DeAnna from Oregon

I really appreciated your question, it was definitely something I’ve thought about, it’s nice to get all that information puts my mind at ease!

Hi everyone, as a first time cruiser this has been a great resource for us, so thanks I’m advance for your comments and replies...My question is when booking our next cruise I’ve heard different things, for example, I’ve heard you get the best deals when booking your next cruise prior to disembarking, in contrast I’ve heard it’s always best to book with a knowledgeable travel agent to attain your best deals...Does anyone have any feedback or thoughts on this? Originally I was intending on booking prior to disembarking, we want to bring the kids for our next cruise!

Thank you! I think it’s going to be spendy but certainly worth it, and I love that each month I can pay for an excursion or dining etc, in the cruise personalizer, really helps that everything will be paid for before we even get on-board!

Wow! I’m so overwhelmed by everyone’s great insight and feedback which is truly invaluable when booking a cruise for the first time. I want to give you some more information: Incidental costs are hotel, parking, fuel, cruise must haves like non-surge protector, fan, alarm clock, medical kit, stuff like that, prepaid gratuity. So, when considering cruising again and booking on the ship for next cruise, what I’m wondering is are most cruises comparable to an Alaska cruise, or is Alaska in a different type of cruise...I totally understand we don’t have to take excursions, but on a cruise let’s say to Mexico is the price around $10,000, or are there more reasonably priced excursions and cabin options, we are so excited about this cruise, but we aren’t taking the kids and I was hoping to book a cruise before leaving the ship, but not certain what we are looking at for price with the entire family, if that makes sense? Thank you all so very much, what a great welcoming site, I feel like we’ve joined a whole new culture so does my husband, we were just hoping to bring the kids next time!

Hi all, we (husband & I) are first time cruisers,  Princess Ruby Alaska September 2019, after purchasing our tickets paying for the all inclusive drink packages, paying for excursions, booking specialty restaurants, and all the other extras we are already paying nearly $10,000, is this pretty common for cruises, or is this typical cost of a cruise? We are in a mini-Suite but it seems to me that after this amount of money we should be Captains Circle, I believe that is what they term it, I’m just wondering if this is typical or not? Here is the breakdown of costs:  We spent $1500 each per excursions, $1000 on our drink packages, and $5000 for our tickets, the remaining $1000 is specialty restaurants (2), hotel and parking costs, and incidentals. Thanks again for your thoughts.