karatemom2

Someone in their PR department needs to school Princess executives on public relations basics. It’s some of the first steps you learn when addressing crisis communications and management. Number one rule - BE HONEST. Treat your customers with the respect they deserve and trust them with the truth, no matter how difficult it may be. Number two rule - Be transparent in your communication. Share what you know when you know and be open to questions, even those you may not be prepared to answer yet. Number three rule - Demonstrate you care because you SHOULD care. Go above and beyond to address issues and concerns that are a result of a problem YOUR company has created for people. It’s your job as the company to fix the mess you have made. This is the very basic, minimal approach and Princess is failing at every level. Ultimately you can’t hide from the truth and it never helps your bottom line to hide your head in the sand and take the trust and loyalty of your customers for granted.

Absolutely agree with this assessment. There is no excuse. I have been involved with a number of large building projects in my role and I can say without hesitation that senior management is intimately aware of problems, delays, issues. There is no way that Princess just magically figured out today that a cruise scheduled to launch in 4 days was a no go! They knew when they canceled the first cruise that subsequent cancellations were likely. Many businesses heading into a disastrous scenario will try to hold onto revenue and employ delay tactics as long as possible. This last minute notification shows a serious lack of concern for their customers.

The excursion times are pretty accurate barring an unforeseen problem or delay, but depending on the meeting location for your private tour 30 minutes between may be cutting it quite close.

In Icy Strait Point there aren't really many independent operators. It is a very small port and the cruise lines control most of the tour options. However, we did discover a great local option, run by members of the local native population - Hoonah Travel Adventures. Here is the link: https://hoonahtraveladventures.com/ Another excellent local private option in Hoonah is Glacier Wind Charters: https://www.g-wind.com/ In Skagway, a private tour operator that we have used and gets very good reviews here is Chilkoot Charters: https://chilkootcharters.com/ Skagway is also an easy place to rent a car and explore on your own. The National Park service also has some good programs. We have also rented a car in Juneau through Juneau Car Rentals. You can also take the bus or taxi to Mendenhall Glacier and go on the Mount Roberts Tramway on your own, buying tickets at the office right at the port. Ketchikan also offers car rentals, or for a good private tour check out Ketchikan Taxi Cab Tours. https://ketchikantaxicabtours.com/

Ultimately, regardless of what your preference may be, Princess has made this transition to the medallion for all onboard access and services. If it is something that you feel strongly about to the point where you just don't want to use it, perhaps Princess isn't a good fit. In fairness to the crew and other passengers who have made the adjustment to the new system, is it really fair to expect that an outdated mechanism like the card should be provided just because one doesn't like the new protocols? As someone pointed out, the check in and check out process when coming onto or exiting the ship is all driven by scanning medallions now - a card would potentially slow everyone down, inconveniencing staff and fellow passengers. It creates issues at the stores, bars and other onboard venues where they are either picking up or scanning your medallion and aren't set up to scan a card any longer. At some point, you need to either accept how the service offered by a vendor has evolved or seek out alternate vendors that offer the product that you prefer. But insisting that they continue to provide a square peg while the entire service has moved on to a round hole seems an effort in frustration and hardly conducive to a relaxing vacation.

Already a recent thread running that has all the answers you need:

Depends on where you are going. In the ports on the coast we have rarely had significant issues but when we have ventured further inland we have indeed encountered the “Alaska state bird”! Worst experience was Dyea near Skagway - they were thick. This was in June. You mentioned a cruise tour so my assumption is you will be going to Denali and will likely encounter mosquitoes. It’s easy enough to be prepared with a good topical repellent and you should be fine.

@Wanderfully thank you for taking the time to answer my question with such a thoughtful response. Clearly you have really thought through what is important for you. Our experience with the medallion system has been quite positive, but I certainly appreciate and understand your personal preferences. Hope it works out for you to get a card.

No one is likely to be able to give you a definitive answer to this question. It may be something you will only be able to determine for certain onboard depending on how strictly the club on your specific ship is run. The teen cut off is generally really firm. I will tell you, in our experience Princess is very strict with the age restrictions - not allowing movement up or down. There are potential liability issues for Princess in allowing teens into a younger group and other parents who may take issue with a teen mixing with children as young as 8. It’s not as simple as just letting the older child join the younger group and most likely the answer will be no because they generally really enforce the age requirements. There are a lot of activities outside of the clubs where the kids can hang out together so I wouldn’t let it be a make or break in your decision making.

I’m just wondering why you don’t want the medallion? No judgment - just curious as to your reasons. Have you cruised with Princess using a medallion and had a bad experience?

