BudgetTravel

Luisa Frey Gaynor: I suggest you look into booking one inside cabin and one outside cabin right across the hall from each other. That way, you'll save some money on booking just one outside cabin instead of two, but still have the great Alaska scenery outside one of your doors. Since you have teens, they could stay in the inside cabin across the hall. If you do this, you might want to bring a baby monitor to keep in their room so you can monitor their comings and goings easily!

It's really your call if you want to sail with Carnival again or switch to Princess or RCI. If you enjoyed Carnival, you may as well stay with them since they have a very good youth and teen program. Princess, though, has a huge fleet of ships sailing Alaska so you will have more departure date and itinerary options than Carnival. (Princess also offers youth and teen programming.)

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Mooresville, IN: Are there situations we could encounter when cruising with our special needs 21 year old son? He's never been on a cruise and would love Disney cruise lines. He uses a wheelchair for long-distance walking and he needs a helping hand when on un-level surfaces. We're both 50 yr's old and he is our only child. Would he access to any of the teenage programs? Or did we wait to long?

Luisa Frey Gaynor: Before you even said he's fond of Disney, I was going to suggest Disney Cruise Line. They are very helpful as far as special needs. Unfortunately, your son is too old for the teen programming (must be 13 to 17 years old) but there is so much fun, family friendly programming on Disney Cruise ships that you and your son will have more than enough to do. From family interactive game shows to lavish Disney stage productions and even a Pirates In The Caribbean deck party and fireworks, you'll all be pleased--actually, more liked "wowed"!

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Toronto Ontario: What are the advantages and disadvantages of booking airfare through the cruise line? Since I'm travelling with kids, I want to avoid multiple changes of planes, really early/late depatures, etc. As well, how do I know whether they will be flying us in the day before? (need to know for school).

Luisa Frey Gaynor: I suggest booking the air yourself. Sometimes the cruise lines will route you on non-direct flights (which are usually cheaper) even though there are direct flights. Or you might end up with a return flight that is hours after you get off the ship, forcing you and your kids to wait way too long at the airport. (Generally, any flight after 12 noon is usually safe for you to book and will give you enough time to get off the ship and to the airport, unless the distance between the port and airport is extensive.) Thus, you have more control over your schedule if you book yourself, which with kids can be a crucial factor in avoiding whining!

If you do book through the cruise line, one of few advantages is that if your plane is delayed upon arrival, then the cruise line would be aware that you are running late and might try to hold the ship's departure if at all possible. With independent air, if you're late...your ship may sail without you.

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Bernalillo, NM: We are planning an Alaska cruise for Summer 2008. We are 60 and 62 but our children and grandchildren, ages 1,3,5,5 and 10 a the time for a total of 13 passengers. The main thing that we are interested in seeing are the Humpback Whales and then other wildlife. Should we go on an inside passage cruise, on a big ship or a small boat? We all live in the Albuquerque NM area.

Luisa Frey Gaynor: Quite a quandary--there are plusses and minuses to seeing Alaska with kids by big vs. small ships. If you're very interested in seeing wildlife, then I'd suggest cruising aboard a small ship cruise line to Alaska such as Cruise West, Lindblad Expeditions or Majestic America Line.