Princess Needs to Send Excursion Cancellation Sooner

[GreySkies]

I have no problem with Princess having cancelled my helicopter-dog sledding tour in Skagway due to "operational problems". My problem is that they sent the notification to me 5 days before my cruise, so I can't try and get onto another one in Juneau online.

 

Princess Reps, please tell your managers that cancellations need to be done PRIOR to the online window for excursion registration being over.

 

Thank you,

[Coral]

I would be tempted to call Princess and see if they can book you on an alternate excursion. It is worth a try....

[GreySkies]

I'll be looking at which excursions are still available when I get on board and possibly sign up for one of them. Good news is that we didn't pay for it in advance.

[Coral]

I'll be looking at which excursions are still available when I get on board and possibly sign up for one of them. Good news is that we didn't pay for it in advance.

 

My guess is that the vendor cancelled on Princess. Come mid-late August, there is often not enough snow for the excursion to happen. This happens every year and I am surprised that it wasn't cancelled sooner due to the very warm spring that Alaska had. This is usually an "iffy excursion" come late August.

 

Hopefully there is another helicopter tour available for you. Good luck!

Edited August 19, 2015 by Coral

[paul929207]

Havve you checked the Roll Call for your cruise? There may be private tours planned with space available.

[partybarbie]

At least you were notified before you boarded. We've had excursions cancelled "due to lack of participation" and didn't find out until we boarded the ship and read the note in our cabin.

[GreySkies]

Havve you checked the Roll Call for your cruise? There may be private tours planned with space available.

 

No private tours within my roll call. It's been a very quiet roll call. My mother, who will be going with me, and I have already started talking about what to do in the afternoon.

 

I'm thinking the first thing I will do after boarding is get myself a pina colada! (Only time I ever drink is on a cruise.)

 

Thanks everyone for your suggestions and feedback.

 

Based on reading the Alaska board, I was aware that this was a very iffy excursion. As I said, I just want earlier notification of the cancellation.

[Astro Flyer]

I wonder if such a late notification is due to the weather forecast for the date of the excursion?

 

There is another current thread about cruise ships being unable to dock today at Skagway due to the strong gusty 30-50 mph wind conditions.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2249055

 

Hopefully there is a valid reason and it's not just a screwup because I would be very disappointed to have it canceled so close to sailing. :(

Edited August 19, 2015 by Astro Flyer

[Colo Cruiser]

If its a vendor cancelation or something beyond Princess control that happens close to sailing how do you expect them to give you the kind of notice you ask for?

We have had excursions canceled under the same time frame. Heck we have had a cruise totally changed ports and the number of days very close to sailing.

[4x4bob]

At least you were notified before you boarded. We've had excursions cancelled "due to lack of participation" and didn't find out until we boarded the ship and read the note in our cabin.

 

We also have this T-Shirt. Just happened to read the notice and proceeded on down to the Tour Desk. Tried talking to person behind the desk. He just pointed to a small sign at end of counter that stated all tours booked.

 

Bob

[janina]

If its a vendor cancelation or something beyond Princess control that happens close to sailing how do you expect them to give you the kind of notice you ask for?

We have had excursions canceled under the same time frame. Heck we have had a cruise totally changed ports and the number of days very close to sailing.

 

I agree, these things happen. It is done now so try to move on and be excited that your cruising:)

[GUT2407]

I have no problem with Princess having cancelled my helicopter-dog sledding tour in Skagway due to "operational problems". My problem is that they sent the notification to me 5 days before my cruise, so I can't try and get onto another one in Juneau online.

 

Princess Reps, please tell your managers that cancellations need to be done PRIOR to the online window for excursion registration being over.

 

Thank you,

 

But maybe the problem only became apparent 5 days before the cruise, they can't notify you before they know that there is a problem, can they?

[rdsqrl]

But maybe the problem only became apparent 5 days before the cruise, they can't notify you before they know that there is a problem, can they?

That's what the Wayback machine is for. Or a DeLorean.

[hpeabody]

Well, you have at least some time to figure out a replacement.

 

On my recent Island Princess cruise I was notified while on-board and well into our cruise just a day and half prior to arrival in Naples that my excursion to Capri was cancelled due to lack of participation. I had really wanted to get to Capri, It was extremely difficult to try to get another excursion together in a day. I had already had my fill of Princess herding and could not stand the thought of another Princess tour and of course their inflated prices. I had chosen Princess for Capri because of the travel involved. I ended up using the majority of my internet minutes to find something else to do for the day and missed out on Capri.

 

BTW, enjoy Alaska :)

[ar1950]

That's what the Wayback machine is for. Or a DeLorean.

 

The reliability of getting back with the Delorean was/is always a bit sketchy (needing exactly 1.21 gigawatts of power for the flux capacitor and doing 88 MPH at the same time and all). The Wayback machine is probably the better bet. :cool:

[cruisequeen4ever]

I agree; it's very disappointing and frustrating to have this happen. We had one canceled onboard due to lack of interest. In my opinion, if it's offered and booked by anyone, it should run. At the very least, there should be fine print indicating that a minimum number of pax is required for the tour to operate, so people are forewarned.

[emmak8]

I'm sure Princess will have a substitute excursion when you board.

[jpj39]

I had 2 of my venice excursions ( the walking tour & opera house) cancelled prior to arrival in Venice on my island princess mediterrian cruise for lack of participation.

this happens , i booked the Murrano & Burrano excursion as a replacement

sorry to say it rained all day in venice with lighting

don't think the walking tour or the opera house ( with walking )would have been much fun in the heavy rains. things worked out ok in the end

[SadieN]

At least you got warning.

