Kat915

It's one of my favorite excursions. Very different than seeing the other glaciers. I think you will enjoy it.

Thanks, Martincath, Where would we store our luggage if we did the whale watch? I would prefer larger catamaran which looks like Prince of Whales. It might be tough taking a bus. How much would taxi/uber be to Granville Island?

Hi. I will be disembarking in Vancouver with my sister who has a mobility issue. She will be using scooter on cruise and rollator in Vancouver. We both have a VERY late flight out (10 and 11:45 pm). I currently have LandSea North shore Mountain tour (7 hours) booked for both of us but can be cancelled. We realize she won't be able to do all of the tour but was hoping to hear from people who actually went how much you think she can do: -Capilano Bridge (realize that she can't go over the bridge but looks like there is a few totem poles, cafe and shopping) -Grouse mountain (I don't see this as an issue since it a gondola up but not sure what can be done once we get up there) -Capilano salmon hatchery If we keep this tour, what time should we get off the ship to meet at the convention center east lobby at 10:45am? Nothing else really interested us and I don't think there is anything we can do in the airport, so unless whale watching can be done we would either do the tour above or get a day hotel. TIA

I landed on Norris but just for quick glacier walk. Helicopter pilot said Norris less busy than Mendenhall but this was about 15 years ago.

I have not been on this excursion but know there is a certain percentage of cancellations due to weather so you may be better going earlier so there is a better chance of rescheduling if there is weather issues. You may want to post on trip advisor if you haven't already.

I booked with the cruise line so don't know pricing difference between flight and food. The meal was quite good though. Salmon was excellent along with the sides. This excursion is highly recommended.

I am going to Ketchikan in June with my sister who will have a scooter. We want to take the bus to Totem Bight. Is the park scooter friendly? I couldn't find much by googling. TIA.

If your cruise is the same as mine, Glacier bay is on both but northbound has College Fjord and different timing in Glacier bay while southbound goes to Hubbard glacier. I picked southbound since I wanted Hubbard glacier and spend a day around Anchorage which southbound worked better with my work schedule.

How arrogant!

yes, I agree. All over the Alaska forum everyone says you have to go Princess or HAL for Glacier bay. I don't agree with that but a lot of people are going to listen to that. And then if they see what all this hassle seasoned cruisers have with customer service (or they do), they may change their mind. I have been on a couple of cruises with Princess so I kept my cruise in Alaska even though Princess customer service was nothing like I experienced before EVER. All cruise lines have issues with customer service but they can typically be resolved with a supervisor with a low level of frustration. I will try to send my issues that I had with customer service to some onshore staff (who would that be?) since this is really hurting their brand especially when it took me numerous calls for them to honor the original terms and conditions so I could get my deposit back and I gave up on my other issue.

I used to live in Detroit area and always had Canadian money since we crossed the border so much. I took some old bills to the Yukon a couple years ago and they really looked at it since it was probably a 40 year old $10 bill since I moved a long away from the border. They took it. I usually give local currency out but last year in Canada they said they preferred the US dollars so I am going to do the same this year but I am only in Vancouver for 12 hours.

Just curious. Doesn't Princess have a different customer service phone number for higher loyalty groups?

Sorry this happened to you. I recently had bad experience multiple times with Princess customer service. English is their second language which never is an issue with me but it was this time and there was a lot of noise in the background. Once, Princess changed the cancellation terms so that my deposit was nonrefundable. After talking to 4 customer service people who wouldn't let me talk to a supervisor, I finally was able to talk to a supervisor. I only got my deposit back since I had the original invoice and emailed it to the supervisor. I asked the supervisor how I could ever trust the terms on original invoice if Princess willy nilly could change them at any time. He said I could call Princess. Sure and waste hours on the phone. And then I wanted to add my sister to my booking on a different cruise, but we needed an accessible room which was available. Instead of telling me it would be difficult to do this after final payment, they told me no one in customer service could do this and told me only the special needs department could help with getting that cabin. I sent an email to the special needs department as customer service directed me to and they of course told me a week later that a customer service person would have to assist with moving/ pricing cabins. I like the flexibility of booking my own cruises online, but I WON'T DEAL WITH PRINCESS CUSTOMER SERVICE ANYMORE. I will book online with other cruiselines or use CVP. I do a lot of my cruise planning at night and I don't want to deal with a TA.

No. I don't have plus or Premier. I just looked on the app and it said the medallion was complimentary.

I ordered the medallion to be mailed and I don't remember being charged.

Another place to potentially see bears is at Mendenhall.

I have been on bear search in Hoonah twice. No bears. Haines is mentioned often to see bears at certain time of year.

True, but they only charged me $200 more for her to go solo vs how much it would cost to book two in that room. (My solo cabin was booked months ago.) They lost all that revenue- we don't get any packages, don't gamble, and get few excursions through the cruise line. I think it gets back to ignorance of customer service reps on booking accessible cabins, plus other stuff that I encountered. I usually book accessible cabin early on on my own, but my sister was undecided about going. I didn't want to book accessible and be taking it from someone else if she didn't come. Lesson learned.

Thanks good advice.

Thanks. I will try to get assigned to her cabin and cancel mine.

Thanks for answering. I called customer service again today and gave them the cabin number of the accessible cabin and they said they couldn't add her to my booking and move us to the accessible cabin. Not sure why it says to call customer service for accessible cabins then. And the special needs group never answered my email. Anyway, I was booked in solo inside and was trying to get us both into accessible inside. Even though customer service couldn't book the accessible cabin, I asked for what the upcharge would be just to add someone to my current cabin. It was only $200 more to book her solo in the accessible so I went ahead and did that so we are both going solo. At least, we are on the same deck and she has a scooter. Hoping we can get copies of each other keys though since she needs assistance occasionally. I had the cancel for any reason, but no one at customer service could get me the accessible cabin and I was running out of time so I didn't even pursue it with them. I am happy that I got her on the cruise and was able to get her a better flight than I have.

I am currently booked as solo in inside cabin which I booked through the Princess website. I want to add my sister to the booking and move us to an accessible cabin which is available but probably won't be available for long. I guess I don't understand why customer service can't do this and just tell me what the additional charge is. I am worried that an email to the special needs department (which customer service said is the only one that can assist) will go into a black hole or not be answered timely. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. TIA.

I am past final payment on an alaska cruise and I want to add someone to the booking that needs a wheelchair accessible room. There is one wheelchair accessible room left on the cruise but customer service said that I have to go through the special needs department and they are only available by email. I emailed them tonight but not sure when I will hear from them and if the wheelchair accessible cabin will still be available. Has anyone had experience adding someone past final payment and was it difficult? Has anyone dealt with getting a different cabin with the special needs department? I am almost tempted to book my sister into the wheelchair accessible cabin as a solo and just pay the extra fare. Any thoughts?

A few years back, Princess had a naturalist on board that gave us approximate times for wildlife and glaciers. Does anyone know if they still have a naturalist doing this?

I gave up booking balconies in Alaska. I save the money for excursions and are on outside deck for glaciers.