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We canceled our August cruise to Alaska way back on March 12 through our travel agent. We were told it would be 6-8 weeks, but it's now been 2.5 months, and still nothing. I contacted HAL myself a couple weeks ago and they just said "It's being processed." I'm starting to not believe them.

Thanks for the additional replies - I didn't see them in time before I replied!

What US return ports are you looking for? We might be able to point you in the right direction.

Thanks but it really depends on the situation we're in - usually west coast or northeast depending on what we're looking at. We'd just really like to find an advanced search engine where we can input return port as well as, or instead of, departure port.

I also find the dates option difficult in searching. I usually use Expedia but I can't seem to find out how to search, say, for all cruises in 2017 that leave from so-and-so. I can only do one month at a time. There just doesn't seem to be much flexibility for searching.

So overall I'm just looking for any recommendations for a really good cruise search site, or are they all just the same?

Hi all - I'm looking for advice on the best cruise search engine. I've looked at several and unfortunately one of the criteria I'd like to use for searching never seems to be available - return port.

Because my wife and I aren't fond of flying, we try to focus on cruises that, ideally, leave from AND return to Vancouver, which is close to us. Our second option is cruises that EITHER leave from, or return to, Vancouver.

The first is easy to find. The second seems impossible.

On a broader scope, we'd like to eventually get over to Europe. Since we're not crazy about the idea of a long flight over there, we'd like to find a Transatlantic cruise that either leaves from, or returns to, North America so we only have one (long) flight to deal with.

Again, the first is easy to find. The second seems impossible.

Any suggestions?

Awesome - great info, thanks Steve!

By the way - we just got off the Celebrity Millennium last week. Enjoy Alaska!

Thanks Bruin Steve - great info.

One area of LA we have never covered is Long Beach, so maybe we'll just plan to spend the day there (hopefully we can get on the Queen Mary). We'd love to get out to Disneyland because it's their 60th anniversary this year, and we were also able to make it down for their 50th, but I know it's fairly far away.

That makes a lot of sense about Princess being "at home" in LA - it probably explains the lack of options. We've done a fair bit of cruising and are low-risk people, so we tend to book through the cruise line, but this may be one time where it's better to find our own. Thanks again!

Thanks Cruisin' Chick, and I agree there is a lot to do in LA - it's one of my favourite cities, in fact. I'm just hesitant to book something that isn't through the cruise line because traffic in LA can be challenging and I don't want to risk anything. But, unfortunately, Princess isn't offering much.

Mike

Nothing in particular comes to mind - I've been to LA many times, just not on a cruise. I'm just surprised that there is only 5 options for LA but 10 for Catalina Island. Seems a bit backward because you're right, there is a ton of stuff to do in LA.

I'm a bit concerned that we'll be back from a tour at 2pm and spending the rest of the day on the ship staring at warehouses.

Thanks for the tip. I assume Long Beach is fairly close to the San Pedro dock?

Mike

I am sailing on Princess in October from Vancouver to LA and back with stops in San Francisco, Santa Barbara, and Catalina Island.

I was looking at the Princess website today and they only have 5 excursions listed for LA, which seems really low. (Actually, it's really only 4 because one is the same as another but for wheelchair passengers.) Conversely, Catalina Island, Santa Barbara and San Francisco all have 8-10 listed.

Is that normal - only 4 different options for Los Angeles? It's either a 4-hour motorcoach tour, a 5-hour motorcoach tour, Universal Studios for half a day (7 hours counting the drive), or Long Beach on your own. That's it.

We're in port from 7am until 11pm, and 3 of the 4 options are 4-5 hours in length. What are we supposed to do for the rest of the day? We're in the Port of San Pedro, and I don't believe there's really anything around there to do.

Do you think more excursions will be added, or is that normal for LA? Would love to hear from others who have docked at San Pedro. Thanks!

Awesome - thanks everyone, looking forward to it!

We just booked a cruise for later this year and we'll be onboard over Halloween. Never done that before - do cruise lines plan anything special? I know it's a long way away, but just wondering if we should pack costumes?

I'm assuming they would host some type of Halloween party, but just wondering if anyone has any first-hand knowledge.

Always wondered what it'd be like to be on a cruise over Christmas or New Years too - might be fun!

Mike