Super tight budget in Alaska

[orangesub]

Skagway:
Free walking around town and into National Park Buildings, do the Jr. Ranger Program
Free hike to Lower Dewey Lake if you are in good shape
$10 each day pass for SMART shuttle, takes you to Jewel Gardens $12 adults and $6 kids and the Gold Rush cemetery/ small water fall (don't bother with the third stop it's a tourist trap)
Free a great playground in the downtown area

Juneau:
$30 each Shuttle to Mendenhall
Taxi to Salmon hatchery $40ish round trip $5 each to get in
Visit the Russian Orthodox Church $5ish or make a donation I don't quite remember

Ketchikan
$2 each public bus to Totem Bight State Park
http://www.borough.ketchikan.ak.us/145/Transit
Adults only tour Dolly's house on Creek St.
Free walk to the salmon ladder
$5 adults, kids free Southeast Alaska Discovery Center

 

[MunFam]

As far as souvenirs go, if you want to give any Disney toys or costumes to your kids, buy them before and take them with you. They are much cheaper online! And if you can pack them without the kids seeing, they will never know the difference. That way you can just pick up a couple of small souvenirs while on the ship. And really, photos are the best keepsakes!

If you are on a tight budget, skip Palo. Sure it is awesome, but so are the main dining rooms that are included in your ship fare.

I prepacked "Mickey Mail" too and it worked out great!

I agree about skipping Palo. You can have a fancy dinner back home whenever you wish, but there are experiences that you can only have in Alaska...why waste your hard saved money on a meal when very nice meals are already provided. Spend your money on "Alaska"...

 

[phinz]

Another fun and inexpensive way to let the kids get some Disney magic is to do the Fish Extenders for your cruise group as well. You don't have to put a lot of money into the extender (you can make it yourself. I've seen some really creative ones) or the gifts given to others, but your kids should get a unique gift every day and that gets a lot of kids really excited. You can take a year putting the gifts together for your part in the exchange, and your kids could help. It would be a fun countdown project.

 

[xlxo]

How much is the Best of Skagway and Best of Juneau excursions? Combo tours offer value.

 

[xlxo]

Another vote to skip Palo and enjoy your time with the kids in the MDR.

Souvenirs?

• Perhaps some of the photos? If you have a weakness for photo's.... I think the package is $199.
• watch your luggage weight..... too many items will hurt you with weight surcharges at the airport. Some items can be purchased via Amazon with free shipping when you get home.

 

[cgolf]

While I haven't been to Alaska on a cruise, there once to visit family, we are very thrifty cruisers so maybe I can help there.

With your budget I personally would skip Palo and buying alcohol for this trip. If you did want some, I would bring some wine or beer with you onboard. This can be a big money saver onboard.

I would not rule out excursions, but look at them closely to see if there is something that you really want to see that is not within walking distance of the ship. If there is, I would prioritize that as part of your budget.

As far as souvenirs go, pictures can be good alternatives, and I am sure there are a lot of cheap Alaska souvenirs on shore. As much as I love the DCL hoodies and T shirts I have, they would put a huge dent in your budget. I will say a couple of times early in the cruise I have seen really good clearance deals on clothes, so you could watch for them.

Also be careful if at a bar or in the theater, if you get a soda from those locations, you will pay for it, the only free soda is on deck nine the buffet and mdrs.

It really comes down to what your priorities are, and once you figure that out i would put a majority of the budget towards that leaving a bit of fun money just in case you find a must have or a got to do thing.

 

[Flossbolna]

I think you could skip Palo. If you want to have a date night without the kids, you could always send the kids to the clubs during your normal dinner hours and just go to the main dining room with your husband for an adult meal. Or if you want to change up things, go to Cabanas for dinner. It is the buffet restaurant, but for dinner it is usually turned into a sit down restaurant. It is nearly on the top deck with lots of windows and you can have fantastic views from up there (Palo sits on top of Cabanas, so more or less the same views). Especially on a day with scenic cruising I think Cabanas would be a great place for dinner in Alaska. The menu is a bit smaller, but features dishes from the menu that is being served in the normal dining room that night.

 

[amberwc]

I would skip Palo, and look to see if any of the character excursions are available. For the most Disney magic, there's something very special about hanging out with the characters on shore.

 

[chaseg03]

so, I recently made my first post here (https://www.disboards.com/threads/it-is-possible-dream-or-nightmare.3594177/)

I have a crazy situation (as far as I am concerned). Anyway, if you had $400 to spend on a family of 4 for souvenirs, alcohol, excursions, Palo, or anything else you would use money for on an Alaska cruise, how would you use it best?

Bonus points to people who actually went and did stuff.

I know that my family may have different preferences to yours, but I gotta start somewhere, and everything looks so amazing, but also so expensive... How do I pick?

Ok, Excursion are probably out the window. Is it a 5 night? I saw that you won it as a prize so I'm assuming it's a 5 night. If I were you, Palo is a must. Buy a little gift for everybody and an occasional drink for you and your husband.In the ports, just walk around. There's plenty to see, it's Alaska! Disney is great with not nickel and diming you. Pretty much everything's included. (MDR, room service, soda, shows, you name it. Disney might be the only cruise line where you don't have to have any extra money to use onboard. Good Luck! You and your family will have a blast!

 

[WestFamily]

Honestly there are some great ideas here. I wish I had asked this question 2 years ago. (Maybe I did and the kids ages threw some of it off).

