Alaska: one traveller on land portion only and not cruise (or vice versa)

[Kellie in Texas]

Planning for Alaska in summer 2020. Definitely want to do a 3- or 4-day land tour prior to the 7-day SB cruise. One traveller may not have enough vacation time to do the full 10-12 days, so I'm wondering if it's possible to do only the land portion and not the cruise (or vice versa)? Not looking to do any land touring on our own, driving on our own, etc. I want it to be the Princess package deal. I'm hoping it won't be necessary, but is it possible?

[moki'smommy]

I would have my TA call Princess and get the accurate info on this. It is too important to risk your planning on what people on the boards said!

[tamsocal]

we tried doing this years ago both options-- but again it was about 7-8 years ago I last asked so call princess

 

cruise only- yes possible. they at the time would not add passengers to our cabin though- they stated we had to have a separate cabin for those not on tour

tour only- we were told not possible unless we pay for full cruise/tour and just not partake in what we chose not to

 

I didn't really escalate, double check, etc. 2 family members just booked same cruise as us and then flew home after cruise and we carried on with tour.

[nukesubsailor]

If Princess was willing to sell only the land tour, (no cruise included), I would think there would be a way to book it through the Princess website.

In 2014 I organized a group of 20 people for an Alaskan vacation. 8 of the 20 did only the cruise while the other 12 of us did a land tour before the cruise. No one was allowed to book only the land tour portion.

[abbydancer2003]

I did some research on this last year. They have a land tour website and you can book a land tour only. I was told though, that it may not be identical to the cruise tour - so the person may be on a different train, etc.

[Cruise Raider]

Not sure if this would apply but I don't think Princess would be allowed to sell a land only package in the US. I am assuming this, so not stating it as factual, but most cruiselines are registered in another country for tax purposes. It doesn't seem possible that they would be allowed to sell land packages that start and end in the US, whereas they can do this under the PVSA rules for cruises.

[abbydancer2003]

Not sure if this would apply but I don't think Princess would be allowed to sell a land only package in the US. I am assuming this, so not stating it as factual, but most cruiselines are registered in another country for tax purposes. It doesn't seem possible that they would be allowed to sell land packages that start and end in the US, whereas they can do this under the PVSA rules for cruises.

 

They are. The site is princesslodges.com The website says they are a division of Princess cruises. Note that the lodges are not foreign flagged, and Princess is headquartered in California. So yes, they can do this.

[Coral]

I did some research on this last year. They have a land tour website and you can book a land tour only. I was told though, that it may not be identical to the cruise tour - so the person may be on a different train, etc.

 

Correct - they can't book a land tour from the Princess cruise brochure (land and cruise combined). They can go to the princesslodges.com and book a land package plus a cruise separately. I don't know the difference in packages.

[kitkat343]

We did the land tour independently and wound up saving a lot of money over the cruise tour. We went to Denali and back without driving. My cruisetour review has the info, although it was 8 years ago so the Alaska board can help. It might be worth at least pricing out if you have any difficulties with princess. We stayed at the Hal owned hotel, and took the national park service buses through Denali. It was an easy tour.

[CDay]

If you are going to be cabin mates, then you both have to do both the land and cruise. They could not join you in your cabin for the just the cruise portion.

[zogrand]

We are a family group of 11 traveling southbound on the Star in July. My husband and I are doing a land tour before the cruise. One of our daughters is staying in our suite with us. She is not on the land portion. The only restriction was that a minor could not be booked in the suite with us as the 3rd passenger of 3. They explained that this was due to the fact that the rest of the group would be boarding long before us and that the minor could not be in the suite by herself. We deal with a TA so don't know if this arrangement was easy to do or not. The TA handled it all.

 

We never intended for any of our group to do just the land tour so can't help with that part of the question.

[skynight]

Assume you are a couple. I would suggest you look into an independent land tour and then book the cruise separately. If only one person is taking the cruise that person will pay the single supplement, basically you pay for two passengers less the port fees for one.

[Kellie in Texas]

Thanks, everyone. Sounds like it's possible but tricky. It would actually be four people in one cabin (immediate family) where the 4th person might not have enough vacation time.

[Cruise Raider]

Not sure if this would apply but I don't think Princess would be allowed to sell a land only package in the US. I am assuming this, so not stating it as factual, but most cruiselines are registered in another country for tax purposes. It doesn't seem possible that they would be allowed to sell land packages that start and end in the US, whereas they can do this under the PVSA rules for cruises.

 

 

Good to know ... thank you!