biker1972

There is a lot of legal information that is available at the bottom of the Princess site. While it is not always fun to read some of this information, it does cover a lot of things including what YOU agree to when you use the Princess web site. Didn't know that you agreed to these things? Sort of a "got you" as soon as you open the page. Here is some of what they say:

DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTIES

YOU UNDERSTAND AND AGREE THAT:

THE SITE, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, ALL CONTENT, FUNCTION, MATERIALS AND SERVICES IS PROVIDED "AS IS," WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, ANY WARRANTY FOR INFORMATION, DATA, DATA PROCESSING SERVICES OR UNINTERRUPTED ACCESS, ANY WARRANTIES CONCERNING THE AVAILABILITY, ACCURACY, COMPLETENESS, USEFULNESS, OR CONTENT OF INFORMATION, AND ANY WARRANTIES OF TITLE, NON-INFRINGEMENT, MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. PRINCESS DOES NOT WARRANT THAT THE SITE OR THE FUNCTION, CONTENT OR SERVICES MADE AVAILABLE THEREBY WILL BE TIMELY, SECURE, UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR FREE, OR THAT DEFECTS WILL BE CORRECTED. PRINCESS MAKES NO WARRANTY THAT THE SITE WILL MEET USERS' EXPECTATIONS OR REQUIREMENTS. NO ADVICE, RESULTS OR INFORMATION, OR MATERIALS WHETHER ORAL OR WRITTEN, OBTAINED BY YOU THROUGH THE SITE SHALL CREATE ANY WARRANTY NOT EXPRESSLY MADE HEREIN. IF YOU ARE DISSATISFIED WITH THE SITE, YOUR SOLE REMEDY IS TO DISCONTINUE USING THE SITE.

Notice the line about no warranty that things here are error free which now gives Princess an out and they finally say if you don't like it, go play elsewhere. the internet is full of inaccuracies and companies pay lawyers big bucks to cover these companies from loss. If they do give you a break it is from the goodness of their hearts and not because they were in the wrong and got caught.

RCCL which includes X, has contracts with the various airlines. We, as customers, don't know what these contracts provide. We use the cruise line as a booking agent and they provide us with tickets that the cruise line secured from the airline through a contract that we know nothing about. The tickets are opaque in that we are not provided the fare rules, only a price. These fare rules become important when things suddenly go pear shaped especially on the day of the flight. The fare rules might mean that the tickets can't be assigned to another airline or that a re-booked flight has to match the original itinerary exactly. So now you are trying to say that you have found the same ticket on the same flight at a lower price than Choice Air sold you, but you really have no idea if it is the same ticket because there are so many fare classes with varying rules. Sometimes booking with the airline directly may cost more from your pocket, but when the unexpected does happen that extra money bought you a better fare class with rules that give you more options. Choose wisely, Grasshopper, and be aware of the dangers lurking in the weeds of modern air travel. Do visit the cruise air page here on Cruise Critic to find out what dangers might be in these weeds.

By not choosing Princess (or HAL) you give up Glacier Bay National Park. With only one sea day, on board activities would seem to be of a much smaller concern than the shore excursions that would keep both these young adults busy. After all, Alaska normally is a destination cruise.

Take the train or take a bus. Distracted driving is a problem today and Alaska is DISTRACTING! :D

Considering the state of the world and the number of people entering the US illegally, I would be upset to find that more easily counterfeited birth certificates and drivers licenses were all that was necessary to get in.

2016 cost: Adventure class $92 and Goldstar $181. Difference would be an included breakfast and a reserved seat in a dome car. Adventure class dome cars are available but they ask that you rotate your time in them so all can use them. The Alaska Railroad train to Seward (Coastal Classic) leaves at 6:45, as noted above, from the downtown depot (411 West 1st Avenue). Later in the morning and early afternoon there are private charters that leave from the summer airport depot with available transfers from the various Anchorage hotels that the cruise lines use. The cost and services are determined by the cruise lines who provide the individual cars.

Likewise with C1 cabins other than the C1's on the M class ships. Those have much larger balconies.

Depending on the country, on international flights you get one free checked bag per person.

Much depends on the language of the contract that Princess has with the airline. It is also hard to know anything about the restrictions that are on the tickets that Princess gets. Generally the cheaper the fare is, the more restrictions there are. Paying a middleman puts a twist on the benefits that come with a CC. Only United can give you accurate information about how these benefits will apply.

Princess has arranged airfare contracts with the various airlines. The issues of possible price changes and when Princess will pay the airlines are spelled out in these contracts. Using EZ Air sets Princess as a middleman between you and the airline. There is nothing overtly wrong with this except that you have no idea what what is written in the Princess/airline contract nor what restrictions are attached to the ticket that Princess has sold to you since the ticket is opaque. These restrictions can be anything from not allowing re-routing to not being able to upgrade. The only way to find out if there are onerous restrictions is to have your EZ Air flight go pear shaped. No flight issues, no problem.

