Alaska Cruise Companion

[nukesubsailor]

9 hours ago, Thrak said:

Don't look for the book under your personalizer per se.  Look at the Aboard Our Ships link at the top of the page and then click on the link for "Shop Gifts and Services".  After that click on the link for Gifts from the Shops of Princess. I don't even have to be logged in to see it.

New! Alaska Cruise Companion Book and Map Set

A naturalist's guide to Alaska's wildlife and scenic highlights.
Item #5122 - $18.99

Thanks Thrak.  I can see it using your directions but I still cannot order it for my cruise.  Once I give a booking number, the book no longer shows as one of the options available for purchase.  My guess would be that the book is not yet on the inventory for the Royal Princess and won't be until she gets to the west coast and readies for the Alaskan season.  I will keep checking as the date of our cruise gets closer.

[shellgirl61]

I ordered the Alaska Cruise Companion before our cruise last summer from Amazon. It included the map and it was a couple of dollars cheaper than on the ship. I wanted to read it before the cruise, and make notes of the things important  for me. That is the main reason I ordered it before the cruise. I did not want to spend my time reading it on the ship. I wanted to enjoy the scenery.

[Thrak]

3 hours ago, nukesubsailor said:

Thanks Thrak.  I can see it using your directions but I still cannot order it for my cruise.  Once I give a booking number, the book no longer shows as one of the options available for purchase.  My guess would be that the book is not yet on the inventory for the Royal Princess and won't be until she gets to the west coast and readies for the Alaskan season.  I will keep checking as the date of our cruise gets closer.

 

Likely the case since Royal has been on the east coast and is currently wending it's way from Florida to LA around the horn. No real need for that particular book until she docks in LA and gets ready for Alaska. I can't imagine the ship not offering the book once things settle down.

[Dreamer115]

5 minutes ago, Thrak said:

 

Likely the case since Royal has been on the east coast and is currently wending it's way from Florida to LA around the horn. No real need for that particular book until she docks in LA and gets ready for Alaska. I can't imagine the ship not offering the book once things settle down.

That shouldn't be the case though as my ship is in Australia and I managed to order it.  It is strange that it isn't the same throughout the line.

[nukesubsailor]

2 hours ago, Dreamer115 said:

That shouldn't be the case though as my ship is in Australia and I managed to order it.  It is strange that it isn't the same throughout the line.

Your ship may have it in inventory if that ship cruised Alaska in the past.  The Royal has never cruised Alaska before this coming season.

[Dreamer115]

6 minutes ago, nukesubsailor said:

Your ship may have it in inventory if that ship cruised Alaska in the past.  The Royal has never cruised Alaska before this coming season.

That makes sense.  Didn't know Royal hadn't been there before.

[Thrak]

1 hour ago, Dreamer115 said:

That makes sense.  Didn't know Royal hadn't been there before.

 

Royal has never been on the west coast before. It's currently en route from Florida around the horn to LA and will be stationed on the west coast. We were originally booked on that 49 day cruise but ended up cancelling it for various reasons. It would have been a pretty epic trip. I had tried to get the Sip and Sail for the cruise and Princess said, "NO!" as it was too long of a cruise so I booked it as a 19 day cruise followed by a 30 day cruise (exact same cruise but it was sold in segments) and they said, "SURE!". Weird... It's a good thing we cancelled. I don't know if my liver would like a 49 day cruise with the beverage package.

[Dreamer115]

16 minutes ago, Thrak said:

 

Royal has never been on the west coast before. It's currently en route from Florida around the horn to LA and will be stationed on the west coast. We were originally booked on that 49 day cruise but ended up cancelling it for various reasons. It would have been a pretty epic trip. I had tried to get the Sip and Sail for the cruise and Princess said, "NO!" as it was too long of a cruise so I booked it as a 19 day cruise followed by a 30 day cruise (exact same cruise but it was sold in segments) and they said, "SURE!". Weird... It's a good thing we cancelled. I don't know if my liver would like a 49 day cruise with the beverage package.

  They do have strange ideas don't they.  That would have been a wonderful cruise.  Was there much difference in price between the 49 day and the combined 30 and 19 day?  Just curious.

[Thrak]

22 minutes ago, Dreamer115 said:

  They do have strange ideas don't they.  That would have been a wonderful cruise.  Was there much difference in price between the 49 day and the combined 30 and 19 day?  Just curious.

