Reserving helicopter excursions with weight surcharge

[Clutj]

Wondering if anyone else has run across this.  From a specific Alaska onboard excursion “Weight surcharge ($130) may apply on this flight. Due to weight and balance limitations [etc etc] Guests weighing 250 lbs. or more should reserve 2 tickets and, once onboard, go to the Tour Office to have the extra ticket charge adjusted down to the surcharge amount.”

 

I tried to reserve two tickets online for my wife and I.  There was no option to add a 3rd ticket, just my wife and I were listed as the occupants of the room, so I made those two reservations.  Then I went back to get a 2nd ticket for myself.  It gave an error message that I had a conflict.  So I called the Princess 800 line and talked to an excursion specialist after a very short wait. After several minutes of consulting with other people, my rep said “There’s no way to do that.  You have to go to the Tour Office on board.  If they can’t accommodate you, they’ll give you a refund and cancel your tour.”  I told her politely that couldn’t be the right answer given that the website is perfectly clear that you reserve TWO tickets and then adjust onboard.  And I didn’t want to wait until I was onboard, only to then find out the excursion was closed to me.   She told me she’d get a supervisor to talk to me, then after 37 minutes of music, I was disconnected. 
 

Anyone solve this problem more creatively than the Princess “help” line?  This will be our first cruise on Princess, so I hope I can work this out. 

[Sea Hag]

I haven't needed to solve this, but what the excursion specialist told you is nuts. We were once in a line at the excursions desk waiting for something or another. In the line next to us, was a poor lady who was in tears. She'd been told that she was over the weight allowance, but there wasn't another seat to sell her. They were telling her that they would need to cancel her reservation. This was some years back, but I bet it's still the same handling in this situation.

[rj59]

I wouldn't try to argue against any weight requirements or surcharges, since it's a situation where you want to always err on the side of safety. Especially with several tour plane crashes in Ketchikan, the Kobe Bryant crash, etc. I've been on small commuter planes where people were made to move seats because of a weight imbalance, including people needing to move out of First Class. I was in Ketchikan a few years ago the day a group of people from Royal Princess died in a tour plane crash, so I wouldn't fight safety requirements or any charge that would help ensure a safe flight from a reliable company. 

[cajinyank]

They were not trying to argue against the charge. They were trying to pay it and princess would not let them

[Thrak]

You could try writing to Customer Relations and ask how one handles this issue:

 

customerrelations@princesscruises.com

[dog]

If you need more then one seat best to book excursions privately. Had to give up my coach seat on Princess excursion once to lady who needed 3 seats along the back & and her husband needed the 2 seats in front of her. 
if you order online, Princess doesn’t see seating requirements for you until you are boarding excursion 

 

no disrespect meant. 
 

[milolii]

We recently wanted to book a third seat on a commercial airline.  We just wanted the empty seat.   We were told to enter the third passenger as:  first name- extra comfort, last name - seat.  It worked fine.  This was Ryanair, an Irish airline.  

Edited January 28, 2022 by milolii

[caribill]

1 hour ago, milolii said:

We recently wanted to book a third seat on a commercial airline.  We just wanted the empty seat.   We were told to enter the third passenger as:  first name- extra comfort, last name - seat.  It worked fine.  This was Ryanair, an Irish airline.  

 

This is not possible when booking a Princess tour.

 

When you select a tour it brings up the names of the passengers in the cabin and you select which one(s) the booking is for.

 

So unless you have a passenger in your cabin named "extra comfort seat", it will not work.

[bronzey214]

4 hours ago, caribill said:

So unless you have a passenger in your cabin named "extra comfort seat", it will not work.

 

What if you had a passenger named "Extra Comfort Seat" and they needed an Extra Comfort Seat? Time to break out Jr and III!

[Outerdog]

I booked a helicopter tour through NCL a few years back. Their online booking engine had the add-on for the weight surcharge built in. It was a tick box. Doesn't help OP much at all in this case, so the correct answer is to book privately through the tour provider.

[caribill]

7 hours ago, Outerdog said:

I booked a helicopter tour through NCL a few years back. Their online booking engine had the add-on for the weight surcharge built in. It was a tick box. Doesn't help OP much at all in this case, so the correct answer is to book privately through the tour provider.

 

Often the tour providers have committed all available seats to cruise ship excursions.

 

In the past I have an Alaska tour provider tell me that their contract with the cruise line does not permit them to book cruise ship passengers independently.

[Clutj]

Thanks for some of the suggestions here. Has no one every successfully done this?  I emailed the Princess help email address, but no reply in 10 days.  Is this typical “service”?  Getting kind of negative about this cruise. L

[kitkat343]

I think you might be able to solve your problem and save 10% on this excursion.  12 years ago, Temsco was the provider Princess subcontracts out for the helicopter ride in Alaska.

