WaggesAZ

We arrive in Fairbanks at 2:30. so hopefully we will not have the same occurrence for food. I have contacted our travel agent to upgrade our tour to the Tundra Tour. At this point, we are doing 2 nights at Denali as it is not advantageous to change as it would be considered a cancellation and rebooking so our grandfathered upgrades are available now only with Princess Premier packages. It would be significantly more money to go back to BB3 from the CB3 tour we're on. We will have to hope the sun will be shining brightly on our visit and hope to see her in all her glory! 😉 JoRoy your photos are beautiful. Thrak may I ask what month and year you were there?

Hi there, we are self employed and cannot be away longer than 10 days comfortably so the land tour time is limited. We wish we could do a longer tour, it's not possible at this time. That said, when looking at cruise tours, we knew we wanted to go to Denali as a priority. We also knew we wanted to take the train straight to Whittier believing it would offer a more comfortable way to get to the ship vs a longer bus ride. The tour originates in Fairbanks, and will start by putting us on a riverboat tour, followed by a bus ride to Denali. We changed our tour from 1 night at Denali and 1 night at Mt McKinley and have decided to do 2 nights at Denali, rather than moving. It seemed like too much rushing otherwise. So input I am seeking from those who have done tours. 1.Are we going to look back and feel that we were remiss to not move? 2. 1st afternoon is at leisure...should we rent a Jeep and go drive around that night or will we be ready to relax? 3. We are scheduled to do the Natural History Tour but I read yesterday there may be an option to upgrade to Tundra Wilderness Tour. Is that something we should consider? It looks like it goes further into the park, so maybe there are less stops? Does my TA do that through Princess? 4.We currently have a Jeep rented after our tour into the park, and have also booked the Jeep in order to go to Jeff King's Husky Homestead. However on our Riverboat tour, there is a visit to Trail Breaker Kennel and we are not necessarily Iditarod followers/fans so I was thinking we may want to find something else to do or just go explore in the Jeep. Any tips or input is welcome and appreciated!!

Hello! I am booking a taxi to pick 4 of us up at the port and we are the first ship in at 6:30am. We want to get to Mendenhall as quickly as possible as there will be a whopping 5 ships in that day. Is 7:20 a reasonable time to expect to be off the ship in order to meet the taxi by 7:30? It's the Majestic Princess in August. Thank you!

Denali to McKinley lodge is about 100 or miles apart, so that train ride won't be terribly long. When we were deciding on our cruise tour, we opted to not go to McKinley as it seemed we were just there overnight, with no real opportunity to explore. We also did NOT want to be on bus to the cruise port, and many of the land options were a bus to Whittier. We elected to take the CB3 cruise tour. We will fly into Fairbanks and overnight there, take a riverboat tour, followed by a bus ride to DNP. We will stay 2 nights there, and take the train to the ship. We felt it gave us what we were looking for. Have fun planning.

Thank you!

Have you ever been to Key West? It's crazy tiny and everyone uses the same bag claim carousel and it's like 1/2 the size of what most airports have. And the Car Rental Agencies are squeed into the same area. I loved it! I heard they're expanding though

Yep and as I said on Wednesday flights are booked, and much later.

I asked because I know Vancouver is a tough port as it is not close to the port and you also have to go through customs. One of my dearest friends has dual citizenship (CA/USA) and all of her family lives on Vancouver island, so I have had plenty of experience in the airport and in visiting the area. As I mentioned above, I have booked later flights already because I don't want to be a crazed person stressing about missing our flight. I appreciate your sharing your experience of ease with EZ Check Luggage. FLL can be a zoo, so while you were sitting at the gate for longer than you wanted to, IMHO its better than standing in lines. Hope all your travels are smooth and fun!

First and foremost, I am not asking for a TA recommendation in anyway...Just assistance in understanding Paul Gaugin's policies/rules. I booked a cruise in 10/2021 for a sailing in 10/2023 (I am a planner!!) and when I was on PG site, I was assigned a TA to assist me in booking. The TA seemed knowledgable and answered my many questions before booking. Since booking, when I have had questions, days and sometime weeks go by and I need to follow up to get a response Honestly, with the booking being so far out, I didn't really mind the inexpediency since nothing I was inquiring about was urgent in any way. However, most recently (last month), I asked about flights as I wanted to ask about an early departure for our return flight. We would prefer to fly out the morning we disembark rather than take an overnight flight, if it was possible. I had a response that was fairly quick that they would check with PG as to the earliest time we'd be allowed to disembark, and never heard back. It was 8 days without a response. I decided to wait on flights but figured when it came back on the radar, I will reach out again. Fast forward to this week, and I find out friends will be on 7/2024 sailing and asked if we could move our booking out. We spoke at length Tuesday about wha the change would entail, and it's been crickets since...Do I have to keep this TA? I know PG has approved agents and no one I knew had a TA who had booked Paul Gaugin for them. I don't think anything has been done, as I checked and the room I requested is still available. I don't want to move forward on the new booking with this one if possible. Any suggestions are welcome and appreciated.

