klepton

On 10/30/2019 at 5:00 PM, JSSpence said:

Apologies for all of my recent posts, I am knee-deep in planning.  We are planning a SB cruise for 2021, and our son will be nearly 10 at the time. We definitely want to do a land-portion prior to the cruise. Are there many kids on the cruise tour options? None of the itineraries I've seen so far are "perfect" so I'm starting to think about the DIY approach for the land. But I also don't want to keep my kid cooped up with just us, if there are typically other kids on the cruise tours that he could hang out with. (Note: I'm going to crosspost this on other boards for Alaska and family cruising). Thanks!!!

I know this is an old thread but curious JSSpence if you ever ended up doing this cruisetour with your son?  I've done an Alaskan cruisetour with DW where we (40 & 39 at the time) were by far the youngest in our group.  I think the next youngest were almost 60.  I'm considering doing Alaska again next summer with the kids (ages 18 DD and 10 DS) so was curious if you did the cruisetour and how your son liked it.

Thanks!

Assuming this worked, I doubt you'd get anyone to admit it. Once word gets out the crack-downs start. Nude scanners for cruises? ;)

Do you lose a lot of point value when you transfer the UR point directly to companies? Do they have a good selection of travel partners. I tried to look in advance of getting a card but no luck? Do you know which cruise lines do they have?

That all depends on which partners you transfer to. For example, transferring to IHG can be a horrible value. I use $.015 as my bottom, if I'm not getting better value than that I don't transfer. In some redemptions I've been able to get upwards of $.043 per point, like on United flying to Hawaii. There are no transfers directly to cruise lines, if you want to redeem for cruises you'll need to book through the portal.

I would look for articles on redeeming Chase Ultimate Rewards points. Lots of info on that. TPG has a number of articles on it.

Do you need to book the cruise through their portal/cruise company? I like to book directly with cruise line this way there is no middleman. If there is a problem I can call them directly.

Yes, you'll need to book through the Chase Portal or via calling Chase Travel, who will act as your travel agent. I don't like this either, which is why I don't do it. I will transfer my ultimate rewards to other travel partners (like United and Hyatt) to get better value. It's a good points earning card for cruises though.

For the most part I use my Chase Sapphire Reserve to pay for cruise fare and additional charges. It earns 3 Ultimate Rewards points per $ on travel spend (which cruise charges qualify for) and can be redeemed straight up for $.015 (1.5 cents) each point towards almost any travel, including cruises. That's a bare minimum redemption, you can oftentimes get better value transferring to a travel partner.

Note that after the travel credit the CSR still has a $150 fee ($450 - $300 travel credit), so you need to make sure you'll spend enough to reap rewards that outweigh that.

Thanks to everyone for all your great thoughts! I am bouncing back and forth between doing this cruisetour and doing our own thing. Typically I'd do it on our own. I think from what you've all said and the videos I saw I'm not missing much with the train and Anchorage.

The tour is 8 days, basically two days each in Fairbanks, Denali, Princess Wilderness Lodge, and Kenai. The more I read the more I wish I had a month to stay up there.

Thanks again!

Hello all, I have a few questions and I'll try to be brief. We are looking at taking the Princess RB8 CruiseTour next year but I notice it starts in Fairbanks and seems to skip Anchorage almost completely (we do get a "lunch on our own" there). It also utilizes motor coaches for most of the trip rather than the Alaska Railroad. Motorcoach from Fairbanks to Denali, train from Denali to Talkeetna, motorcoach from Talkeetna to Kenai.

1) I know this is subjective, but how much are we missing by not doing Anchorage? It seems most other cruisetours have at least a day there.

2) Are we missing any scenic points of interest by not taking the train from Fairbanks->Denali and Talkeetna -> Anchorage?

I'm considering flying into Anchorage 2 days early, then having a full day in Anchorage and taking the Denali Star all the way from Anchorage to Fairbanks on the day we are to arrive to start our CruiseTour. Giving us time in Anchorage and the full Denali Star scenery. This is expensive and will take a few more vacation days. Is it overkill? Or is it something you would recommend doing if we can swing it?

Thanks for any/all suggestions! I want to make sure I'm not overthinking this.

That is strange. The shuttle we use goes around the port area and does not leave the port. Sounds like they put you on a different shuttle. The one we used is for employees not for taking regular people. Glad it worked out for you.

