mcrcruiser

Crystal We never heard od a "pricing specialist" but we have spoken to a supervisor who manually applied the AARP credits on our booked cruises . It seems to us if a person havs satisfied all the AARP program requirements that when booking to just say add my AARP on board credit ,it should be a automatic thing . however ,knowing that HAL has a revolving door with new people to take the bookings & even to the Phillipines ,it then becomes necessary to ask to speak eo a supervisor who will manually add the AARP credit to that booking . As a side note . not only us but my Sifes cousin in Florida who books 12 to 20 cruises a year is finding it more difficult to get things done & how much work it is taking to book cruises .They sail on Princess ,RCL ,Carnival & Norwegian .not HAL& they are seniors . Personally ,every once in awhile I get dead heads on the phone & then hang up & call back . You are working with a Personal cruise planner .They will not work with us because we use travel agents . I recently booked a Princess 11 day Alaska cruise for $4615 . We were going to drive from SD to SF where the ship/ ruby Princess leaves . Because we both have mobility issues we need close in parking .Well there is really no close in parking in SF like it is in San Pedro ,LA area where they have a hy=uge parking lot . so we had to cancel the cruise . BYW ,we are hearing horro stories of migrants breaking into parked cars in SF . where parking is a problem & the cruise line knows it is why in the world wouldn't they build a parking structure that will pay for it self & be a added profit base ? I am not asking you or others to answer that but ,it seems logical to me

As long as you satishy Holland America's requirements of signing their form & sending them a photo on the internet of your AARP current card ,you should be able to get as many AARP credit as to the number of sailings in that year . It must be renewed every year to continue to get the AARP on board credits

We hope that is true . I would verify that you can give your adult children the AARP gift Cards to use . It just seems to us that there is more downside which outweighs saving 8 % . In por case it is also important to be able to track the cruise payments on out Chase sapphire Credit card which gives us automatic cruise cancellation & cruise interruption & some baggage ins up to $20,000 . We very recently had to deal with Chase insurance on a initial cancellation charge of $700 . It took several months to get it all worked out . We are in San Diego area & their insurance company ,a division of Allianz Insurance co is in Virginia .Could not imagine if we had used AARP gifytcards to track the cruise payment .We got back the $700 penalty which HAL charged

Yes there certainly is risk in using gift cards . Just haooening once where a person can no lonher cruise & then what do they do with thousands of dollars on gift cards that can only be used with that cruise line ? Then as you mentioned other possibilities . Imo the downside nor outweighs the upside .Yes buyer be ware

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