adstz

9 hours ago, Janet76 said:

I would wait. Ports and national parks all closed until July 1, 2020.  May-June AK cruise will not sail.  Our May AK cancelled.  Will not see our refund for 60 plus days.  We are not happy about this.

I have resigned myself to waiting for the cancellation. Only problem is I had made final payment the day before the ***** hit the fan. As of right now I am out around $15,000 including this tour. This was a family celebration for 7 people. I could be earning interest. Instead I am hoping to get my money back sometime in the next 3 to 6 months.

Thanks for your replies. My thoughts were that these are different times. I have used this company a few times in the past. With what is going on I thought that maybe they should be willing to keep customers in the future by being generous with their cancellations now.

I guess I now just wait to see what happens.

Has anyone else booked with them for this summer?

I am a planner. I have booked (and paid for) a full day tour with them in June. We will be in Skagway on the Star Princess in early June.

My cruise has not been cancelled yet. When I contacted Chilkoot to ask about cancellation they stated that if the cruise is cancelled then they will return the money. Otherwise, there is a 5% cancellation fee. That would be $64 for me. Totally unreasonable to me.

Anyone have any different experience with this company?

1 hour ago, RSF Cruiser said:

Have all San Francisco/Alaska sailing been cancelled for 2020?

 

I read under the heading Carnival Cruise Line: Alaska All Alaska sailings are canceled through and including June 30, 2020, with all cruises scheduled to depart from San Francisco canceled for the rest of 2020. Source: https://www.cruisecritic.com/news/5016/

 

I saw nothing on the Princess web site, although I did find the same message on Carnival.com. I have reservations for August 11 round trip from San Francisco to Alaska. I do not want to call my travel agent or Princess, since I"m sure they are busy with dealing with customers whose cruises are sooner than August.

 

Does anyone have any more information about cruises out of San Francisco?

 

Thanks!!!

 

Took me a little looking around to find what you were actually referencing. That is specifically for Carnival cruises. If you go to the Princess list further down it does not currently say anything about Alaska or San Francisco cruises.

I am scheduled for June 2 out of San Francisco and have not received anything concerning a cancellation. My cruise also still shows in my cruise personalizer.

We have done Chilkoot Tours twice. Once train up and bus down. This was the all day with lunch at Caribou Crossing. On the way down everyone fell asleep and missed the scenery.

I advise taking the bus up in the morning. The driver will keep an eye out for animals to photograph. Lunch at Caribou Crossing is good and plentiful. It's fun to walk around their little museum and gift shop after eating. If you're lucky there will be puppies to play with and pet. Taking the train back down the mountain will give you some incredible views. And yes, sit on the right side on the train down.

DON'T FORGET YOUR PASSPORT. A friend forgot theirs once and held up the whole bus while they ran back to their stateroom to get it.

We have taken 3 cruise tours. Two to Alaska and one in the British Isles.

Your hotel room has no correlation to your level on the cruise.

Rarely are you at a hotel for more than one night. In Alaska we did 2 nights in Denali and 2 nights at Princess Mt. McKinley Lodge. Truthfully, on these tours you are so busy that all you do is sleep and shower in the room. No time to sit around and relax. Hardly spent more than a few hours in the room.

All the rooms we had were "standard" but quite nice. We have never needed more.

That said, I would call Princess if you really want to upgrade.

On our very first trip to Alaska we did gold panning just outside Fairbanks. It was fun. When we were done my husband pressured me to buy the locket with "our" gold flakes inside. I did but wasn't sure it would get much use. 

This has turned out to be my favorite piece of jewelry. I wear it all the time.

We went to the same gold panning years later with friends. I took the new gold flakes and had them added to my existing necklace. I now have over $100 worth of gold flakes in my locket.

I now tend to look for unusual jewelry as I know I will enjoy that more than a dust catcher.

On 1/22/2020 at 7:18 AM, Negril60 said:

If you are worried about sea sickness take Bonine . You can buy it at Walmart . Take one every 24 hours absolutely no side effects . I get motion sickness if I snorkel for several hours. This takes care of it.

I disagree with your statement of no side effects. Bonine gives me a constant headache and very dry mouth. Makes for a very uncomfortable vacation for me.

I use a scopolamine patch. It is a prescription but my doctor issued it (more than once) without a visit. Just explain why you need it. The side effects are considerably less.

Not a restaurant per se but on the pier in Ketchikan there is an outdoor tent with kettle corn and caramel corn. It is constantly made right there. The caramel corn is amazing. We always buy a large bag to take back to the ship with us.

It is down the end of the pier. As you get off the ship (if berthed in town) it will be on your right down the pier. On Front Street near Spruce Mill Street.

