hapster85

Our experience has also had some very confusing, and frustrating, twists. I, too, tested positive on an Alaskan cruisetour this summer. I tested postive on June 30th, near the end of the land tour, and had the first of two refunds for excursions the next day, July 1st. The second happened on the 5th. It makes no sense at all that yours have not yet been refunded. Filed with AON on August 12th, after receiving the bill from Beacon, to get reimbursement for the hotel and meals. Asked for $3750 ($2750 for 5 days at the hotel; $1000 for 5 days meals for 2 people), but according to the emails I received this morning, 2 checks totalling almost the total amount of the cruisetour are being cut! This is after we received "good will" FCCs from Princess for the cruise. SMH. Not looking forward to straightening that out. My parents, on the same trip, received "Cruise with Confidence" FCCs from Princess, in the amount of the entire cruisetour, not just the cruise, which makes no sense, as we had done most of the land portion. She called 3 times, finally speaking to a supervisor in some department she can't recall, who told my mother that everything appeared to be in order?! What? SMH again. They also filed with AON for hotel and meals reimbursement, but their claim is still "in process". I told her to not be surprised when they send them a check for the entire amount. They also received refunds for their excursions fairly quickly. I suppose them being shorthanded, with new and no doubt overworked employees, explains some of the insanity, but really only goes so far.

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The line I bolded tells me you were not talking to anyone in the EZAir department, but a regular cruise rep. They do not have access to the same tools that the air department reps do, so it is no surprise that person could do little to help. The person who ultimately fixed your problem was either an air department rep, or at least had access to better tools. Hopefully, things will improve in the coming months, and it will not be so difficult to reach the air department.

I guess? Like I said, I tried calling. It was really beyond my control at that point, but was ultimately taken care of. We are planning to use EZAir again for our return to Alaska next summer.

I can only assume things in Australia are pretty much the same as they are here in the US. The reps you reach on the phone, even when you select EZAir on the phone tree, are just regular cruise reps. They have pretty much the same access to flight information that we do through the Personalizer. The actual EZAir department is swamped because of how chaotic the airline industry has been. Just have to have patience. The flights will get ticketed. Easier said than done, I know. Return flights for our cruise back in just did not get ticketed until around 18 days before we left for Alaska, if I recall correctly. I called several times, which didn't get the them done any quicker, but did increase my anxiety. Lol

We've only had one experience with EZAir, but it was very positive. My impatience created some anxiety a couple of times, but it was nothing they had done, or not done. Getting flights rebooked after covid aborted our Alaskan cruisetour was also no problem. Intending to use them again for our replacement cruise, booked for next summer.

Lol yep. Right there at the top of the page, and despite having looked at it multiple times before, I completely missed it until now. A coworker keeps telling this stuff only gets better with age. Lol

That was our original plan, to book a random hotel, and use the Princess bus transfer from the airport. Then I saw on their website that they have a hotel package that includes rail transfer. We were disappointed this year after I got covid on the land tour, because we not only missed the cruise, but the train ride from Talkeetna. It won't be quite the same from Anchorage, but beats the bus any day. Anyway, we talked it over with my parents, who are also part of the trip, and they also agree it's a better option. Plus this way, it's covered with FCCs that we might not otherwise get to use before they expire next September. Now if flights would just come back down to where they were this time last year, we'd be set. Right now they are still crazy high. Thanks for the replies everyone!

On the Princess website, they have one night at the Captain Cook with rail transfer to Whittier, listed from $279, with additional nights from $129. Sounds good. But when we called, we were told that is the price per person, not per room. Does that sound right? The price we were quoted was $696 ($348 each), for one night for the two of us. I know Anchorage hotels can be expensive, but that was a bit of sticker shock. Just wondering what others have experienced, if it is indeed per person, as the rep stated. Not looking for recommendations for other hotels, or anecdotes about booking your own transportation right now. I know, we could call back, and get a different answer, but that wouldn't really answer the question, as we wouldn't know which answer was actually correct. Lol. Thanks.

You would need to enable wifi calling in order to text (SMS) with someone using Android, or any other non-Apple phone, as those messages travel over the phone network. Group messages (MMS) use internet, so if you did not pay for internet, but were only connecting to ship's wifi, those wouldn't work either. Group messages with only other iMessage users should work if iMessage is working. Wifi calling would need to be enabled while connected to a land based cell tower, preferably one from your carrier, prior to connecting to the ship's wifi. Make a note for next time. 😉 This would also allow you to make regular phone calls while on board. We do this all the time. Princess must have an agreement with Apple, otherwise, iMessage wouldn't work either without paid internet. Some airlines, airports, etc do the same thing.

Ah ok. I knew from doing a mock booking that the system would automatically apply it to a new booking. Since I didn't see any means of doing it myself on the Personalizer Payments page, I just assumed I'd need to call have it done. Thanks for the info. 👍

We've booked our Alaska replacement cruise for next June 24th. FCCs for this year's missed version have been subsequently credited to our accounts. Just wondering if we should call and have the FCC applied now, or wait until closer to final payment. The FCCs don't expire until 9/30/23. Off hand, the only advantage I see to waiting is if we decide to book something else.

