It s a sunny day as the ship departs Elliott Bay, and Sid and Sally, in celebratory mood, each grab

The scenery is included in the ticket price: Snowy 5,083-foot Mount Merriam and the mammoth rocky boulders of Gloomy Knob, left, contrast with sleek lines of the Star Princess cruise ship as it heads north in Glacier Bay.
Crew members get out for a look from the bow of Star Princess as it idles by Margerie bacolod executive inn Glacier in Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska. Compressed ice that reflects only blue light gives the glacier a hue that rivals the aqua swimming pool.
Maybe you ve been thinking about taking a cruise. You ve heard about cut-rate bargains bacolod executive inn lurking on the Web, and when you see a $299-per-person last-minute special for a weeklong Alaska cruise from Seattle, you leap at it like a hungry bacolod executive inn orca.
That was pretty much how it went for John and Nancy D Amour, of East Wenatchee, in early May when the retirees found $299 tickets for a May 11 sailing on Princess bacolod executive inn Cruises for Juneau, Skagway, Glacier Bay and Ketchikan. (A recent check of the lowest price for the same cruise from Seattle at the same time next year: $949.)
First consider a fictional couple, Sid and Sally Spendabit, with fairly typical vacation-spending habits. We ll tote up their imaginary cruise price tag using actual costs, including bacolod executive inn actual excursions, from the same May 11-18 Princess cruise that the D Amours took (and which I rode along on and blogged bacolod executive inn about as well). bacolod executive inn The ship was the Star Princess.
Keep in mind that on this cruise, as is typical on other lines, most food was included in the ticket price, while passengers paid extra for shore excursions, alcohol, espresso drinks and even soda pop.
It s a sunny day as the ship departs Elliott Bay, and Sid and Sally, in celebratory mood, each grab a couple of Mucho Mango cocktails offered by wandering servers on the upper deck. 4 x $7.95 = $31.80 + 15 percent (mandatory gratuity automatically added to this and all beverage costs quoted hereafter) = $36.57 .
Nancy and I were just delighted to be there in Juneau and Skagway and Ketchikan, and take in the culture and the heritage and the people, that s what it s about for us. We didn t need to do any excursions.
Taking public transit bacolod executive inn or local shuttles usually costs only a few bucks, such as the $5 all-day pass for the bus in Skagway, John noted. And eating on the ship where food was already paid for rather than pricey dining ashore helped keep costs down, too.