Princess refund for cancelling Natural History Tour?

[Cap'n Jack]

We cancelled the NHT that is included in our cruise package from Princess and made a reservation on the park shuttles. I asked our agent to request a refund from Princess for the cancellation of the NHT. She says Princess has told her that there is no refund for cancelling the NHT. Anyone have a different experience? If so, how did you get the refund and how much was it? TIA

[firstalaskatrip]

We did the same thing last year on a cruisetour booked directly through princess and had zero problem getting the refund. Not sure if the policy changed this year or if it's an issue with going through the travel agent rather than directly through Princess, but in past years, Princess has definitely refunded it easily. You could try calling Princess to double check this year's policy.

[Budget Queen]

I have been waiting for Princess to stop refunding, which they may have. A possible way around it would be to have 2 nights at Denali and YOU exchanging/refunding the tour ticket directly. You would need to be very flexable, if you don't want to puchase other tickets in advance, as in season, shuttle buses can be in short supply late booked. I am assuming Princess hands out the tickets, well before you board the bus?

[ckrcjr]

We cancelled our NHT about a month ago, and had no problem at all. I do not think Princess directly refunds the money (because it has not yet been paid) but the price was deducted from the total cruise balance. We have 6 in the group and 4 cancelled the tour completely and purchased their tickets directly from the park and the other 2 passengers upgraded their tour.

 

No one had a problem at all - very easy. I would check with your TA again and ask if perhaps the price has been deducted from your total balance.

 

Good luck!

[Cap'n Jack]

Thanks for the responses. Unfortunately, the responses are just frustrating me since my agent says Princess won't do anything for us. I am going to have to call Princess directly . . . and then find a new agent for next time.

 

No one indicated how much credit you received. I'm curious because if it wasn't much, it may not be worth making too big an issue of it.

[mapleleaves]

The Park web page indicates $77.50 for a ticket. The cost includes a park entrance fee so they should at least give you that back. You also paid the entrance fee when you reserved the shuttle.

If you don't get a refund take your travel docs with you and see if the Denali staff will refund your duplicate entrance payment.

When you reserve a campsite AND take the shuttle, you end up paying 2 entrance fees but as soon as you arrive at the park they quickly process the refund.

Good luck. Please post back after you call Princess. Others will be interested to know if P has changed their policy.

http://www.reservedenali.com/denali-tours.aspx

[ckrcjr]

We received $56 per person credit towards cruisetour balance.

[generichandle]

Yes, we also canceled and got it credited as reduction in the balance. No problems at all. It was strange to me that they put it in the middle of our only full day in Denali. We are there by 11:30 AM the previous day, and they could have had it where it did not interfere with full-day tours that day.

 

Anyway, I would definitely go to a supervisor if I didn't get mine, certainly worth another call.

 

Doug

[missdenise]

We cancelled the NHT and received a credit on the total package price of $62 per person. We did upgrade to the Tundra Wilderness Tour and paid $159 per person for that. I do not see why the booking of the TWT would make a difference though. Our local TA handled all of this for us and I never had to deal with Princess myself.

[Budget Queen]

We cancelled the NHT and received a credit on the total package price of $62 per person. We did upgrade to the Tundra Wilderness Tour and paid $159 per person for that. I do not see why the booking of the TWT would make a difference though. Our local TA handled all of this for us and I never had to deal with Princess myself.

 

It is also darn simple :) to direct book yourself, eliminating phone/email tag involving someone else.

Easy pull down menus with tour availability and times, excellent descriptions.

 

This is the only cruiseline who refunds, I mentioned ways around that, if people want to make the effort, which many do not.

 

The NHT is worthless in my opinion, especially when you can get a shuttle bus 4 times further for less money. :) Denali is all about getting INTO the Park, for those with the interest- Eielson is a gem to consider.

