Cruise to Alaska - the Real Cost!

It had long been a dream of mine to cruise to Alaska. As a lecturer I have cruised over 21 times in the South Pacific, Mexican Riviera and the Caribbean, but the opportunity to cruise Alaska had eluded me. I have long felt that cruising was one of the most enjoyable and until recently, economic ways to see the world. It is not my intention to discuss the various cruse lines in this article, I will leave that to another time, however, I feel it my duty as a travel reporter to enlighten you as to the basic pro's and con's of this form of vacationing, and though the cruise lines may not agree, I feel sure that if you are fully aware of the true cost of this form of 'luxury' vacationing they will be better served.

Despite the banner adverts that proclaimed $70 per day etc., there are on today's cruises a significant number of additional charges that I feel you need to be aware of. What was in my early days of cruising (over 20 years ago) a truly all inclusive vacation, is I'm sorry to say no longer the case! To give you an example, my recent 12 day cruise to Alaska seemed a bargain when I booked it. (It was to be my honeymoon courtesy my son.)
The price was quoted at $1,142.50 for each of us for the 12 night adventure! Not bad I thought ( $95.00 per night inclusive of all meals, entertainment etc.) Total at this point $$2,284.98.

I was offered insurance - a must I felt as at the time my wife was stuck in England due to the volcano in Iceland.
The cost was $240.00. Here again I discovered a very important condition that I was not made aware of. Had she not returned in time for our L.A departure we would only have received her fare refund because according to the insurance company there was nothing stopping ME from departing!!!
So our total cost is now at $2,524.98.

What about gratuities I inquired? Ah, I was told everything was paid accept a fixed amount for our waiter and room attendant which was quoted at $138.00 each and which on our end of cruise account was shown as a daily charge of $11.50 each ($276.00 for our 12 nights.)

So my total charges excluding any drinks and shore excursions should I believed have amounted to approximately $$2,524.98 + $276.00 = $2,800.98! This figure indicated a nightly charge of $233.42.
One interesting fact you may not be aware of is that on our cruise we were not allowed to spend cash - everything was charged to our shipboard charge card that we were given on boarding the ship. The only opportunity to part with cash was in the casino!

Because of a tight budget we planned no organized shore excursions, and planned to just spend the day in each of our 4 ports of call. We broke our pact in Vancouver Canada and went on a city tour that cost us $48.00 each. We fell in love with Victoria!

My first serious advice is that if you can't afford the shore excursions some of which would have cost us over $400.00 each, don't choose Alaska. Certainly in May!

The daily news sheet on board delivered the night before promised the following and like hundreds of others my wife and myself positioned ourselves at 6am to see the promised - (I quote)
"The big show comes from the eye-popping fjords known as Tracy and Endicott Arms,a pair of sheer, narrow and deep (almost 600 ft in places) passages, walled by ice and rock that slice there way for 30 miles through floating ice chunks, some the size of three story buildings....hundreds of massive ...glaciers...which can run for miles into the sea!...active with calving...cascades into the sea! Wildlife...harbor seals lounging and frolicking on the fjords ice flows. Don't be surprised to find orca and humpback whales along with sea lions in the fjords themselves..."
We saw nothing that was described.

I write fiction as well but not in the guise of facts! Quite frankly I've seen more ice in a martini than we saw from the ship on this trip.We saw NO wild life other than a single Eagle! The weather was outstanding, 74F and the cruising conditions must have been well known well into our cruise! No announced explanation was given!
Those who could afford to take a helicopter ride to the glaciers, ride on a dog sledge etc. I'm sure would tell a different story, but at a Conservative estimate, we would have been looking at at least another $2000.00 for my wife and I to have experienced what I'm sure would have been a once in a lifetime experience!
I won't bore you with all the details, however we were charged gratuities on EVERY transaction. For example a coke in the theater was $2.00 plus .30 cents gratuities.

So what was the bottom line? Excluding any money we spent on shore or in the casino (We won $300.00 first night) the 12 night cruise cost us the following
Cruise with insurance: $2,800.98
On board charges:$1,081.86
Total $3,882.84 (or $323.57 per night!)
In fairness I must add we had an amazing time and enjoyed every minute. The crew were outstanding and the service first class. The food was 5* all the way. In hindsight we should have cruised the Caribbean - at least we could have spent some time on deck and enjoying all the outdoor activities which would have been an improvement on standing out in the cold looking for non existing glaciers etc.

Do I recommend you cruise? Certainly I do; but do your budget and expect to get what you pay for!
Travel wisely and travel well, Dr. Peter J. Shield PhD (http://pjshield.com)