Help! Complete Alaska Newbie!

[cowtec]

We are getting ready to book our Alaska cruise - Dawn Princess in August 2005. What is the difference between booking northbound or southbound Inside Passage? Should we do a Cruise Tour - TA says yes, but there are so many choices and we are watching costs. Any options we should consider? Tundra wilderness tour or natural history tour in Denali? Mt. McKinley Princess or Denali Princess? Or do we do Kenai? There is so much and it's all so gorgeous - we don't know where to start! Somebody please help with some suggestions from your experiences! Thanks!

Sue

Dawn Princess - Panama Canal - April 2004

Dawn Princess - Alaska - August 2005

[Folladori4]

Just did a B2B and would recommend the inside passage that includes Glacier Bay, if you only do the round trip 7 day with ports only you will miss all the glaciers, ice bergs and in my opinion the best part of the cruise. I think the north bound is the best because you have a day at sea to enjoy the ship and some of the views then port days with excurions leaving the best for last Glacier bay and Prince William Sound. Which is unbelievable...calving glaciers, ice bergs, we even saw a sea lion giving birth on an ice berg while 2 bald eagles sat watching. Be sure to bring binoculars for everyone in your group and twice as much film as you think you might need. You will have a great cruise Alaska is the ultimite destination.

[Budget Queen]

I like southbound- for the excellent last sailing day back to Vancouver, supurb marine wildlife opportunities. If on a budget- going on your OWN interior is your best bargain- you can clearly see twice as much for half the cost of the tours. My opinion only- having gone to Alaska many times- the tours are lacking- they are point to point and never really see any of the small gems of Alaska. Consider a rental car and staying in some of the excellent Alaska B&B's. A necessary reference is THE MILEPOST. If you still go with a tour- some points to consider- all meals are extra, budget 50% more than you do at home for a cushion. Go for as long as you can afford- at least 7 days. Shorter tours have way too much time in transit and little time at the destination. If you want to see wildlife- you need the Tundra Wilderness tour- again my opinion only the Natural History tour is pretty worthless- the Park Service offers a FREE bus with ranger activities to the same place. I just find it very difficult to spend all that money and time getting there for a 3 hour tour. Be aware Denali Princess and McKinley Princess are 100 miles apart. Nothing at the McKinley. If you do some research- you could plan yourself a nice land tour, plenty on this board have. Choose what is right for you.

[Italy52]

[B]Sue[/B] We were considering the Northbound/Southbound itinerary for Alaska but backed off due to high cost of airfare. We are in San Diego. Noticed you are from L.A. Did you find any good deals? If so, what airline? For now, we are probably going to do the Seattle-Seattle route in August '05.

[cowtec]

Hi Italy52. As we are just starting our plans, I have just glanced at airfare from LAX and it seems incredibly high. I will have to keep watching it. Our Princess air last cruise was OK, but with the fuel prices, I don't know what the airfares are going to do. We considered the RT from Seattle, but are still leaning toward the Anchorage/Vancouver trip - just need to figure out which direction and what extras to add on. I love the planning, but I am starting to stress out on this one...

Sue

Dawn Princess - Panama Canal - April 2004

Dawn Princess - Alaska - August 2005

[Italy52]

[B]Sue[/B] Thanks for the reply. The cheapest I could find for San Diego to Anchorage was $783.90 p/p. San Diego to Seattle was a lot less if we used Southwest. San Diego is the pitts when trying to arrange air travel. Good luck to you, hope all works out in your favor.

[mpk]

On the airfares, we ended up booking one way tickets up, and one way tickets down on different airlines. The cost ended up being less than a round trip. Go figure.

Also, it was $100 pp less than the cruiseline's airfare. Plus, since it was my own airfare, I could schedule it anyway I wanted. The cruiselines will charge a "accomodation fee" if you want to time the flight other than what they want to dish out. The fee was like $50 or $75 pp.

[lmcd]

Airfares-
When checking these airfares, make sure you are using the multi-city option not one-way tickets or roundtrip tickets. By using multi-city departures the airlines treat this as a roundtrip basically.

We preferred the Southbound also but for a different reason. The land tour is much more tiring than the cruise portion. By taking the Southbound, the first day is a day at sea, cruising thru Glacier Bay or Prince William sound or etc, providing for a day and 1/2 of rest and relaxation after your land tour.

I also agree the independent touring is the most cost effective method of seeing the most of the Alaska interior. The B&Bs are fine places to stay and reasonably priced.

Larry

Fantasy 08/99
Ecstacy 05/00
Westerdam 04/01
Legend of the Seas 08/02
Zaandam 04/03
Carnival Spirit 08/03

[lmcd]

Sue,
I did a search on Orbitz for San Diego to Anchorage with a Flight 2 from Vancouver to San Diego using the multi-city option. Since I did not know the correct dates, I used Aug 7 as the date leaving San Diego and Aug 21 as date returning from Vancouver. The total cost was Air West- $534, Alaska Airlines- $647, United Airlines- $757.