While weed possession has become legal in a number of states, it still is an illegal substance according to US federal laws. Who knows when or where federal agents might show up with dope sniffing dogs. While not currently enforced, federal laws trump state laws, so be vary wary of getting or using or even being in a location where pot is being used and then re-joining a cruise. Our crazy federal government just might decide to do something for a change.:rolleyes:

The prepay test is to see how much passengers object to this system which is in place on other cruise lines. The issue has to do with use of OBC and the fact that shore excursions are outsourced to local vendors. The cruise line collects a fee but not the bulk of the money paid. If OBC is used to pay for a shore excursion, the cruise line is, in effect giving, ITS money to an outsider. If the guest pays up front then their OBC will be used on the ship to the cruise line's benefit. The cost of a dinner in a specialty restaurant or a bottle of wine provides a much bigger profit than simply collecting a booking fee. By requiring prepay it simply means OBC must be used on board. And when you say that you will wait to book after boarding, there may not be spaces available or you waste a great deal of vacation time to use the OBC for excursions. The current system has no advantage for Princess and that is why it will get changed to include the entire fleet.

Princess has a history of not charging for excursions booked prior to sailing until getting on board. This would allow for using OBC to pay for these shore excursions. This year they have been trying the pay at time of booking system on some of their ships. This prepay system looks like it will be the industry standard before long.

Looking at the Verizon Alaska coverage maps, you should be good almost everywhere including the Richardson Highway, the Denali Highway and the Parks Highway as well as the ports of call on the cruise. See the Verizon web site if you have more questions.

Benefits are based on the highest tiered person in the cabin, so it is important that each person in the cabin has a CC# in case you do not always cruise together.

So Princess only has a 7 day menu cycle? X has a 14 day cycle.

The other issue in my mind is food quantity. Seldom do my wife and I get meals at a restaurant and include appetizer and dessert. And with a full day on a land tour, dinners will be later than normal. I can't imagine retiring every night having stuffed myself and trying to sleep to be ready for a full day starting at 6:00 AM. After considering the prices, looking at the menus at the various restaurants in the Princess lodges, and the benefits of the meal plan; I opted to not use he plan.

Have not traveled Princess yet ( but will in less than 4 weeks) but on X there is an additional service available on some cruises called "luggage valet". It provides for getting checked luggage from the ship to the airport and onto your flights. Airline luggage tags are issued to guests using this service. A $25 pp fee as well as any airline luggage fees are collected. Not all airports or airlines are involved. Perhaps this is the service mentioned by Princess.

If you are doing a south bound simply add several days prior, DIY to the Kanai and then join a cruise tour that gives you the other parts of the interior that you want to see. This does probably limit you to tours that start in Anchorage, however.

What are the other ways you can get the visa? Is it necessary to get the visa prior to arrival? What hoops do you have to jump through? Perhaps the fee and allowing to let Princess do the work is worth it. Research can give you answers. Cruise Critic members have a lot of information but we might not be the source in this case.

There are many factors to consider when making your decision. Things like time and money as well as how often you cruise are part of the decision process. If this is to be a one and done Alaska cruise then seeing some of the interior will be important since Alaska's coastal cities are such a small portion of the state. If you have more time, use it for some kind of land tour, either with a company or DIY with a car/camper rental or the Alaska RR. You do not have to be locked in with just one cruise line either. Careful planning can allow a northbound cruise from Vancouver with one brand and a southbound cruise from either Seward or Whittier back to Vancouver with another line. Seward, the port used by several brands other than Princess, and the Kenia Peninsula are worth visiting. Another factor to consider is that only Princess and HAL are allowed to cruise into Glacier Bay National Park and only two ships may visit on any one day. Other cruise lines visit Hubbard Glacier because of this. Ideally then using a time period of 3 weeks would allow for a northbound cruise, a land tour and a southbound cruise on a different line than the northbound portion. An added bonus might be flying to Seattle for a day or two, transferring to Vancouver and then cruising. You do avoid a long flight to Anchorage by doing a round trip from Vancouver or Seattle

Just last week got OBC of $200 when price of the cruise tour dropped $380. And cruise tours don't often drop in price like the regular cruise cabins do. We were just over a month out when the drop occurred. Ask politely but don't go in expecting anything so you will not be disappointed.

My upcoming cruise tour starts in about a month. I noticed that the tour price had dropped $190 pp for a balcony cabin so I called Princess to see if they would do anything for me. Never having cruised with Princess I had no idea what they would do this close to the cruise. The CS rep checked with someone about refaring for me but the deal was for new bookings only, naturally. But they did generously give me $100 pp OBC. Another happy Princess cruiser (so far).

At various times it seems that X has offered b2b booking benefits. Princess and HAL do offer cruises that can be booked as one longer cruise or 2 shorter cruises. X requires that the cruises be done as individuals. Sometimes there will be a special lunch offered on turn around day for the b2bers using the mdr. Depending on the port, turn around day may require all b2bers to disembark the ship together. I don't think X offers excursions for b2b cruisers so if you want to see or do something at the turn around port it will need to be done privately. The best part of a b2b cruise is watching the other passengers leave the ship with that post cruise look on their faces :o while you have that starting a cruise grin for a second time :D.

If one of you (husband/wife) gets to a new "level" you both get that level...in case that applies to you.

This only works if you always together. If the wife goes on a girls only holiday, she will get the benefits and credits for that cruise and the husband won't. Then she might go to a higher tier and when the husband travels alone he will be at his tier. But if someone in a cabin is at a higher tier, than the other person will get the benefits of that higher tier.