San Francisco to Alaska on the Grand- big issue!

[puli]

I was just told by Princess that these Grand sailings do not offer the Tracy Arm Boat Excursion. Is this true???? I have a window suite booked for a 2018 cruise but will cancel as this is one of the best excursions I have ever been on in Alaska .

[tcdcruiser]

It is listed as an offfered excursion on the 8/24/2018 Grand Princess voyage.

[Ellipooh]

The 5-16-18 voyage on the Grand offers it. Can you not see the available excursions for your sail date?

[puli]

yes, I thought if it was listed on the web site that it was definitely on but i was told "NO" the 2018 excursions are not final and that the Tracy Arm boat excursions are noted as being available for"certain sailings ' only.

 

Has anyone done the cruise this year? and did they offer it?

[puli]

The 5-16-18 voyage on the Grand offers it. Can you not see the available excursions for your sail date?

on my 5/26/18 reservation for excursions it says they will not be posted until 120 days prior to sailing.

[Ellipooh]

on my 5/26/18 reservation for excursions it says they will not be posted until 120 days prior to sailing.

I can obviously only look at a dummy booking, but it shows as an option even for 5/26

[easyboy]

on my 5/26/18 reservation for excursions it says they will not be posted until 120 days prior to sailing.

It is also stated on the Excursion Reservations on my Cruise Personalizer for my May 19, 2018 sailing.

[puli]

I will report back tomorrow..I am to call Princess at 9 and get the answer from the excursions department. . I am not sure if they have an issue with the provider for 2018.

 

On the Grand's cruises Tracy Arm occurs a day or days after you visit Juneau . On the other cruises that offer this excursion, the ship goes to Tracy Arm first for a few hours and then on to Juneau that same day. The excursion boat picks you up from the ship at the entrance of Tracy Arm and then when the excursion is over brings you back to Juneau to meet the ship.

 

I was hoping a former passenger would reply and say if and how the Grand has done this in the past.

[peety3]

If the ship visits Tracy Arm on a day other than when it visits Juneau, the small boat may not have an opportunity to catch back up with the ship. Without that opportunity, I'm not sure the small boat has the time needed to do the "proper" tour that they do.

[puli]

If the ship visits Tracy Arm on a day other than when it visits Juneau, the small boat may not have an opportunity to catch back up with the ship. Without that opportunity, I'm not sure the small boat has the time needed to do the "proper" tour that they do.

that is my fear as well since none of the Grand's R/T Alaska cruises at least in May and June 2018 visit Tracy Arm AND Juneau on the same day..however, on the web site you can pull up the small boat shore excursion under the port "Tracy Arm" on all of the sailings .but Princess will not confirm!

[SantaFeFan]

We just did the Grand round trip out of San Francisco in June, and we were supposed to go to Tracy Arm Fjord the day after the Skagway stop. Sorry to disappoint you, but there is no separate excursion on this itinerary. It is just the ship going in as far as it can, turning around, and then heading off to Victoria. Unfortunately for our cruise, there was too much ice in Tracy Arm and we went into Endicott Arm instead, which is the next fjord to the south. We got in as far as we could, but couldn't get all the way to the glacier due to ice and wildlife sunning on that ice. It was a very early day, entering the fjord at 5:00 am in the morning. We were out by 8:00 am.

 

No small boat excursion on this itinerary. That small boat excursion was also listed on our itinerary, but it could not be reserved - for obvious reasons, as it is apparently listed in error.

 

If I had to do it over again, I would have selected a Glacier Bay itinerary instead. The glacier viewing was disappointing.

 

THIS IS AS CLOSE AS WE COULD GET

 

 

THIS IS WHY

 

 

Edited August 7, 2017 by SantaFeFan

[puli]

Santa Fe fan .....thanks so much for posting.... I was afraid that was it! posting that shore excursion is a tease....thank goodness there is Cruise Critic but not everyone knows about it...i bet there will be some disappointed cruisers. Now to see if I can switch!

