tetleytea

When I sailed the Regal Princess I was in a full suite, and I got good customer service through the concierge desk offered through the concierge lounge (offered only to full suite guests). But otherwise I found NCL's customer service to be way better (as in, existent). When I call Princess now I get 5-minute hold times, but if I have any non-rookie problem that is difficult at all, I get referred to Princess' email line. But when I email Princess (per the phone agent's instruction) five times, I get crickets. Nada. And last summer, I was getting 1-hour hold times. On NCL, I have gotten maybe 10-minute hold times and got decent help. If you had asked me two years ago, I would have recommended the Regal over the Breakaway, hands down. But now I have to go with NCL, and it's not because of the ship--but because of corporate.

Not good. Newark was famous for the United meltdown. They still are. Aon knows full and well the cancellations are legit. If my cancelled flight was a good 72 hours before, that tells me they're going to try and say I could have booked another flight (even though it's not true). In the future, maybe it's possible to get better travel insurance independently, too? It's not sounding like Aon insurance (offered through some cruise lines) is very good. Do you know what Aon's reason...pretext...was? edit: I checked BBB for Aon. They are not BBB accredited and have a D- grade. BBB's reason: 62 consumer complaints against them and they haven't responded to any of them. Looks like, any time a cruise line or travel agent asks if you want to buy insurance, you need to ask who is underwriting it. People assume the cruise line does (and it's all reputable and such), but clearly not always. Rarely? I didn't know any of this when I booked the cruise and was offered the insurance. I certainly never would have done business with a D- rating.

For everyone else's benefit, I should also add: My excursions and lodging were booked independently. One of the supposed selling points of booking excursions (and to a lesser extent, land tours) through the ship is that they are (supposedly) more secure in the event anything goes wrong. But for me, nothing could have been more the exact opposite. I had something go majorly wrong, and I had no problem immediately getting my money back from all the excursion operators and hotels--because I *DIDN'T* book through the ship. I booked independently. Didn't even need travel insurance. Didn't need paperwork. I simply told them the circumstances beyond my control, and I got even the nonrefundable expenses refunded. I doubt I would be as fortunate had I gone through the ship.

For a flight cancellation?

Quick update here: I made a complaint to the Federal Department of Transportation about United. That was successful: I got a partial refund. However, United did not want to refund it all--they only refunded one connection, so that they could.go back and tell the DOT they refunded it. So I disputed the remainder of the transaction. That, too, was successful. The travel insurance claim is still ongoing, and is a paperwork nightmare. All our excursions (refundable and non-refundable) refunded, and so did our hotels and Airbnb; and the Airbnb was normally nonrefundable.. The hosts decided to refund it. The problem lies 90% squarely on flying the airlines to your cruise. Booking air through the cruise line might partially help with that. Apparently, the airlines not treating customers fairly is a known Federal-level problem, with Biden, Pete Buttigieg involved and Congress recently passing a bill about air travel. I recently flew Southwest and had no problems, but don't expect me to fly United anytime soon. And definitely not to/from/through Newark. I have no reason to believe the cruise line or travel insurance are not good for it at this time, but it is slow and painful to process. The big thing is, just hope your airline does not undergo a meltdown at the time or your cruise. Or just drive to the port. This was (and still is) definitely a "vacation" that caused far, far more stress than if I had never booked anything at all.

If the prices are about the same, here's a test: call the cruise line's main number, and at the automated prompt select the options for "help with an existing cruise". If they quickly redirect you to the right department to book a new cruise, then you reached a good customer service department. If that takes forever, but then you call again and select the "book a new cruise" option, and have absolutely no problem getting through to a human, then you know the kind of treatment you will get once you have paid, should you select that cruise line.

If you drive to Whistler, there's a better, cheaper mine tour on the Sea-to-sky highway. The Britannia Mine museum. The biggest trucks I have ever seen are there.

NCL just put out a warning for Europe-bound passengers on the impact of airline workers strikes in Italy. https://www.cruisehive.com/norwegian-cruise-line-advises-guests-of-strike-impact/106555 In a marketing-driven world of everything-is-wonderful, I appreciate NCL warning about that. My last attempted (and failed) cruise was a nightmare because of the airline.

I might be famous now because of my less-than-favorable opinion of NCL gambling. All I will do now is just nod.

Well I certainly hope Princess' maps indicate outside sailing now. That would be really bad if they didn't. The Discovery Princess is a royal class, so the OP would not be sailing Inside Passage on that sailing--and Inside Passage is one of the best reasons to choose a Vancouver sailing over Seattle. I last sailed there in 2022, and our itinerary clearly showed us sailing the Inside Passage. It was only when we saw open ocean on one side that we were like, "Hey, wait a minute...". That's when we found out, "Canada won't let us sail the ship inside; it's not our fault." And Princess just now found that out? How do you not know how big your ship is before you ever first sail that itinerary?

We were the guilty ones in Copenhagen. The bike lanes are for bikes. When I saw the lanes, I knew they were lanes for something when I was walking, but I didn't pay much attention.

I just find it hard to believe that Princess never had the chance to inform customers (or even potential customers) that they got denied by Canada. Something like that, you'll get plenty of advance notice. It's not like you board the ship and then, afterward, at the last minute you just now find out the ship is too big to sail the Inside.

Well at least y'all's parents went. I kept telling my parents they need to travel while they still have quality years left, and they didn't. And now their quality years are over.

What about the fore? Is the wind and cold really that bad? The prices are so much cheaper, and I figure the views would be the same or even slightly better than aft. Some people I know can't take the cold that well, but I've held conversations outside before in shorts and a T-shirt when it's snow flurries.

