mcrcruiser

We believe a lot depends upon ones age & over health whether one purchases the AARP gift Cards . As a example we are in our mid 80s with some monility problems .Those don't stop us from cruises; However ,a illness can stop a person from cruising . With these AARP gift Cards ,the monies go back on the cards ;but ,then what if a person can no longer cruise . Then they are challenged to try & sell them 7 most likely discounted unless to a realative . when a person considers purchasing gift cards which are non redeemable for cash ,, one should consider all possibilities or it can be a gamble . Then the 8% saving is not worth it imo

We cancelled a Alaska cruise from San Francisco because there were no Primcess people that could help us . Many phone inquiries are directed off shore to the Phillipines & although nice people they do not have knowledge when it pertains to parking & transport conncetions for Handicapped people In general we found that there is inadequate cruise parking structures & then transport to the ship on pier 27 Embarcadero . Thus ,we won't drive from San Diego to San Francisco with hotel ,meal & das expenses which are quite high to a city that has inadequate parking for cruises . It is a shame that such a beautiful city has such bad accommodations in their parking structures & then extremely high parking prices . In general ,we see this lack of parking a determent to the future of cruises starting from San Francisco

Rather than getting involved any further we cancelled the cruise to Alaska . It is not that we have not been to Alaska ,We have 5 times including the interior from Seward to Fairbanks on our own

Thanks for your info . Our problem is we are both challenged mobility wise . My wife can walk with a cane I need my electric scooter ,We are mid 80s . So we think the conclusion is to cancel the booking for this Alaska cruise . No sense in driving all the way from San diego area to confront those parking problems Thanks a lot for your info .It seems to me these cruise lines need to invest into parking structures .Certainly they would pay for themselves in time at those per day rates Cliff

Bruce you seem to know a lot of where Princess docks in SF . We booked a May 4 ,2025 R/T on Ruby Princess .We are driving up from the San diego area with stops along the way . My problem is some secure reasonable parking for the 11 days cruise . Are are willing to book a hotel that has a shuttle or a parking structure that is reasonable . What would you recommend . Thanks in advance . Cliff PS I asked this question on the Princess General Board & I assume the Ruby is leaving from pier 27

We are booked on the Ruby princess May 4 ,2025 R/T Alaska in a handicap balcony cabin . We would be driving up from the San Diego area . I was checking on the internet & there seems not to be hotels with cruise parking close by that is reasonable I need to bring my electric scooter on the ship Questions are : 1) does SF have any hotels with reasonable parking fees if you book a room with them ,that is reasonablt close to the pier 27 ? or 2) where is reasonable parking close in to pier 27 where Princess seems to depart from ? Thanks in advance for any help in this matter

Didn't Juneau have the trolley running ? Reason I ask is because there is a Russian orthodox church to visit & the state capital building all available by the trolley . Then there is the Red Dog Saloon for some laughs .There is a aerial skyway as well for Mt Roberts

We just take 2 travel umbrellas that fir in our luggage .We both use light windbreakers which are rain repellant also packed in our travel luggage

with the reduction to 8% vs the original 10 % it is now not as good when we use our credit card l; with Chase Sapphire Preferred . Additionally , to track the AARP gift cards should we have to cancel & are in penalty phase ,it may be much harder to track payment on the cruise for reimbursement . Thus , it is best for us to just pay the cruise using our Chase Saffire Preferred CC . Perhaps we could buy AARP gift cards for our on board credit needs ,then the 8% works for us in paying for gratuities , dining ie

Imo HAL will not eisj passengers & their ships to port in any Israel port until there is peace in that region . Thus ,I would encourage the cruise to Japan

imo the best are the ones that get closest to the whales . In Cabo San Lucas you can ger as slpse as 50 yards from the whales .In Hawaii it is 100 yards by law . CaboSan Luca is a fish tan of many varities of whales ,sharks , other sea life . My bet is on Cabo San Lucas Mexico

We now see a definite downside to AARP gift Vards for our use to get a 8% dicount , Why well here is the reasons . We use the Chase Sapphire Preferred Credit Card to pay for all our cruises bacause we get free trip interuption ,Trip cancellation & some baggage insurance up to $20,000 for a cruise .It is much easier to track the credit card payment if it is made as a direct payment than buying AATP gift cards with the same credit card . Additionally ,we earn point with Chase which is cahj when cased in . For our other travel insurance needs that Chase does not cover like med vac extra bag insurance ie we own a one year Allianz trip insurance which also covers us for more medical & more bag damages or missing & even auto rental insurance of a higher quality than credit cards .When we do a land trip the Allianz insurance is already there for us as well So in ending we can use the Chase Sapphire Preferred credit card & save big on insurance premiums . when you get to 70 & over watch how the trip insurance climbs if bought from comapnies like Insuremy trip .com or Square Mouth .com .If course you can but the Holland america policy but their best policy still only gives you 90% back & you loose 10% . Thus ,let us say you have a cruise cost of $10,000 & have the platinum HAL policy & cancel you just lost $1000 . I personally find that type of insurance a bad deal . Retired people should only cancel any trip based on either health or death of one of the insured ,so save that 10 % that HALs Platinum takes .I can see it for non retired business people because you can then cancel for any reasi=on & of it is a business related reason you can then deduct that 10% cancellation cost from tax prep/ ,if you can support it by a legitimate reason We each have our own reasons but we should always look at the downside before we see the uoside .All that looks shinny is not gold The foregoing is my humble opinion

$500 will go back to the gift card you used & the balance credit goes back to what credit card you bused .Keep the information on the gift card as it never dies .You can use it on another HAL booking

Bruce yes we know that Koningsdam was going through the canal . However ,what we do not know will HAL ise Nieuw Amsterdam as a constant replacement for Koningsdam or will we ever see a Pinnacle class once again in San Diego ? We are sailing Hawaii on Nieuw Amsterdam on Jan 2026 . We are sailing Hawaii on Koningsdam in 2025

Denise that is what we saw as well . we think it is strange to take Koningsdam away since they always filled up the ship here . Perhaps HAL will bring back one of the Pinnacle class to SD in 2027 after the Alaska season which seems logical but we can't be sure unless HAL announces that as fact Cliff