That is how the concierge describe it to us, that it was a terminal-to-terminal shuttle primarily used by crew changing ships. I'm guessing we just missed the shuttle by a few minutes because of the disembarkation chaos, and the dispatcher had to put us on a different shuttle that wasn't direct. At the end of day it wasn't a big deal, we would have been sitting around terminal 26 for 45 minutes and maybe gotten on board 5 minutes earlier than we otherwise did.

Just to report back that everything worked out, though not as smoothly as I would like. I talked to the concierge on the Harmony and he let me know there'd be no problem. He asked me to meet him in the lounge at 9:30, he'd escort us down and to a shuttle that would take us to the Freedom.

At 9:30 the lounge was chaos, and no sign of either concierge. About 9:40 they both showed up and one took us down and escorted us through the "fast-lane" all the way to customs. He told our porter where to take us to catch the shuttle. Our porter took us to the transportation shuttle stand and told the dispatcher we were going to the freedom. She asked for our name, I told her, she marked something on her clipboard and looked around a few times. Looked at her watch, looked around some more, and then pointed us to of of the big bus shuttles. We walked over there (she walked with us) and told the driver we needed to go the Freedom. He said he'd take us after he dropped everyone else off at the airport. This wasn't ideal, but wasn't the end of the world. We sat on the bus for awhile waiting to leave, rode to the airport and made a stop at each terminal to let everyone else off, and then back to the Freedom. All in all in took about an hour from when we reached the transportation stand until they were dropping us off. Check-in for the Freedom was relatively easy, and they started boarding shortly before we finished checking in so there was no real wait other than standing in lines for a few minutes.

All in all it was a pretty simple transition.

We did this while on the 4/8 Harmony sailing. Our experience pretty much matched the previous review. The "hunt" was lame at best, no characters, a few statues, and they tried to move the group so quickly they didn't even give an opportunity to find and take pictures of the little picture signs they had posted around. It was hot and crowded, about 130 people on our excursion.

That said, my worst fear about the Aqua park was not realized. I was thinking it would be insanely crowded, but it really wasn't that bad. Many on our tour got both the slide and aqua park pass, and did the slide first. We just did the aqua park and went out with the 11:00 group. It was not just our excursion, there were a few other families that weren't part of our group. But our group was downright tiny compared to the 10:00 and 12:00 groups, which were way too crowded in my opinion. All said and done all four of us got in the aqua park for $8 less than if we had just booked that separately (during a sale weekend at that!). We were also back to Barefoot beach by lunch and had the afternoon to mill about before heading back to the ship.

The kids enjoyed the dance party, though I was expecting more. There were cupcakes, balloons, and poppy and branch made an appearance (no ship photographer though).

Thank you both for the info, I appreciate it!

39august - Do you know how your friends got signed up for this service? I assume guest services on the first cruise?

Question for those who have done this. Is the Aqua Park blocked off for just this excursion or do you mix in with the others that booked just the aqua park for this time slot? How crowded was it? We usually do the Aqua Park first thing in the morning when it isn't crowded, seems like this one would get there right at high time.

We will be disembarking the Harmony of the Seas on 4/15, and embarking on the Freedom of the Seas. If history is any indication, Harmony will be at terminal 18 and Freedom at 29. Is there an easy way to get between these terminals? I would imagine a cab driver wouldn't be happy sitting in line for that short of a ride.

Do all terminals share a parking garage? Could I shuttle to the parking garage from 18 and then hop on the shuttle to 29?

Thanks!

We always check in early, at 11:00 or before. Drop bags with the porters outside and then walk in the terminal to check-in. At that point you can either wait in the small, uncomfortable, waiting area or go back out to enjoy the city. You could also wait to board, then go back out. If you are plat or FTTF you could drop carry-ons in your room.

Have fun!

because I notice with amex sometimes if you do other services with the cruise it may still recognize it as from the same cruise

Generally speaking it's how the purchase was coded that determines whether the credits are automatically applied or not. In the past, for example, I've seen purchases from the fun shops (formerly known as Bon Voyage) code the same way that booking a new cruise did. I don't know if adding OBC or pre-paying gratuities codes the same way, I would imagine it would but can't guarantee it. When I did my test earlier this year, excursions coded a little differently.

Just know that it "technically" is not a valid purchase under the ToC, so you'll have no recourse if it isn't automatically applied.

Good luck!

Does anyone know or anyone tried to see if this work on prepaid gratuities?

Just make sure it's at least $500

Got the $100 credit on both my plat and everyday cards, will now do the same with my wife's cards. Nice 20% discount. After the Amex offers earlier this year for Carnival most of the this fare will be paid using amex offers, not too shabby.

