Finding an Alaska cruise

[Maryrachel713]

Are we screwed to try to find 3 staterooms to go to Alaska this summer? We’re searching but I’m not sure if it’ll work but it seems like I have to give an agent a whole bunch of information I’m not sure about yet. Is there anyone who will just talk to you? (Would book through them once we figure it out!)

 

[mlayton14]

Are we screwed to try to find 3 staterooms to go to Alaska this summer? We’re searching but I’m not sure if it’ll work but it seems like I have to give an agent a whole bunch of information I’m not sure about yet. Is there anyone who will just talk to you? (Would book through them once we figure it out!)

Online isn’t helping ? You don’t need to provide any info

 

[Maryrachel713]

Online isn’t helping ? You don’t need to provide any info

I can find some room availability but I tried to find an agent and they seem to want dates and things I don’t know too

 

[jujubiee4]

I can find some room availability but I tried to find an agent and they seem to want dates and things I don’t know too

You mean 3 connecting? Yes you should have a date available. If your just wondering about
pricing just look on any date and check the cabins/pricing. Costco can book it also and Dreams
unlimited. I had only 5 minute wait when calling DCL this morning to put a deposit down

 

[Maryrachel713]

You mean 3 connecting? Yes you should have a date available. If your just wondering about
pricing just look on any date and check the cabins/pricing. Costco can book it also and Dreams
unlimited. I had only 5 minute wait when calling DCL this morning to put a deposit down

Ideally we need 1 accesible so we’re aiming for proximity. Does dreams have a phone number? I must have missed it when I was looking

 

[auntlynne]

 

[Maryrachel713]

It would certainly be useful to provide some information. This applies to pretty much any cruise vacation.


Budget!

Range of dates

Types of rooms (accessible, interior, ocean view, Verandah) if this is makes A difference. (Would you consider a cabin that had no view?)

Connecting or not (be it if you want one or if specifically don’t want one).

Number of people in each room (sometimes lifeboats in a specific area reach capacity and you cannot book beyond a certain capacity in a cabin)

(Less important if you don’t have knowledge of an area) - special itinerary

…

You can get two cabins connecting, but not three. If you have a lot of money, you could consider a large Concierge cabin that might hold the people of two cabins.

Sometimes handicap accessible sell out. That might be the best start to find a sailing date.

I‘m guessing you don’t want to try the cruise line website to get an idea of what’s a possibility? (Just asking - no judgment.). I like to have an idea of my options - and possible price.

We did try but we were having to try to redo the whole thing every time.

Budget: my mom is paying she wants to keep costs down but she also wants to go more

Anytime between June 10-August 14 (ideally avoid June 23-24)

There are 10 (9?) people. My family of 4, my sister has a kid and a 1 year old (3 or 4 people—the baby might not count) and my mom & her partner. 3 cabins. Ideally we want to get an accessible room (my mom was hit by a car on her bike in October). I think we'd like at least one verandah. Connecting cabins would be nice, but we'd be willing to split although proximity is nice.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

We did try but we were having to try to redo the whole thing every time.

Budget: my mom is paying she wants to keep costs down but she also wants to go more

Anytime between June 10-August 14 (ideally avoid June 23-24)

There are 10 (9?) people. My family of 4, my sister has a kid and a 1 year old (3 or 4 people—the baby might not count) and my mom & her partner. 3 cabins. Ideally we want to get an accessible room (my mom was hit by a car on her bike in October). I think we'd like at least one verandah. Connecting cabins would be nice, but we'd be willing to split although proximity is nice.

It sounds like you should find a travel agent to give you a hand with your preferences.

 

[Flossbolna]

I can find some room availability but I tried to find an agent and they seem to want dates and things I don’t know too

You can always just send an f egg mail to the travel agencies general email and let them know what you are looking for.

Here is the contact page for Dreams Unlimited, which is the sponsor of the boards. But other agencies for sure also have a general inquiry email address.

https://www.dreamsunlimitedtravel.com/contact.htm

 

[auntlynne]

 

[Maryrachel713]

You can always just send an f egg mail to the travel agencies general email and let them know what you are looking for.

Here is the contact page for Dreams Unlimited, which is the sponsor of the boards. But other agencies for sure also have a general inquiry email address.

https://www.dreamsunlimitedtravel.com/contact.htm

Thanks I was only finding lengthy forms!

 

[Maryrachel713]

(I am not a travel agent, but I am a traveler who loves looking at cruise options. And I have a lot of free time.) . I will typically point to lower-cost options except for people who truly have no spending limit.

Excursions in AK can easily be several hundred dollars each. But I think families with children may skip some of these due to age restrictions. (Helicopters, float planes…). But there is also airfare, ground transfers, and pre-cruise hotels.

Airfare (which you typically book on your own these days, can make a less expensive cruise fare become a more expensive vacation. Vancouver can be a pricey destination for airfare (and hotels).

I did a quick look at what’s available. I was glad I was sitting down. But, also realized the prices represent 10 people. (For reference, my niece’s honeymoon cruise to AK on Disney, in a Verandah, non-peak season, late May 2018, was about $7K for 2 adults).

Here’s my initial suggestion.
View attachment 736104View attachment 736105

I would probably pick the same deck for these two cabins, 5 or 7. Just giving you some ideas of options.
View attachment 736106View attachment 736107

Alternately, for your sister and small children. An ocean view if they end up stuck in the room. You can do a little math to calculate it for your family.

View attachment 736108

Here are some of my rationale. (Rooms are picked from what was available Jan 29, Sunday).

Mom‘s handicap room as chosen (there are two of these identical rooms) is a Verandah. It is a very big verandah (I stayed in the handicap one on Deck 8, just above it). Much or most of the family could enjoy it on glacier-cruising day.

