Ways to Find Great Alaska Vacation Bargains

By Jason W. Van Den Waalt

Until recently, it was quite easy to find cheap Alaska cruise pricing. Now, such bargains are getting harder and harder to find, with demand for Alaska cruises going through the roof.

So can you really still save a bundle of money on your cruise? Is it still even a possibility to vacation in Alaska while sticking to a budget? The answer is a loud YES! You definitely can find great Alaska cruise deals these days -- if you know when and where to look.

Many people assume that the best way to find discount Alaska cruises is to wait until the last minute. But while this method used to work reasonably well (and still works very well for Caribbean cruises, due to the larger number of ships in that region), it is no longer a very effective strategy for Alaskan cruises.

Alaskan cruise ships all too frequently sell out far in advance, especially for the months of July and August. Despite their higher cost, balcony rooms tend to be the first to sell out, especially on Holland America cruises. Therefore, if you have year heart set on taking a cruise in the middle of summer, the way to ensure that you get the lowest fare is to book many months in advance.

Of course, if you are more flexible about your sail date and/or your cabin category, you dramatically increase your likelihood of locating some great Alaska cruise deals.

The best months for deals are May and September, the beginning and end of the Alaska cruise season. Of all the weeks in the Alaska cruise season, the lowest cost fares tend to be found in the very first week of May, when prices can be half of the peak mid-season fares.

Naturally, you can also save quite a bit by sailing in a lower priced room. Cabins on the inside of the ship can be half to a third the price of some of the higher priced cabins on an Alaskan cruise. Inside rooms have no windows and can be a little smaller than ocean view rooms, but they can be a wonderful bargain, especially since many people spend so little times in their rooms anyway.

You should know that if you have a problem with tight spaces, you might not want to book an inside room. Nonetheless, you can still find a great Alaskan cruise deal on an outside room. A certain percentage of outside cabins on most cruise ships possess obstructed views of the eater, due frequently to a lifeboat outside the cabin window.

These obstructed view cabins are often quite a bit cheaper than regular ocean view rooms. In fact, obstructed view cabins can be almost as cheap as inside rooms, yet they have windows, which can often help lessen people's claustrophobia.

Sure, you still can locates many, many deals on cruises to Alaska. Remember, no matter what, cruises still are a great deal and they are the cheapest way to see the Great State of Alaska, hands down.

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