I'll be honest from one frugal person to someone forced to be frugal: I'm hesitant though about skipping Palo. It's such a Disney expierence in itself. It's a great way to treat the adults. Which is something that needs to be done especially on vacation. That's my two cents.

 

[Weedy]

Souvenir ideas for the kids.
We went to Alaska 6 years ago. They day we boarded the cruise they gave out booklets about the shops in all the ports. In this booklet there was a coupon to get a free coin or two at each port. It was fun for my son and we explored each port a bit looking for the shop that has the coins.
Also go on eBay and buy some inexpensive Disney pins. They have pin trading on the ships.
You can get inexpensive lanyards at Party City, 5 below or Walmart.

 

[richkaryn]

We did Alaska last summer....booked our excursions privately instead of DCL. In Skagway we did the bus up and back (instead of train one way/bus the other) up into the Yukon with lunch at caribou crossing, and added on the dog cart ride (wouldn't add that again in hindsight-- very disorganized, almost didn't get to do because they weren't paying any attention to people's scheduled times and just took whoever could push their way to front first, and almost missed bus back as a result, as it was on a tight schedule to get others back to train station). We booked that through Chilkoot Charters and I believe for the 3 of us it was $372 total.....but you can leave off the dog cart and save some $, and I believe there's one that leaves off the lunch too that's cheaper. We'd ridden on a similar type train before, so for the cost savings we decided we'd get better value for our money doing bus only. It was fun, we got to stop at many places to take pictures, and our guide was very knowledgable. It would be a good way to cover a lot of territory for a cheaper price.

 

[richkaryn]

Oh and Palo is a must....whether it be brunch or dinner.....we did both and thoroughly enjoyed both.

 

[richkaryn]

Another way to stretch your $400 just a little bit more. If you know how much you are going to spend on the ship, you can buy some gift cards ahead of time. For example, you can get $100 Disney GC for $94.99 (no membership required for online orders). You can can also use ebates with BJ's. Check out this thread in the Budget Board (https://www.disboards.com/threads/disney-gift-card-deals.2941964/), or post in it (go to the last 20-30 pages or so as the beginning won't be relevant). If you are going to use some of your other budget for flights, be sure to get a credit card (with no fees) that gives you rewards (e.g., Discover IT card, Chase Freedom, Chase Freedom Unlimited, etc). You can check out this thread in the Budget Board (and post in it) (https://www.disboards.com/threads/i-love-credit-cards-so-much.3528202/).

Sams Club a lot of times has $500 Disney gcard for $475....so if you could spare an extra $75 it would get you an extra $25

 

[richkaryn]

Also, if you use Walmart Savings Catcher, if you buy enough/save enough to get $25 you can cash out for a walmart giftcard and buy a disney gift card with the walmart giftcard. Also, ibotta app, swagbucks, etc. are good ways to earn extra $ or giftcards (would have to redeem for walmart giftcard and use it to buy disney gift card, etc)

 

[mom+3girls]

I read an Alaska cruise trip report and the people rented a car in Juneau and drove themselves to Mendenhall. I think I read that there are 4 people in your party so a small car would do and it shouldn't cost that much to rent a car for a day and fill it up with gas at the end of the trip. I would check into that.
Some people are saying don't do Palo, but since and correct me if I'm wrong you are a stay at home mom, I highly recommend it. Send the kids to the clubs and go enjoy yourself. Do something for you. With a tip you are looking at what 85.00 I guess a 25 dollar tip is good yeah that's 20%, that's with no alcohol. I went to Palo on my 2nd cruise by myself I'm a single mom and there is nothing like it.
Have you thought of going to a dollar tree or someplace like that and have things packed for your children so they don't really need to shop on the ship?

 

[sportel]

I think you said in your other thread that you were able to defer the cruise to 2018 ... if so, perhaps you could suggest to family members looking for holiday/birthday gift ideas for your children to give them Disney gift cards for the ship? That would help with some spending money for the kids to choose their own souvenirs.
When I am buying souvenirs I try and remind myself that while everything looks awesome in the gift shop, that doesn't always transfer to life back in the "real world". Nothing worse than getting home and wondering why on earth you spent money on a doodad you won't use. I have a little tradition where I buy a magnet and Christmas ornament for every vacation, but beyond that I only buy something if it is really special. And I always use the 24 hour rule.

 

[dallastxcpa]

My suggestion for you is to go on the F book site and find your cruise group. I am sailing to Alaska this June and have learned so much from the people in my group. Also, you may be able to find other families to split private shore excursions with which will bring down the cost. Good luck and I will try to remember to post back for you after I get back with any hints or tips I can think of.

 

[WishingStar78]

My suggestion for you is to go on the F book site and find your cruise group. I am sailing to Alaska this June and have learned so much from the people in my group. Also, you may be able to find other families to split private shore excursions with which will bring down the cost. Good luck and I will try to remember to post back for you after I get back with any hints or tips I can think of.

That would be awesome! Thank you

 

[xavier2001]

We put Disney gift cards in the kids stockings for Christmas, then they used 'their' money for souvenir shopping on the ship, easy way to stretch the budget. And I'd skip Palo, we were in Alaska last year and I'd rather have spent the money on an excursion. Ketchikan is easily walkable without one, Juneau you can snag a cheap tour the day of (don't pre-book from Disney) so that just leaves Skagway, you can walk the town or find an excursion that meets your fancy, my kids (both 8 at the time) LOVED the sled dog summer camp.