azbirdmom

Yes you can. We did it back in 2019 when we booked a land package before our comped / free cruise. We booked train and lodging through Pursuit and the train segments were in Adventure and Gold Star. Adventure were seats that were unsold in the cars used by the cruise lines and we traveled one segment in the Holland America car. Gold Star is the top class available through the railroad. Here is another company that sells rail, I have no doubt there are others https://www.alaskatrain.com/information/rates.html

You said that they were offered a flight that would arrive in Heathrow at noon. Surprisingly that is the latest published time that flights can arrive prior to sailing from Southampton for our cruise next Sunday. Hope this doesn't trip them up. I hope they had contacted Princess before the cruise to let them know the situation and officially cancel.

We were on an Ultimate VIP cruise last year. When you get to your stateroom there should be an envelope with the schedule of special events along with badges for you and your roommate. Wearing those in the casino should enable you to get free drinks while gambling in the casino. I'm guessing that since you were offered a free inside that you didn't get a free Princess Plus package but that you can be added for the usual cost if you wish. You can also upgrade the room for (usually) a significantly reduced fee. The biggest different between the regular and Ultimate VIP cruises is that everyone participating gets a gift. There will be an event at a specified time where you will pick an envelope that includes your gift choices. I got the lowest one last year (the "Y" gifts) and selected $500 in free play (there were two other options). The highest value gifts included a choice of $1500 in free play, a Macbook Pro, etc. There will also be gifts left in your room throughout the cruise. Pictures of some of the gifts below. I'm assuming that you got free play as part of your offer. I would check your Travel Summary PDF that you can get on the Princess website to ensure it shows something like this: If you don't see "VIP" definitely call casino reservations, otherwise it is possible that you won't be able to participate in the event. These casino bookings are very glitchy and it's not unusual that they need to be "escalated" in order to ensure that guests get everything that was promised.

Don’t lose hope. They were fully booked as were the Princess excursions. Both opened up more spots after a while. Keep checking!

You should also check the British Isles Ports of call forum but there are some companies such as Overlord that run tours from Le Havre. We will be going with them in July.

We wholeheartedly agree. And I am very envious that you are so close to the place we frequent the most while in Maui - Honokowai Okazuya and Deli. Awesome eats for a great price (for Maui).

I was responding to dickinson re: outside of 45 days. You have no other option than to work it out with Princess and it's clear that you're aware of that. By the way the last time I used EZAir I noted that they were still having difficulty keeping up with schedule changes made by United. The first such situation I encountered was air for one of the first cruises after the restart. In my case the EZAir and United systems had been out of sync for over a month, something that didn't happen pre-Covid. Fortunately I check the United website frequently and was able to accept recommended flight alternatives even though Princess hadn't ticketed it yet. For that one I also had to call to have EZAir issue the ticket - it was just past the 30 day mark. I chalked that all up to getting back to operating after Covid but when I still had the same problems with EZAir almost a year later I decided to just book air direct until such time as Princess resolves their issues. Good luck getting everything settled!

Sorry it didn't work out for you. I sure hope that the passport office gets caught up soon.

The last time that we used EZAir (which was last year) I noticed the same thing about my flights. And there was verbiage on the United website about an issue with the ticket. What I found out is that for some fares Princess actually pays part of the fare immediately and this shows up as being half ticketed even if you've booked flexible. You can still cancel (I did actually) as long as it's outside of the 45 day window. But it's a fairly normal thing with them and nothing to worry about.

So with today's Medallion update I see that excursions are now on the Medallion app. I shuddered because I was hoping that the confirmed excursions and pricing hadn't been removed from the Travel Summary as specialty restaurant details had when those reservations were moved to the app. They haven't been - yet - and this paper trail has been critical to me in the past. But what I find interesting is that when I try to look at excursions for our December cruise, the app pulls up excursions for our cruise coming up in two weeks. I've tried a couple of times to see if maybe I could get it to work for cruise #2 but the excursions from cruise #1 keep appearing. You would think that they would have learned the importance of testing by now?

Maybe that's a way to get that passport moving? Hope it worked out for you. Please let us all know when you can.

Fantastic! That aft view is a great way to experience Alaska. Enjoy!

Looks wonderful! I sure hope we get to see a "hairy coo", very interesting looking creatures.

Thank you for the info! That is exactly what we plan to do.

I still think it's worth it to shoot an email off to Princess management (contacts here https://www.elliott.org/company-contacts/princess-cruise-lines/ ) to outline what has happened to you. I'd keep it as short as possible but enough detail to convey that you booked BA, were assigned BF, and that you've spend 6+ hours attempting to get things right on your reservation given what transpired thereafter. Make sure you have a descriptive subject. I wouldn't be surprised if you got a call back offering *something* to make things right with you. Something may include some OBC, the Plus package, or they may even shake loose the cabin that you want close to your family (make sure to tell them their cabin number). It's worth a try, they really did screw up your reservation and they have caused you quite a bit of angst for what should be a relaxing experience.

