frugaltravel

Depending on the dollar amount and the length of time, I would not invest the money but save it in a high-yield savings account. In my case, I plan to pay my cruise off several months early because my credit card has an incentive with Princess cruises that if I charge a certain amount by a certain time I will get $175 statement credit. Different strokes for different folks.

No surprise at all that you can't easily change names in this day and age. Bookings are specific to a person whose name the reservation is booked for. Same with airline tickets. Lots of nefarious people who try to change names when they can't go themselves. But hopefully you can get the innocent mistake fixed.

I am with you. I maximize my time in the embarkation city and rarely board very early. By boarding late there are rarely lines to check in.

If you book a Princess land tour, just be absolutely certain that you know what you are booking. Glad that you are already asking great questions. Princess Alaska cruises are great. But IMHO their land tours leave something to be desired. For example, most of their land tours include the Natural History Tour - a tour you could replicate 90% of by yourself at no cost and it only goes 17 miles into the park (vs. 43 miles for the Tundra Wilderness Tour or the East Fork transit shuttle). Also, the McKinley Princess Lodge is in the middle of nowhere, almost 1 hour drive each way to Talkeetna. Fine if you know that when you book, but many people think it is near the entrance to Denali NP (it is a 2-3 hour drive from the park entrance).