Alaska Cruise on a tight Budget

[Ol Goof]

We have decided for our family, DCL is the only way to cruise to Alaska with our wide age of kiddos (toddlers to teens).
I need serious help with all the tricks to save money. We plan to book while we are on a DCL cruise and are looking at fall 2023. We have plenty of time to start saving via Disney rewards dollars, but what other tips do you use to help the budget? Ty !!

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Honestly, "save money" is not going to be a thing cruising Alaska in general, and DCL especially.

Excursions will be pricey, especially those open to toddlers. Fall will be slightly less expensive for fares, but one of the trade offs is that many excursions shut down because of melt.

 

[Starwind]

Booking as close to opening day for your date will get you the cheapest prices - they only go up from there. Our stateroom category for our Alaska cruise went up about $500 within a week of opening and over $1000 within a few weeks, even more later.

If you don't already have a placeholder available when the date opens for booking, I suggest booking it so you can take advantage of the low opening day pricing. Then, when you are around the time of your later cruise you can price out the then-current price and see if rebooking with the OBB discount would actually save you [it may or may not]. If it does, rebook on your cruise/get the placeholder for rebooking. If it doesn't, be happy you saved money by booking early.

 

[MomOTwins]

A lot of people buy discounted disney gift cards (eg Sam’s Club, BJs, Using a target Red card and buying the gift cards with the 5% target discount). You can use that for the cruise fare but as I discovered for my cruise in 2020 that is risky because if you cancel that all goes back to the gift cards.

I agree it is better to cruise now, get the placeholder, and book 2023 Alaska itineraries the day they are released, rather then to wait until after itineraries are released and book the cruise while you are onboard. The 10% is the same whether you book a placeholder or book a specific cruise onboard. And rates do climb rapidly after the itineraries are released. Plus you will have the best selection of staterooms on opening day and the cheaper ones sell out quickly.

 

[MomOTwins]

Also just adding disney rewards cards are not always the best credit card use, since they max out at 2%, and that is if you are paying fees for the premier card. Many no fee credit cards now have 3% cash back categories.

 

[MillauFr]

I book with Costco. You get 9% of you cruise fare rebated, you get 2% cash back using their executive membership, and I can get 4.5% cash back + free travel insurance when I book the cruise on my Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card. 15.5% discount.

 

[Ol Goof]

Thank you both so much! This is exactly what I needed. We don’t sail again til the Wish Inaugural in June. I’m sure that is way too late.

 

[Ol Goof]

Costco! thank you. Soooo much

 

[Ol Goof]

I book with Costco. You get 9% of you cruise fare rebated, you get 2% cash back using their executive membership, and I can get 4.5% cash back + free travel insurance when I book the cruise on my Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card. 15.5% discount.

This is genius I wouldn’t have to be on board and can book opening day! I am in Florida now and can go to the new Costco to get my membership. Do you know if I can book through a Costco operator as I go back to the snowy north end of the month.

 

[Ol Goof]

I knew this was the place for help! Thanks DCL friends !!

 

[MillauFr]

This is genius I wouldn’t have to be on board and can book opening day! I am in Florida now and can go to the new Costco to get my membership. Do you know if I can book through a Costco operator as I go back to the snowy north end of the month.

If you book on board I believe you can get another 10% off as well. Tell them you want Costco as your travel agent. I would then wait a couple of weeks and verify Costco has your booking. Make sure you do this within 30 days.

 

[lanejudy]

If you book on board I believe you can get another 10% off as well. Tell them you want Costco as your travel agent.

Correct the 10% OBB can be used in conjunction with a TA (Costco) booking. But if that TA is not on the current cruise, they cannot be named to the OBB/placeholder. The OBB/placeholder will need to be transferred to Costco within 30 days.

 

[Kwami]

Correct the 10% OBB can be used in conjunction with a TA (Costco) booking. But if that TA is not on the current cruise, they cannot be named to the OBB/placeholder. The OBB/placeholder will need to be transferred to Costco within 30 days.

When I went on my first cruise, I made a placeholder reservation onboard. About a year later, I decided to go on a second cruise and found myself a TA and I had no trouble transferring that placeholder reservation to him.

Have the rules changed?

 

[lanejudy]

Have the rules changed?

Quite possibly -- depends when your first and second cruises were. Several years ago Disney restricted any transfers to a 30-day window. For OBB/placeholders, that 30-day window begins when you are onboard, which is one reason folks may wait until the end of their cruise to book a placeholder.

 

[Kwami]

Quite possibly -- depends when your first and second cruises were. Several years ago Disney restricted any transfers to a 30-day window. For OBB/placeholders, that 30-day window begins when you are onboard, which is one reason folks may wait until the end of their cruise to book a placeholder.

In 2018 and 2019.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

In 2018 and 2019.

Hmmm... the "must be within 30 days to transfer" thing has been around at least since 2013. You got lucky.

 

[Geomom]

If you're allowed to book excursions on your own, you can definitely save money.

For Skagway, we loved Chilkoot charters. We did the Yukon bus up/train down combo and had a great time.

For Juneau, we just wanted to visit Mendenhall glacier, so I prebooked one of the glacier shuttle buses, but you can buy them same day. Shuttles ran every half hour...maybe around $30/person roundtrip... could be more now. We didn't do it, but if you're interested in the Mt Roberts tram, I'd buy same day tix...if it's a foggy/rainy day I'd do something else as you'll see nothing from the top. In 2016, Disney had a free shuttle from the ship to the edge of downtown, right where you can buy tours/tix, etc.

For Ketchikan, we did the Disney excursion with the Saxman native village and the lumberjack show. The lumberjack show is near the cruise port, and you could buy cheaper tix there vs going thru Disney.

We save up our Disney rewards dollars for cruise excursions as well, especially for our European cruise as we weren't comfortable booking on our own (except Stockholm which we did by buying a city attraction card.). With our cancelled cruises...we have a lot of rewards dollars saved up now...last cruise was 2018.

And of course the biggest savings is what type of excursions you choose...if you want helicopters/small planes, those are the expensive ones!

 

[Ol Goof]

We adults did Alaska on NCL but decided DCL for the family. I definitely want to do the Skagway bus/train and a hike to Mendenhall waterfall is a must. I think the kids would love the Lumberjack show in Ketchikan and thank goodness DCL berths downtown!!! I’m definitely staying away from the costly excursions like whale watching and Glacier tours.
We went in August and had great weather. I could save a ton by going in September. Thanks again everyone!

 

[aboveH20]

My reply is definitely FYI THIS IS WHAT WE DID YOU DON'T HAVE TO POST WHY IT WOULD NEVER WORK FOR YOUR FAMILY.

We had a wonderful cruise to Alaska. The scenery is absolutely amazing -- which, of course, if why you go there. We didn't book any excursions. At each port we just walked into town -- very easy, close, and safe to do -- and enjoyed exploring. A few of the excursions just seemed too touristy to me so we strolled about the towns, which admittedly were touristy as well, but we really enjoyed being on our own.

I'm guessing most people will want to book excursions, just choose wisely. They ain't cheap!

 

[scottishclover]

We cruised in Alaska in 2019 and had an amazing time. Living up to our Scottish stereotype we are a bit tight with money and managed to do Alaska without spending a lot. You can read about how we managed it on my trip report, “ 4 Cheapskates Sail Alaska.”