 

Nope. No difference at all. Just one way of booking included the Sip and Sail and thee other didn't. I wish that promo had worked out for us this time. Some folks added it to their booking at no extra cost but this time around my cabin(s) went up by $1,000 per person on the day that promo came out so we skipped it.

 

Edit: Thinking about the price I think it may have actually been a hair cheaper booking it as the two segments with the package than booking it as the single 49 day cruise. Can't remember for sure but I don't recall it being any more when booked that way.

Edited March 19, 2019 by Thrak

[Dreamer115]

3 minutes ago, Thrak said:

 

Nope. No difference at all. Just one way of booking included the Sip and Sail and thee other didn't. I wish that promo had worked out for us this time. Some folks added it to their booking at no extra cost but this time around my cabin(s) went up by $1,000 per person on the day that promo came out so we skipped it.

 

Edit: Thinking about the price I think it may have actually been a hair cheaper booking it as the two segments with the package than booking it as the single 49 day cruise. Can't remember for sure but I don't recall it being any more when booked that way.

 

Good idea to check out different ways of doing things.  A cruise vlogger I watch was booking air fare home from Europe and instead of a direct flight, he did it individual stops and save like $1,000.  Amazing and so easy to do these days.

[bubraves83]

We are on the Island in early September and I too can see this book when not logged in but it still is not available for me to purchase when I am logged in to my account.  Any thoughts on why or thinking I should just call Princess?  Thank you.

[Coral]

36 minutes ago, bubraves83 said:

We are on the Island in early September and I too can see this book when not logged in but it still is not available for me to purchase when I am logged in to my account.  Any thoughts on why or thinking I should just call Princess?  Thank you.

I ordered a book in advance for a friend on the Coral Princess now. I would call.

[KG2019]

On 3/16/2019 at 2:33 PM, ikesyd said:

We are on the Coral Princess in August and my cruise personaliser under the tab "on board reservations - Gifts from Princess shops" has the book listed under items available for purchase . I think I will purchase the book so it will be delivered direct to our room on departure and also I can pay in AUD(25.64). On board I will need to purchase in USD - not sure how much that will be.

Hmmmmmm……..mine does not have the book listed......lots of other stuff:  Stanley the Bear, playing cards, tote bag,  etc......but no cruise companion book

[Sailaway617]

I’m on the Star, July 7th sailing and just purchased it through the personalizer, Onboard Reservations, Gifts from Princess Shops. It was just $18.99. Much better price than Amazon right now.

[milolii]

I am confused, do I order before getting on board and then redeem the voucher for the book?  Sounds cool! 

[phillies fan]

FWIW, I purchased a used copy of the book (in very good condition) on Better World Books, a wonderful site for used books.   

My copy did not include the map however.

 

I was on the Coral Princess last week and saw copies of both the book and the map available in the gift shop.

[KG2019]

I think I will call Princess and see why it's not showing up in my personalizer...….and maybe they can tell me if its available on the ship.

[youngkona]

I bought the book used, hoping for a map, but no map.  Any chance I can purchase just the map once on board from gift shop?

[Coral]

15 minutes ago, youngkona said:

I bought the book used, hoping for a map, but no map.  Any chance I can purchase just the map once on board from gift shop?

Nope and it is a great map.

[Belle]

Got off the Grand June 5th. Saw they were selling the books plus selling maps too.

Every time I've been on a ship to Alaska they were selling the books in the gifts shop.

[Sailaway617]

6 hours ago, Belle said:

Got off the Grand June 5th. Saw they were selling the books plus selling maps too.

Just to clarify, they were selling the maps separate from the books?

[Coral]

6 minutes ago, Sailaway617 said:

Just to clarify, they were selling the maps separate from the books?

I am curious if they were the same maps that were in the books also!

 

 

[bubraves83]

Just called Princess (much easier early in the morning, could not get through yesterday).  Representative saw the book so I was able to purchase on the phone and it now is showing up as one of my on board purchases.  

[phillies fan]

12 hours ago, youngkona said:

I bought the book used, hoping for a map, but no map.  Any chance I can purchase just the map once on board from gift shop?

 

The map, independent of the book, was available last week on the Coral Princess.  I don't recall the price.

[mpizza]

Thank you!  I was looking for guide map and now I can surprise my DH with the book and map on his first cruise!

 

Maria