First timer with a few questions

[teller80]

Thinking about an Alaskan cruise (non-Disney) and I don't know where to start, I'm hoping someone can direct me. I just started reading CruiseCritic, but you guys here feel like old friends so I wanted to start here.

Is it too late to start planning a May cruise? I'm wondering if this is a vacation I should use a travel agent for? I've always booked our vacations myself, even when we went to Italy, but wondering if an agent would get me a better deal? If so, how do I go about finding a good agent? I don't mind using an online one.

I know May isn't ideal for Alaska, but it's the only time frame available for us to go. I'm looking at a round trip from either Vancouver or Seattle, most have 3 ports. Would you budget $250 per port for excursions? I made the mistake of reading reviews and the negative ones bug me. I realize most people would rather write a review for their bad experiences than their good so I'm trying to keep an open mind.

Does anyone want to offer tips for me? I'd be grateful for any. Thanks!

 

[teller80]

I meant to say $250 per person per port.

 

[GatorMomInNC]

There is another cruise cite that covers all cruise lines and has a section on different ports and excursions you might look at. We did Alaska in September, everyone said the weather would be bad, it was great. Cheaper to fly into Seattle than Vancouver. Alaska was amazing, and doing the whale watching tour was one of the most fantastic experiences I have ever had. I think May is slow season and you could probably get good deals, but Alaska tends to be expensive due to the limited time frame to cruise.

 

[natebenma]

My family of 4 (two adults, two teens) went on our first Alaskan cruise in August. We went on Carnival Cruise lines round-trip out of Seattle with one day sailing through Glacier Bay. Your estimate for excursions sounds reasonable. We did a non-cruise excursion whale watch/Mendenhall glacier tour in Juneau ($120 per person), cruise sponsored Yukon tour ($135 pp) in Skagway (many private tours available here too) and a budget-busting, but totally worth it Bear Adventure in Ketchikan.

We booked ourselves, then did a lot of research about excursions on a cruise-specific message board.

I have a trip report in progress for that trip- link is in my signature.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Thinking about an Alaskan cruise (non-Disney) and I don't know where to start, I'm hoping someone can direct me. I just started reading CruiseCritic, but you guys here feel like old friends so I wanted to start here.

Is it too late to start planning a May cruise? I'm wondering if this is a vacation I should use a travel agent for? I've always booked our vacations myself, even when we went to Italy, but wondering if an agent would get me a better deal? If so, how do I go about finding a good agent? I don't mind using an online one.

I know May isn't ideal for Alaska, but it's the only time frame available for us to go. I'm looking at a round trip from either Vancouver or Seattle, most have 3 ports. Would you budget $250 per port for excursions? I made the mistake of reading reviews and the negative ones bug me. I realize most people would rather write a review for their bad experiences than their good so I'm trying to keep an open mind.

Does anyone want to offer tips for me? I'd be grateful for any. Thanks!

It's never "too early" to plan a cruise. Most of the time, the further out you book, the cost is lower.

Since you've never cruised, I'd suggest working with a travel agent for the first time. TAs don't reduce the cost of the cruise, but some may offer perks for using them to book. Think onboard credit, or free dinner at the extra pay dining, or, maybe, a bottle of wine. Since this board is sponsored by Dreams Unlimited, many people here use them. Ask your friends/family if any of them has a TA they've used (and liked).

May is certainly not the best for Alaska. In fact there may not be many choices for that month, until the end of the month. We did a Alaska/Yukon cruisetour with Holland America several years ago. Princess & HAL have the best itineraries, IMO, for Alaska, since they've been doing them for so long. Depending on what you want - an Alaskan cruise, or a Disney cruise that has Alaska as it ports of call, will determine whether DCL or another cruise line is best. Most Alaska cruises will have 3 ports (Juneau, Skagway/Haines, and Ketchikan are the norm). Places like Glacier Bay are a cruise only destination. It's a good idea to read reviews and take in the good with the bad, and realize that the truth is probably somewhere in the middle.

 

[jdb in AZ]

It's definitely not too late to plan a cruise for next May. We've cruised Alaska in May twice. One year the weather was great. The other May cruise was really cold but they'd had record-breaking heat the week before. Basically the weather does what it wants, and changes quickly. A ship captain once said that Alaska doesn't have bad weather (during cruising season) just tourists who are poorly dressed for it. If you have layers and water-proofing, you're good.

Our most recent cruise to Alaska was this past July, and we made the decision in May. So yeah, it's do-able but the sooner you book, the better. We like Princess itineraries the best.

$250 won't pay for flight-seeing in a float plane or a helicopter, but there are plenty of other options. You can just walk around town in some ports and save the $$$ for a splurge in another.

 

[teller80]

My family of 4 (two adults, two teens) went on our first Alaskan cruise in August. We went on Carnival Cruise lines round-trip out of Seattle with one day sailing through Glacier Bay. Your estimate for excursions sounds reasonable. We did a non-cruise excursion whale watch/Mendenhall glacier tour in Juneau ($120 per person), cruise sponsored Yukon tour ($135 pp) in Skagway (many private tours available here too) and a budget-busting, but totally worth it Bear Adventure in Ketchikan.

We booked ourselves, then did a lot of research about excursions on a cruise-specific message board.

I have a trip report in progress for that trip- link is in my signature.

That's us - us and our 2 kids (26 and 22)! Did you do 2 rooms? I can't see your signature, I must have my settings adjusted somehow. I'll have to look into fixing it later. Looking forward to reading it!

 

[teller80]

It's definitely not too late to plan a cruise for next May. We've cruised Alaska in May twice. One year the weather was great. The other May cruise was really cold but they'd had record-breaking heat the week before. Basically the weather does what it wants, and changes quickly. A ship captain once said that Alaska doesn't have bad weather (during cruising season) just tourists who are poorly dressed for it. If you have layers and water-proofing, you're good.

Our most recent cruise to Alaska was this past July, and we made the decision in May. So yeah, it's do-able but the sooner you book, the better. We like Princess itineraries the best.

$250 won't pay for flight-seeing in a float plane or a helicopter, but there are plenty of other options. You can just walk around town in some ports and save the $$$ for a splurge in another.

When you say "next May", do you mean May 2018 or 2019? I'm planning for 2018. I thought $1000 for the four of us could get us a flight over the Misty Fjords, no?

 

[natebenma]

That's us - us and our 2 kids (26 and 22)! Did you do 2 rooms? I can't see your signature, I must have my settings adjusted somehow. I'll have to look into fixing it later. Looking forward to reading it!

Here's the link to my report

To Be (Or Not To Be) Eclipsed

The 4 of us shared a room. My 19 year old slept in the top bunk, my 16 year old slept below and my husband and I shared the bed. Probably the biggest inconvenience was the single bathroom.

When you say "next May", do you mean May 2018 or 2019? I'm planning for 2018. I thought $1000 for the four of us could get us a flight over the Misty Fjords, no?

I just looked at the excursion booklet through Carnival- Misty Fjords float plane was $349 pp in August 2017. I looked at the website for Taquan Air, which is the company we used for our bear excursion, and they listed a Misty Fjords tour for $229 per person for May 2018