CaptnG

I don't normally complain in this type of venue, but I'm just so frustrated that I need to vent!

The shore excursions I had previously booked were on sale over the weekend and I had tried to cancel and then re purchase them at the reduced rate on the Royal Caribbean website, but I kept encountering errors and wasn't able to complete the booking for my ladadee excursions.

This morning I received notice the sale was extended through today and tried yet again to complete it on the website to no avail. So I decided to go ahead and call and just do it over the phone. I spent 30 minutes on hold and when my call was finally answered the agent I was working with accidentally canceled the select beverage package we'd purchased months ago.. she told me she couldn't fix it because the package is no longer sold via their website and when I said that's not ok this was your mistake and you need to fix it, she hung up on me!

So I called right back and again spent over 30 min waiting for someone to pick up the phone. I asked for a supervisor and explained the situation. She told me basically the same thing we're sorry for our mistake you can book the deluxe package for an extra $100 and to make it up to you I can offer you some toys for your kids and chocolate strawberries for you and your husband... I don't want toys and strawberries I want you to fix your mistake! I spent 40 more minutes on the phone arguing until she finally offered $100 in onboard credits if I paid for the deluxe package right now, which I finally accepted because I felt like that was really the only option, but I wasn't happy because we pre paid tips and our excursions and I'm not a big shopper so I don't know how we'll end up spending it. For all my troubles all I got was to put an extra $100 on my credit card! I then asked if we could finish rebooking my excursions (the whole reason I had called to begin with) and she tells me that it's after midnight (8pm in my time zone) and the sale has expired.... I literally started to sob out of frustration and her response was to tell me "it's not my problem, you had all weekend to book them".

I have never in all my life felt so cheated by a company, I wonder if they're encouraging employees to "accidentally " cancel select beverage packages and force you into buying the more expensive one. This will be my first time sailing RC and it'll be my last, I've always told people that the best part of cruising is how wonderful they treat you...apparently not the case when you sail with RC.

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https://www.alaskarailroad.com/travel-planning/onboard-experience/dining

There's lots of food options, link above will give you all the information you need. :)

Have a great trip!

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Rode the same train in February of this year.

Seats were first come, first serve.

Seats face each other with table in the middle.

Have fun!

February has to be a mistake, cause we rode the first grand view trip of the season this year and that was Mother's Day weekend. [emoji6]

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My husband works for the railroad so we get to ride pretty often but never as part of a cruise.

Not surprised that they have you seated first come first serve via the cruise lines. One piece of advice I can give for sure is if you get a seat that's on the left side of the train (if you were facing the front of the train departing from Seward) you'll get better views of the lakes mountains and Cook Inlet, but if you want to see the glaciers (not spectacular ones imo) stay to the right.

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Oops, forgot to mention I am talking about the Royal Caribbean chartered train. Thx

There's only the one railroad up here, it'll be the same no matter which cruise line you're sailing.

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If you pay mores for the goldstar tickets you get a guaranteed spot in the dome cars, I've not been in that car so I'm not sure what the setup is.

The regular cars have a mixture of forward facing and tables, plus a dome car that everyone may takes turns sitting in, and a cafe area with tables and barstools.

They do assignments but I think they'll take requests for the type you prefer and try to accommodate. There was so many open seats on our way back from Seward to anchorage everyone just kinda started sitting wherever.

It's a spectacular trip I'm sure you'll get an amazing view no matter where you sit. Plus you can step out to the back platform to get really good pictures!

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It makes no sense to me what so ever, absolutely not a HIPPA violation. I would ask again and when they refused mention that you'll be calling OCR (office of civil rights) as they field all HIPAA complaints and see what they say then. Triggering an audit from OCR could lead to some very big consequences for the practice, because they obviously have very little understanding of the rules. I'd also ask to see their policy that addresses release of information, if they don't have one that's another HIPPA violation that would likely trigger an audit if you call OCR.

http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/filing-with-ocr/

Good luck!! I hope you're able to get this resolved soon so you can plan a new cruise for when your moms back on her feet.

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I've never been on an Alaskan cruise, but I am a lifelong Alaskan... I was thinking about what I would do if I was on a cruise here and I guess you'd probably be better off spending that money on excursions if your goal is to see wildlife. I'm not sure if you would see very much wildlife from 7 decks up. Then on the other hand it will be light outside basically 24hrs a day and you might find that you like spending extra time out there, compared to the Caribbean where you wouldn't use it much after sunset. The other thing I thought about is the weather... It might be nice if it's raining to be sheltered on your own balcony and still able to fully enjoy the views instead of fighting for a spot up top. So I guess my advice is if you're mostly going to be in port than save the money for awesome shore excursions, if you spend a lot of time just cruising maybe spring for the nicer balcony.

if you're going to spend extra time in Alaska before or afterwards you'll probably be docked in Seward and that area is just spectacular, would make it a point to take a kayak trip in resurrection bay. Id also recommend a stay in cooper landing so you can visit Kenai lake too, the color of the lake is amazing (see pics below).

I know you'll have an amazing time either way!

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Oh gosh, yes thanks for asking this because it had never occurred to me to be concerned, but now that you mentioned it I guess I should probably have some sort of a plan.. we're going from the harmony to freedom so same company at least but I have no idea if they're docked near each other. I was also wondering if we'll have a delay before we can board the second ship.

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I live in anchorage Alaska, born raised in Juneau, you should anticipate it being in the high 50s to low 60s with lots of rain. I'd recommend having some waterproof foot wear and rain pants with you. Also layers of clothes will work best cause you can take stuff off when the sun peeks out and then bundle up again when you're cold, weather tends to change rapidly up here. Have a great time!

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I got an amazing dress from gatsbylady London on Amazon, my friend ordered one two and they both fit beautifully. I liked that they did not look like costumes, bead work was gorgeous! Enjoy, sounds like a fun formal night!!!

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If you don’t have ethical problems with the whole idea of penning intelligent wild creatures, choose a trainer-led program in the U.S. or another country with animal-welfare laws—those accredited by the AMMPA are a good bet.

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We're bringing our 2 boys 7 & 10 on the freedom dec 10-18, so I can guarantee yours wouldn't be the only ones.

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I went on a cruise out of San Juan in 2011, and saved a bunch booking a flight to Miami and then a separate one from Miami to San Juan, was only 99$ rt

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Following! We're going to Falmouth with 7, 10, 13, 14 yo kids. Talking about taking the ship tubing excursion, but I'd like to here other recommendations.

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