Canberra forever !

Doing Alaska for first time next month and guess we will take lots of layers and hope for the best

Have a great time, hope the weather is kind to you :)

We have the same philosophy as you and we know whatever happens weather wise we'll still have a fantastic time :)

Happy sailing

September must be a real crap shoot reading these posts. We had a regretful experience in 2016 on the last Alaskan cruise of the Ruby. It was foggy and socked in almost the entire trip. Didn't see anything from the ship (No a single glacier) due to ice activity and fog. We have a helicopter glacier landing booked in Skagway that was also cancelled.

 

Our first trip was in late June and completely opposite, saw everything and really enjoyed it.

As you say the weather is a lottery :( sadly the one thing I can't pre book :(

We have been to Alaska five time the first cruise out and the last cruise out and we are going sept 17. I cant remember but one day of bad weather not cold or hot perfect. The passage has calm waters most of the time with maybe misty rain after all up the entire north west coast is a rain forest. Check weather a week before you go to get an ideal what to pack,still no guarantees. You do get the best prices on the last cruise out so have plenty of money and have fun.

 

 

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Fab thank you :) you're making me feel more confident in my choice of dates. I know the weather is always a lottery so fingers crossed :) & at least the shopping will be good :') I will check the weather just before that's a great tip .... waterproofs and bobble hats at the ready !

Thank you so much for all the brilliant advice :) looks like we're just going to have to go for it ! but be prepared with lots of layers etc, we live on top of a mountain in Wales so we're used to 'variable' weather.

Just can't wait to go now, wish it was this September ! I keep checking the countdown on Cruise Personaliser :) counting the days already

Don't forget the sun cream and sun hats too, I got sunstroke once when in Gerainger as the air is crystal clear with no pollution .... love Norway we've booked Sapphire for next June too :)

We have booked a Southbound Alaska cruise for 8th Sept 2018 (our first trip to Alaska) the date was chosen to coincide with our wedding anniversary trip to Canada but... I have read several posts commenting on rough seas at that time of year and would welcome any of your views, experiences and comments on the seas, and the cruise in general in September time.

Although I have cruised a lot I still do not do well in rough weather ! we could change to the 1st September sailing ??

Hope you can help, many thanks

So agree with these recommendations. Check out the facebook page for Van Dusen gardens -- wonderful place. The Museum of Anthropology is simply amazing http://moa.ubc.ca/. Vancouver has great public transportation. Last time we were there in the rain we went to the Aquarium in Stanley Park -- they have a phone for making taxi requests.

Make sure you have a day pre-cruise in Anchorage as they also have a good museum http://www.alaska.org/detail/museum-anchorage

Fab info, thank you so much :) wish we were going this Sept im getting so excited ! we also have a programme 'Alaska Wildlife Live' on this week in the UK ...Wow !!!! so amazing :) can't wait

Sounds like the £100 admin fee is from Princess, not the TA. UK booking rules apply.

Clearly the UK booking rules are not the same as the US rules perhaps we should book through a US TA then we'd get the US rules ? ....is that possible ? anyone know or have you done it ?

Hello Canberra,

 

I am not sure that your loyalty to your travel agent may be misplaced. To my knowledge, Princess does not assess any charge for making changes. My own big box travel agent has a more modest charge for changes but typically waives them. After final payment is a different situation. I would expect a different response from the travel agent a year out. As I am from the US, perhaps my expectations are not correct?

Yes I'm starting to think maybe I need to ring Princess direct and just ask the question 'what if?' thank you for that watch this space ....... :)

I've never met or even heard of anyone who ever complained of spending too MUCH time in Vancouver...

 

To be fair, our historic buildings/galleries etc. will be relatively small potatoes to what you have access to at home but even if you just stuck to outdoorsy things it would be very easy to kill three days here. Stanley park alone is ~1000 acres and you could spend an entire day exploring it without seeing everything. Capilano/Lynn Canyon bridges; Grouse Mountain; UBC Campus (Botanic, Japanese, Rose gardens, treewalk, various museums incl the superb MOA with totem poles); Queen Elizabeth Park, Blodel Conservatory, & Van Dusen garden combo can eat most of another day.

