Cruising Alaska on a Budget - Star Review

[CaribbeanBound]

Cruising Alaska on a Budget

http://www.lavasurfer.com/info/alaska.html

 

Just posted this to th enet last week.

It is a detailed review of our Princess Star cruise from Seattle to Alaska.

Lots of hints and tips.

[srphnx]

Thanks, that was a lot of work!

[lindberg]

Great review. I love to read reviews like yours. I also cruise with a family in an inside quad and we like doing our own shore trips. I definitely picked up some good tips I'll use on our Diamond cruise in October.

[Paula_MacFan]

Very nice review! Our family has been contemplating a simliar trip...your suggestions will be well-received. Thanks!

[taxatty]

Thanks for the detailed review. You gave some great ideas for our Alaska trip next summer with kids without breaking the bank.

 

Les

[Lynda90]

Thanks for the great review. I really enjoyed it. I was on the Diamond to Alaska a few months ago and had a fabulous time. We didn't do any of the tours either. Next year we are cruising Alaska again on the Sapphire.

[edYYZ]

We also did Diamond Alaska this year (May), except we did partake in shore excursions (run by Princess). But, your review did have some excellent suggestions. The excursion we took in Skagway was great (bus to carcross, white pass rail back). The rental car sounds like a great idea as well, but note to Canadians, this isn't an option for us. We aren't allowed to rent a car in the US and drive it into Canada (apparently). The rental for Mendenhall in Juneau is worth noting. It definitely didn't seem to difficult to drive there yourself, and after our excursion, we didn't really feel it was worth the money. Ketchikan we also explored ourself.

 

In my opinion, the shore excursions offered for Alaskan cruises are really unique and would be very good experiences. However, I also think that applies more to the most expensive ones (flightseeing, helicopter tours, dogsledding, whalewatching). If you're going to spend on excursions, I'd go for the pricey ones. They'll be the most unique and memorable - and would be difficult to do without the tour operator. Some of the mid/lower priced ones might not be worth the extra cost over managing yourself.

 

All in all, thanks for the review!

 

BTW, the main way we saved money: limiting the amount of purchased drinks and other expenses onboard. I personally think it's more worth to spend the money on excursions than martinis :). But, to each their own!

[Coolmama_1]

Thank you for a very informative review.

[geoherb]

Thanks for the great detailed review. I thought the same thing about Michael Modzelewski. I tried hard to budget for the two of us for our Alaskan cruise on the Star Princess last summer. I was trying to keep it to less than $2,000 per person, including our flights and our three nights before the cruise in Seattle. We managed to do it.

 

We did do a couple of moderately priced excursions--snorkeling in Ketchikan through Princess and kayaking in Haines through an independent. We took the MGT bus to Mendenhall Glacier in Juneau plus toured the capitol and the Alaska State Museum.