[Cap'n Jack]

I finally called Princess. The customer service rep told me that they do give credit for cancelling the Natural History Tour -- $99 per person. She did not know why my agent had been told differently. She said normally they want the agent to make the request, but since I told her my agent had already called and been given incorrect information, she went ahead and did it for me without my agent on the line. Now I am wondering about my agent and whether she actually called.

 

I don't know why ckrcjr received $56 pp, missdenise received $62 pp and we received $99, but I certainly wasn't going to argue. I will check the revised invoice as soon as I receive it from my agent to make sure the CSR didn't cancel something else by mistake, but she repeated it correctly to me on the phone.

 

We did book the shuttle to Eielson already @ $43.50 pp. Definitely a better deal in every way as far as I am concerned.

 

I think I will be finding a new agent for my next cruise.

Edited February 23, 2013 by Cap'n Jack

[Budget Queen]

 

We did book the shuttle to Eielson already @ $43.50 pp. Definitely a better deal in every way as far as I am concerned.

 

.

 

 

You have all the details and time guidelines for this indepedent option? Otherwise, full details are available on this board.

[Cap'n Jack]

I think I have them, or at least what I need. Most of them are on the park website, including a schedule. I have also read a lot of the posts here.

[missdenise]

Glad you got your refund - why the price differences, who knows.

[Budget Queen]

I think I have them' date=' or at least what I need. Most of them are on the park website, including a schedule. I have also read a lot of the posts here.[/quote']

 

You need to coordinate the LODGE schedule your timing, unless you are going to walk over a mile- or take an after hours transfer- that is an extra fee- if still offered.

 

You need at least an hour of lead time prior to the shuttle bus leaving.

 

It's the "details". :)

Edited February 24, 2013 by Budget Queen

[castlegetaway]

I finally called Princess. The customer service rep told me that they do give credit for cancelling the Natural History Tour -- $99 per person. She did not know why my agent had been told differently. She said normally they want the agent to make the request' date=' but since I told her my agent had already called and been given incorrect information, she went ahead and did it for me without my agent on the line. Now I am wondering about my agent and whether she actually called.

 

I don't know why ckrcjr received $56 pp, missdenise received $62 pp and we received $99, but I certainly wasn't going to argue. I will check the revised invoice as soon as I receive it from my agent to make sure the CSR didn't cancel something else by mistake, but she repeated it correctly to me on the phone.

 

We did book the shuttle to Eielson already @ $43.50 pp. Definitely a better deal in every way as far as I am concerned.

 

I think I will be finding a new agent for my next cruise.[/quote']

 

We go through a AAA agent and we cancelled our tour and rescheduled the Denali Wilderness Tour. We were given a $99 credit each and were charged for the Denali Wilderness Tour.

 

Sandy

[Budget Queen]

One general information detail. I DO recommend independent direct booking for the TWT- but you need to verify and confirm you pick up location. In the past they used to have a couple buses load at the Access Center. You also may want to avoid multiple pick up buses, if your location is last- seating on these buses run full, and you may get desired seats. (basing on prior year's scheduling- changes could not be in place)

 

IF you "upgrade" to the TWT, in the past- you were given hours of general times of the tour, and didn't find out until much later. Booking direct has you choose your time.

[missdenise]

One general information detail. I DO recommend independent direct booking for the TWT- but you need to verify and confirm you pick up location. In the past they used to have a couple buses load at the Access Center. You also may want to avoid multiple pick up buses, if your location is last- seating on these buses run full, and you may get desired seats. (basing on prior year's scheduling- changes could not be in place)

 

IF you "upgrade" to the TWT, in the past- you were given hours of general times of the tour, and didn't find out until much later. Booking direct has you choose your time.

 

Thanks again for some useful information. According to our excursion information from Princess, our TWT has a departure time of 7AM. Should I take that to mean we depart the Princess lodge at that time or must we get to Denali to catch the school bus leaving at 7AM. The Access Center you wrote about, is that at the lodge or the park?

