Why are Alaska cruises so expensive?

[Coral]

30 minutes ago, BarbinMich said:

We have visited Norway several times on TAs---they're the best bargain on per day cost, assuming you like sea days, which we do.  All Pacific Princess cruises are more expensive per day because it's a small ship and one doesn't get the "volume" discount one would on the big ships.  We have cruise friends who recently did a cruise to Antartica, probably on the Coral Princess, and the price for the same cruise next Jan. is $2,979 for an inside ($187/nt).  That's generally more than we were willing to pay as we used to do 3 cruises a year (after retirement).

It is also the multiple ports in Norway trips that are expensive. Our trip went all the way up to North Cape. TA with just one or two days in Norway is going to be different. My trip was on the Sapphire and it was the most expensive trip I had been on.

[cflutist]

23 minutes ago, Coral said:

It is also the multiple ports in Norway trips that are expensive. Our trip went all the way up to North Cape. TA with just one or two days in Norway is going to be different. My trip was on the Sapphire and it was the most expensive trip I had been on.

 

We visited North Cape too, then farther north to Longyearbean in Svalbard where the Global Seed Vault is, and hiked on mushy permafrost.

Then over to Murmansk Russia. It was the best cruise we were on until we sailed to Antarctica on Silversea and made multiple landings daily.

We liked Silversea so much that we now have an expedition cruise to Southwest Alaska, the Aleutian Islands, and the Russian Far East this year, and another SS cruise to Greenland and the Canadian northeast.

 

We also have another cruise back to Tahiti (our 4th cruise there) on the Pacific Princess.

[RickSue]

On 3/20/2019 at 10:21 PM, elliair said:

Alaska IMHO is more beautiful than the Caribbean.  You don't see poverty in Alaska, only serene landscapes and clean cities.  There's plenty to see and do in Alaska, and we will pay the price to see Alaska.  It's one of our favorite cruises.  I hope to book a cruise to Alaska this season.  Health issues are keeping us home for the time being.

You don't see poverty in Alaska?  Alaska has a very high poverty rate.   If you go into any of the villages, you will find extreme poverty.    There are homeless shelters in Juneau and every other city in Alaska.    Your statement that you don't want to see poverty when you cruise is really disturbing to me.    Seems extremely snobby and condescending.   So sorry you have been forced to see poverty on your other cruises.....   geez.

[elliair]

5 minutes ago, RickSue said:

You don't see poverty in Alaska?  Alaska has a very high poverty rate.   If you go into any of the villages, you will find extreme poverty.    There are homeless shelters in Juneau and every other city in Alaska.    Your statement that you don't want to see poverty when you cruise is really disturbing to me.    Seems extremely snobby and condescending.   So sorry you have been forced to see poverty on your other cruises.....   geez.

Never taken an excursion to see the "poverty" in Alaska.  Only pristine adventures.  Did pass by the dump where we saw hundreds of bald eagles.  They're just like gulls, they'll eat anything.  I've been to Alaska several times and saw maybe 1 or 2 homeless locals roaming around.  You see that everywhere in the States and beyond....like Hawaii for instance.

Edited February 8, 2020 by elliair

[nini]

I also think the demand is high due to it being a "convenient" trip for half of the USA. 

 For us, we can drive 3 hours to Seattle, park the car, get on theship. Love it!

[vampiress]

eh, i expected alaska to cost a lot because it's remote.  we paid the premium for a balcony because this is likely our one time, but also because dad retired and this is his celebration.

 

until we collectively in all countries vote out politicians who skew the economies for business owner profits and stop de-prioritizing  social services, schools, education, and healthcare, homelessness is a problem everywhere.  if you choose not to see it, that really is on you.countries who do prioritize social services, schools, education, and healthcare have a good quality of living and lower homelessness. 

 

my question is a 7 day doesn't seem like a vacation to me, it just seems exhausting with ports every day and no actual relaxing.  this is why we did the rt from la. (rhetorical, not trying to derail this thread.  i know that is what people want so they keep programming it.  same thing happens in carribbean. )

Edited February 9, 2020 by vampiress

[cflutist]

8 hours ago, nini said:

I also think the demand is high due to it being a "convenient" trip for half of the USA. 

 For us, we can drive 3 hours to Seattle, park the car, get on theship. Love it!

 

We have been to Alaska 8 times now, 1 on RC and 7 times in Princess. We have done NB/SB B2B from Vancouver and the 10 day from San Francisco where we take BART (public transit) to the port. We have seen Glacier Bay, College Fjord, Hubbard Glacier, and Tracy Arm.

 

But there are still parts of Alaska that we want to see. So sailing on this cruise in July. Spending 6 days in Alaska and 12 days in the Russian Far East. There are still cabins available if anyone would like to join us.

 

 

Edited February 9, 2020 by cflutist