What do you mean "added"? Your card was initially not qualified?

By "Added" I was referring to registering for the offer. Offers aren't loaded to your cards by default, you need to register them via the website, twitter, etc.

If you search google for something along the lines of "how to use amex offers" you'll find some guides that explain this in detail.

Added this to both my Plat and Amex Everyday cards, made payments for cruises already booked in 2018. Got the email for the Plat payment, not the Amex everyday. Will report back in a few days.

Added to both of my wife's cards too, but waiting to see what happens here before making the payment.

The Genie takes care of the refund once you board.

 

Your question is still a tough one though. The answer is dependent on the competency of your Genie and the popularity of venues with your fellow cruisers that particular week. Two factors that make it impossible to get the perfect answer. Personally I'd risk it. But like I said, if this is one of those really important things to you, you should book ahead.

 

One more thought. Cruise planner is available until 3 days before you sail. If your Genie emails you 7-14 days out, you can ask him or her to guarantee the times you picked and still have time to refund to your original form of payment through the Cruise planner before the planner closes.

Thanks for your insights Matt, as always it is much appreciated! I think I'll take your suggestion and make reservations and cancel if the Genie confirms the times I want, or take the OBC onboard worst case.

If you make reservations, won't you have to pay in advance for the dining? With star class specialty dining is included, so I think this makes it a function of the Genie unless I'm just totally crazy.

From what I understand, you pay when you reserve and your genie get's those amounts refunded to you as OBC when you get onboard. That's a minor hassle, as I already have a mountain of OBC for this cruise and likely won't use it all. But as long as it's refundable OBC that shouldn't be a problem.

I've been following the star class threads and read several reviews. I've noticed that getting your preferred dining times/venues appears to be hit-or-miss if you wait to have your Genie do it.

As dining reservations are available for my April cruise on the Harmony, I figured I'd ask if anyone else has any experience they'd like to share. I'm inclined to make the reservations now so I get the times I want, but wanted to see if the Genies had been more effective recently.

That's what we do as well. It comes in handy on the balcony, the beach and cabana depending on your itinerary.

I hadn't thought about using it in a cabana, that's a good idea. Those are separate enough to not bother others.

I'm usually too worried about bothering neighbors to use it on the balcony, but with the huge balcony we'll have on Harmony next year it probably won't be an issue.

We almost always stay in 1720 and book through the concierge, but that has been pre-genie and Star Class. Matt can assist with this question.

 

We have a son who is now 9 and we always go with B2 but B1 is just as good for the same reason. Water, sand and a great view and he is steps away from the cabana.

 

The washrooms and lunch buffet are a bit further away but it is a nice location. It does cost more than the ones placed further back but IMO worth it. We in fact book the same one even when we are cruising without him. One word of advice, the beach edge drops quick so for your kids first trip out into the water you might want to watch extra careful.

 

We are sailing in 1724 on Harmony March 11 next year and I will be doing a live review. Keep you eyes open for it. From my last live review if you go to page 28 I feature Labadee and there are some views from cabana B2. In the review there are also some cabin hacks I posted for Matt as he was in the Cabin a few weeks after us. I know it will be a different cabin for you but some hacks work the same. Here is the link. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2327226&page=28

 

We will also in Labadee in August on Allure and doing a live review. I have cabana B2 booked already through the concierge. Not normally can you get it booked so far in advance but we have sailed with them 5 times in the last 1.5 years. I think they have a soft spot for us.;) This isn't the normal practice. We have upgraded our original CLS to the Star Class so this will be our first Genie experience.

 

If you would like some cabana pics posted of B1, B2 or others remind me during the live thread and I will get them for you.

Thanks so much for the tips and thorough explanation. I'll check out your last review. I'll also keep an eye out for your live review on teh Harmony next March. We're actually staying in 1724 just a month after you, so that'll be great timing!

Matt - I'm late to the game but finally getting around to reading your review. Thanks so much for posting! We'll be in this same suite on the Harmony next April, so loved reading about your experiences with star class.

So it sounds like you waited until a week or so before your cruise to book your cabana on Labadee? I want a cabana but pretty much only B1 or B2 would work for us so DS can play in the sand and make water bucket runs while we sit in the cabana and watch him. Not sure the best way to go about getting one of those reserved ahead of time. Since you've been there, would you recommend one over the other? From pictures I've seen, I'd lean towards B2, the one you had.