Our first cruise turned out to be an epic journey for our family, but it required careful planning to stay within budget.
In hopes that others may benefit from some of that planning and prepare for the expenses ahead, here is the spreadsheet we used to estimate our Alaskan cruise expenses. In the end, we stuck fairly close to the figures here and expect that the budget range most 3-4 person families will fall into is $6,000 to $10,000.
Notes:
- This was our first cruise and we got a good early deal (or at least like to think we did)
- We minimized our on-board and excursion spending since our toddler wasn’t really ready for most of the adventures yet (dogsled, seaplane, zip line, etc)
- Our flight to Seattle was booked on miles, so it isn’t factored into the budget sheet, but as you’ll see a round trip flight could still fit in this range
Start your deal hunting early (or last minute if you can) and grab a good rate. Alaska was awesome and we hope to return one day for more of its beauty.