[XBGuy]

If the ship visits Tracy Arm on a day other than when it visits Juneau, the small boat may not have an opportunity to catch back up with the ship. Without that opportunity, I'm not sure the small boat has the time needed to do the "proper" tour that they do.

 

that is my fear as well since none of the Grand's R/T Alaska cruises at least in May and June 2018 visit Tracy Arm AND Juneau on the same day..however, on the web site you can pull up the small boat shore excursion under the port "Tracy Arm" on all of the sailings .but Princess will not confirm!

 

I think you understand the problem, puli. It is itinerary dependent. I am taking the San Francisco--AK cruise on the Grand Princess in September. In our itinerary we visit Juneau, then Icy Point Strait, then Tracy Arm Fjord. I just checked the Cruise Personalizer for excursion options. No excursions are offered on the Tracy Arm Fjord day, and the small boat Tracy Arm Fjord is not offered on the Juneau day.

 

I am also booked on the Los Angeles-AK cruise next April. Of course, the cruise personalizer does not have excursion options, yet, but Tracy Arm Fjord is not included in that itinerary. It will be interesting to see if the small boat excursion is made available on the Juneau day. Of course, it also might be pretty frosty the last week of April. I'm not sure I'm that hardy.

 

;)

[puli]

I think you understand the problem, puli. It is itinerary dependent. I am taking the San Francisco--AK cruise on the Grand Princess in September. In our itinerary we visit Juneau, then Icy Point Strait, then Tracy Arm Fjord. I just checked the Cruise Personalizer for excursion options. No excursions are offered on the Tracy Arm Fjord day, and the small boat Tracy Arm Fjord is not offered on the Juneau day.

 

I am also booked on the Los Angeles-AK cruise next April. Of course, the cruise personalizer does not have excursion options, yet, but Tracy Arm Fjord is not included in that itinerary. It will be interesting to see if the small boat excursion is made available on the Juneau day. Of course, it also might be pretty frosty the last week of April. I'm not sure I'm that hardy.

 

;)

i just got off the phone with Princess...NO Grand R/T to Alaska will ever offer this tour BUT if plans change i.e. they go to Tracy Arm and then on to Juneau on the same day then they MIGHT offer this tour....that is why they list it !

I told them it looked a lot like" Bait & Switch" to me and i wondered how many booked this cruise thinking they could take that excursion and later found they could not and other cruises that did offer it could be sold out by then. A poor poor bit of P R with no specific disclaimer on the web site .

 

It stretches credulity to think that at the last minute they could change date and place of port docking during a busy Alaska season. I am sure they fight tooth and nail for those specific dates and pier spots months and years ahead of time.

[TNTLAMB]

i just got off the phone with Princess...NO Grand R/T to Alaska will ever offer this tour BUT if plans change i.e. they go to Tracy Arm and then on to Juneau on the same day then they MIGHT offer this tour....that is why they list it !

I told them it looked a lot like" Bait & Switch" to me and i wondered how many booked this cruise thinking they could take that excursion and later found they could not and other cruises that did offer it could be sold out by then. A poor poor bit of P R with no specific disclaimer on the web site .

 

It stretches credulity to think that at the last minute they could change date and place of port docking during a busy Alaska season. I am sure they fight tooth and nail for those specific dates and pier spots months and years ahead of time.

 

 

Actually they can change pretty easily. at least in Juneau and Skagway, they own their own dock..................

[SantaFeFan]

Actually they can change pretty easily. at least in Juneau and Skagway, they own their own dock..................

 

Only if another Princess ship is not in port and using that dock that day. If another is already at the dock, they will have to make alternate docking arrangements.

 

But arranging for this excursion on a last minute notice is a bit of a stretch, especially if there are other ships in port at the same time. To claim they list the excursion "in case plans change" is an off-the-cuff excuse. Instead of saying they made a mistake by including it when it shouldn't, they are covering their butts by making excuses.

