alaska cruise
I have a busy summer ahead, and one of the big items this summer is my Alaska cruise. My son Tanner (17) will be joining me. My parents are also joining us on this adventure.
I booked the cruise on a casino deal. Tanner and I booked an interior cabin for the cruise for $1160, and we will get back $400. We had to pay the taxes and fees on the cruise and make a $200 deposit each time we got back in onboard credit (that is where the $1160 total comes from). My parents are not doing casino deals yet (but I hope to get them in the casino this trip). They booked with our favorite cruise agent, Mary at Sunnybreezes. We ended up using a sign-up bonus from a credit card to get over $800 off the price of the cruise. You can learn more about that here. That brought our out-of-pocket for this cruise down to less than $350. Yes! A week cruise to Alaska with flights and pre-cruise hotel, our out-of-pocket was $325.
We used points and miles to fly us to Seattle. On the way there, Tanner and I used United miles for our flights. If we had paid cash for our flight, it would have been $406. Instead, we used United Miles, which had been in my account for years. My parents are flying to Seattle on Southwest Rapid reward points. We are flying home with my parents on Southwest. We all booked our return flight using Southwest Rapid Rewards. When I priced the two tickets back from Seattle earlier this year, it would have been $580.00 for our two flights home.
We are flying to Seattle the day before our cruise leaves. This requires us to stay the night in Seattle Pre-Cruise. Tanner and I used Hyatt Points to book our stay. My parents used their Capital One Venture card credit to pay for their room.
Free flights and free hotel pre-cruise equals significant savings.
As for the cruise, we are taking the Royal Princess to Alaska. We chose this one because it specifically went to Glacier Bay. It also has stops in Juneau, Ketchikan, and Skagway.
Royal Princes
Once the logistics for this trip were booked, it was time to book shore excursions!
I pull up the Princess app and start looking at the port and times in port.
I do not always book excursions through the Cruiseline. I will. It depends on my comfort level, where we are going, and how far from port we will go.
When we did Chichen Itza from Cozumel, I knew I would only book directly with the Cruiseline. It is a long way and a long day. If anything went wrong, we would not make it back on time. We were the last people to return on the cruise ship that night. I had no anxiety since we booked it with the Cruiseline. I felt the same in Belize when we visited the ruins at Xunantunich.
For this upcoming trip, we looked at what the cruise, viator, and shore excursion group all had to offer for excursions.
My parents want to ride the train in Skagway. They didn’t do it the last time they went to Alaska. We all decided to do it together and book through Princess. My parents had some onboard credit they were able to use to offset the cost of the excursion. Even though I have onboard credit through my casino deal, I cannot use it till we board the ship.
Juneau, we have decided to do the Goldbelt Tram, which we will book through the Cruiseline. It is the same price as if we booked it directly.
As for Ketchikan, I am debating skipping the excursions. I found this guide and plan on using it to help us plan our day. I don’t mind paying for an excursion, but sometimes I like to wander. I want to see the totem poles and eat king crab.
We are not planning on getting off the ship in Victoria. I’ve been to Victoria and it is a really cute town. However, this stop is required because of maritime laws.
Overall, I think this will be an excellent adventure for us. Thanks to points and miles, we can see so much of the world. I feel so lucky that I can travel not only with my youngest son but also my parents.
