allesonwonderland

I'll hope for the best. Logged in to their site and my reservation is still there. Thanks for all the details you've shared! Our cruise is an anniversary trip as well!

Just now reading through your thread, and--Oh no! I booked Budget this summer for an AMAZING rate next May. Now I'm nervous.

I totally could've (should've) done that. Hindsight. I wanted to do more research. I guess this is one of those times that you book right away, knowing you can always cancel, but at least you snagged a spot and the good price?

For my June 2024 cruise it was $299 at first, but is now $339. Doh!

1) I wish I would've bought more than 100 shares when it was cheap. Hindsight. 2) Does anyone know if Princess counts days on a cruisetour towards the 'cruise' total? It would be nice to bump up to that next obc tier.

Thanks for the heads up--I'll mark my calendar!

Yes! Flights aren't available for my dates yet, but just using dates this summer to gather some ideas, it could be a long haul for us. (A couple include a super-long layover in Dallas. Like, we could drive ourselves to Dallas in less time than the layover. Lol)

Planning a 2024 Alaska cruise and I *thought* doing a Princess cruisetour would make everything easier. Even though I'm a good DIYer on our travels. But, there are a bazillion options, and the more searching I do on the boards, the more other options I come up with. And I guess you can't book the cruise and add the land on later, so now I'm getting nervous the stateroom I want may disappear before I make the decisions. Sorry--rambling already--I'll blame it on the brain overload. I (believe) I've settled on the Princess Sapphire southbound sailing leaving Whittier June 1. I know it's a little early in the season, but like I said, more stateroom availability. Also, it may allow for more traveling/touring days on the front end utilizing the long Memorial Day weekend. (Only so much vacation time.) So, that allows for up to a 12 day Princess Cruisetour, or a smidge shorter one paired with a bit of 'on our own' since we'll probably get to AK a couple days ahead of time, just in case. I was thinking we'd need to focus on the ones leaving from Anchorage, because airfare to Fairbanks, while not released for our travel dates yet, looked like it could be pricey. But then through my research using similar dates this summer it looked like we could fly to Anchorage, then take a cheap, direct flight to Fairbanks if we decided to do one of the cruise tours up there. Or, I read about separate Princess land tours, which would at least help with my worry of staterooms booking up because I could book the cruise and continue to plan the land portion. And, of course, there's the completely DIY route. See why I feel like my head may explode? Ha! Obviously, we've never been to Alaska. And I know we can't fit it all in during this one trip. And that the Denali Park Road won't be open yet when we go. But I still want it to be good. 😃 We're in our 50s, active, I love birds and wildlife, my hubby's a history buff. We both enjoy hiking and scenery. Any thoughts? Thanks in advance.

Congrats! I'm planning a similar trip in Summer 2024 for our 30th Anniversary! I thought I had it narrowed down to the Princess Sapphire and just needed to figure out which land part to do (and for how long), but some of these comments make me think I should do some more research.

Any specific hiking trails you'd recommend?

I did just read on the nps website that the closure of the Denali Park Road at Mile 43 is expected to remain in place through summer 2024.

Thanks for the tips. Good to know you can't get too far into Denali until after June 1. One of my scenarios would have us there the week prior to that. Right now, both ships are the same price. I probably need to figure out the land portion. I'm usually a big DIY'er when it comes to cruise excursions, but doing the Princess land tour does seem easy...

Did you take your trip, or is it next year? Starting research myself and have similar questions about the Anchorage vs Fairbanks land portions.

Am I splitting hairs here since these are sister ships and just a difference of a few weeks? Researching to book an anniversary trip in June 2024. I was set on Grand because it sailed over our actual anniversary, but then searching the boards I saw many who preferred the Sapphire over the Grand. Started looking at Sapphire sailings and we could do June 1 or 15. Itineraries are the same for both ships--Southbound from Whittier to Vancouver. Looking at adding some land time pre-cruise, so that's more where the end of May travels would come into play. (We might even be able to take advantage of the Memorial Day holiday and have more 'free' time off vs using a bunch of vacation.) First time to Alaska, so I want to make the most of it in case we don't make it back. Thanks in advance for your insight!

Thanks, it's after final payment. My TA did reach out to Royal and they offered an upgrade, but it would've been an additional cost. I guess I'm not sure what the mystery obc that was added to my account is for, but I'm not going to argue!