Behind the Cruise

For our honeymoon, my bride and I were to travel on our first cruise. However, the universe had a different plan for us. The worldwide event that began in 2020 and continues today has kept us from traveling via cruise ship. Everything changes this fall with a cruise to Alaska.

It all started with a visit to the big box store, where we have a membership. My wife (Dawn), infant child (Benson), and I just finished checking out. We waited in line for a store employee to look at our receipt and the items in the cart. I always joke that they had to confirm that we had spent our minimum tithing before leaving. The slow pace of the line left me bored with the wait, so I grabbed a travel packet. I flipped through the pages and said, “I really want to go on a cruise and see Alaska.” Other than that brief comment about it, not much was said about it after that.

Over a week later, we returned, and as we waited in line again, I grabbed one of the packets with cruises. I saw the low starting prices and asked Dawn, “If we were to go on a cruise, who would we leave Benson with?” I quickly followed my question with another question. “What if we didn’t leave him behind and instead asked my parents if they wanted to join our trip?”

This year was my parents’ 50th anniversary. A cruise to a destination that my mother had always wanted to travel to was too good of an opportunity to pass up.

When I got home, I logged onto the big box store’s membership travel site. I learned that the trip was going to be thousands of dollars more expensive than we had first thought. The feeling of fear came over me as I felt sticker-shocked by the price and was looking at every possible way to lower the cost. I was thinking about all my options, which included a lower-lever room or an internal-facing room, and was still shocked by the prices. There was a good chance I was going to have to toss a bucket of cold water on my mother’s dream vacation plans.

Before giving up, I created an account with the cruise line I wanted to travel with and how much it would cost. It was going to be over $2,000 cheaper for two rooms next to one another for an infant, two adults, and two seniors. I know this isn’t always going to be the case, but the extra effort of searching options kept our cruise dreams alive.

For more information about Alaska’s tourism, visit travelalaska.com or alaska.org or helpful information.

To read about day one of my Alaska adventure, visit 2022 Family Cruise to Alaska: Day 1.