Alaska cruise itinerary change

[Kennact]

My June RT cruise from Seattle to Alaska just had an itinerary change. Ketchikan is gone and now there is a stop in Icy Strait instead. The stop is only 3 1/2 hrs 5pm to 8:30pm. Is that enough time to go on an excursion? There are no excursions listed yet. Thanks

[skynight]

If Princess offers excursions then there will be enough time to get you there and return. I would think it might be scenic cruising

[cr8tiv1]

Hmmm... why did they drop Ketchikan for a half day of cruising?

[JeffT237]

7 minutes ago, Kennact said:

My June RT cruise from Seattle to Alaska just had an itinerary change

 

Ours in May changed from Ketchikan to Icy Strait as well.  Our time in Juneau was changed as well, we are now there from 3:30pm to 10:00pm.  Thanks for the heads up as we did not receive an email or any other notification.

[Italy52]

19 minutes ago, Kennact said:

My June RT cruise from Seattle to Alaska just had an itinerary change. Ketchikan is gone and now there is a stop in Icy Strait instead. The stop is only 3 1/2 hrs 5pm to 8:30pm. Is that enough time to go on an excursion? There are no excursions listed yet. Thanks

Which ship?  Thanks.

[Rick&Jeannie]

Our August sailing still shows Ketchikan 

[VibeGuy]

Icy Strait Point exists entirely to serve shorex, so I suspect something will be loaded shortly. 

[Kennact]

25 minutes ago, Italy52 said:

Which ship?  Thanks.

Crown Princess

[Kennact]

36 minutes ago, JeffT237 said:

 

Ours in May changed from Ketchikan to Icy Strait as well.  Our time in Juneau was changed as well, we are now there from 3:30pm to 10:00pm.  Thanks for the heads up as we did not receive an email or any other notification.

I didn't even notice Juneau. I hope they move our Tracy Arm Fjord excursion to later so we can still take it. That was one I was most excited for!

 

[jchowze]

Thanks for the heads up @Kennact!  I'm on the Crown on June 4 and our itinerary has changed as well!  Our helicopter glacier walk in Juneau is now before we will arrive and all the others seem to be sold out 😕

[Kennact]

1 minute ago, jchowze said:

Thanks for the heads up @Kennact!  I'm on the Crown on June 4 and our itinerary has changed as well!  Our helicopter glacier walk in Juneau is now before we will arrive and all the others seem to be sold out 😕

I hope they sort out the times so we don't lose our excursions. Can't imagine why the big change. Although I am so happy to get on my cruise after 3 years of planning and cancellations and planning again, that I just want on the ship! LOL

[JeffT237]

7 minutes ago, Kennact said:

I didn't even notice Juneau. I hope they move our Tracy Arm Fjord excursion to later so we can still take it. That was one I was most excited for!

 

 

Just got the e-mail from Princess, we have the Tracy Arm excursion booked as well, we are hoping its time is adjusted but wouldn't be surprised if it is not, I think other cruise lines book that excursion for their guests as well.

 

From Princess:

 

ITINERARY CHANGE

Please be advised that due to scheduled engine maintenance, Crown Princess will not be operating at full speed during your upcoming cruise. This in no way compromises the safety of our guests and crew, which is our highest priority, but does require us to make some revisions to your cruise itinerary. As a goodwill gesture, each guest will receive a refundable credit of $100 USD applied to their onboard folio.

We will no longer call to Ketchikan on Thursday, May 12, and have added a call to Icy Strait Point from 5:00 PM to 8:30 PM on Wednesday, May 11. Additionally, we will now arrive in Juneau at 3:30 PM on Monday, May 9 rather than 12:00 noon as previously scheduled, and will arrive in Skagway at 6:00 AM on Tuesday, May 10 rather than 7:00 AM.

 

[jchowze]

2 minutes ago, Kennact said:

I hope they sort out the times so we don't lose our excursions. Can't imagine why the big change. Although I am so happy to get on my cruise after 3 years of planning and cancellations and planning again, that I just want on the ship! LOL

I agree!  After 3 years of planning I'm so excited to go!  But I also really want to go on the glacier and take the train to Canada.  The train isnt happening anymore, so I hope the glacier gets worked out....

[Kennact]

3 minutes ago, JeffT237 said:

 

Just got the e-mail from Princess, we have the Tracy Arm excursion booked as well, we are hoping its time is adjusted but wouldn't be surprised if it is not, I think other cruise lines book that excursion for their guests as well.