Received an email from Aon this afternoon that our claim was in "final review". Fingers crossed that actually means something. Lol Parents also received their FCC today. So there's that out of the way.

Excursions were refunded to our credit cards pretty quickly. Two were refunded July 1st, the day after the positive covid test. The rest were refunded 4 days later, July 5th. We had the Princess platinum insurance. We didn't file for hotel and per diem reimbursement until August 12th, which was the day the charge for the hotel hit our credit card. It was a bit confusing the way that was done. Princess contracted with Beacon Health in Anchorage to do testing, as well as arrange hotels. While we were free to make our own arrangements, if we wished, we decided to just let them handle it. Beacon took our credit card info when we checked into the hotel, but when we checked out, it was charged to some unknown debit card. Same with my parents. We didn't actually notice this until we were home, if I recall correctly. We thought maybe they were billing Princess directly, but weren't really surprised when the charge showed up on our credit cards, more than a month later. Beacon also sent an invoice, which we used to file the insurance claim. Also worth noting that we booked our flights with EZAir, and it was relatively painless getting our return flights rebooked. The number we were given to call was for the Holland America Group travel center, or something like that. Just had to wait on hold a couple hours. No additional charges there. HTH

Yeah, the process can be a bit frustrating. I got my FCC in under 40 days. Waiting now on reimbursement for the Anchorage hotel and meals per diem. We were on the land portion of a cruisetour when I tested positive.

Please enlighten us as to how to speed up the process.

Took between 35 - 40 days for the credits to show up on our accounts. That was a couple of weeks ago. My parents are still waiting. Mother has tried calling, but the reps can only tell her they can see it pending. Just hasn't been processed yet. They are trying to be patient.

That is so strange and confusing. People could be in transit, from any where in the world, at any time of day, any day of the week. If the reps you reach can't rebook a flight, what's the point?

Good to hear that things worked out for you, though I can't help wondering what 800 number you called. The en route desk should be manned 24/7. From your description, I'm thinking you called the main 800-PRINCESS (800-774-6237) number, not the actual en route number, 800-545-0008. Their number is in your travel summary. You won't find it elsewhere on their website.

The letter we were given at the McKinley Lodge said to give them two weeks for the FCC to appear in our account. It's been 2 weeks and 2 days since the positive covid test. I figured I'd give it another week before I start calling.

If your new Delta flight time is compatible with your cruise, it will eventually show up on your Personalizer. If not, EZAir will fix it. In our case, after the original American flight was cancelled, American no longer had anything with a workable departure time. We were subsequently rescheduled on United. Admittedly, it was my first time using EZAir, and I wasn't exactly patient during the process. Checking the Personalizer daily. Posting here. Calling Princess. I'd probably beat little more relaxed about it now. Probably. Lol

When you say your flight was cancelled, do you mean cancelled by the airline? If so, EZAir well rebook you on another flight, but it will take a while. With so many changes by the airlines, EZAir concentrates on departures in the next couple of weeks. Does the cancelled flight still appear in your Personalizer? If so, you're good to go. Don't touch it. Your price is guaranteed. It was 3 months after American cancelled our return flight before EZAir booked us on another one. Final payment happened in between. The cancelled flight still showed in the Personalizer until they booked a new flight.

No idea how other groups have faired, but there were 27 of us from the June 26th KB6 tour, that took the covid bus to Anchorage on Friday. More than half the group. No idea how many were actually positive. I was. Wife was not. Heard some others say they had similar results; one positive, one not.

When we arrived in Fairbanks, we were told it was no problem if we wished to keep all bags with us. Just ask if we needed more tags. Sending any bags on ahead to the ship was completely optional. Yes, this is contrary to information on the website and elsewhere. In retrospect, we wish we had elected to keep our spare bag with us. We've been in Anchorage since Friday, after I tested positive for covid on Thursday. The folks at the Mt McKinley Lodge sent word to the team at the pier to pull our bag and send it to our Anchorage hotel, but it has not yet arrived. We have not been able to contact anyone who could tell us if the bag got pulled, if it got loaded on the ship, or is stuck somewhere else. As long as pre-boarding covid testing continues, anyone on a land tour may wish to think twice about sending any bags ahead. We are in Anchorage until Wednesday morning, but with each passing day, we are less and less hopeful of it being returned to us. It's only stuff, but that doesn't make it any less frustrating. Everything else regarding our isolation has gone smoothly, and everyone has been quite helpful.

Our two mornings at the Denali Princess Lodge this week started out in upper 40s. By afternoon, it was in the upper 70s. Same at the Mt McKinley Lodge. Not quite as cool as Denali, and then near 80 by afternoon. Fairbanks was well into the 80s by the afternoon. Currently 75 at our hotel in Anchorage. These highs are well above what we experienced last time we were here, in 2015. Even so, much cooler than the mid to upper 90s temps we had at home. Plus the humidity is much lower here.