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It was in an email sent by Princess on September 12.

Which is why I keep all of the AARP gift cards with notes on which cruise they were used on in a separate folder. Knock on wood, but we've haven't had anything canceled yet using the gift cards!

It happened to me once--kept telling me that I had to enter my credit card information. I was using my iPad. I just turned it off and restarted. I was then able to enter gift cards as partial payment on a number of cruise.

For a budget-friendly hotel, we like to stay at the YWCA Hotel. Reasonably priced and close to the Sky Train (we walk to the station and get off down by Canada Place). We also like to stay at the Auberge. Nice rooms, great staff and location! We've stayed at the Pan Pacific and Fairmont Waterfront before--like both of these places but will stay only if I can get a good rate. (We tend to travel lightly--just a medium-sized roller and backpack--and are pretty mobile. So we don't mind taking the Sky Train to the port or walking a bit (less than a mile though). Sometimes we will stay at an airport hotel and then just take the Sky Train in the next morning. We cruise out of Vancouver about 4-5 times a year so we don't always want to sightsee or stay downtown.)

Received an update on our January 2024 Hawaiian Cruise this morning. Glad Princess finally made the announcement. We knew we wouldn’t be stopping at Lahaina but we have friends on board who booked Maui excursions last week!

We really enjoy cruising with the Medallion. The app has always worked well for us but it’s pretty similar to other cruise lines’ apps. What we like about the Medallion is not having to carry a cruise card and having the ability to find ship mates on board. We used similar technology when visiting Disney World and had always said that cruise lines should utilize this. We miss having this technology when cruising on another line. I hate cruise cards and lanyards. I get enough of that at work…. My one pet peeve about the Medallion—I wish Princess would set up a recycling bin after disembarking. We don’t need these 30+ magnets! I do recycle them at home but it would be so much easier to just drop them off on the way off the ship!

Thanks for the heads up! We’ve been waiting to book the 2025 Voyage of the Viking until we had FCC. Didn’t want to put down a $3500 deposit on a cruise in 2025. I was able to select our room, get the Early Bonus HIA, AARP and Educator OBC, and only put $2 down! I also booked a couple of rooms for family members for a 2024 Thanksgiving cruise. My family already has five cabins booked but with the low deposit, a few of the younger college-age students who were on the fence are now booked.

I would definitely do a DIY tour of the Kenai Peninsula and the Matanuska glacier trek. Spend a few days in Seward, take a Kenai Fjords wildlife cruise, kayak Resurrection Bay, visit a dog sled kennel, etc. Homer is also another wonderful place to visit. I’ve done the Matanuska glacier trek a few times. I still consider the glacier trek as one of my all time favorite activities in Alaska.

The MICA that the OP referred to is a company that leads tours on the Matanuska glacier. It’s not a cruise line.

That's all we did--we were going to get an Uber but there was only one person ahead of us in the taxi line. No reservations. Driver loaded up the luggage and we got to the station in about 20 minutes. We got off the ship early (self-embark)--I was worried about the crowds since there were two ships in port that day. I think we missed the crowds..

When we travel by Amtrak to/from Seattle and have to spend the night, we like to stay at the Embassy Suites next door. It is very close to the station--walk out the front door and walk about 25-30 yards to the hotel. It's pricey but certainly worth the convenience especially if you're arriving at night. We've also taken the light rail from the airport to the Kings Station. We do travel lightly so have been able to tote our own bags easily.

We took a taxi from the pier to Kings Station this past July We didn't have to walk too far--exited the port building, walked across the street to the taxi line. It was very close.

We toured the Independence Mine State Historical Park last summer and highly recommend it if you are staying around Palmer. We particularly enjoyed the behind the scenes tours that gave us access to the buildings. What fun! Afterwards, we went to the pass and spent some time watching folks parachute off! (I guess you would call it parachuting? People would just run to the edge and jump!). Looked like a lot of fun! Missed visiting the musk ox farm. Hopefully we’ll visit next summer.