 

From Princess:

 

ITINERARY CHANGE

Please be advised that due to scheduled engine maintenance, Crown Princess will not be operating at full speed during your upcoming cruise. This in no way compromises the safety of our guests and crew, which is our highest priority, but does require us to make some revisions to your cruise itinerary. As a goodwill gesture, each guest will receive a refundable credit of $100 USD applied to their onboard folio.

We will no longer call to Ketchikan on Thursday, May 12, and have added a call to Icy Strait Point from 5:00 PM to 8:30 PM on Wednesday, May 11. Additionally, we will now arrive in Juneau at 3:30 PM on Monday, May 9 rather than 12:00 noon as previously scheduled, and will arrive in Skagway at 6:00 AM on Tuesday, May 10 rather than 7:00 AM.

 

Thank-you for sharing this. I have not received that email yet. 

 

[cr8tiv1]

I am glad the "mystery" has been solved.  What's up with Princess propulsion issues?  The Caribbean Princess, the Crown, and the one that went through the canal (Emerald?).  

 

Moth balls and cob webs

[VibeGuy]

Annoying that they couldn’t have thoroughly addressed this during the operational pause that Crown has been under for <checks notes> two entire years.  Wartsila resources have been available for onboard support. 

[fpsphil]

Ya this is ridiculous. They should have “scheduled the maintenance” sometime in the past 2 years that ship has been sitting idle. Will give my pvp a call when I get off the discovery Friday. Might just abandon GB at this point and see if I can shift my reservation to Discovery for Alaska. 

[jk04]

I just got the email for our June 11, same reason, engine maintenance.  We now arrive after our whale watching tour.  This was a private booked excursion, no idea if they have a later time available.  I'm not familiar with Icy Strait but under the impression it's like a 'private island' type of deal and would prefer Ketchikan.  I was hoping to walk around Ketchikan this trip, it's such a cute little town.  Making a call to our Group Coordinator tomorrow. 

[jchowze]

1 hour ago, fpsphil said:

Might just abandon GB at this point and see if I can shift my reservation to Discovery for Alaska. 

This is what I was thinking too.  Not sure glacier bay is "worth it" in exchange for missing our scheduled excursion in Juneau & all of Ketchican

[OKCruiseMan]

So we had an excursion booked through Princess that now departs before they arrive, Taku Lodge. 

The excursion was and is sold out.

Do you think they will just delay departure of the full group? I guess we all have the same problem?

[fpsphil]

The other thing that makes this ridiculous is the fact that they are just announcing this week or so before the first sailing of Crown. 
 

Makes me scratch my head again as well because the crown has a scheduled docking with the Port of LA on May 7 after it should have left for its first run from Seattle… whole thing just seems suspicious

[WAvoyager]

7 minutes ago, OKCruiseMan said:

So we had an excursion booked through Princess that now departs before they arrive, Taku Lodge. 

The excursion was and is sold out.

Do you think they will just delay departure of the full group? I guess we all have the same problem?

Yes - IIRC, the majority of their excursions started before 1pm, and they didn’t have many which started late enough for the new dock time.

I’m guessing they’ll make arrangements with the tour companies where they can, but we were planning on doing a morning glacier visit, followed by an afternoon salmon bake.  That’s not an option now.  And there really wont be enough options for everyone.

 

and don’t get me started on Icy Point vs. Ketchikan - ugh.  This new itinerary is a bust.  If we didn’t already have people flying to meet us in Seattle, we’d definitely be rebooking.

 

What a bust.  If the food isn’t much better than our Mexican Riviera cruise a few weeks ago, we’ll have to seriously reconsider who we cruise with.

 

[Eaglecw]

13 minutes ago, fpsphil said:

The other thing that makes this ridiculous is the fact that they are just announcing this week or so before the first sailing of Crown. 
 

Makes me scratch my head again as well because the crown has a scheduled docking with the Port of LA on May 7 after it should have left for its first run from Seattle… whole thing just seems suspicious

I'm also very suspicious of what going on. The Crowns first Alaska sailing was scheduled for May 7th. that has now been canceled. Maybe they want to go slow so they don't use as much fuel. But it's very hard to believe that the engines are down for maintenance. What a frigg'n mess!!!

Edited April 28, 2022 by Eaglecw

[JeffT237]

2 minutes ago, Eaglecw said:

The Crowns first Alaska sailing was scheduled for May 7th. that has now been canceled.

Has this cruise been officially cancelled now?  It is very suspicious, I received the email for the itinerary change and thought cancellation of the cruise was a possibility.  A ship that has been sitting for 2 years shouldn’t need “scheduled maintenance” for a propulsion issue.

[fpsphil]

This has been up and hasn’t changed for weeks