How did you book Alaska cruise tour

[GRKC]

My wife and I are wanting to go to Alaska in 2026 , we have cruised a few times before and booked everything ourselves. This seams to have more parts to it, cruise/tour, air fare, transfers, hotels, insurance, excursions.... , so my question is how did you book?

 

#1 on you own

 

#2 Princess vacation planner

 

#3 travel agent.

 

[Kay S]

I'm interested in this, too.

[voljeep]

@Thrak - you got this

[JF - retired RRT]

It's up to you.

On your own or with a PVP...pay full price

On your own - keep total control of your booking with no middleman

TA - usually get a lower price and OBC

[mtnesterz]

First, go to the Princess website and download the Alaska Cruise and Cruisetours. Select which Cruisetour you want. We wish we had done a Connoisseur package, and encourage you to consider spending the extra money up front. It's the cost of shoreside meals that get you, which are included in the package.

Now you can book. A CVP is our choice, though others here will tell you big box store or other pro-TA for some admittedly good reasons.  We like the direct line for service, questions and insider knowledge. But there's no discounts or gift cards after the cruise as with a TA or Big Box store.

Do not book on your own. If you have a problem and need to contact Princess, you'll be at the mercy of the dreaded know-nothing call center.

A CVP, or experienced TA will set up the whole thing for you as you have listed them. Enjoy!

[Priszm]

I do a lot of stuff on my own. My parents are my travel agents, so I figure out what I want and let them know. They booked the cruise and land tour for us. I booked our flights and pre and post tour/cruise stays.  Our last cruise we booked through EZ Air and when we had an issue with one of our flights it was too stressful to try and figure out who to contact, while I was in line to try and get it fixed. So for next years trip we just booked direct through the airlines.

[Thrak]

I always book on my own but then I do transfer the booking to our TA. Sometimes he doesn't really end up having to do much at all for his commission but other times he spends loooooooooooong  sessions on the phone with Princess to fix issues or get additional benefits. On one cruise Princess kept "upgrading" us to a "better location" and he had to keep getting our original cabin back. It was nuts.

 

I used to do my own booking and then transfer it to our TA at final payment time. He got a commission and we got a discounted price. Princess blew that option when they decided to only give us a short time to transfer the booking. Some people on these forums say their TA gives them a 10% discount. Our TA doesn't do that sort of giant discount but he does tend to blow off hundreds of dollars which we appreciate. 🙂

 

This reminds me... I need to transfer our latest booking to him.  He has our 14 day Ring of Kerry cruisetour and the following 15 day transatlantic next fall but we just recently booked a 16 day Hawaii out of SF and haven't transferred it to him yet. I need to try to look up (again) how long we have to do the transfer before it ceases to be an option. I can't remember if it's 30 days or 60 days but I know it's something like that. D'Oh!

[Paula_MacFan]

We just did an Alaska cruisetour in May/June and had a great time.  I always book all our travel myself so option #1; however, we do have a Princess CVP who later added on an extra night at the Fairbanks Lodge for us.  Otherwise I did all the planning and booking.  If you break it down, there really aren't any more 'extras' than on a typical cruise.  Per your list:  transfers are included in the cruisetour, you can book your own excursions just like you can for a cruise, the insurance is no different than any other trip, and lodging is included in your cruisetour.

 

I would suggest you look carefully at all the options on the Princess website and determine which option fits you best, i.e. Connoisseur, On Your Own, short/long etc.  This grid is a nice comparison for all the options.  https://www.princess.com/learn/cruise-destinations/alaska-cruises/cruisetour-options/cruisetour-finder/

 

Then it's easy to book yourself online, or seek a TA to book for you.  Airfare is easily booked online using the Princess website.  I always do this myself and check fares daily and rebook if fares drop or a better flight option becomes available. 

 

Also I would suggest you read the Alaska cruisetour FAQs -- that answers a lot of good questions.  The PDF download is handy to have. 

 https://www.princess.com/en-us/faq/cruisetours

 

We chose the Off the Beaten Path 15 day option and have no regrets.  We loved all the lodges but especially Kenai Fjords.  We chose not to do Connoisseur as we are not big breakfast eaters and most of our lunches were included in our activities already.  So we just paid as we went for evening meals and took grab and go packaged food for quick breakfasts.  That also allowed us a little extra sleep in the mornings which was helpful with the big time difference from home 🙂

 

Lastly I would encourage you to book excursions early -- all of ours went way up in price as time went on, and many were sold out months in advance.  

 

 

 

Edited August 23 by Paula_MacFan

[roxievegas]

We have a 17 day Alaska cruise coming up in May 2025.  I did research each excursion for the ports that we wanted and compared the prices to Princess.  Most of them were the same or close, but the non princess excursions, some said that no refund if not cancelled by a certain time.  I did not like that because we all know that times can change when the ship arrives, or leaves, or other unforeseen problems.

because the price was close or the same, I booked all with Princess and paid up front.  I am happy with that decision.  The four excursions were $999 at the time I booked it and then the prices went up, so then I was really happy I booked when I did.

[donaldsc]

TA

 

DON