 

We loved the Temsco helicopter to Dog Sled camp in Skagway (please note that Temsco is the subcontractor for the helicopter tours for the cruise ships, and you can save 10% by booking directly through their company. Also, if you choose to visit a dog sled camp, please make sure you do it in Skagway, not Juneau since the weather is a bit more stable in Skagway. Also, please try to book your helicopter tour in the morning, since helicopter tours are often cancelled due to inclement weather. If your helicopter is scheduled for the morning, you will have a better chance of it being rescheduled for the afternoon, instead of the tour being cancelled outright. Unfortunately, there is no guarantee that you will be able to participate in this amazing activity due to the unpredictable Alaskan weather). 

 

Someone on the boards can probably help you figure out how far the dock is from the Temsco headquarters (we walked it, but it was 12 years ago so I don't know how far the walk is from the current dock.)   Someone whose travelled to Alaska more recently will probably have a recommendation on what car services are available if you need one.   Have  a great trip!

 

 

[dickinson]

You might get more responses on the Alaska port of call board.

Edited February 5, 2022 by dickinson

[john watson]

I should just book two places and when you get to the excursion flight base you might be lucky and find there is an offset with other people on your flight who are significantly below the weight limit so it averages out.

 

Regards John

[Ombud]

On 1/27/2022 at 7:27 PM, dog said:

If you need more then one seat best to book excursions privately. Had to give up my coach seat on Princess excursion once to lady who needed 3 seats along the back & and her husband needed the 2 seats in front of her. 
if you order online, Princess doesn’t see seating requirements for you until you are boarding excursion 

 

no disrespect meant. 
 

😲only once was I asked to give up my mid-bus seat. Looked around and saw several rows completely open so respectfully declined. This was not on a mobility impaired excursion (if it was I would have moved to last row & occupied that whole seat) 

 

 

Edited February 5, 2022 by Ombud

[Ombud]

Princess really should fix their system so those who have to buy 2 seats can do it. And if its an inexpensive excursion I might want to book a few seats to limit participants 

 

 

Edited February 5, 2022 by Ombud

[dog]

2 hours ago, Ombud said:

Princess really should fix their system so those who have to buy 2 seats can do it. And if its an inexpensive excursion I might want to book a few seats to limit participants 

 

 

Atleast post a weight restriction in description for those booking online. 
 

in post above, unlike you, I really had no choice but to move. When the man sat in the seat beside me he overflowed with his arm resting between my legs. It was on Br Isles cruise Orkney Islands.
There was one seat available for me up front. I took it. 
I no longer take bus tours. We are booked with car service to/from airport & will walk off and take taxi tours at ports. 
 

[Ombud]

I was lucky enough to get the local bus in Kirkwall. Not everyone did. 

[c-boy]

4 hours ago, Ombud said:

And if its an inexpensive excursion I might want to book a few seats to limit participants

🤥  Oh Wow !

[Ombud]

I'm not sharing my bus seat. (We solos are used to paying dbl anyway)

[dog]

2 hours ago, c-boy said:

🤥  Oh Wow !

As long as you are paying full price for extra seat no problem. 

[donaldsc]

This is not helicopter related but it sort of applies.  I often set up private tours on cruises.  I always take fewer people on the tour than the vehicle can handle.  This leaves some seats where people can drop their stuff.  Sometimes I even drop the numbers so that everyone can get a window seat.  It makes the tour cost more but it is also a much better experience.

 

DON

[Clutj]

+1

So, no one has successfully booked two helicopter seats for one person?

Sorry to re-up this, but Princess hasn’t responded to my emails for almost 2 weeks. 

[pedirn]

Not sure if this helps.  When we did helicopter tour in Alaska we were all taken by bus to airport.  There we all watched a safety presentation and then they went through the group assigning everyone to a specific group.   They were weighing people who were deemed on the heavy side while others just gave their weights.  At this point adjustments were made to groups and people were reassigned.   Once on the helipad we were assigned seats based on weight.   One lady on our helicopter was upset because as she said “they were making the fat people sit in the back”.  My husband was sitting next to her as our grandson and myself were seated up front with the pilot.     There wasn’t a bad view anywhere…everyone could see out the multiple windows.   My advice to you is just book one ticket…if they say anything then just pay additional.    But we saw helicopters leaving with only three or four people based on weights.  I am not a thin person and I was one of the lightest.   Many heavier people were on this excursion.   Another option…book your ticket and contact excursion desk once on board.  Let them do the adjustments if needed.