So sorry that you lost Glacier Bay today but glad that everyone is safe. What an ordeal!

It does appear that the new "Princess chooses" guarantee option is to put you in any cabin in that category. The older way you would book a cabin type which would indicate the price underlying your booking and would assure that you would be assigned a cabin that is that type of better. It seems like your reservation booked the old way and Princess is administering it the new way which is BS. You paid for at least a BA and that is what you should get. I hope you shoot an email off to senior management indicating what has happened to you and that Princess isn't giving you what you paid for.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12156265/Cruise-ship-passenger-airlifted-hospital-800-miles-home-says-wasnt-ill.html

There was another thread that intended to do exactly that. For most "tracking threads", people tend to ignore them and start new ones, sometimes right next to one on the same topic. Great idea, unless there's a spreadsheet link that is made sticky with no other commentary it will probably age out.

Before I saw the article I had seen his posts on FB about the situation and he was mostly getting flamed. We may never know the real story but I would only hope and pray that whatever the outcome is it doesn't result in people not being transported off the ship when they truly need it.

That's probably it as those tend to be for sale as an excursion which is in the app.

Yes, I've since found other recent indications that it is $59 or $60, but my only concern was about whether or not it is available on the ship. I'd like to use OBC plus it's a casino reservation and I don't want to run the risk of a rep accidentally cancelling it when adding the transfers. The June 25th cruise is sold out and having an accidental last minute cancellation is a hassle I don't want to deal with (not being paranoid, these offers are a great deal but come with a bit of stress). And our flight time doesn't line up well with National Express departures, allowing for the possibility of late arrival into port. We have taken them before so we understand the process.

I edited my original post to remove that advice given the language on the Princess website. It would be a huge risk to show up at Canada Place without a US Passport.

Nope you are right. Just checked the Princess website and yes, it would be OK if he was going to Alaska from Seattle or San Francisco... sorry about that A valid passport book is required for all international itineraries including: Africa Asia Australia & New Zealand Europe India Central and South America Panama Canal (partial and full transit) Caribbean (any sailings that visit Martinique or Guadeloupe) South Pacific & Tahiti World Cruises If your cruise involves international air travel (including flights between the U.S. and Canada, the Caribbean, Bermuda or Mexico) you will be required to present a valid passport when departing from or returning to the U.S. by air. Domestic itineraries The Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI) governs acceptable travel documents for entry into the U.S. by sea from Bermuda, Canada, the Caribbean, Hawaii, Mexico or within the United States. We highly recommend a passport. We also require a passport for all guests in a travel party when minors are traveling with only one adult (21 years and older).† However, for U.S. and Canadian citizens/nationals on select itineraries a passport is not always required. In lieu of a passport book, these individuals must present one of the following valid WHTI-compliant travel documents at cruise check-in: U.S. Passport Card U.S. or Canadian Issued Enhanced Driver's License (EDL) (A REAL ID is not the same and doesn’t fulfill this requirement.) U.S. or Canadian Issued Identification Card (issued to minors and non-drivers) NEXUS Card Air travel is limited to participating airports (for entry to Canada) SENTRI (for entry to Mexico) and FAST cards I-872 American Indian Card or Enhanced Tribal ID Card (ETC) †We have implemented this requirement because we want to ensure that your party remains together should an emergency arise that requires one or more members to be disembarked in a non-U.S. port. We cannot guarantee that all members of your party will be allowed to disembark with just a WHTI-compliant document or birth certificate. Failure to present a valid passport for all guests traveling together will result in denial of boarding without refund of the cruise or cruisetour fare. On select U.S. roundtrip (sometimes called “closed-loop”) voyages, U.S. citizens ages 16 and above may also travel with an original or certified copy U.S. birth certificate (or U.S. Certificate of Naturalization if foreign born) presented together with a valid U.S. government-issued photo identification. U.S. and Canadian citizens ages 15 and younger may travel with a birth certificate. Alaska roundtrip from San Francisco, Los Angeles or Seattle (roundtrip Seattle cruisetours excluded) Canada/New England roundtrip from New York Caribbean roundtrip from Ft. Lauderdale^, Galveston^ or New York (voyages that do not call to Martinque or Guadeloupe only) Hawaii roundtrip from Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, or Seattle Mexico roundtrip from Los Angeles, San Francisco or San Diego ^Voyages that call to Central or South America are excluded and only passports are accepted. All voyages that call to Martinique or Guadeloupe require a passport.

Have you checked the status online to see where your passport is in the queue? Would recommend that and if it doesn't show that it's in the mail already would definitely look into contacting the nearest passport office to get an emergency passport as others have suggested.