Alaskan Cruise: FRUSTRATION!

[RadioBroadcaster]

I am at a loss here as to what to do.....and maybe the wise members here can give me some suggestions. (I hope!)

 

My husband and I (both in our early 50's) would love to take a cruise to Alaska this September 2009.

 

We would like to leave and return via Seattle.

 

We would also like a balcony room midship, not under a pool deck area.

 

We would love to cruise on Princess but they will only waitlist their rooms and can not give you an exact room number.

 

Any suggestions??? Any names of travel agents or agencies that can help us?

 

THANK YOU in advance.

 

~Radio Broadcaster from Southern California

 

PS: We have cruised before to Mexico (Royal Caribbean) and the Mediterranean (Celebrity).

[Host Kat]

I am at a loss here as to what to do.....and maybe the wise members here can give me some suggestions. (I hope!)

 

My husband and I (both in our early 50's) would love to take a cruise to Alaska this September 2009.

 

We would like to leave and return via Seattle.

 

We would also like a balcony room midship, not under a pool deck area.

 

We would love to cruise on Princess but they will only waitlist their rooms and can not give you an exact room number.

 

Any suggestions??? Any names of travel agents or agencies that can help us?

 

THANK YOU in advance.

 

~Radio Broadcaster from Southern California

 

PS: We have cruised before to Mexico (Royal Caribbean) and the Mediterranean (Celebrity).

Howdy RadioBroadcaster!

 

Welcome to Cruise Critic and thank you for your first post! However, you have posted on the Cruise Blogs & Websites Forum where members share the site for their personal cruise-related travelogue blogs or websites. This is not the correct forum for your post since it is off topic here.

 

You need to go to www.google.com and type in "travel agency". You will find many of the agents/agencies your fellow Cruise Critic members would recommend, give feedback, etc. if they could.

 

Per the Guidelines:

 

... There shall be no third-party recommendation of travel agencies on any forums within Cruise Critic. General discussions regarding the TYPE of AGENCY to be used to purchase a cruise will be allowed, as long as no recommendations for any source of purchase are posted...

 

Basically, the names, web sites, etc. of travel agents/agencies or other cruise-related sites or message boards --- even if "masked" --- are not allowed in Cruise Critic message board posts. Posts asking for the name, site or further information via e-mail, or posts offering same, will be removed as well as any replies to the removed posts.

 

To research for information from your fellow Cruise Critic members that have sailed on a Princess cruise to Alaska, click here http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=197 for our Princess Cruises Forum. Also, you may want to click here http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=114 to research our Ask a Cruise Question Forum for helpful information.

 

Once you book your cruise, read the Sticky post titled "What is a ROLL CALL and how do I find mine?" at http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=44773. The post will tell you about the Cruise Critic Roll Call Forums and how they are the place for you to get to know the other Cruise Critic members sailing with you before the cruise. Follow the directions to locate your Roll Call thread and get to know the other Cruise Critic members sailing with you.

 

To research for information about your ports of call click here http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=5 for our list of the Ports of Call Forums. That's where you can research for hotels, tours, excursions, transportation etc. Your fellow Cruise Critic members post their reviews/recommendations there. Since you are interested in Alaska, click here http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=55 for our Ports of Call - Alaska Forum.

 

Also, once you have joined a Roll Call thread for your future cruise, it may have important information there. Your Roll Call thread is the ONLY place on Cruise Critic where you and your fellow Roll Call members can post personal ads about sharing tours, excursions, transportation etc. with each other. Your Roll Call thread has a "captive audience" since everyone is sailing together!

 

Click here http://boards.cruisecritic.com/index.php for the list of all Cruise Critic message board forums and be sure to read all Announcement and Sticky posts at the top of the various forums for very important information or instructions.

 

Please feel free to use the Search this Forum feature on all Cruise Critic message board forums with your key word or words. It will help narrow down the threads you will want to read during your research. Also, you can see if your inquiry has been asked and answered before. And it probably has... many, many times!

 

Click the Search this Forum feature to open the drop down. Type in your key word or words then click the little Go button. I suggest you do not try a search with too many or too common of key words at one time. This will sometime overwhelm the search feature with too many threads to scan and it will time out. From time to time, you may receive an error message that says "Search function is down". PLEASE TRY AGAIN in a few moments. This message will often pop up during the busiest times of the day. Also, click here http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=969846 for the Sticky post titled How To Perform More Detailed and Specific Searches on the Boards.

 

The following information may be helpful too:

 

Be sure to read our FAQ, especially the Getting Started section. You will see how a new topic should be consistent with the specific forum you choose. It also gives a brief summary of the topics covered in some of the forum sections. Other important FAQ sections are Subscriptions (Receiving e-mail notification of replies to posts and threads you specify) and User Maintenance.

 

In the Guidelines we all agreed to follow when registering for our free membership, please note the Please Browse BEFORE You Post section. As mentioned above, many of your questions may have been asked and answered before.

 

When doing your research, be sure you are on the correct forum. After you have browsed/researched for your topic and possibly not found an answer, word your new inquiry title so the other members scrolling through the thread titles will know exactly the information you seek. This will help the members so they can reply to you. It is best to limit each inquiry to only one topic or concerning one cruise line, port of call, etc. You will get more replies that way. Be sure to mention your cruise line, ship & sail date in your inquiry if it will help the members with their answers to you.

 

If you wonder what some of the icons/symbols/arrows on Cruise Critic mean, just use your mouse to hover your cursor over the item and most often there will be a tool tip appear with the name or action.

 

I sincerely hope this information will be helpful and glad to have you aboard Cruise Critic!

Kat