[Budget Queen]

Thanks again for some useful information. According to our excursion information from Princess, our TWT has a departure time of 7AM. Should I take that to mean we depart the Princess lodge at that time or must we get to Denali to catch the school bus leaving at 7AM. The Access Center you wrote about, is that at the lodge or the park?

 

 

The Access Center is the pick up location for shuttle buses, and a few tour buses. It is NOT on any private property. http://www.nps.gov/dena has a map and details.

 

IF Princess booked this tour, then the pick up would be from the Princess Lodge. It is important to consider lining up early, and getting your better selection of seats. Even with taking a "tour" bus, I do suggest you bring your own food and drink with you.

 

A jacket and binoculars - a must.

Edited February 25, 2013 by Budget Queen

[skrink]

I don't know why ckrcjr received $56 pp' date=' missdenise received $62 pp and we received $99, but I certainly wasn't going to argue. [/quote']

 

When I called Princess to cancel the NHT, I too was told that no refunds were given. I told them that's not what it says at www.princess.com/denaliparktours (part of which I pasted below)

 

"To change the Denali Park tour on an existing Alaska cruisetour booking, please have your Travel Agent call Princess. The price difference will be applied to your booking. Changes must be made 14 days prior to departure. You may also choose to opt out of the tour altogether. The price will be credited to your booking."

 

It also says that the tour costs $99, but we only got $56 pp in credit. So I called back and they said we would have it credited back to our credit card. So far, it hasn't shown up though. :confused:

[Budget Queen]

When I called Princess to cancel the NHT, I too was told that no refunds were given. I told them that's not what it says at www.princess.com/denaliparktours (part of which I pasted below)

 

"To change the Denali Park tour on an existing Alaska cruisetour booking, please have your Travel Agent call Princess. The price difference will be applied to your booking. Changes must be made 14 days prior to departure. You may also choose to opt out of the tour altogether. The price will be credited to your booking."

 

It also says that the tour costs $99, but we only got $56 pp in credit. So I called back and they said we would have it credited back to our credit card. So far, it hasn't shown up though. :confused:

 

The Natural History tour has never been $100. Princess probably gets some bulk volume rates, that they may base their refunds on.

[skrink]

The Natural History tour has never been $100. Princess probably gets some bulk volume rates, that they may base their refunds on.

 

Then they shouldn't price it at $99 on the same page as the refund info. Having it there creates false impressions and phone calls from people like us who wonder why the posted price isn't the credited price. Might even be some truth-in-advertising regs that apply.

 

If you are right, and I suspect you are, there should at least be clarification of how much the refund amount is.

[Kycruisefan]

We are cruising on RCCL and I was told we could not upgrade/change until we arrived and talked to our tour guide. I wish RCCL offered a better option than that.

[exbbmom]

We are booked on a Celebrity cruisetour and we were told the same thing - to talk to the cruisetour guide before we got to Denali. I would like to book the TWT now, but I can't even find out when our bus will depart Denali in the afternoon. so not sure if we would have enough time to do the longer tour. It's very frustrating to say the least. We were told that Celebrity would apply the cost of the NHT to the TWT if we did change.

[Budget Queen]

The problem you have is your "tourguide" has nothing to do with these tours, and would only - if they wish to make the effort, book for you- that's it.

 

It is TOO late to wait until you get there- unless you are ok with it likely not being available.

 

Do either of you have two nights there? That is the most common mistake people make with the tour the next common.

 

When are you going? If mid June or later- I strongly suggest you try and hook up with people going on the same cruisetour earlier than you. Use the Roll Call boards perhaps.

 

Have you already- posted your cruisetour, (not just the number- please- this expects people trying to help- to look up the information needed, copy and past the cruisetour) and asked for further information on this board?

 

Finally, are you willing to make the effort and go independent of the cruisetour?? There have been several times- where the information is spelled out- accurately- then posters with note- "we decided to stick with what we have". Sad answer.

 

I'm not looking for any "answers", these are questions to ask yourselves. :) I can detail alternatives that will be accurate.