 

I too waited for months for this excursion to begin taking reservations not realizing they had no intention of offering it for my cruise. Only after being frustrated for months did I call only to find out there would be no such excursion. :mad:

[puli]

Only if another Princess ship is not in port and using that dock that day. If another is already at the dock, they will have to make alternate docking arrangements.

 

But arranging for this excursion on a last minute notice is a bit of a stretch, especially if there are other ships in port at the same time. To claim they list the excursion "in case plans change" is an off-the-cuff excuse. Instead of saying they made a mistake by including it when it shouldn't, they are covering their butts by making excuses.

 

I too waited for months for this excursion to begin taking reservations not realizing they had no intention of offering it for my cruise. Only after being frustrated for months did I call only to find out there would be no such excursion. :mad:

I decided to switch to a California coastal on the Grand rather than an Alaska cruise (have done 3 previous ones)... and will probably write to "Jan" about this!

[XBGuy]

yes, I thought if it was listed on the web site that it was definitely on but i was told "NO" the 2018 excursions are not final and that the Tracy Arm boat excursions are noted as being available for"certain sailings ' only.

 

Has anyone done the cruise this year? and did they offer it?

 

puli, obviously, this excursion is not offered in your cruise personalizer. So, I wondered what you meant by it being listed on the web site. Sure enough if I dredge around a bit I can find excursion descriptions based on most ports that Princess visits. Is this what you saw? It seems to cover Tracy Arm Fjord.

 

[/url]

https://www.princess.com/excursion/exlistfordestination.page?portid=TA1&t=A&exType=S

 

Scrolling down to the bottom I find TA1-660 Tracy Arm Fjord & Scenic Cruising. At a starting price of $209. I think this is the excursion you desire.

 

 

 

i just got off the phone with Princess...NO Grand R/T to Alaska will ever offer this tour BUT if pilans change i.e. they go to Tracy Arm and then on to Juneau on the same day then they MIGHT offer this tour....that is why they list it !

I told them it looked a lot like" Bait & Switch" to me and i wondered how many booked this cruise thinking they could take that excursion and later found they could not and other cruises that did offer it could be sold out by then. A poor poor bit of P R with no specific disclaimer on the web site .

 

It stretches credulity to think that at the last minute they could change date and place of port docking during a busy Alaska season. I am sure they fight tooth and nail for those specific dates and pier spots months and years ahead of time.

 

Clicking on the View Excursion Details link from the page I noted, if you read down under "Special Notes" you'll find this sentence:

This tour is only available on select voyages- May through early September.

I'm sure Princess has lots of lawyers who have their eyeballs on anything that is published.

In my case, it looks like I don't have to worry about whether or not I want to take this excursion in April.

Edit a few minutes later. Oops. I see you made another post while I was composing mine. I think you should reconsider the letter.

Edited August 7, 2017 by XBGuy

[puli]

puli, obviously, this excursion is not offered in your cruise personalizer. So, I wondered what you meant by it being listed on the web site. Sure enough if I dredge around a bit I can find excursion descriptions based on most ports that Princess visits. Is this what you saw? It seems to cover Tracy Arm Fjord.

 

 

https://www.princess.com/excursion/exlistfordestination.page?portid=TA1&t=A&exType=S

 

Scrolling down to the bottom I find TA1-660 Tracy Arm Fjord & Scenic Cruising. At a starting price of $209. I think this is the excursion you desire.

 

 

 

 

 

Clicking on the View Excursion Details link from the page I noted, if you read down under "Special Notes" you'll find this sentence:

This tour is only available on select voyages- May through early September.

I'm sure Princess has lots of lawyers who have their eyeballs on anything that is published.

In my case, it looks like I don't have to worry about whether or not I want to take this excursion in April.

Edit a few minutes later. Oops. I see you made another post while I was composing mine. I think you should reconsider the letter.

I am still going to write suggesting they either remove the excursion from showing up on these sailings or clearly state that these would ONLY become available should the ship do Tracy Arm and Juneau on the same day and in that order.