Cruises to Alaska from Vanouver and back are pretty cheap this year, partly because there are so many Canadians who don't have passports and can't get them in time to make a May or June cruise. (We American's aren't the only ones with bogged down passport systems.)

If you can afford the time, you can probably get Vancouver/Whittier/Vancouver 14 day trip for a pretty darned good price. If you do that, be sure to switch cabins for each 7 day cruise--Starboard northbound, and Port southbound.

Going all the way to Whittier allows you to experience College Fijord, which is truly amazing. The round trip cruises from Seattle only take you up to Glacier Bay, which is only a small portion of the glacier experience.

Princess lets you take all of the wine you would like on board. When we hosted the party suite for Hunki's 45th high school reunion, we took a whole case of wine on board and the crew was very good about helping us board the wine, along with my two cases of Perrier. They didn't care.

Our entire departure bill for the cruise was under $300, and consisted only of corkage fees, gratuities and two or three bar drinks each during the week-long cruise.

Oh Yeah, you can also send yourself a bon voyage gift of hard liquor and it will be waiting for you in your cabin when you arrive.