 

We've also got walking & bike tours - or just rent bikes and pootle around the Seawall where you'll have no cars to worry about and it's very hard to get lost; boats/kayaks tours & rentals; ghost walks; beer tours... maybe have a look at Tripadvisor and their various lists of 'three days in Vancouver' ' a weekend in Vancouver' etc. and see what jumps out that you do like to do.

Sorry I didn't mean to sound insulting to Vancouver ! we're really excited about our trip and there seems to be so much to see and do we can't wait :)

I shall follow your advice and have a look on trip advisor we had already planned to see some of Stanley park, Capilano bridge, totem poles etc so I think I need to work out an itinerary for Vancouver alone :) never mind the rest of our trip ! :)

I raised the same question with my TA as I have booked a cruise to Alaska for next year and then the OBC promotion was offered, as the cruise was over a year away I didn't think there would be a problem to change to the OBC offer but was told 'no' and that I would be charged £100 to do so which made it not really worth the effort, very disappointing, no point in booking well in advance, seems Princess UK has different rules to the US :(

I should say I am at Elite level but clearly loyalty doesn't make any difference either :(

Thoughts...

• If you have the opportunity.... think about July or August. It cost more, but you get more daylight and dryer port weather.
  
• Vancouver is worthy for a few days stay.
  
• Day 1: Land
  
• Day 2: Grouse and Capilano
  
• Day 3: Hop On shuttle with Stanley Park, Gastown, Granville Island
  
• Day 4: Whistler
  
• Day 5: Victoria
  

Thank you we did think about that but we wanted to be away for our 25th Anniversary which is at the end of September hence the date :)

We actually thought to do Victoria and Whistler after our Alaska cruise when we've picked up the hire car as we plan to drive over the Rockies to Calgary, so do you think 3 full days in Vancouver would be ok/too little/too much we're not 'big city' fans but would like to see some of the main sights?

2018?

Are you in Wales?

Seems strange that your Princess documents are showing Seattle as your home location. You have a few choices. Fly from Vancouver B.C. to Anchorage, drive to Seattle a day early and then fly Seattle to Anchorage. You can book independently or book using EZ Air. If using EZ Air ask your T.A. or Princess to change your selection of airports to whatever airport you choose. I'm thinking your flights will be Vancouver or Seattle to Anchorage and then Vancouver to Cardiff. Would highly recommend at least one overnight in Anchorage. You can also notice that there are limited non-stop flights from Vancouver to Anchorage and the connecting flights are many hours. There are lots of non stops from Seattle. Seattle could be be a better choice, and it is a nice city to tour pre-cruise. If you drive to Seattle allow lots of time at the U.S. border in Blaine. It can be slow.

Take into consideration that Anchorage is around 90 mins drive to the port of Whittier, plus the time delay to get through the one way Anton Anderson tunnel.There are some private transfer options, the Princess transfer option, and there is also an Alaska rail option. Check them all out.

Hope this information is useful.

Thanks you it is :) and yes we are in Wales though I imagine we will fly from and to London as Cardiff airport is quite small

Southbound Alaska voyages typically start in Anchorage. I see that the Sept 8, 2018 on Star begins in Anchorage and ends in Vancouver but I don't see any September 2019 Alaska voyages when I search the Princess site for cruises - so I can't check the itinerary (the schedule for sept 2019 isn't on the website yet).

 

If the voyage started in Seattle ( or Vancouver) then Anchorage would typically be the end of your Northbound voyage.

 

You should be able to go into your Personalizer and check the itinerary for your particular voyage to confirm the embarkation port and the current itinerary.

 

If you wish to join the ship at any port other than the port of embarkation you will need to contact Princess to get authorization.

