How early should you book an Alaskan cruise? Should you wait until the last minute to get the best deals?

Unlike with Caribbean cruises, for which last minute deals are readily available, the market for Alaskan cruises is much tighter. There are fewer ships sailing in Alaska than in the Caribbean, due to smaller port capacities and limitations on entry into the major glacier viewing locations.

Because of this limited supply and an ever-growing demand, there have been fewer and fewer last minute Alaskan cruise deals available in recent years. If you are looking for a specific type of cabin, such as a balcony room or a suite, last minute deals are even harder to come by.
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There are certainly quite a few myths out there about Alaskan cruises, and during my time working in the travel industry, I heard all of them. So in order to set the record straight, I have put together this list of the top 10 myths about Alaskan cruises.

When you take an Alaskan cruise, the experience is unforgettable - the shore trips range from fascinating to thrilling, the towns along the route are wonderfully quaint, and the scenery is simply spectacular. As far as I am concerned, it is the most amazing scenery anywhere in the world.
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There are certainly quite a few myths out there about Alaskan cruises, and during my time working in the travel industry, I heard all of them. So in order to set the record straight, I have put together this list of the top 10 myths about Alaskan cruises.

When you take an Alaskan cruise, the experience is unforgettable - the shore trips range from fascinating to thrilling, the towns along the route are wonderfully quaint, and the scenery is simply spectacular. As far as I am concerned, it is the most amazing scenery anywhere in the world.
(more…)

There are currently six major Alaska cruise lines: Princess, Holland America, Celebrity, Royal Caribbean, NCL, and Carnival. Each of these cruise lines has a distinct character, so how do you decide which one suites you best?

Holland America is the most traditional and formal of the cruise lines, with the smallest ships of all the major lines in Alaska. Holland America also tends to be very popular with senior cruisers and thus it passenger demographic tends to skew older than the other lines.

Princess is the largest cruise line in Alaska, and it offers a nice mix of tradition and innovation, including a flexible dining plan. Like Holland America, Princess currently sails eight ships in Alaska. However, the Princess ships are quite a bit larger, and they can accommodate almost double the number of passengers.
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There are literally dozens of different Alaskan cruise itineraries. So with so many different options to choose from, how do you know which one to choose?

Most Alaska cruise itineraries fit into one of four main categories: round trip out of Seattle, round trip out of Vancouver, one-way northbound between Vancouver and Whittier/Seward, and one-way southbound from either Seward or Whittier to Vancouver.

If you want to take a tour of inland Alaska before or after your cruise, including stops at such attractions as Denali National Park, Fairbanks, and the Kenai Peninsula, you must choose either a northbound or southbound one-way cruise, since the round-trip cruises do not take you to Anchorage.
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Alaska cruise tours are the best way to combine an Alaskan cruise with a land tour of the vast, untamed interior of the state. Generally, cruisetours are booked separately from cruises, with the cruise and land tour combined into one package.

Therefore, most cruisetours must be booked all at once - don’t try to book a cruise first, then add on the land portion later, as most cruise lines will not allow this.

Of course, with so many cruisetours to choose from, it can be a bit confusing. In order to help you select a truly outstanding cruise and land tour, I’ve compiled the following list of the very best tour packages currently available.
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How early should you book an Alaskan cruise? Should you wait until the last minute to get the best deals?

Unlike with Caribbean cruises, for which last minute deals are readily available, the market for Alaskan cruises is much tighter. There are fewer ships sailing in Alaska than in the Caribbean, due to smaller port capacities and limitations on entry into the major glacier viewing locations.

Because of this limited supply and an ever-growing demand, there have been fewer and fewer last minute Alaskan cruise deals available in recent years. If you are looking for a specific type of cabin, such as a balcony room or a suite, last minute deals are even harder to come by.
(more…)