Nervous About Booked Excursions

[Donna6369]

I am booked on the Infinity for August 5th and I have several excursions booked.

 

I have a floatplane to the Misty Fjords & a helicopter to Mendenhall Glacier with dog sledding and with the news of what just happened to the people from Sun Princesss I am thinking about cancelling my excursions. I was nervous about them when I booked as I am not a huge fan of flying, but eveything I read said theya re the best excursions to do in Alaska. I'm not sure what to do since I have been both excited and nervous about my excursions.

 

Thanks for listening and my prayers go out to the families of those involved in the tragedy.

[Desertbelle]

Without a doubt you must do what is right for you, but if you truly are asking for advice, mine would be to continue on with your plans.

 

I imagine your chances for dying are much more likely to be in your own car on the freeway than on an excursion in Alaska. Better to live a life full with excitement and explorations than a "safe" and boring life watching from the sidelines.

 

Have a wonderful cruise!!

[chessbriar]

Now would be a great time to take those excursions as the media attention combined with realization of death, will have the pilots paying extra special attention to equipment and weather conditions.

[psychboss]

My mother is 88 years old and while not wealthy, by any means, is comfortable financially. She is in excellent health, but will not go anywhere or do anything. She has to 'save' her money! When I ask her for what, she says 'in case of an emergency'. She has very good health coverage, etc. The only thing that we see she is saving her money for is so that she may have to pay it to a Nursing Home some day or leave it to me. I would rather she spend it on herself than leave it to me!

 

My DH and I took her on a cruise on the Infinity for her 86th birthday hoping to show her a good time and give her some ideas of things she could do. Her 83 year old sister came with us. All my mother could go was worry about the cost. Her sister had a great time and has since gone on another cruise with her daughter.

 

SO my DH and I have decided: We would rather live while we are living than die while we are alive. Because that is what my mother has been doing.

 

SO IF YOU ARE GOING TO ALASKA - GO FOR IT -HAVE FUN - SEE IT ALL - GOD FORBID ANYTHING SHOULD HAPPEN TO YOU OR TO ANYONE ELSE. BUT LIVE WHILE YOU ARE LIVING -!!

[chessbriar]

20 years from now, you will regret the things you did not do more that the things you did.

[GORDONCHICK]

My mother is 88 years old and while not wealthy, by any means, is comfortable financially. She is in excellent health, but will not go anywhere or do anything. She has to 'save' her money! When I ask her for what, she says 'in case of an emergency'. She has very good health coverage, etc. The only thing that we see she is saving her money for is so that she may have to pay it to a Nursing Home some day or leave it to me. I would rather she spend it on herself than leave it to me!

 

My DH and I took her on a cruise on the Infinity for her 86th birthday hoping to show her a good time and give her some ideas of things she could do. Her 83 year old sister came with us. All my mother could go was worry about the cost. Her sister had a great time and has since gone on another cruise with her daughter.

 

 

Many people this age (and my FIL at 94) grew up during the depression and their mentality is to save, save, save. But not all who grew up during that time have that philosophy (your aunt). Same thing happened to my DH and his sister. Both raised by parents who grew up in the depression. My DH believes in only buying things you can pay cash for (including houses and cars) while his sister doesn't. She looks back at her childhood as not having what her friends had. Same family, but completely different perspective.

[auntdot]

I toyally agree with the responses to your question, Donna.

 

I believe that 'when your name is called' no matter where you are, or what you are doing, there's no getting around that (of course not taking needless 'risks' in the meantime). If you think of the percentage of people over the past years, or even this season, who ended up with the same fate as those on the Princess cruise, the number has to be pretty small. Of course we all share in the sorrow of those families.

 

I love the quote at the end of one poster's signature - 'We are spending our children's inheritance one cruise at a time!'

 

Enjoy your voyage!

Dorothy

[Donna6369]

Thank you all for taking the time to help put my mind at ease. I know I would regret it if I cancelled the excusions I guess I just needed a little encouragement.

 

Thank you all again for all the help and wondeful advice given on all of these boards. This is such a great community!

[sealover155]

We were on Infinity in June and took the ship's helicopter sled dog excursion in Juneau. I was a bit apprehensive about the helicopter ride but the benefit of landing on the glacier at 3000 and riding on the sled with the dogs won out. It was the thrill of a lifetime - nothing will ever, ever, come close to the exhileration of that day.

 

Having said that, if I were you, I would pay close attention to what happened to that flight over Misty Fiords. What was the weather like? What company was the sub-contractor? Then, I'd ask about the safety record of the company's you're considering. These are valid questions and concerns and Celebrity is obligated to address them.

[Donna6369]

Just found out from Celebrity that my excursion is with Venture Travel, LLC DBA: Taquan Air and that is the company that had the crash. Should I still feel OK to go with them?

 

I know Princess has stopped all tours with this company for now.

[psychboss]

I would not cancel my excursion I would wait and find out what happened. I would feel very confident that the Company will be working all out to find out what happened ASAP.

 

As to my mother - and her 'frugal' ways - her family did quite well during the depression. My grandfather worked for the railroad and did not lose his job. She did not get like this until after my father passed away 15 years ago. My husband and I have accepted that this is the way she is and that she is not going to change. But I refuse to be like her. I would rather die penniless than die with a pot of money and be a miserable old lady with no friends.

[Susan-M]

Just found out from Celebrity that my excursion is with Venture Travel, LLC DBA: Taquan Air and that is the company that had the crash. Should I still feel OK to go with them?

 

I know Princess has stopped all tours with this company for now.

 

Hi Donna,

 

There are some recommendations for another company on the other thread regarding the crash. If you are really unsure about Taquan, perhaps another choice would make you more comfortable. We did this excursion and it was the highlight of my week - but flying in a 4 seater is a different experience and if you are going to be extremely nervous, it might not be worthwhile. We booked our excursion once we arrived in Ketchikan and saw that blue skies prevailed. There are offices right at the dock and if space is available, you can book a trip once you disembark the ship.

[claud925]

I would rather die penniless than die with a pot of money and be a miserable old lady with no friends.

 

Hear, hear! I always say that there will be no money left behind . . . the day I die will be a sad day for friggin' everybody.:D

[Pontius Navigator]

I'm aircrew.

 

I avoid flying whenever possible.

[Donna6369]

So after emailing back and fourth with Celebrity shore excursion department and seeing if there is another excursion for this with a different company I rcvd an email this morning telling me that my excursion and all excursions done through this tour company have been cancelled as of right now.

 

At this time they said I will have to inquire onboard to see if another tour will be offered to replace it.

[chessbriar]

All your worrying for nothing. Really ruins the fun of asking these questions when X takes away the choice.

 

I'm sure you will find some great things to do.

[CaliforniaDreamin]

...... I rcvd an email this morning telling me that my excursion and all excursions done through this tour company have been cancelled.

 

They don't want to be involved with this company until the crash investigation is completed, if even then. They have some exposure if they continue booking people and there is another incident and the investigation is negative towards the plane operator/company.