KlassyKathy

Amended Posting:

I was called by the owner who reached out to understand what went wrong in this situation. In addition to listening and offering his sincere apologies - he additionally compensated us for the stressful situation. I’m glad that they reached out. I would recommend that if you are a cruiser, you decide if the pick-up place is reasonable for your needs or if a baggage porter can help with your luggage.

Amended Posting:

I was called by the owner who reached out to understand what went wrong in this situation. In addition to listening and offering his sincere apologies - he additionally compensated us for the stressful situation. I’m glad that they reached out. I would recommend that if you are a cruiser, you decide if the pick-up place is reasonable for your needs or if a baggage porter can help with your luggage.

We contracted Luxury Transport to pick us up from the cruise pier in Vancouver after our Alaska cruise and provide an 8 hour tour. We paid in full up and up front including a mandatory 15% gratuity @ ~$820 US$.

We followed the instructions provided by Luxury Transport exactly. We were to go to the Limo/Shuttle dispatcher which was conveniently located close to our docked ship. We checked with the dispatcher who said that our driver had not checked in. After checking back with the dispatcher a couple times - I called Luxury Transport, I was told that they weren’t “allowed” to pickup there. Therefore, my party of 12, which included my mother in a wheelchair and two other elderly people, had to drag our 30+ pieces of luggage up an elevator that had a long line and go to the far end of Canada Place. This was very stressful given the number of people and the capabilities of some in our party. The instructions were totally incorrect - I found out that this change happened at least a week before and we should have been notified - I got their "deepest apology" but no compensation for this utter inconvenience.

I would not recommend this company if you are coming in from a cruise as the "new" pick-up place is very inconvenient.

The Tipton Family

We contracted Luxury Transport to pick us up from the cruise pier in Vancouver after our Alaska cruise and provide an 8 hour tour. We paid in full up and up front including a mandatory 15% gratuity @ ~$820 US$.

We followed the instructions provided by Luxury Transport exactly. We were to go to the Limo/Shuttle dispatcher which was conveniently located close to our docked ship. We checked with the dispatcher who said that our driver had not checked in. After checking back with the dispatcher a couple times - I called Luxury Transport, I was told that they weren’t “allowed” to pickup there. Therefore, my party of 12, which included my mother in a wheelchair and two other elderly people, had to drag our 30+ pieces of luggage up an elevator that had a long line and go to the far end of Canada Place. This was very stressful given the number of people and the capabilities of some in our party. The instructions were totally incorrect - I found out that this change happened at least a week before and we should have been notified - I got their "deepest apology" but no compensation for this utter inconvenience.

I would not recommend this company if you are coming in from a cruise as the "new" pick-up place is very inconvenient.

The Tipton Family

Cruising for the first time and I picked the ships excursions because I was worried about being late back to ship. Is that really something I need to worry about? Alaskan cruise if that makes any difference.

If you book with a reputable outside excursion company, you should have no problem. I would also discuss with them about getting you back an hour or so before the last onboard (which is usually an hour before leaving). Leave yourself a buffer. Alaska should be "low risk" and you should be OK. We did not do any ship tours. Juneau we dud whale watching with a local tour company. Ketchikan, we did kayaking with a local company. The port boards are very helpful...

With that said, ports where you have to go "further" or where transportation or terrain is dodgy- opt for the ship tour... For instance, when we did the Falkland Islands and we were going in to the bigs to see penguins (occasionally getting stuck) and there are only two flights out per week, you better believe we did a ship tour. Even when we went to Florence, Italy, it was 1.5 hrs inland and Italian trains are unpredictable - we used the ship transportation to the city.

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Even early Oct is still nice - in the 70's! [emoji274]

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I suggest downloading the app "Hopper" - it will show you how far in advance you can book (~300 days?) AND also tell you if the prices are good or whether to wait!

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Also, there were a lot of children on the ship increasing the # of people on the ship (as 3rd & 4th passengers)... Something to think about! [emoji4]

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I would never do a Med (Venice/ Greek Isles) cruise in August again! Sweltering hot in Venice, Athens, Santorini)... It was so hot & humid that I was showering at least twice if not 3x's... It depends on your heat tolerance! Hordes of people in Venice, Santorini. When we were in Venice, we hardly toured around (we had been there a few times) so we opted for Burano. Much quieter!!

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