Royal Princess is a beautiful ship and Princess does a fabulous job on Alaska cruises and tours. You will have a wonderful trip.

We generally prefer the Soleil or Estrella on decks 5 and 6 as they are closer to the action so more convenient to most of the pre and post dinner activities we enjoy. But in terms of windows decor and service, there really isn’t much difference. We like to try to find a table and wait team we like the first night and stick with it through the cruise.

There is no longer a dress code, only recommended dress. Most evenings it is smart casual which runs the gamut from men in khakis and button down shirts to jeans and a t-shirt to shorts with a baseball cap. Ladies pretty much get by in anything that isn’t swimwear or a robe. Formal evenings may find tuxes, suits, cocktail dresses or gowns but more often than not these days even those nights are very relaxed. No ties required! Seriously, just wear what makes you comfortable and happy and you will be fine. No one really seems to care anymore. With that in mind it’s still considerate to not abuse the privilege by pushing the limits too far outside the bounds of societal norms.

My 24 year old daughter has been cruising with us since she was 4 and has a lot of days. She and her new husband honeymooned on Enchanted in the Med last summer and she shared that they got a lot of funny looks whenever accessing her Elite benefits. She found they were often a little dismissed until it was noted that she really is a very well traveled passenger. No one seemed to believe it was possible for someone so young to be a seasoned cruiser!

I'm also curious about the references to flying into Quebec. There are a couple of good flights for us from LAX that fly through Montreal and connect to Quebec, both are just $17 more in price than just flying into Montreal, so it seems to make sense. Just wondering if there is a reason for concern? When you are flying through to Quebec as your final destination with your luggage checked through, would you go through Canadian immigration in Montreal before your connecting flight, or at your final destination in Quebec? Just wondering in order to assess the timing of the layovers.

Wow, very beautiful! I’m sold!

@Rick&Jeannie what months did you travel on your cruises?

Please come back and share your experience and what you opted to do in your ports of call! I think we are going to book the September trip, so it will be nice to hear about your experience on the June/July cruise.

We swap ours out for bottled water and Diet Coke. We get 10 each - for a total of twenty items.

Great photos. Thanks so much for your feedback!

We are considering booking this 10 day itinerary in September and I would love to hear from those of you who have done this cruise. It looks like an amazing itinerary and we love the Emerald. We have visited a couple of these ports before on a summer New England cruise, but the idea of doing the one way from Quebec and ending in Boston is very appealing. Unfortunately, due to our work schedules, we just can't go any later then mid September, so I'm wondering if we will see any beginning stage maybe of the fall colors? I know October is peak, but hoping we might catch some glimpse of the start of the season. Any feedback you can provide on this particular itinerary would be welcomed!

There are still cabins to be had, but if you think waiting will provide a cost savings, I'm afraid you will be disappointed. In fact, with Alaska, generally it is the opposite. The longer you wait, the higher the price. These cruises will sell out and as inventory falls the price will creep up. I would suggest booking sooner rather than later.

That really depends on a lot of issues. The day we were there, the weather was not ideal and the ship had some difficulties anchoring, so the start of tendering process was delayed. You will need to go to the lounge and get tickets, and there is always a crush of people who want to get off the ship as quickly as possible so the line for tickets can be very long and wait times for your tender group to be called can take awhile. If you are Elite with Princess or booked on a Princess excursion, you get priority tendering, but otherwise you just have to wait your turn. Another thing to consider is that the tender ride itself is pretty long - about 20 minutes, especially if the weather is not great, so you have to allow for transit time as well. All this to just say that it is very difficult to predict exactly what time you will be at the dock, so you need to build in some flexibility with your pick up time if possible. You might just want to wait until you are onshore and then get a taxi or Uber. If you want to try to be on one of earliest tenders, my advice would be to go to the lounge where tender tickets are being distributed at least 30 minutes to an hour prior to the time distribution is scheduled to begin so you can secure a spot at the beginning of the line.

You will not regret booking one of the forward balcony cabins - they are our absolute favorite. The spaciousness and complete views they offer is amazing. We managed to nab one for our Land of the Midnight sun cruise in Norway this summer and I am so excited about seeing the fjords with our expansive view. If we are on a Royal class ship, those cabins are always our first choice.

I would always recommend selecting an itinerary that includes Glacier Bay, especially if you are a first time Alaska cruiser. Glacier Bay is a full day of scenic viewing with guaranteed glacier visibility. Endicott Arm is often too full of ice for the ships to get through and is frequently missed, or proceeded into very minimally with little or no chance of seeing the glacier.