How to Save Money on an Alaska Cruise

Alaska cruise savings fall into two categories: the ones that cost you nothing and the ones that cost you the trip. This ranks twenty tactics by both, so you can work down the list and stop at the right point.

Alaska cruise savings are unusually easy to rank, because most of them are either free or catastrophic and there is not much in between. Work down this list and stop before the last two.

The big four

1. Sail in shoulder season

Saves $800 to $2,600 for two. Costs you almost nothing.

Early May and late September run 30 to 50 percent below peak July pricing for the same cabin on the same ship. What you give up is a few hours of daily daylight and marginally less settled weather. The glaciers, the ports and the whales are all still there. See best time for an Alaska cruise.

2. Skip the drinks package

Saves $500 to $1,400 for two. Costs you nothing if you drink moderately.

Break even is five to nine drinks per person per day depending on the line, once you include the 18 to 20 percent gratuity charged upfront. Alaska port days are long, active and cold, and most passengers drink considerably less than they would in the Caribbean.

Pay as you go for the first two days, check your account in the app, and buy a prorated package on board only if the numbers justify it. See drink packages.

3. Choose an interior or oceanview cabin

Saves $600 to $1,800 for two. Costs you little on this itinerary.

Ships rotate at every glacier, so no cabin side has a lasting advantage. Alaska balconies get used in short bursts because of cold and rain. On ships with a large forward observation lounge, the public space is warmer and has better sightlines than any balcony. See balcony versus interior.

4. Choose a value cruise line

Saves $600 to $1,400 for two. Costs you onboard refinement.

Carnival is the price floor and visits the identical ports. Holland America shoulder fares are often within $100 to $200 of Carnival while offering better food, quieter ships and frequent Glacier Bay entry, which makes it arguably the better value choice.

Ten more that work

5. Book at initial release. Alaska fares usually rise rather than fall. Booking eighteen to twenty four months out typically saves $300 to $900 for two.

6. Book excursions independently in compact ports. Ketchikan and Sitka operators are close to the berth, so timing risk is low. Saves 25 to 40 percent.

7. Do one port entirely free. Ketchikan on foot, Creek Street and the Discovery Center, is genuinely a good day and costs nothing.

8. Take the shuttle, not the tour. The Mendenhall shuttle at $45 to $60 delivers the same glacier as a $110 guided tour.

9. Skip WiFi. Free WiFi is available in every main Alaska port, and a United States mobile plan works normally ashore because Alaska is a United States state. Saves $280 to $560.

10. Use a park and cruise hotel package. For drivers, these frequently cost less than terminal parking alone while including a hotel night and a shuttle. See hotel costs.

11. Fly midweek. Typically $60 to $200 cheaper per person than Friday or Saturday.

12. Ask for a price drop before final payment. Many lines will honour a fare reduction as a lower price or onboard credit if you ask. Check every few weeks.

13. Book a guarantee cabin if you are not sensitive to motion or noise and do not need a specific location. Saves 10 to 20 percent.

14. Compare per night on longer itineraries. A twelve night Cunard voyage at $2,900 is $242 per night, cheaper than a seven night balcony at $1,900.

15. Bring your own wine. Most lines permit one bottle per adult at embarkation, with a corkage fee only if consumed in a restaurant.

Six that are usually false economies

16. Cutting excursions to zero. Saves $800 to $1,800 and removes the reason you came. Alaska ports are small; without excursions the cruise becomes a series of walks around waterfronts.

17. Booking the cheapest possible flight with a tight connection. A missed connection on the day before embarkation is a real risk.

18. Skipping the naturalist programming to nap. It is free and it is the best content on the ship.

19. Choosing a line without checking Glacier Bay access. Saving $200 and losing an eight hour national park day is a poor trade.

20. Buying packages on board rather than pre cruise. Onboard prices are consistently 15 to 30 percent higher.

The two you must never cut

The pre cruise hotel night. Flying in on embarkation day means a delayed flight can cost you the entire cruise, and insurance does not always make you whole. A $200 hotel night protects a $6,000 trip.

Travel insurance. Southeast Alaska ports have no road connection to the rest of North America, so a serious medical case is flown out by air ambulance at a cost that commonly runs into six figures. Cruise line policies often cap evacuation at $25,000 to $50,000, which is not adequate here. See travel insurance.

What the savings add up to

A couple who takes the big four, skips WiFi, books two excursions independently and does one port free will spend roughly $3,500 to $4,500 all in for a seven night Alaska cruise including flights, against $8,000 to $9,000 for the same trip booked without any of it.

That is not a worse holiday. It is the same ports, the same glaciers and the same whales, with less alcohol and a smaller cabin. See budget Alaska cruises for a fully worked plan.