How Much To Budget

[seamare]

I'm just starting to think alaska for this summer - looking at Princess 15 day cruisetour. We have never been. I'm just wondering what the average total cost of a Alaska trip would be. I'm not the type to do helicopter tours, etc. Alot of time we book our own excursions. When we were in Hawaii we usually rented cars. Also what is the weather conditions the last week in August and the first week in September? I know this is a difficult question but I appreciate any comments. Thank you

[agabbymama]

I did a HAL cruisetour to the Yukon and interior Alaska in August '07. We had a few showers, but not heavy downpours. Even in Juneau (where it did really rain, it was just for a short time). The rest of the trip, it seemed to wait until we were on the bus or at the hotel to shower. It was cool, 40s, 50s, & possibly 60s. I wore my cuddle dud long johns every day under sweats, with a ski parka when outside the bus.

 

We had about 3 lunches provided by HAL, the rest of the meals we were on our own, as I hadn't purchased their meal plan at $300 per person. It was an 11 day cruisetour. I subtracted the 3 days on the ship, leaving 8 days x 3 meals per day, minus the 3 lunchs that leaves 21 meals at a cost of $15.00 per meal per person. I thought I could eat cheaper than that, but ended up not being the case. Breakfasts were $15 per person, and light lunches about the same. Dinners however were $28-35. And the choices were not abundant. Especially in Denali, you are a captive audience.

 

If you read these threads, you will find there are a lot of independent tours touted. Renting cars in the ports isn't too practical as they are usually landlocked ports (Juneau, Ketchikan, Sitka) the only real way to get there is by sea or plane. Skagway you could drive, or if you plan to do a totally independent route out of Anchorage a car rental would work.

 

I don't spend a lot for excursions either. We did one to Husky Homestead (Jeff King's dog kennel) for $45 pp and another one for dinner at Ester's Gold Camp for $50 pp. There was a local wagon ride for $15 in Dawson City. But the rest of the trip was included. I made sure the cruisetour I selected went where I wanted to go.

 

My 11 day HAL cruisetour including air was $2710 + a last minute $50 Alaska cruise passenger tax. And I spent approximately $500 pp on top of that for food, tours and souvenirs, so $3300 total pp. Now you may spend more than that, or less than that. Our first trip to just the ports of Sitka, Juneau and Ketchikan, we didn't eat on land at all, so the $750 for the cruise, $15 for one native local tour van in Ketchikan, $7 for a ho ho van in Sitka, and maybe $200 for souvenirs. So less than $1000 pp. It's really up to you what you want to spend, just remember Alaska is expensive.

 

Hope this helps in your planning, even though you are on Princess, rather than HAL, costs on land should be similar. Have a great trip, Alaska is actually an awesome destination.

[chachi]

I have finally planned all of my excursions for my week long cruise. I have started booking some. This is my first time in Alaska so I wanted to get a lot in. My total for excursions in $937. Although it is more than I wanted to spend, I wanted to do as much as possible. I tried to cut some excursions, but I really want to do it all. I couldn't think of anything that I wanted to give up. This will probably be my only trip to Alaska as I try to travel to different places.

[seamare]

Thank you for the responses - it gives me a good ball park figure as to what to expect. Appreciate you taking the time to reply.

[minus]

My boyfriend and I are saving about $600 on excursions by using the Toursaver 2 for 1 coupons for:

 

Denali river rafting

Mt McKinley flightseeing

Kenai Fjords Nat'l Park Cruise

Juneau whale watching

[Budget Queen]

I am an advocate of budgeting fully for costly touring. The selection is vast and overall, the flights, wildlife tours are well worth the expense. My opinion only. :) I always forego a cabin higher cost, in preference of touring.

 

DO YOUR HOMEWORK, on interior Alaska travel, with cruisetours, over and over, it is seen that most are just not aware of SIGNIFICANT features that are big negatives. Understand fully everything, times in transit, inclusions, destinations etc.

 

Budget 50% more for meals than you would at home on cruisetours.