handbellplayer

You are too early- no they aren't "sold out".

 

I suggest you continue to do your homework and understand EVERY detail about mainland touring. This is where the biggest mistakes are made. Be certain- with cruisetours- you take it apart and look at EACH destination, and make sure it's where you want to be. Unfortunately- I see too many people, accept, being in places of little interest at the expense of others. Especially true for the shorter time visitors.

 

You can see and do much more independent. The biggest factor, I suggest considering- is TIME, go for as long as you can afford. Don't underestimate distances either. :)

 

And- know the vital details about Denali Park- it isn't enough just to have it "listed" on an itinerary. None of the cruise tours go far enough in my opinion- with Eielson being my minimum distance in. This generally is the highlight of the cruise tour. So, be certain, to the visit to your benefit.

 

As for using a TA- a lot is referred to above=- if you don't book direct with the cruiselines- then you are using some kind of booking agent. For the land touring, be well aware- this is commission based with the easiest sale, being a cruise line "package" cruisetour. This agent isn't going to bother, setting you up with a shuttle bus into Denali- bother much searching for lodging etc. It's going to be "packages" that are limited.

Thank you, BudgetQueen! Great advice. I guess I'm just overwhelmed by all of the possibilities. I am definitely leaning on DIY - I just need to do a lot of research. Also, one of our potential traveling companions has relatives in Anchorage, so I'm sure we'll be looking to them for guidance.

OK, folks, so I've started poking around at various options for our land portion. When I search lodging in Denali for August 2016, almost everything shows as "sold out". Do the cruise lines and TAs already have all of those places booked 15 months in advance? How can you plan a DYI if there are no hotel options?

We always use a large TA that is both online and b&m. They are sufficiently large that they book blocks of cabins and pass along some of the savings to their clients in the form discounted fares where allowed or enhanced perks where the line does not allow discounting. We also like the fact that if something goes wrong....and it does happen you have someone on your team who understands what can be done and you are not talking a faceless person in a call center who likely doesn't know fore from aft. With the land portion, I really think you are better off making your own arrangements, there is a wealth of information on this board and perhaps even on your cruise's roll call.

Putterdude - I am sending you an email to ask about this TA, if you don't mind.

Anne

Thanks for the advice, everyone. I just need to buckle down and do my research. One factor we have to consider is that we are Diamond on RCCL and that will help with costs, etc, but I'm not sure they are the best cruise line for Alaska. A lot of folks on this board seem to like Princess.

As for the pre-cruise tour, is there any advantage to booking that through an agency? DH wants to just take an RCCL cruise tour and be done with it, but I'm concerned that the land tour will be less desirable and more expensive that way.

Keep the advice coming!

Thanks!

Just to get this out of the way - I'm not asking for the name of a TA - I know that's against the forum rules.

I have always been a "DIY cruise booker" and never used a travel agent. I like to be in control of my reservations. So far, we've only cruised the Caribbean and I've never had any trouble researching itineraries, excursions, etc.

We are looking into an Alaska cruise for late summer 2016. I've done enough research to know that we want to do a one-way southbound with a land portion (through the cruise line or on our own) at the beginning of the cruise. But the options are so numerous and dizzying. I've purchased a couple of books on Alaska cruising, but I am still SO confused! I'm beginning to think that I should use a TA that specializes in Alaska.

What are your experiences? Would a good TA be able to help?

Anne

Soon aboard the Allure of the Seas and we are thrilled.

We came to talk about if we should book any speciality restaurants or not and as this is our first time on the ship we first of all want to know which breakfast/dinner/snack places that are complimentary. Is it enough variety to last a week?

We were on Allure last fall and never paid for food. We ate breakfast at Johnny Rocket's every morning, DH was addicted to the dogs at the Boardwalk Dog House for lunch and ate a light lunch from the Solarium or Park Cafe. We ate dinner in the MDR every night and our late night snacks came from the Promenade Cafe.

There is so much more of a variety of complementary food on the large ships.

Off topic but I noticed your screen name. Which bells do you play? I play mainly G6 & 7 and A6 & 7 (occasionally B6 and C7). :)

I'm taking a break right now,but plan to start ringing again later this year. My favorite position is B4 & C5.

People swap the names around for balcony discounts all the time. We've had it suggested by Royal C&A people.

Bob - How do you work out your accounts if each couple wants their charges to go to one of that couple's cards?

I submitted the exact same question a month or so back. Did self disembark this morning, this was our schedule exactly:

 

0530: Wakeup call

0615: Elevator down to self disembark area (Grande Dining Room)

0635: Off the ship, (there was waiting due to a few medical emergencies, that needed to get off first, also a few pushy Pinnacle members that figured they were entitled, unfortunately/fortunately there is no status when it comes to Homeland Security.