After I responded to the earlier answers, I immediately booked a later flight. I am not trying to end our trip with stress, and as indicated, it was question. Admittedly, I was hoping for the best but I knew in all reality it was highly unlikely anyone would say it was a good idea. Thanks again

So did you decide to add it? Would love to hear your thoughts either way MudderBear and Gramma of Boys

Thank you all. I didn't consider the factor of CBSA officers, and I will schedule the later flight. As much as I will dislike getting home in the evening, you all confirmed what I knew you would say. Appreciate the responses and wish you a wonderful 2023 full of fun and safe adventures!

Oh my word, I didn't mean to be so rude! Thank you all for your input. I unfortunately waited too long and the cabin I was considering was booked by the time I tried to grab it. I will remain in the very aft on the Dolphin Deck of the Majestic Princess. I think it will be just great! Again, many thanks!

Hi there, I am trying to book our flight home next August and see that technically the ship is in port at 6:30 am. However in my experience, the ship is usually docked much earlier. I wondered from others who sailed recently if the ship is in port earlier and if there's a chance we could disembark at 6:30 or even earlier? I have found a non-stop flight that leaves at 9:15am, and since it is international, I don't want to screw us up if I am being overly hopeful in booking that. I know the port is a distance from YVR as well, so getting off the ship doing self serve is not a problem unless it's not an option. It is the only non-stop flight offered that day, if anyone is wondering why I would even try and push my luck! Everything else will get us home after dark. I am not new to cruising, but it will be the first since the pandemic. I recognize that the pandemic has changed many things, so please do not feel the need to admonish the question, as it is just that, a question. Normally we stay a day or 2 and enjoy the port city, but we are self employed and will have been gone 13 days already when we dock. We quite enjoy Vancouver, it's definitely worth a few days visit. It's just not possible this time. Thank you for any recent experiences offered!!

Hi all! I am considering a forward facing cabin, it's open, uncovered and looks like it could be great during for enjoying/viewing Glacier Bay. However my husband took one look and said, "OH HECK NO! Too cold and too windy, you couldn't even enjoy it!" It is a mini suite on Princess, so I know I would love the added space too, but I have think forward facing on any ship would be the same when it comes to wind and cold. So that said, I would LOVE to hear any feedback from those have experienced a forward facing cabin.

I appreciate your responses! It sounds like I am right where I thought I'd be...The forward facing Balcony would be great for port stops and likely glacier bay but may be too cold/windy on the other sea days...We know we love aft, so I think we'll stay put! Thank you all so much!

Yes! Forward facing here's a photo I found of the sister ship https://www.cruisecritic.com/photos/ships/majestic-princess-987/member-3/127000/

10 years ago we took the Diamond (sister to Sapphire) north and we loved it! We stayed at the Pan Pacific prior to the cruise, having the bellman deal with the luggage was such a great perk! We also stayed the night in Anchorage after having a private tour bring us from Whittier to Anchorage. That solved the terrible flight situation and it was a great day of exploration making our way to ANC. Tracy Arm in Juneau with AdventureBound is a day I will never forget the rest of my life. Simply incredible. We are doing a land tour and sailing south next year and we're looking forward to a different experience. Safe travels!

We're booked on an Alaskan sailing at the beginning of August. We have ALWAYS loved aft cabins, but my girlfriend said that the forward mini-suite cabin has a great layout and that the balcony is definitely useable on either the Marina or Lido Forward Balconies while underway. My husband said it will be too cold and very windy to enjoy cruising through Glacier Bay or while underway in general. Since the sailing has 3 sea days, using the balcony is a must. Does anyone have any experience in the forward cabins, especially on Alaska cruises. We are currently in D729, and I would hate to give up what we know and regret taking a chance...Thanks for any insight you can share.

Thank you!!

Thank you both!!

Hi All, We currently are booked for AK cruise with a land tour starting on Wednesday evening when we check into a hotel in Fairbanks, the 2nd night at Denali Princess Lodge and the last night at Mount McKinley Princess Lodge before boarding the train to Whittier Saturday morning. I have 2 dear friends who traveled this summer to AK and did a land tour, for the 3rd time and felt it was the biggest waste of their travel dollars yet. They said the land portion was simply not even the same, especially with Denali being closed at MM 42. They spent 5 days, not 3 and were completely disappointed. Hoping to get feedback or experience. We are considering flying to ANC and spending a few days exploring before heading to Whittier if we find this would be the better use of our $$. If we change, it would give us nearly $4K to spend on lodging, car rental, excursions in the area, and the train to Whittier so suggestions are welcome if you think alternate plans should be made.