I just put a large, personalized magnet on our door. Makes it easy to find our cabin and it’s fun to have a little personalized message. On our April cruise, the magnet said “Oh Ship, it’s a birthday trip!” along with my first name and April 2023. I had so many folks comment on it as well as wish me a happy day! Was fun! Personalizing an item should make it more difficult to be stolen—just got our Thanksgiving cruise door magnet with the name of the HAL ship, our first names and November 2023! Doesn’t apply to too many people!🤣

I have brought alcohol for gifts on board numerous times on port stops. I always tell the security officer that I have alcohol. Most of the time, I’m allowed to keep the alcohol with me. Rarely (maybe one out of 10 times?), there is a person who takes the bottle(s) and gives me a receipt to pick it up on the last day of the cruise. The room steward usually (without asking) brings it to our stateroom. So, one doesn’t lose the alcohol, it’s just stored. One tip I learned though is to take a picture of what you bought! I had a receipt for my red wine but received an inferior bottle instead! Spent a little time tracking down the correct bottle—thankful that I had a picture of the bottle!

Don’t feel silly asking this! We cruised three times out of Vancouver this summer and luggage drop off was in two different spots! In June and July, we dropped luggage to the right—down the ramp through the garage. Handed our luggage off and then took an elevator up. This is where we’ve always dropped off luggage. In August, they had signs and people directing us for luggage drop off to the left of Canada Place. Wouldn’t even let us go down through the garage. We got in a line that crossed another line of folks (person alternating which line went). We dropped off our luggage in a large conference room and then went to check in. Two ships in port that day—Koningsdam and the Majestic. One luggage line and then it split inside the big conference room. So, sorry, no answer really for you! I will say that it was very clear where to go—both by signage and by staff.

We took a Princess land tour this summer—Heart of the Rockies. Had seven nights on land followed by a seven night cruise. It was pricey so we also opted for an inside cabin on the cruise. We did not notice any difference in our land accommodations compared to our travel companions (some of which were in suites). A few folks wanted to upgrade but that option was not available. I do have to mention that the land accommodations were great—only stayed at Fairmont hotels on the tour! It was a great tour!

Always recommend a DIY tour. Alaska is pretty easy to navigate. Keep in mind that the state is HUGE and adjust driving times accordingly. Just sit down with your family and see what are your priorities. Glacier trek? Wildlife viewing? Kayaking? Fishing? Hiking? Then it’s easy to plan around those activities. With just three days, I would recommend concentrating on the Kenai Peninsula—wildlife, fishing kayaking, hiking, glaciers galore! If it does work in your plan, I also recommend a Matanuska glacier hike—quite a memorable experience! Book your lodging and tours now! The more popular places to stay and activities fill up early. Upon arrival in Whittier, take a transfer to Anchorage to pick up your rental. I wouldn’t even stay the night in Anchorage but head out to Seward stopping by the Alaskan Wildlife Center first.

You pay an additional fee because access to the glacier is owned by a private company. The fee is different from the tour provider—the Glacier Park collects the fee, you pay the guides separately. Tour guides have no control on that cost. Pre-2021, one used to be able to do self-guided hikes on the glacier. Now you can only access it by using guides. Much safer this way!

Just a quick question about the shore excursion credit. I know that on HAL, one needs to use the excursion credit or lose it. What happens if there is nothing available to book? We’re on the Koningsdam with a number of family members during Thanksgiving week. Hubby and I have been on numerous California Coastal cruises and have no interests in going on any excursions (annd those that we maybe would go on are full). Itinerary has been changed to stops in SF, Avalon, and Ensenada. Live by SF, no cruise line tours for Avalon (though we’ve been there a number of times) and no interest in anything in Ensenada after 15+ visits there. Our HIA includes shore excursion credit. Can I book an excursion using my credit and then let someone else use my “ticket?” Hubby is already going to lose his credit; I would just like to let some one else use mine rather than let it go to waste.

Thank you for posting this! Always looking for recommendations on Alaskan tours.

I have traveled in the Adventure class cars with carry on luggage. The luggage was stored at the end of the car.

We were on a cruise tour this past summer--land, northbound cruise to Whittier followed by a southbound cruise back to Vancouver. Had Plus package on the northbound, standard on the southbound. We used the same medallion and were in the same stateroom--accounts weren't zeroed out (still showed charges made on the first 7 cruise days) but did not have any of the Plus package. We weren't expecting to roll over our package to the new booking but these two cruises were booked as separate cruises. Were able to get shareholders OBC for each segment.

Holland America has water available on board in an aluminum can. Though that can vary based on availability--last month on one of their ships, water was available in plastic bottles.

Yes. I always pre-pay gratuities when we don’t have a package. You’ll see confirmation on your travel summary as well as in your cruise personalizer.