wrong with looking at brochures and making plans now so that when January comes -- which isn't that far off -- you will have some idea of what ship -- tour -- cruise -- etc. you want to do.

[Budget Queen]

This past June we did HAL's 14 day Alaskan cruise.

We loved it so much that when we got home we booked it again for July. This way we got the cabin we wanted.

There is nothing wrong with looking at brochures and making plans now so that when January comes -- which isn't that far off -- you will have some idea of what ship -- tour -- cruise -- etc. you want to do.

 

This past season, I saw many prime weeks on this 14 day HAL cruise discounted to $900/1000+. And with this year, may be the same, since the itinerary, seems to loose some pluses. If anyone is flexable, this could be a bargain option to consider with blocking time out, to pick up a b2b, or HAL 14 dayer.

[Jasperdo]

We booked our Alaska cruise last June two weeks before the sailing date. We weren't even thinking of going on this cruise, but there was a last minute deal that we couldn't refuse.

 

That said, there's no guarantee this will happen next summer. If you're set on a specific ship and itinerary, I wouldn't wait until the last minute. But, if you can be flexible, sometimes you can find some very good last minute deals.