Sorry Shelly97060 that should have said September 2018 !! wasn't concentrating:( not enough coffee :)

The cruise starts in Anchorage but we were planning to fly from the UK to Vancouver, at the beginning of September, and have a few days there before our cruise and hoped that we could fly to Anchorage from Vancouver but on our confirmation it indicates we start/fly from Seattle ?? Our TA said not to worry and it will all sort itself out !? but I'm trying to plan out our itinerary now ready for when the flights from the uk to Canada go on sale :)

please confirm...is this trip in 2018 or 2019? It is hard to understand how you received a confirmation for a trip that is not yet available.

Sorry !! my fault that should have said September 2018 ...not enough coffee when I woke up :)

Hello, My husband and I are planning a 5 week trip to Canada in Sept 2019 for our 25th wedding anniversary- so excited already - and have currently booked a Southbound Alaska on Star for the 8th Sept, when I received the confirmation from Princess it stated we started in Seattle however we'll be in Vancouver can I assume it will be ok to fly from Vancouver to Anchorage to join the ship or will we have to go to Seattle first? EZ Air isn't on sale yet so I can't check through them.Also how many days would you recommend we need to explore Vancouver before joining the ship (we won't have a car for this portion of our trip)

Hope you can help, many thanks

Just upgraded under this offer for our May cruise next year on Sapphire. We had a mini suite and got a flat rate offer to upgrade to a Suite. T/A informed us that it was any suite from S6 right up to S1.' So we have got the Grand S1 suite. Would not have considered it if it was only to Vista Suite. As we would never in a million years, been able to afford the Grand Suite, we took the plunge. It's also our Ruby Wedding next year so that's another excuse lol.

That sounds amazing, hope you enjoy :)

Princess offered us an upgrade on our June cruise from Mini Suite to full suite but at £1500 pp extra we didn't bother

Happy cruising :)

My Husband will have a big birthday in 2019 and he has always wanted to do a Mississippi Music themed cruise so this will be a perfect present for him.

I have looked at the website and the itinerary, Memphis to New Orleans, looks super, has anyone done a Music themed cruise and if so do you have any advice or comments and also how far in advance do you think I need to book, also suggestions on which cabin or area of the boat is best ?

We have previously Ocean cruised and are in fact doing our first River cruise (down the Rhine) in December so river cruising is very new to us.

Hope you can help, many thanks

Many years ago, when my children were young, P&O used to give you an extra, child friendly, padded safety rail for the upper pullman beds in addition to the metal rails at the head of the bed maybe they don't do that these days :( they were vital especially for my son who was very fidgety

I'm still waiting but having seen the previous comments I won't be holding my breath for something super ........

I had the same email telling me to watch out for an email offering an 'upgrade at a reasonable price' offer but I have 2 cruises booked for next year so I'm not sure which cruise it relates to.....watch this space :) never been offered this before

Is it really only a £1 loss if you cancel. Could they charge you the rest of the normal deposit.

 

Best wishes, Stephen.

 

PS I know one place I stay that charges only £70 deposit. You pay the balance on arrival. If you cancel you owe 50% to 100% of the total cost. How they would get the several hundred extra pounds from me is debatable. They probably rely on nearly 100% repeat business that means my future booking would be refused.

 

 

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I hope it is only a £1 each loss I've booked a cruise in the hope I can convince hubby to go and if he says no.......it'll be a huge oops moment ! :(

If you book with the £1 deposit offer (as there is a cruise I fancy but my hubby isn't too keen) and I can't persuade him do I just lose the £2 if I cancel, sorry if that sounds a daft question ?!

Hi thanks for that let us know if you are successful with the OBC :)

Will do :)

Hi fellow U.K. princess cruisers

We have two cruises booked with princess, one of which is in April 2019, my TA said that if I see a significant price drop or sip and sail offer, for £100 ( a one time offer) I can cash in on the offers, and the drop in price currently on offer

Has anyone done this and is it as easy as that

Thank you

Ellie :)

Hi Ellie,

It's worth a try we had a cruise on Crown a few years ago where the price dropped with an offer and I phoned Princess (I'd booked that one independently) and they reduced our cabin by £1000 I have currently asked our TA to look into whether we can get the current OBC offer for a cruise we've booked for Sept 2018.

Good luck :)