PKNC

Yes, in case someone else has the same issue - I haven't used CC before as a travel agent. Anyway, on the Princess web site, I was able to find my booking by logging in with my confirmation number, etc. but I wasn't seeing the onboard credits or other extras included in my booking. I was confused because the Princess web site prompts me to upgrade the drink package, etc. and I knew that I had already purchased these extras through CC. What you need to do is under Onboard Services, scroll to the very bottom of the page (ignore the graphics encouraging you to upgrade before you reach the bottom) and you will see your included upgrades listed as "Compliments Of" in various data tables. To see the onboard credits, go to the Payments link, scroll down, and you will see them listed in in a table there. In my case, I can book excursions now and apply the credits because they were issued by Princess as part of the promotion.

Thanks for this info, I will see what I can do!

I booked a Princess cruise with CC (not naming the warehouse in case it's not permitted) for the first time. I noticed today that a $300 shipboard credit won't be available to use until we're on the ship in July. I'd like to book a few excursions now, but I'd prefer to use up the shipboard credit first. Based on my reading of the Princess excursion cancellation policy, I would only get a shipboard credit, not a refund, if I cancel an excursion within the "closing time for cancellations" while on board. Is this true? Do excursions sell out? I'm concerned that we won't want to use our credit for much other than excursions. I could delay one excursion sign up costing $79.95 per person because I'm not overly vested in it - it's the last day in port, transfer to airport. I'm sure I could arrange this on my own, but I would go with Princess if available. I'm wary about excursions we're interested in selling out. We have drinks, prepaid tips, etc. in our fare already.

Thank you for this comprehensive info, I will explore these options!

Any opinions on how early to get to the Vancouver airport in summer 2023? I'm looking at flights from Vancouver to the East Coast. Unless I want to pay an exorbitant fare, I have to leave at 10 AM or wait until the evening and fly overnight. Alaska Air states on its website to arrive at Vancouver airport 2 hours early for international flights as of today. We arrive in port on Saturday, Aug. 5th at 6:30 AM on a large ship, the Majestic Princess. HAL's Koningsdam will be arriving the same day. I know Vancouver is incredible but at the end of our journey, I don't think we'll be up for it. We will definitely consider a return trip though! If we have a day to hang around, what's an easy, relaxing activity to do with luggage before a flight at 6 or 9 PM or so? What's the latest that we can leave the ship, typrically?

This is all good info. Right now, I'm backing into things. I'm planning some overnights with mid morning departures so we don't feel rushed and can recover from jet lag ahead of the cruise. The last cruise we did was fun, but way too compressed for us - falling asleep at dinner, brutal getting up for early excursions kind of thing because we didn't allow time to adjust. Anyway, that's us. But, I am trying to maximize downtime after reading comments here. I have booked the Salmon Berry tour in Anchorage that will transfer us to Whittier for the Princess cruise I booked. We'll see the wildlife conservation center, etc before boarding the ship. I am now holding just 2 nights at Denali instead of 3, I can't do less due to the train departure times, if we want to do an AM park bus. I know Denali is not going to be at the grandeur that it could be but we're ok with it, I'd like to see some of the interior of Alaska before doing the Whittier - Vancouver cruise. Of course, I may still change these plans because hotel can be cancelled and I haven't booked flights yet!

Well, you have a point, that would be more convenient. I did some more reading on Alaska.org, I wonder if it's worth it to make a stop at Talkeetna. I still like the idea of either Fairbanks --> Denali --> Anchorage although Anchorage --> Denali --> Anchorage is also an option. I'd like to get into the interior more ahead of the cruise, on which I hope to see whales and eagles. I wonder if it'd be possible to see bears anywhere on an excursion or if that's a different trip. Flightseeing is not an option for us.

I am also planning a DIY land tour pre cruise with an emphasis on Denali. We are leaning toward Princess out of Whittier at this time. My question is - which motor coaches are the most reliable, from Fairbanks to Denali and from Anchorage to Whittier? Our plan is to fly into Fairbanks, stay overnight, then head to Denali the next day. The train leaves at 8:20 AM which may be too early for us, given flights arrive late at night. Is the train that great or is a bus ok for this route? We'd stay in Denali for 3 nights, then take the train to Anchorage, arriving in the evening. Stay overnight there, and then leave midday or so on a cruise transfer bus to Whittier. Is it worth it to spend some time in Fairbanks before catching a bus to Denali?

I've been watching the Kaub forecast and see that it's at 106cm and still falling. It's now expected to bottom out later in the week than initially predicted. I'm getting a little wary, we are supposed to cruise the Rhine Gorge on the 17th or 18th, we leave Basel on Dec. 14th. Fingers crossed that it doesn't dip below the 90cm mark.

I'm going to try use an ATM to get local currency when at Christmas markets in France and Germany in a few weeks. Does anyone know if there are Chase Bank ATMs nearby the markets? I will also download the Chase app so I can search when I'm there. I'll be in Strasbourg, Freiburg, Mannheim, Dusseldorf, Cologne, etc.

I used Air Plus for the second time, we leave in a few weeks - flying out American, returning on Delta. I am not able to upgrade to Premium Economy but it looks like I could upgrade to Business on the airlines web sites, but it's extremely expensive. I would have to upgrade on each airline ticket (i.e. several thousand on AA, several thousand on Delta), it's not possible to do one roundtrip upgrade. My advice is that if you are happy with your flights, get them ticketed as soon as possible. I made a change to our outbound flight that I was happy with, then suddenly, Viking reverted me back to the original flight they chose for me, which has a 5 hour layover. My preferred flights were not cancelled by the airlines (there are several I would have picked before a 5 hour layover), Viking simply took away my choices. And to boot, by the time they switched us back to AA, there weren't as many seats left - they put us in an aisle and middle seat. I moved us to two aisle seats.

When I checked just now, that cruise is no longer listed so it must have been stale info. I tested out another Celebrity solo cruise fare using Cruiseplum and it worked properly. 👍 Thanks for these great resources, I will try them out!

I tried looking at Cruiseplum but when I clicked through to the actual web site for the cruise, the specified price for the solo traveler was not available, using the exact cabin that was supposed to be on sale (for a 5% solo markup for example). Instead, it just showed double the price as would be expected for that cruiseline (Celebrity). Any advice? I've tried filtering on NCL's web site on solo traveler discounts and for the most part, I can pick up some price breaks but they aren't great.

We are going on a Basel-Amsterdam Rhine cruise in December. What currency would we need to buy small ticket items like food and beverages? Are credit cards accepted in general? We'll mainly be in Germany, but stopping in Strasbourg as well.

I didn't realize that you can cancel Viking Air and Air Plus but keep the rest of your booking, is this standard? Anyway, it sounds like others have had the same experience as me with Viking revoking an itinerary after providing it, even though the itinerary may be available to the general public. Does anyone have suggestions on how I can change my flight from London to Basel, or buy a new ticket on British Air, if my AA flight arrives early and I have enough time to catch the morning flight from London to Basel? Right now, I have a 5 hour layover. In general, it looks like the AA flight arrives early, which would give me 1.5 hours to transfer to the British Air AM flight instead of the noon flight, which I'm currently booked on. I don't mind buying a new ticket if I have to. My concern is making sure my luggage makes it. Not sure if I could rebook as soon as I get off the plane or even while on it.