On 2/2/2020 at 4:15 PM, Kfrech said:

Thanks so much.

 

From the research I've done, it seems that no tour that goes to Bennett includes a stop at Caribou Crossing Trading...although I'll keep looking!

Check into Chilkoot Charters. We have gone with them twice and sent friends to them also. They have a number of excursions that include the train and Caribou Crossing for lunch.

Our preference is the Yukon Bus and Rail Excursion. 7.5 hours. We like to take the bus up in the morning and rail down in the afternoon. The views from the train on the way back down are amazing. The one time we took the train up and bus down everyone fell asleep in the bus on the way back down the mountain. 

This excursion usually includes a visit with the puppies!

My family will be doing this excursion in June when we are there.

Warning! We were there in 2001 and rented a car. Things may have changed but back then if you rented a car in Ireland you could not drive it in to Northern Ireland. Oops! We discovered this in our rental contract after we had circumnavigated the island. 1600 miles in 2 weeks with 3 kids in what the Irish consider a "large" car. Not!

35 minutes ago, Colo Cruiser said:

Yes check out the Frisco board.   

AAACCKKK! "Frisco"! Never! It's San Francisco, if you please!

You should be able to do a walk off around 8 am if you are able to handle your own luggage.

If you go to www.alcatrazcruises.com you will see there is an 8:45 am tour for 2 hours 15 minutes. If you take a taxi there and have prepaid your tickets online you should have plenty of time. It is less than a mile from Pier 27 where the ship comes in to Pier 33 where the Alcatraz ferry departs.

Luggage storage appears to be at Pier 39 at the California Welcome Center. Getting there and back to Pier 33 in time may be a problem. I would sign up for the earliest walk off available. Depending how early the ship clears customs you may be able to get off well before 8 am.

Hamilton, on the other hand, may take a while to get to depending on traffic. It's not far just a lot of cars. They just shut down Market Street to regular traffic so only buses, taxi's and bikes are allowed. If you Uber or Lyft they can't go on Market. Taxi is your best bet.

9 hours ago, Mom2kmo said:

Was this the Park Plaza by Radisson on Vauxhall?   We just booked a 2 bedroom apartment there.  

Yes that is the one.

17 hours ago, chismrules said:

Hello, I am looking also, only have a couple of days so want to be closer but reasonable priced. When I look at the map it seems far to me to walk to say Buckingham. Can you tell me about how long it took. And did you get on any subs to get to anywhere?

Thanks Debbie

Buckingham Palace was about a 15 to 20 minute walk. The hardest part is making sure you are on the correct road as they are all at strange angles to each other.

We took the tube from Victoria Station to the Tower of London, about 9 stops to get there. Naturally, I screwed up and got the wrong tickets (day pass) for the trip. Be sure to buy a Oyster Card as it is MUCH cheaper.

Also consider taking the HOHO bus. Hits a lot of the places you may want to see anyway. There are a couple - we took the Big Bus.

We stayed at Park Plaza Victoria. There are 5 or so Park Plazas very close to each other so be careful which one you book. 

We were very pleased with this hotel. Super modern rooms. Go to bed and hit a button to close the curtains or turn off and on lights. Buffet breakfast can be included in your price when you check in. Very clean. It is very walkable. We walked to Buckingham Palace and Churchill's War Room. A good number of restaurants within a few blocks.  Very close to Victoria bus and train station. There is also a theater about 2 blocks away that had Wicked while we were there.

23 hours ago, mrskay9 said:

Oh thank you so much!  I just didn't want to arrive at the airport without a way to get to the boat lol!

No worries as the tour takes you from your last hotel to the airport on the last day. They arrange everything to get you to the ship.

Note that your flights will be available 330 days from your return flight not your going to flight.

6 hours ago, Rickster50 said:

We have just finished a 7 day cruise on the American Queen from New Orleans to Memphis. I have to say the experience was fantastic. The crew were great, the ports visited were very interesting and basically that whole trip was very memorable.....highly recommended.

 

Rick

Thank you for taking the time to post this. It is so hard to find any info on this company and their cruises. We are booked for September 2020 Memphis to New Orleans. Do you have any recommendations for what to see and do in Memphis and New Orleans? We will be spending a few days in both cities before and after the cruise.

Any other insights into the cruise will be appreciated.

3 minutes ago, adstz said:

I do agree with the idea of going straight to Auke Bay if that is where you meet your whale watching tour.

However, if you are meeting your tour back in town (like at your ship) then I would suggest Big Blue Bus. Run by M & M Tours.

They are located under the tram at Roberts Tram (which is a short walk from most piers). You can google them to get the whole picture.

