We are flying to Alaska for fishing trip, last minute, never been, approx 7/30 to 8/5. Think I may send husband back home by flight while 10 year old son and I cruise back taking a little more time. Have never done anything like this before and not much time to plan. Any links, info, advice greatly appreciated. Trying to be reasonable with costs and limit time to approx 10 days

I don't know if it is a problem for you, but if you'll be flying back from a different airport than you flew into, you could be in for some sticker shock on the airline tickets. My experience has always been that you'll pay a lot more as the airlines treat you as if you were buying two one-way tickets.

You might check with the cruise line to see if they can offer you a better return airline fare if you booked it thru then. Then again, maybe this isn't an issue as you did not mention return flight details, just thought I'd point out a possible pitfall. Hopefully you can make it happen as the Alaska cruise sounds great!

The one way cruises go to Vancouver-7 days, can you get home from there? I would put a request into www.cruisecompete.com and see what last minute bargain you can snag?? Be aware that they leave from Whittier or Seward. You can get to either via the Alaska RR. In Seward strongly consider the 11:30am Kenai Fjords boat trip, superior to any viewing you will have from your cruise ship.

I have never found open jaw tickets to be any more expensive than the alternative.

Last summer I flew into Anchorage and back from Vancouver for 550 from Florida. The r/t fares were very similar.

I would not book the cruise line. You can almost always do better on your own.

They can be significantly cheaper if you go into Seattle. I did a round trip in May with a $260 flight and will be one way in August paying $500

I always book my own, but also be sure to factor in transfers.

Three people flying into AK for fishing is not a cheap trip. So saving $200 +/- on airfare for one would not be a big deal.
I would take the cruise back and have fun (too bad DH can't go) a perfect blend of rustic (fishing) and pampering (cruising) !

Have fun

Cruising to Seattle should not be difficult and there may be ships that come into San Francisco as well. You'll need to do some research but it sounds doable. You don't mention your final destination?

Sun Country tickets were the same price to go one way or two. If that's an option you cruise into Vancouver BC, take a 3 hour shuttle bus to Seattle and fly home. Very easy, very cheap. Bonus - we had a great bus driver who narrated the whole way and we loved dthe scenery.