The Spirit is an entirely different ballgame. They just cancelled their Valdez port stop after several customers already booked that ship precisely because of Valdez. To which NCL replied, "It's in the contract, we are allowed to change it....". Their itinerary is all switched up because of the late Valdez cancellation--not the weather. Although it would not surprise me if they say it's the "weather".

Princess did that, too. Their cruise map very clearly showed them sailing inside, and they didn't.

Note that I posted earlier my take, which is to choose between HAL and NCL (which is effectively also choosing between a Seattle roundtrip vs. a Vancouver one-way), and that got quietly deleted. Apparently, because it was not favorable toward Princess. Anyway, as I said before, I suggest sticking with Encore.

Of course you can dispute it--after all, the merchant did not provide the service. In fact, we would have been better off had we never incurred the charge. The question is, can we win the dispute? That remains to be seen. But we have a whole reddit board disputing the charges from United, so I'm feeling good. Disputing the charge if the travel insurance denies us, I'm not so sure. I think we would have to pursue different recourse there. But I'm feeling good that the travel insurance is going to make good on it. Either way, I plan on letting CruiseCritic know what happens, since that is the Princess travel insurance.

I see Florida as enviable in that you can just drive to the ship. No baggage limits, no...a lot of things. By going to Alaska, you are foregoing all that, the reason being that you already sailed the Caribbean aplenty. If you like the ship more than the ports, Florida offers transatlantic sailings. Or Panama Canal. You only have to fly one way back, and if your flight is delayed--oh darn. Have to stay in Lisbon another day.

Sure. My last cruise would have put me in the double-digits the number of times I've been to Alaska, so let my feet do the talking. But--keep an eye on the airline situation (which you don't have to do, when the sailings are out of Florida), and maybe not now. Southwest, American, and United are dealing with potential pilots' and flight attendants' union strikes. United is just terrible right now (see my other thread). I haven't seen any issue with flying Delta and Alaskan Airlines yet, and I see no reason to worry about making it at least to Seattle. This summer's peak travel season might not be a good time. This late August/September might be good (and the cruises are cheaper), but then you deal with shorter days and colder weather. But on the flip side: more sales at all the shops, and more bear sightings. And salmon (in August).

All is not lost. If you are Canadian, make a friend on the ship who is not. Have them rent and split the cost. My first word of advice to people visiting Skagway is, of course, to rent a car and drive to Yukon. Next, try and get more than 2 people in the car, even if it means making some new friends on the cruise. It's not primarily about the money: it's that the passengers can appreciate the scenery and look for wildlife better than the driver can. Next advice: start the drive early, and stop only for wildlife on the way up to Carcross. Stop to view the sites & scenery on the RETURN trip. This way you're ahead of the buses and the crowds. Caribou Crossing gets very crowded at lunch. Second, fog lifts as the day progresses, and for the White Pass that matters. Third, wildlife can tend to be better in the morning. But the big reason is not to fight the buses on the road or at Caribou Crossing. Next, going all the way to Whitehorse is probably not worth it, even if you have plenty of time. There is a little bit to see there, but not much. And the drive once you pass Emerald Lake is not that exciting. There are two road stops after Caribou Crossing: the Carcross Desert, and Emerald Lake. Murray's guide suggests you turn around at Emerald Lake, and I agree. Next, if your schedule is looking good, check out the rest of Carcross. Carcross can be fun in the summer. Which leads to the next thing: you should have a good handle on how much time you have left by the time you're going back. If you don't have time, don't stop on the way back. Yukon Suspension Bridge is not a very high-priority stop, anyway. If you have time, though, then by all means pull to the side and take lots of pictures. If you have good weather in the morning (and good timing), usually you can spot all the trains way off to your right. If you do, I would make an exception to stop and take a picture of the train. You're probably not going to get that shot again in the afternoon.

Yes, Aon. People buy travel insurance thinking they're "protected", but then this.

Were you Princess? Our terms of insurance clearly say refund of our cruise fare for covered circumstances (flight cancellations being one); or full refund of our cruise fare in the form of a future cruise credit in the event of a trip cancellation for reasons not covered. But that doesn't mean they will actually do it. The Federal Department of Transportation guidelines clearly say airlines are required to issue refunds for cancelled flights, too, regardless of the reason (it says that right on their website), but apparently that doesn't stop United from denying the refund. Doesn't stop me from filing a compliant with the DOT, either. Or disputing the charge.

Because you have kids, I like you leaving Encore as it is. First, eliminate Princess: their customer service is just woefully inadequate, one-hour wait times on the phone, and a responsive customer service is very important if anything about your cruise goes wrong at all. Between HAL and NCL, HAL has the better itinerary, but it sounds like round-trip Seattle is the better fit for you, because of your inflexible vacation schedule. Total-cost-of-trip is cheaper sailing round-trip from Seattle than it is one-way to/from Vancouver. The one-ways are something you do when you have a bit more time off. And--you're already on NCL. I think you already got it right. You are right about Victoria and Ketchikan. Victoria is so short it can sometimes not be worth even getting off the ship. Ketchikan is far away, but one antidote is to schedule a tour with a tour operator willing to pick you up in Ward Cove. The lines to the shuttles going into town when you first disembark are REALLY long, but that's a non-issue if you've got someone waiting for you right there in Ward Cove.

So the flights to Mt. Denali and Ruth glacier are offered out of Talkeetna AND Denali? We flew out of Talkeetna. Is there any particular advantage to flying out of Denali? Or is this some tour where you van down to Talkeetna and then fly?