Note- Multi-city option is under the Advanced Search option.

Larry

Fantasy 08/99
Ecstacy 05/00
Westerdam 04/01
Legend of the Seas 08/02
Zaandam 04/03
Carnival Spirit 08/03

[bpwarne]

The open-jaw tickets from the western US are not a good deal. (If the open leg is longer than either of the flown segments it usually is not a good deal) I had similiar prices from the bay area to Ancorage and from Vancouver back to the bay area (or Sacramento or Reno) just this May. A better (well cheaper anyway) option: Flew to Seattle from Reno for $59/ea Bought a round trip Seattle to Ancorage ticket on Continental for $198/ea. Flew to Ancorage on it and threw away the return ticket (ouch, I know...sounds painful but it is cheaper this way) When we arrived in Vancouver the following week we rented a one way car from downtown Vancouver to Seattle airport. (Hertz at the Renassaince, within easy walking distance from the port) for $65 Canadian (about $48 US) Then we flew home on Southwest for $59/ea. This works out to about $350/ea. A significant savings. The drive to Seattle is rather pleasant (on a weekend anyway) and you may have time to visit White Rock on the way for some last minute sightseeing/tourist shopping.

Carnival Spirit 12/10/03
Coral Princess 5/15/04

[cowtec]

Thank you all for your quick responses!! It is so easy to get stuck on one thing and not consider different options. I had never thought of driving Vancouver to Seattle, but what a great idea!!! This is why I love these boards! Lots of ideas for us, Italy52!

Sue

Dawn Princess - Panama Canal - April 2004

Dawn Princess - Alaska - August 2005

[tadjr]

Just a word of caution on the airfares (and you didnt hear this from me! [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif[/img] ) I've seen many people get burned using the one way throwing away the other part because they booked the return they wanted on the second part of the ticket and not the first. Once you miss a flight, the rest of the ticket is worthless. If you do a ticket this way, make sure the part you are going to use is the first leg of the trip and dont mention to the airline personnel that this is what you are doing or you might get a by the book agent who will make you pay the difference since this isnt technically allowed on most round trip fares. I say more power to you (and I've unofficially away from work) advised people to do the same. Just be sure you get it in the right order. [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif[/img]

[bpwarne]

tadjr is absolutely right on that!

Carnival Spirit 12/10/03
Coral Princess 5/15/04

[Italy52]

[B]lmcd[/B] I am the one that lives in San Diego. Thank you, and everyone else for your efforts in trying to help us with our flight arrangments. All the information that has been given is very useful. When I was researching my travel arrangements I did use the multi-city search option. Unfortunately, due to my hubby's work schedule, we are locked into certain dates and times. Orbitz/Expedia and some of the other discounted sites give better rates but you have to fly during off times. This is not an option for us. We are also going to do a pre-cruise stay which makes a difference in flight costs. I'm not going to get discouraged, I know it will all work out. Many thanks again to everyone.

[mscloyd]

The other danger of booking two separate one-way tickets is if you have to change there would be two change fees I think.

[lmcd]

Additional thought on airfares. Orbitz/Expedia don't always have the best fares availaable. For the 2 trips we have made to Alaska, I got the best prices directly from the airlines. I have been told that airlines release a limited number of seats at each price category. They retain the remainder for themselves. I booked both of our flights 45 to 60 days ahead. I checked prices everyday. Supposedly 2:00 am is when most new prices are made available. A website that can be used to find good prices is [url="http://www.itasoftware.com"]www.itasoftware.com[/url]
Even if the prices are better, you can find the best flights tht fit you schedule and then check directly with the airlnes.

Larry

Fantasy 08/99
Ecstacy 05/00
Westerdam 04/01
Legend of the Seas 08/02
Zaandam 04/03
Carnival Spirit 08/03

[Italy52]

[B]Larry[/B] After checking with Orbitz/Expedia/Cheap Tickets, etc. I went directly to airline website to see if I could get a better deal, but prices were still high. Will definitely check into itasoftware.com and try the 2 AM routine. Thanks for the suggestion.

[tadjr]

Prices are actually updated about 4 times a day depending on the carrier and inventory is constantly being adjusted. Someone who might have a "cheap" seat held might miss a flight or cancel releasing the seat to be sold again or if the flights arent selling as the airline wishes, inventory might open up seats to sell at different (lower) prices. Keep checking as often as you can (airline websites as well as all the usual online companies) and keep an eye open if someone starts a sale. Subscribe to the airline websites that you are thinking about using and they will send you specials they are having. Often they have specials on their websites that they dont advertise. Its all hit and miss.

[Budget Queen]

If you are on a tight schedule- Be certain to allow enought time for transfers and DO Not underestimate distances. My min. recommendation for the land portion is 5 days independent. I am NEVER rushed and never feel I have overextended my land touring. Some cruisetours are guilty of this- plan carefully so you have enough time at the destination and not all your time on the road pushing to get from one place to another.