I love Deck 5 Forward. It is very convenient to the movie theater and the Kids Clubs (I think the nursery, too). It us not on a long hall of rooms, which makes getting around easy. Also near elevators and stairs. There were interiors and oceanviews available.

You could mix and match interiors or oceanviews. Or add verandahs.

(I have sailed Disney to AK. We had the lowest-priced interiors - Deck 5 Forward “sideways“ standard cabins with a single bathroom (compared to deluxe cabins that have the split bathroom of sink + toilet and sink + tub). I’ve done a total of 19 Disney cruises on the first 4 ships. I never say you “must“ have a Verandah or maybe anything. Each family decides what is important to them. I also have done 5 different cruise itineraries to Alaska - because this is one of my favorite vacations. The other being land trips in Hawaii.)

I hope this gives you a starting block when starting your conversation with a travel agent.

Happy planning. If you would like more help or suggestions, just ask.

Oh wow you are the sweetest! I’m at moms now and will show her.

 

[starry_solo]

I don’t think any travel agent is going to give you pricing for ten different cruises That fall within your two month range.

so you need to talk to your family and narrow down the dates.

have you checked DCL’s website to narrow down options?

I can tell you that when I looked for mid to late May 2023 for a verandah room yesterday, 7 night cruise for DCL, it was $10k+ for three people…. Unless I wanted a guaranteed verandah which means no refunds, pay in full, etc. then it was $6000.

so you are going to be looking at $20-30K for three rooms.
only two will be connecting.

 

[mmmears]

I would suggest looking online and seeing what's available so you have dates and room preferences you can give to a TA if you want to book through one. There are just too many variables for someone else to be able to help you right now. Good luck! Alaska is an amazing place to cruise.

 

[tvguy]

I can find some room availability but I tried to find an agent and they seem to want dates and things I don’t know too

Well, I think one thing to think about is the for most trips involving a group of people, the biggest problem is making sure everyone can get time off then. After where you are going, that to me is the second biggest decision you need to have resolved before a Travel Agent will want to put the work in.
My wife and I are retired now so we can be flexible, but my wife had to have her vacation requests in for a year by September 1 of the previous year if she wanted a guarantee that she could get the time off. And that wasn't some odd company policy, it was a policy negotiated into the Union contract at the request of the majority of the employees .

 

[starry_solo]

BTW, the one year old does count as an occupant.

I did some baseline pricing out for June, July, and August on the DCL website. You are looking from anywhere between $3300 for a standard interior cabin for a 5 night Alaskan Cruise leaving from Vancouver and $4500 for one interior cabin for a 7 night cruise. This is with 2 people in one cabin and with handicapped accessible requested and aft is the only one available...this is for the 5-night cruise.

The cabin with 4 people, standard interior is $5924, oceanview is $6934, and verandah is $10594

Remember, all these prices DON'T include the gratuities.

For the standard interior room, only midship is available, not aft....

 

[Maryrachel713]

Well, I think one thing to think about is the for most trips involving a group of people, the biggest problem is making sure everyone can get time off then. After where you are going, that to me is the second biggest decision you need to have resolved before a Travel Agent will want to put the work in.
My wife and I are retired now so we can be flexible, but my wife had to have her vacation requests in for a year by September 1 of the previous year if she wanted a guarantee that she could get the time off. And that wasn't some odd company policy, it was a policy negotiated into the Union contract at the request of the majority of the employees .

Only 2 people (husbands) are working, my sister and I are teachers. They’ve both checked and are flexible, so it between when I end school and start it again. Part of why I’m overwhelmed!

 

[tvguy]

Only 2 people (husbands) are working, my sister and I are teachers. They’ve both checked and are flexible, so it between when I end school and start it again. Part of why I’m overwhelmed!

Well then I suggest you all pick a date. Otherwise the travel agent has to do all the work multiple times, and they are only going to get paid for one trip, and only once you are actually on the ship.
Remember, Travel Agents are coming off the nightmare that was the pandemic cruise shutdown, where they have to redo everything, some times multiple times, for free until the cruise was actually taken. In some cases, people totally canceled so they did all that work for nothing, or people are still sitting on future cruise credits, and the travel agents won't get their commission until those unbooked cruise credits are used and the cruise taken.

 

[Maryrachel713]

Well then I suggest you all pick a date. Otherwise the travel agent has to do all the work multiple times, and they are only going to get paid for one trip, and only once you are actually on the ship.
Remember, Travel Agents are coming off the nightmare that was the pandemic cruise shutdown, where they have to redo everything, some times multiple times, for free until the cruise was actually taken. In some cases, people totally canceled so they did all that work for nothing, or people are still sitting on future cruise credits, and the travel agents won't get their commission until those unbooked cruise credits are used and the cruise taken.

It’s sounding like I actually should probably skip a travel agent and price out each individual cruise myself. The reason I’m not just picking a date is because I’m looking at room availability and proximity too. If a travel agent can’t help with that, then I’m not entirely sure wi need the agent for.

I sent an email last night so I’ll see what the agent says or if I should try to figure it out myself.

 

[starry_solo]

It’s sounding like I actually should probably skip a travel agent and price out each individual cruise myself. The reason I’m not just picking a date is because I’m looking at room availability and proximity too. If a travel agent can’t help with that, then I’m not entirely sure wi need the agent for.

I sent an email last night so I’ll see what the agent says or if I should try to figure it out myself.

as long as you change the number of guests on the website (and number of staterooms), you can check most availability yourself online.

Sone people use TAs for the on board credit they get from the TA.