Had to re-route a two week road trip on day three.

[WatchHill]

Given the technology, when selecting a Princess shorex, there needs to be some way of knowing how many slots are allocated and taken for a given tour. That way one could anticipate it being a full tour, or one that might not happen.

 

It happened to us on the Ocean when we booked a few trips, only to find a note in our cabin that 4 were not going to happen due to lack of interest. Finding something similar, when the few that were offered were not anything we wanted to do, was a challenge since we were doing Hawaii and Tahiti.

 

We were recently on the Royal British Isles cruise and OMG, the prices Princess charged for the "big bus" tours was so very over-priced. We did take a couple of them to use the OBC's, but were not impressed. The private tours we went on with CC friends were far superior, and more than 50% less than similar Princess offerings.

 

How many of us have received the Princess email reminding us to book a tour through their site ASAP as they are filling up fast? For me, that's an auto delete.

 

Darcy

[DougH]

On my Alaska Pacific Princess cruise earlier this year I had two tours cancelled for not meeting the minimum number. On the first one I was the only one signed up, the second was a bus into Anchorage on turnaround day in Whittier. I sort of expected this one to be cancelled as on three prior cruise on much larger ships they did not meet the minimum. In both cases I was only notified about 36 hours prior to the tour as they were waiting to see if more passengers would book.

 

On this cruise I actually did another tour in Juneau that only had three people sign up but they still ran the tour. I'm still not sure if they didn't want to cancel another one on me and ran it anyway. lol.

 

The answer is to always have other options already planned in case of any changes.

[shredie]

If its a vendor cancelation or something beyond Princess control that happens close to sailing how do you expect them to give you the kind of notice you ask for?

 

Seriously. Isn't that just common sense? :rolleyes:

[laughing husky]

the dogs in Skagway are already back home.....so it would be a vender cancellation....My dogs are still on the glacier in Juneau, but I suspect they will be on the way home when I am on the ship....It is Ma Nature's fault....there is little snow on the glaciers, it has been horrendous rain for the cart rides, and it is not good for the dogs. If you own dogs, they are the FIRST consideration...If you land in Seward, try the Seavey's glacier operation, because of the location, they are frequently open longer than some of the others. If you go there, ask if Peter can be your guide. He is great....My dogs are with Coastal dog sled tours on the Herbert Glacier in Juneau. Because of the lacation of this camp, it is also operates a bit longer than some of the others. You can call them and ask. or google Coastal Helicopters in Juneau....

[Inukshuk Gal]

the dogs in Skagway are already back home.....so it would be a vender cancellation....My dogs are still on the glacier in Juneau, but I suspect they will be on the way home when I am on the ship....It is Ma Nature's fault....there is little snow on the glaciers, it has been horrendous rain for the cart rides, and it is not good for the dogs. If you own dogs, they are the FIRST consideration...If you land in Seward, try the Seavey's glacier operation, because of the location, they are frequently open longer than some of the others. If you go there, ask if Peter can be your guide. He is great....My dogs are with Coastal dog sled tours on the Herbert Glacier in Juneau. Because of the lacation of this camp, it is also operates a bit longer than some of the others. You can call them and ask. or google Coastal Helicopters in Juneau....

 

I would have loved to of met your dogs! I had a glacier sled dog excursion booked for Sept 6th out of Juneau with Coastal, but they called the other day to inform me they are shutting camp down early due to weather related issues. They were originally planning to go until Sept 14th, but now they will close camp on Sept 2nd. I couldn't agree more, the DOGS COME FIRST. I am also happy to have received 3 weeks notice which gave us time to find another excursion which looks just as exciting. (Float plane glacier tour to Taku lodge for a salmon bake).

 

It also looks like one of the two companies on Mendenhall glacier (Era) is shutting down early too. Their schedule only goes to Sept 4th, but I swear they were planning on being open at least another week longer. I had considered using them for my Sept 6th trip, and I remember it was an option at the time I booked with Coastal. Now they appeared to have cancelled everything after the 4th.

 

If I am correct, that leaves one company operating a glacier dog sledding excursion (Temsco?) on Mendenhall, and as of a few days ago they still plan to keep camp open until the 10th. I have 5 friends booked with them on the 6th, and I am very worried it will be a last minute cancellation for them and leave them no time to plan something else as memorable. But they are aware of everything I stated above, so it is really about how much they want to risk it or not.

Edited August 19, 2015 by Inukshuk Gal

[ontheweb]

I agree; it's very disappointing and frustrating to have this happen. We had one canceled onboard due to lack of interest. In my opinion, if it's offered and booked by anyone, it should run. At the very least, there should be fine print indicating that a minimum number of pax is required for the tour to operate, so people are forewarned.

 

I agree totally. We had an excursion in Marseilles, Arles and then a place (I forget where) to swim booked on the NCL Epic, a ship with 5000 plus passengers cancelled because they were just a few short of the 25 that they said they needed. We got the notice the night before, since they were still trying to get the last few. And NCL, unlike Princess, makes you pay in advance!

 

I was impressed last summer when our Canterbury excursion and then Heathrow from Dover on the Ocean Princess was NOT CANCELLED despite only 14 on the excursion. I realize that they know you have to get back to the airport, but they could have said to take either the straight transfer or the one that did London before Heathrow.