yerdua

If anyone is interested in Alaska, HAL has a flash sale going on several Alaska sailings (I've only checked the Westerdam, which we are sailing July 30) in several cabin categories (but not all). I was able to move DH and I from VE to VB aft at no additional cost. I was hoping for some OBC, but that was a no-go. Their first offer was a SY for an additional 350pp, then FCC, and finally the aft cabin. This happened a couple days after final payment, and after I had already had our trip re-fared once before final payment. There are alot of unsold cabins on our sailing, so who knows what will happen. We did have to give up the Anniversary Sale. Not a big deal on a 7 day cruise.

The credit card used to pay for our cruise carries $1500 in travel insurance as a perk. Since this will only cover a fraction of the trip, is it appropriate to purchase additional insurance for only the difference between the cc coverage and the non refundable trip costs, or should I just cover the whole thing with private travel insurance? Has anyone had any experience doing this?

Thanks for everyone's input. I've tried a little internet sleuthing... no way to tell how large the group is, but I did discover that it's one church with 4 branches out of Sacramento. Hopefully it won't be too large. It shouldn't affect our dinner plans since we generally eat around 6-7pm and are scheduled for open dining. Since we're committed to this sailing date I'm just going to cross my fingers that they won't be too intrusive.

My husband and I will be sailing to Alaska on the Westerdam this summer. I understand that Thrive Cruises (inspiration group) will be on the ship. Does anyone know anything about them... basically how large is it usually and how demanding of the ship's resources and venues they are. We are basically committed to this sailing since we're flying to embarkation on FF miles. Thanks for any info you can share.