Here is the main info:

The Blue Bus" Glacier Express

 

$45 per person roundtrip        

 

This is a narrated express direct transportation 14 miles from downtown to the Mendenhall Glacier. "The Bule Bus" runs every 30 minutes beginning at 8:00am till 6:00pm on most days. Let our Bright Blue Bus take you out to the “Big Blue Ice”

(The USFS charges $5 to enter the Visitors Center and that fee is included in the tour price)

 

 

M&M Tours operates under a Special Use Permit granted to us by the US Forest Service and the Tongass National Forest. 

 

I just reread what I posted. Didn't realize how expensive this bus had gotten. I first took it in 2008 and it was $14 or $16 round trip then. With the price what it is now you would be much better off with a taxi for 4 people.

I do agree with the idea of going straight to Auke Bay if that is where you meet your whale watching tour.

However, if you are meeting your tour back in town (like at your ship) then I would suggest Big Blue Bus. Run by M & M Tours.

They are located under the tram at Roberts Tram (which is a short walk from most piers). You can google them to get the whole picture.

Here is the main info:

The Blue Bus" Glacier Express

$45 per person roundtrip        

This is a narrated express direct transportation 14 miles from downtown to the Mendenhall Glacier. "The Bule Bus" runs every 30 minutes beginning at 8:00am till 6:00pm on most days. Let our Bright Blue Bus take you out to the “Big Blue Ice”

(The USFS charges $5 to enter the Visitors Center and that fee is included in the tour price)

M&M Tours operates under a Special Use Permit granted to us by the US Forest Service and the Tongass National Forest. 

We did the British Isles cruise tour with Princess this past summer. We stayed at The Strand Limerick the first night of the land tour.

I don't remember how early the hotel showed on our itinerary.

We were on our first Medallion cruise this past summer. There are no receipts. You let the server scan your medallion and it goes straight to your account. He has a little hand held machine.

We did not have the beverage package but had no problem with our bill. You can check your bill constantly on the app on your phone. No charge as it uses intranet on the ship which is free.

I'm looking for the easiest way to prepay gratuities for 2 other cabins. My husband and I are taking the kids on an Alaska cruise. My original booking had prepaid gratuities. Yesterday I gave those up for a 10% reduction in price, free specialty dinners for all and free wine.

As I am saving more than the cost of the total gratuities for 7 people I want to prepay gratuities on THEIR cabins. I know how to do it on mine but...

I have their booking numbers as I am paying for the cruise. I don't want to register my credit card on the accounts as they are paying their own shipboard accounts.

What's the easiest way to prepay for this? Should I call Princess?

Thanks for any ideas.

On 7/8/2019 at 8:01 AM, wendyp247 said:

Can  anyone who has taken International Friends with a stop at Stonehenge personally  recommend it or say don't take it and why. Trying to decide to  take International Friends or just take National Express to Southampton

, it will be on a Sunday in August. 

We took this tour just 2 weeks ago. The trip was very well done.

The bus was waiting when we disembarked. Left the pier by 8:15 am.

Salisbury Cathedral - had about 45 minutes to walk around. 7.50GBP to enter cathedral. We didn't go in. There was a street fair in the town so we walked around and took pictures.

Stonehenge - (we prepaid tickets) long lines for the shuttle when we got there but worth the wait. Spent about 30-40 minutes waiting for the shuttle. That left us around 45 minutes to walk completely around the stones. Plenty of time. Took the shuttle back down and visited the gift shop.

Windsor Castle - (prepaid tickets) warning, quite a hike up stairs and then a hill to get to the castle. Had about 2 hours to walk around.

At this point the group was split up based on where in London your hotel was. Ours was in Victoria. We were in our room by 6 pm.

It's not cheap but a great way to see a few more things on the way into London.

On 8/5/2019 at 4:47 PM, Kay.redmann said:

If I just admit I am an idiot will you feel better that I messed up the name of the boat 😉

 

second I hand out cash tips on top of the paid gratuities.  I am not convinced that princess (or any cruise) hands these out the way I would so I like to give extra by cash.  

 

Hope my answers help your day get a little better, sounds like you might be a little stressed and need a vacation  

Be sure to put your "extra" tip in an envelope (available at the pursers desk). Put your name, cabin number, your steward's name, and "auto tips left on" on the outside of the envelope. Princess employees have to report all tips received. Give it to your steward. He will have to report it at the end of the cruise. After ensuring that you left the automatic tip on, they will give the money to the steward. Otherwise, it may end up in the tip pool.

Go to the Princess boards and search for tips to see all the controversy about extra tipping.