Mad Jayhawk

We booked a few days ago and just about every tour is booked solid.  Is it worthwhile going on the wait list for what maybe, from their description, are quality tours?

I second the comments that suggest arranging your own tours through private on-the-dock-vendors.  We have had over 30 cruises and that is the way we do it 90% of the time.  It is funny when we see the ship's tour at the same locations and they have paid considerably more for almost the same thing.

Instead of a drive around tour, get transportation to the center of town and walk to nearby places.  We just walk into interesting buildings. If someone stops us we just say we are lost and confused Canadian tourists (we are actually Americans but most people can't tell the difference and everyone loves Canadians).  Everyone always has been nice to us. Did that in New Zealand and found ourselves in a court house so we watched for 30-45 minutes an intense trial that was going on.  Another time we walked into a garden and an old gentleman proudly gave us a personal tour.

Please be aware that Carnival cards are only good for Carnival Cruise Lines and not Princess, Holland America, and other cruise lines owned by Carnival.  I am out $90, unless I can sell them, because we do not cruise on Carnival Cruises Lines.  We normally cruise on Princess or Holland America.

I do not want FCC.  I don't want anything to do with RCC again.  This is has been a nightmare.  You wouldn't believe what we have been though with cancelling airlines, hotels, etc.  We want our money refunded.  I understand to get this we have to wait until the cruise (6/5) is actually cancelled by RCC. 

We mistakenly applied for FCC in our confusion about whether the cruise would be cancelled or not and asked RCC to void our FCC application via Costco Travel.  The efficient Costco Travel rep, bless his heart, got that done for us.  I do not want to gamble whether RCC is going to be in business so I want the refund now. 

There has been a chance we will be throwing $8,000 away and it was making me sick.  All we wanted was a nice 7 days with our family and look at where we are, begging and pleading with nice CS reps.  

Now we will wait to see if the cruise on the 6/5 is cancelled by RCC and if they will then refund our $8,000.

We have been on 30+ cruises.  All of them were adventures in one way or another but this one, the one we didn't go on, takes the cake as they say.

I use the Vivaldi browser and my wife's check-in forms showed up and mine did not.  I changed over to Microsoft Edge and was able to complete the check-in forms for myself using it.  Celebrity needs to update their software to include other browsers other than Firefox, Chrome and Edge.  It is 2019 and not 1990.

Been to Alaska 5 times.  The only way to go, in my opinion, is to cruise to Skagway, take the train to the Yukon Border, hop a bus and go to Whitehorse then to Dawson.  From Dawson take a river boat to Eagle then a bus to Denali. Take train back to Anchorage then take another cruise back to Seattle or Vancouver.  It is called a cruise/land tour - Princess and Holland America both have them.  One of the best cruises we have ever been on (been on 30+ cruises).

Most of the 'ports' in Alaska are what I call tourist traps like the ones in the Caribbean and there is little to do there except shop and a few other local attractions. 

BUT,  Alaska no matter where you are is absolutely drop dead beautiful.  Go just for that reason alone.   And go when the salmon are running.

There are a lot of 'experts' on CC. Most of them recommend that you spend a boat load of money and 'avoid the hassle' by paying for a 10 year visa that you will use, at most, once, sometimes for a simple 12 hour port stop. In many cases you can save a lot of money and a lot of hassle by doing a little research and reading what real experts recommend.

Travel to China can be complicated if you travel to several different places on one trip because the Chinese visa rules can be different for each place. Different doesn't necessarily mean overly complicated. There are 3 types of transit without a visa (abbreviated as TWOV): 24 hour, 72 hour, and 144 hour. These all come with separate procedures and depend which regions you are traveling in.

Read this: https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnnyjet/2018/03/01/transit-china-without-a-visa-twov/#153211c91151

and you will understand the rules a little better and perhaps save $300-$500 per couple.

I know the Royal Princess has almost first class television channels and service.

The other Princess ships we have been on have have channels and service a third rate motel would be ashamed of.

Has there been any television service upgrades in the works lately, particularly for the Emerald?

I would like to see a full range of channels for those times I get tired of hoofing around the ship have the time of my life and all that. Particularly the full ESPN lineup now that basketball season is finally here. I am already feeling extreme anxiety about missing too many Jayhawk games while we are gone. :(