NOTE: This can be a very quick process as long as you are diligent with your time, and make sure you get down to gathering point promptly.

0650: In a Cab en route to FLL

0720: Through security at FLL, our flight was original scheduled for 1045am, we were moved to the 0745am flight and walked right on

 

The process works great and you should have no problem catching a 0900 flight.

Please do not assure people of this! On our Allure cruise last September, we were delayed because our ship helped with a sea search and rescue. No one got off the ship before 8:00 am and we still had Customs to make it through. This may be unusual, but things do happen.

As I begin thinking about packing for our cruise to Alaska in just 20 days, can you tell me what toiletries are provided by RCCI, if any? We've only cruised on Disney before, where they provided shampoo, conditioner, lotion, bar soap, and even some aloe vera gel when our steward noticed my daughter was a bit pink. :)

 

Does Royal provide anything standard in the cabin, or should we plan to pack our own?

 

Thanks!

In a Jr. Suite or better, extra toiletries are supplied - shampoo, conditioner, body wash, maybe...

We are planning to book an Alaska cruise with another couple in 2016. We will be Diamond, and would like to sail RCCL for the benefits (especially the balcony discount). But I don't want to ask them to be limited to one cruise line where only we get the benefits (I think they are Gold - so no balcony discount). So here's my question - Can I book the the wives in one cabin and the husbands in the other to get the Diamond balcony discount and then switch once we're on board? If this is considered "cheating the system", I won't do it, but I'd really like to help them out too, if I could.

Lots of good information on the Family forum:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=49

i want to say it opened at 630am, but i could be wrong? best breakfast all week, free, and the country potatoes were OUTSTANDING!!

We ate breakfast there every day on Allure last September. The time above seems too early to me - I think they opened at 8:00. I say this because we were there when they opened a couple of times and I would never be up an eating breakfast at 6:30 on a cruise!

Legend of the Seas Junior Suites do they have coffee machines ??

 

what extras do they have compared to a Balcony thank you Aussie

Have sailed in a JS twice (Freedom and Allure). Loved the space and everything else listed above, but I could never get either coffee maker to work.

We were able to transfer to the 7th and got a good cabin on deck 4 outside starboard in the new section. Our brick and mortar TA found out from us when I set up an appointment for this morning. Our friends were not able to get their usual corner JS but did get an aft one. Very lucky.

 

Thanks to CC for all the good feedback as usual!

Ian and Linda - I was happy with our new cabin on the 9/7 sailing as well. There seemed to still be a lot of cabins available.

I just noticed that we're sailing together again on Serenade in November. Can't wait for that one - it's our "we're retired!" celebration cruise!

Anne

Just re-booked for Sept. 7th

Cabin 7666 $200 OBC in addition to the $75 OBC and paid gratuities that I already had

I just called and rebooked for 9/7 also.

Anne

Sorry - duplicate.

Just re-booked for Sept. 7th

Cabin 7666 $200 OBC in addition to the $75 OBC and paid gratuities that I already had

Did you call or did they call you?

I'm a travel agent and got an email from RCCL(I have clients on that sailing)

Thanks, Kathy. Do you have any idea when those of us who booked directly might be notified?

Also, do you think this is fair compensation for a cruise that is only five months away? All the other charter references I've see on these Boards have been a year out or more....

Anne

It is chartered....:(

 

They are offering price protection for 8 other EN sailings..... Select Enchantment of the Seas Sailings

September 7, 2015

September 21, 2015

September 28, 2015

October 5, 2015

October 12, 2015

October 19, 2015

October 26, 2015

November 2, 2015

 

 

 

 

 

plus $100 OBC per cabin($200 for JS and above) if you rebook on any RCCL cruise....and $150 pp towards any air fare change fees......

 

Changes have to done by April 20th......of course,you can cancel....

 

Sorry you all have to go thru this.........In fact,happened to me a few years back too:(

Kathy - Where did you get the information above? We're you contacted by RCCL? No one on our roll call has been notified.

Anne

We've done MTD for our last several cruises and have always been able to request the same waitstaff, even when dining at different times - you just may have to wait a little longer. If you switch to MTD now, which you probably should do so you can reserve your preferred dining time, they will add your gratuities to your final payment amount.

The booking number has disappeared from the "My Cruises" page. We seem to be following the progression that others have described for a chartered cruise. I wish they'd hurry up and let us know our options!

Is deck 7 on the hump a good location?

We had this location last year on Allure and loved it - very convenient!