Cruises to Alaska are extremely popular, as are cheap cruises, so it comes as no surprise that cheap Alaska cruises (or, if we’re to be perfectly grammatical, cheap Alaskan cruises) are in high demand. Fortunately, cheap cruises to Alaska are not particularly hard to come by. Indeed, since there are so many Alaskan cruises each year, finding a cheap cruise to Alaska is actually one of the easier cruise deals to secure. Below we’ll explain the basics of finding a cheap cruise to Alaska, covering general advice about finding cheap cruises and how this advice specifically relates to Alaskan cruises.
Unless you have a special relationship with a cruise line (i.e., you’re a member of a cruise line’s frequent-travelers club, you can’t for whatever reason cruise with any other company, etc.), you should look for deals on the major discount sites, and not through cruise lines’ sites. Some of these sites (like CheapCruises and CruiseDeals) cater exclusively to the cruise industry, whereas others focus on the entire travel industry, but have sections dedicated to cruising (like Travelocity and Expedia). It’s hard to predict which sites will have the best deals, so if you want to make sure you get the cheapest cruise, it is best to look through as many sites as possible. Some websites, such as Kayak, will allow you to look through multiple sites at once, and these can definitely help you cut down on the number of individual searches you have to perform. Regardless of which sites you use, you should be able to search for cruises by destination, allowing you to look at all the cruise deals for vacations to Alaska specifically.
Finding a cheap cruise is largely about timing, and this is certainly true of cruises to Alaska. Most cruise destinations have seasons – the peak times to visit these parts of the world – and the brief periods at the beginning and end of the seasons are often good for securing deals. Because of its climate, the cruise season to the Alaska is basically the summer, but there are some cruises in May and September. Cruises in May or September, when the temperature is often not ideal, are frequently cheaper than those during peak season. Additionally, it is very often cheaper to book a cruise (to Alaska or anywhere else) far in advance or at the last-minute. Cruise lines always want to sail with full ships, so they like to fill them as early as possible, offering price incentives for those who book early. If a cruise is not fully booked, however, a cruise line will often slash prices at the last minute to attempt to fill the ship. (A lower-paying passenger is better than no passenger, all other things being equal.) Of course, booking far in advance or at the last minute can be inconvenient (or impossible for those with tight schedules), but those who can manage it are often rewarded with cheap cruises.
Finally, it is worth making the obvious point that the price of a cruise will depend on from where you debark. A cruise from the northwestern part of the United States to Alaska will of course be cheaper than a cruise from England to Alaska for the simple reason that the latter cruise will take much longer. In some instances, it might be cheaper to fly to a port nearer to Alaska and then take a cruise from there, as opposed to taking the cruise from a port near your home all the way to Alaska. (In a great number of cases, the latter option of course won’t even be possible, and transportation costs to get to a port should definitely be considered before you buy a cheap cruise to Alaska. The cruise will cease to be cheap if you have to spend a ton of money to get to the port of debarkation.)
As you can see, there are plenty of cheap cruises to Alaska, so if you are looking for a discounted cruise, Alaska is definitely a destination to consider.