choirfarm Posted March 19, 2008 #1 Share Posted March 19, 2008 We have three children ages 13, 11 and 6 and I homeschool. Therefore, we can cruise times when others with children cannot. The only cruise we hvaave ever been on was the Big Red Boat when my oldest two were 2 and 4, and we really didn't enjoy it. My husband would like to take our family to Alaska in the summer of 2009...probably late August or September. We thought about going this summer, but we promised the children Disney World and we can't swing 2 weeks off for Alaska in August and 2 weeks off for Disney in October. I thought of doing a cruise and a land portion in 2009. We took a trip just the two of us about 10 years ago and went to Denali, along the Old Denali Highway, Valdez, etc and had a wonderful time. I would like to do that with the children AND do a cruise to some of the ports and places that aren't so easy to drive to. Trying to figure out pricing on cruises is very confusing. How do you do it with 5 people?? Would we need 2 cabins?? I see suites, but is the price per person or for the whole suite?? Would some of my children get a discounted rate?? Are there any books or websites that I can check out and read? I'm getting confused and don't know where to find the information I need. Christine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crusinmama06 Posted March 19, 2008 #2 Share Posted March 19, 2008 The easiest way to do research is to go to a site like Expedia or Travelosity and put in the same info you just gave us. You said September 09, Alaska and then hit search. BUT, don't search for 5, search for 3. The prices come up per person until you select a cabin, then it gives you the total price. A fam of 5 is hard to do online. If you search for 3, then you can see the cabins available and the price of the 3rd/4th person in the cabin. THEN, once you find a ship that looks good to you, go to the Cruiseline's web site and search that ship/date/number of people there. Once you get the general price, either head to a TA or call the cruiseline directly. Only the 3rd and 4th person in each cabin get a discounted rate. There are some suites on some cruiselines that DO hold 5 people. But many say that it's cheaper to do a balcony with an inside then to do a suite. I'll go check the booking sites and see who has dates released for Sept 09. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crusinmama06 Posted March 19, 2008 #3 Share Posted March 19, 2008 Ok I just checked, the only cruiseline that has dates released in Sept 09 for Alaska so far is Carnival. I went to the Royal Carribean Web Site and did a search for Sept 08 cruises in Alaska just to get an idea on price. This is for a 7 Night Alaska Sawyer Glacier Cruise Balconies start at $1,349 for each adult (*first 2 people in the cabin) then it goes to $549 for the 3rd, 4th rate (the kids) There is a Family Oceanview Stateroom for $909 1st/2nd person and $549 for the kids. Interiors are $649 (1st/2nd) then $549 (3rd,4th) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
choirfarm Posted March 19, 2008 Author #4 Share Posted March 19, 2008 Do you need to book this early? We are just now planning for this summer's vacation and I'm not sure I could go ahead and book for the summer of 2009. And gulp, the family stateroom would cost us $3, 565 dollars!!! The two inside rooms would cost 3, 045? And I thought Disney was expensive!! Do you find any deals on these things?? Maybe we should just do our own land trip and go to the National Parks (We love that. The boys have giant notebooks with all of their Junior Ranger patches, but now my oldest just turned 13 and is too old. WAA) However, it seems like there were some cities/ National Parks that you have to get to by ship, correct? Which line would be best for us? My oldest isn't that social and is very small for his age. My 11yo is several inches taller than him now. We don't have x-box 360, playstation or anything like that. They enjoy educational programs an will watch the history channel documentaries a lot and love Ranger talks and programs and hikes. Christine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crusinmama06 Posted March 19, 2008 #5 Share Posted March 19, 2008 It's wise to book at least a year in advance. So you have till the end of Summer to really comit. Our Disney Cruise was $899 per child...lol. :eek: There are deals out there. Alaska is a tough one because the best deals to be had are in the Carribean/Bahamas. I know many other parents have been to Alaska and can recommend a cruiseline for that. Maybe you can start a thread specifically asking for opinions about Alaska? ----------- And just wanted to add, you are seriously just booking Disney now for the Summer? I have this entire year already booked and I am starting on 09. :D Are you going to Disneyland or Disney World? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wrp96 Posted March 19, 2008 #6 Share Posted March 19, 2008 If you are trying to get the cheapest price I highly recommend booking early. With most cruiselines, you can book early and then if the price drops call back and get the lower price up until final payment. RCCL, for example, will open Alaska 2009 bookings April 2nd. You can definitely tour Alaska on your own then do a cruise. In fact going independently will be your least expensive option for the land portion. I highly recommend going to the Alaska Ports of Call board as there are some extremely helpful posters there who can give you advice in regards to that, Budget Queen and Yukon to name a few. As to the cruise portion, you will want either a Southbound from Whittier or Seward to Vancouver (do the land portion first) or a northbound from Vancouver to Seward or Whittier (do the land portion after the cruise). As to the best cruise line a lot of it depends on you and your family and what you want to see. Princess and HAL have a reputation for doing a great job in Alaska. For the cruise portion, at least, you will probably need to talk to a Travel Agent, who can price out different cruises and room combinations. RCCL's ships, for example, do have rooms and suites that can accommodate 5 people but they can't be booked over the internet and many times they are more expensive than booking 2 connecting cabins. A good TA should be able to find something that works best for your family. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
choirfarm Posted March 19, 2008 Author #7 Share Posted March 19, 2008 I just booked our Disney Trip for Oct 27th- Nov 2nd with my 40 percent off code!:D We will spend a few more days in the area going to Kennedy Space Center and maybe some outdoor/educational places...still planning that. However, if they do announce free dining for September on April 10, I'm going to call and book for a full week during that time period instead. My oldest son, dh and I are going to Ethiopia for a mission trip for 10 days in July. Our normal "summer" family vacation is the last couple weeks of August or first few weeks of September when everyone else is back in school. We normal take our travel trailer somewhere: Yellowstone, Grand Tetons, Custer State Park, Colorado, etc. (DH says it has to be cool, hence no Disney in the summer. Plus, to crowded and expensive.) However, this summer's mission trip has disrupted the normal plans...for good reasons!! Last year we went to Honduras as a whole family in April for a mission trip, but the sponsor for this one has a lower age limit of 12. We normally take 1 or 2 big trips a year and a couple of smaller ones. For the 2008-2009 school year, Dh wanted to do Ethiopia, Alaska in August, Steamboat Springs in February and Disney goes in there somewhere... I don't see how in the world that could all be scheduled!!! I had this 40 percent off postcard for Disney that I got that was valid for certain dates through the end of this year, so I got him to postpone Alaska, but he wasn't happy. However, he promised the kids he would take them when they were 5, 10, and 12. (We missed that.) This will be our only trip to Disney as we are more outdoorsy people rather than theme park, constant entertainment kind of people. We don't even have cable tv here and finally splurged for satellite internet, mainly for school reasons. I guess that may be good that I convinced him to postpone Alaska if we need to plan so far in advance. To be honest, I just picked the days for Disney and I guess it is ok for dh as I couldn't get him to commit. We normally just get in our trailer and go, making reservations a couple of weeks in advance. Christine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
choirfarm Posted March 19, 2008 Author #8 Share Posted March 19, 2008 times they are more expensive than booking 2 connecting cabins. A good TA should be able to find something that works best for your family. I was wondering about whether or not I should use a travel agent for this. We did for the Big Red Boat with our Disney trip 10 years ago, but we were dissapointed. Too much caberet and gambling and the boat was run down and the food was just ok. I live in a tiny little town in rural Texas. How do I find a good travel agent?? Christine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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