CruiserBruce

Hmmm...interesting. Wonder why they are doing that route at that time. The money is better in Alaska at that time. The route the same as Princess runs in the winter time. Hawaii is not cheap, and summer is peak season. If want a somewhat cheaper time, go in September after Labor Day or into October.

"Vacation protection amount"? A deposit, which may have been non-refundable? Or Insurance?

Some Roll Calls are quiet. Some are busy. Just a fact of life. Conversely, I just booked for March of 2024, and the Roll Call is getting at least a little busy.

You should also be asking how they can guarantee you won't miss the ship? Lots of vendors promise to get you to the next port, but never heard a tour vendor guarantee you won't miss the ship. On that front as well, a private vendor would be ruined if they caused a passenger to miss their ship. They will do anything to prevent that. But stuff happens, even to cruise ship excursions.

Hmmmm....they appear to be a travel agency, which means we can't talk about them. It also appears they are a broker. This usually means good prices, but issues on how to contact and deal with them when you have a problem. It means they take your money and contract with a local vendor. It is commonly recommended here not to book with brokers, better to deal direct with a recommended local agent.

If you look around the board, there are dozens of discussions on what to do. Yes, it is frequently discussed oh how to "wing it" and about renting cars, or people taking public transit or taxis or Uber. With a little thought and planning, you can do just about anything you want on your own in Hawaii.

If it's a private tour just for you, you own them. They will wait.

Standing by for the "the ship will leave you behind" comments. @Wetmib , this is a topic discussed all over Cruise Critic daily. Its a matter of personal choice. Some do only cruise line tours, some do exclusively private tours, some, like us, do a mixture of ship excursions, private tours and just doing it ourselves (DIYing), but taking public transit, taxis or just walking to the places we want to go.

It doesn't vary by cruise ship...its fleetwide. You are asking about a fleetwide policy...the Princess board is the place to be.

Use the laundry service on board. Then only pack clothes for about 10 days.

They will pick you up wherever you tell the app you are. The only exceptions are specialty locations like airports or large public gathering places, like arenas, that have special locations for ride share operations.

Have you looked at halfacts.com?

I wouldn't worry about spaces available. Remember the ship are sailing on arrived that morning, and people got off and some drove away, freeing up spaces.

The Western Europe forum: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/148-british-isleswestern-europe/

@kazu has the system always used up all HIA credits? For example, DW and I have $200 each in excursion credit. Today we book an excursion valued at $150. Does the $50 leftover stick around and go against another excursion I might book next week? Or should I book a number of excursions with the total being over $200, and just pay the overage with my credit card?

We sailed for 18 days on N. Statendam this summer...got 52 credits with HIA and in a suite. We sailed for 14 days on KDam in Feb/Mar, got 42 credits...the maximum, in a suite and with HIA. We spent almost no money except our OBC of that cruise...no excursions.

Princess doesn't do the West Coast to Hawaii cruises in summer. Their West Coast ships are in Alaska during the summer. Those Hawaii cruises are done from October to April. Agree with @princeton123211. Fly. Far better to spend that sailing time actually in Hawaii.

It has been well documented here that if you have HIA, and the things included DO count as spending for Mariner points. Remember, you limited to $300 per day in Mariner spending credits(one point)...one per day for being on the ship, one per day if you are in a suite, and one per day for spending.

The things above and below "The Dining Room" wording? Those are stairs between the two decks of the MDR. The lines to the right of the Es in boxes? Stairs. Otherwise I don't see anything that looks like "tracks".

It also says it just above the most forward life boat in bigger letters.

Look on the Seabourn and SilverSeas boards. I am sure you will find people there that have sailed Alaska on those cruise lines.

A recent thread with the same, or similar questions: Rental car is going to be your best bet. Can your friends take you?

For Seattle specific questions, check out the West Coast Departures board, here: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/315-west-coast-departures/ You will see there, for example, the earliest flights recommended are 11:30, although some will try 11am. The transport airport to port and back (never recommended to fly in day of sailing) is a contract with a local bus company by HAL. Just like any other port. The buses will start to the port when there is demand, and will leave the port when the ship is cleared. Same protocol at all ports. The disembarkation process will be very similar to San Diego. No, there isn't much to see at the port HAL uses.

Highly unlikely they will add flights in the next 3 months. The flight schedule might be altered, changing an already existing departure time to better suit you, but even that chance is decreasing by the minute. There are limited gates, planes and flight crews.

If I were in your shoes, I think I would be looking at non-stop flights from Tokyo to New York/Newark, DC or Chicago, then connecting to Orlando. I think that would be the most direct, and wouldn't worry about laying over anywhere. JMHO.