Is it worth spending the extra $7500 for a 9 night Alaska Cruise?

[ALK$Disney]

Hello everyone,

We are planning to book Alaska for September 2018. For the 7 night 05A verandah for a family of 3 is $7500 in September 2018. For a 9 night 05A verandah in July 2018 is just a bit over $15000. Is it worth paying the extra $7500 for 2 more nights? I see the only difference is that they take you to Hubbard Glacier on the 9 night sailing. We would love to see that, but I am not sure if its worth the extra $7500. Has anyone been to Hubbard Glacier or done the 9 night Alaskan cruise? I would love to get some input.

Thanks in advance.

 

[jdb in AZ]

Have you compared itineraries on other cruise lines? We've been to Hubbard (twice) and it's huge and all that, but if I had my druthers, I'd do a one-way itinerary and include a land trip to Denali. there's so much more to Alaska than the itineraries DCL does, even on a 9-day. FWIW, I thought Tracy's Arm was more scenic than Hubbard because of all the fjords we passed on the way in and out.

 

[phinz]

Holy crap that's expensive. We cruised in a double-sized aft verandah on Princess for two of us for half that, and we even got to see Glacier Bay. And we didn't even have to leave the States to get on board.

For that price, you can cruise on Princess in September of 2018, in almost the same suite we cruised in (Port instead of Starboard, but same deck, same room. 527 square feet. There are chairs, loungers *and* a table on the aft-facing verandah.) out of Los Angeles for 12 days, saving you the plane fare *and* $2500, plus you'll get 3 more days on board. $2500 buys a lot of fancy excursion stuff. $15k for a 9-day trip? That's ludicrous.

 

[KristiMc]

I would not spend the extra for 2 more nights. The main reason for the huge price difference is July vs September.

 

[Pooh2]

Yikes!! That is a huge difference! I would take that extra money and put it toward the next cruise!

 

[MUN]

Hello everyone,

We are planning to book Alaska for September 2018. For the 7 night 05A verandah for a family of 3 is $7500 in September 2018. For a 9 night 05A verandah in July 2018 is just a bit over $15000. Is it worth paying the extra $7500 for 2 more nights? I see the only difference is that they take you to Hubbard Glacier on the 9 night sailing. We would love to see that, but I am not sure if its worth the extra $7500. Has anyone been to Hubbard Glacier or done the 9 night Alaskan cruise? I would love to get some input.

Thanks in advance.

No.

 

[Geomom]

Definitely not worth double the cost for 2 more days. We found the Dawes Glacier in Endicott Arm (as Tracy Arm was clogged with ice the whole season) to be impressive enough.

 

[quickcat]

Wow, I would say it would not be worth it to us. That is too big of a difference for two nights.

 

[cruisehopeful]

Most expensive cruises are in July and least expensive are in September. You cannot really compare the price. You need to compare the 9 night to a 7 night in July. Also, there are a lot more excursions to choose in July. I wouldn't pay $7500. for 2 extra days at any rate.

 

[bcwife76]

No way, not for us! we are on a 7 night Alaskan at the end of this August and it's pricey enough! for $7500 I could take one or two more Disney cruises (depending on itinerary lol)

 

[mmouse37]

Nope!!! Not me!!!

MJ

 

[jrabbit]

we are doing the 9 night this summer. and yes it's expensive. So are the shore excursions. Will it be worth it? I don't know.

We looked at the 10 and 11 night Southern Caribbean cruises this summer on the Fantasy - and those prices were outrageously ridiculous! We looked at the 10 (or 11) night Fantasy Southern Caribbean cruise for Next Summer (2018) and still stupidly expensive. 7 nights on the Wonder out of Puerto Rico in January is about 1/3 the cost of those summer cruises. The weather will be nicer in January as well.

These DCL cruises (9 night Alaska and S Caribbean) has really made us rethink DCL going forward. We sill have a few more booked with reasonable rates, and then we will probably jump ship - look at RCCL or Princess or ??? to see if we can get a better value for our cruise dollars going forward.

 

[Vijoge]

Is it worth spending the extra $7500 for a 9 night Alaska Cruise?
Absolutely not! I wouldn't pay $7500 for two nights anywhere on earth.

 

[jujubiee4]

Yeah I have to go with the majority here. That is crazy expensive. Think about
ways you can use that extra money.

 

[truck1]

I wouldn't. DCL lately has a knack of putting a cruise that I know we want,(Im sure there are other also) at the most expensive time of year. I looked out of curiosity at 2 other lines, and can get different itineraries, at 1/2 the price DCL offers, and its an 8 day as opposed to the 7 day. 1 leaves from PC the other FtL.

 

[skinnyv]

No! Try holland American they have great service same small ship atmosphere and the food is the best I have had on the high seas, and you could add the train tour which is amazing for still probably half!

 

[seacruise]

Heck no! Family of three you could probably do 2 more (non-DCL) week long cruises for $7500, not just 2 more nights. Ridiculous. Plenty of 7 day sailing that go to Hubbard if that's what you want to see. It's well worth seeing - single most spectacular sight we have seen in Alaska!

 

[Shanti]

We are planning to book Alaska for September 2018. For the 7 night 05A verandah for a family of 3 is $7500 in September 2018. For a 9 night 05A verandah in July 2018 is just a bit over $15000. Is it worth paying the extra $7500 for 2 more nights? I see the only difference is that they take you to Hubbard Glacier on the 9 night sailing. We would love to see that, but I am not sure if its worth the extra $7500. Has anyone been to Hubbard Glacier or done the 9 night Alaskan cruise? I would love to get some input.

Thanks in advance.

September is reputed to be storm season in Alaska, and kids are back in school. That's why it's relatively cheap (although DCL is never cheap, especially in Alaska). July is prime Alaska cruising season, and the 9-night is the only DCL cruise to sail to the Hubbard Glacier in 2018. Also, balcony staterooms are very expensive for DCL Alaska cruises. If you want something more affordable during peak season, try June in an oceanview stateroom.

We'll be on the 9-night in 2018 in an oceanview stateroom. We're a party of two, and upgrading to even a 7A verandah would have cost another $3,000, even with the 10% OBB discount we booked with. We'd enjoy a verandah, but would rather take another cruise for that $3,000, which is exactly what we'll do in January. We love cruising DCL and the special itineraries are very attractive- I want my son to see the Hubbard Glacier, so the 9-night is worth it for me, particularly with the OBB discount. I wouldn't pay the premium for a verandah, though. It's easy enough to walk out on deck for a better view than we could get out of our porthole.

 

[hardis5]

It is not 2 more days but summer to fall prices. Look at any itinerary those same 2 weeks (using a 7-day Fantasy) and you'll pay 60-80% more for the same cruise in July as opposed to September. Looking at the sailing before and after the unique 9-day, a veranda can be had from $8400 each sailing and for the 9-day it is from $10600 so the 9-day is in line (marginally cheaper) per day pp than the 7-day.

 

[KashasMom]

I think $15,000 for Alaska is insane!! I'd never spend $7,500 for 2 nights.