Alaska Cruise Savings

The Real Deal: A seven-night cruise and meals from $562 per person.

When: Depart May 19, 2007; add $70 for June 9; $160 for June 23; $226 for Sept. 1; $251 for July 7, 21, and Aug. 4, 18.

Details: Port charges and meals are included. Taxes are an additional $92 per person. Airport/pier transfers are an additional $73 per person. Based on double occupancy; single supplement is $556. For general guidelines on evaluating deals, click here.

Book By: Based on availability.

Contact: American Discount Cruises, 866/214-7447, americandiscountcruises.com.

Why It's a Deal: Booking this package will save about $210 per person off typical summer rates.

Trip Details: This package includes a seven-night cruise in an inside cabin with a private bathroom and double beds that can be pushed together. The voyage begins when the 2,670-passenger  Sapphire Princess pulls out of Vancouver. The four-year-old ship has four dining rooms, a 24-hour buffet, and free room service. A steak-house and an Italian restaurant are also on-board but charge additional fees. Onboard amenities include a nine-hole putting course, an Asian-themed spa, an Internet café with 29 computer stations, and a roughly 9,000-square-foot teens' and children's area.

Stops include Ketchikan, Juneau (the state capital),  Skagway (with history museums about the Klondike Gold Rush), College Fjord (which features panoramic views of the world's largest collection of tidewater glaciers), and Whittier (gateway to Anchorage). The surrounding waters throughout the itinerary are home to many humpback whales.

Note that all shore excursions are optional and are an additional per person cost. For instance, a helicopter tour of Mendenhall Glacier near Juneau costs $210 per person. You'll be met at the pier and taken to the helipad, where you'll fly over icefalls and mountaintops that are otherwise inaccessible. You'll land on Herbert Glacier and set foot on a "river of ice."

The Sapphire is one of six Princess cruise ships plying the waters off the coast of Alaska this summer. You'll find others by clicking here.

Getting There: The lowest round-trip fares we found for Vancouver arrivals on May 19 and Anchorage returns on May 26 are $423 from Los Angeles (multiple airlines), $503 from Chicago (multiple airlines), $549 from New York City (multiple airlines), and $563 from Atlanta (multiple airlines).

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