Alaska Pre Cruise Land Tour Confusion

[cusematt4]

Hi All,

 

I have a princess Alaska cruise booked and was told that the land tour portion with princess can be added on at any time.  we were torn whether to do a 3, 4 or 5 night land tour, and we also wanted time for some research.

 

I just called Princess land tours and was told we need to book the land tour at the time of booking and cancel our cruise and rebook.  We intentionally booked the cruise early to lock in a rate.  This contradicts what we had been told by being able to add it on at a later time, ideally before final payment.

 

Does anyone have any info on if land tours with Princess can indeed be added on.  I can't image everyone having their exact pre or post cruise land tour figured out at the exact time of booking.

 

Also - does anyone have any recommendations for which 3 or 4 night Princess cruise land tours to consider?

 

Thanks!

[Torfamm]

If it’s not possible to add a land tour to your cruise and you decide you don’t want to rebook you could consider a separate tour.

 

I did a Princess Lodges rail tour that was completely separate from my cruise and loved it. There was no bus travel nor were there lots of organized group excursions or planned meals. We could pick the excursions we wanted at each lodge or book something on our own. To me it was the best of all worlds - hotels, train tickets and transfers arranged, leave luggage outside your door each departure morning and find it in your room at the next destination but spend each day as you wish. To me, traveling every leg by train was way better than doing half by bus on a land tour.
 

https://www.princesslodges.com/alaska-rail-tours/learn/

[cusematt4]

Thanks.  I think I'm a little confused - I thought a big reason to book a Princess Alaska cruise was the ability to do a Princess Lodges pre or post cruise.

 

What's the difference between booking a land tour with Princess at the time of booking the cruise vs booking a Princess Lodges land tour for the 3-4 nights pre or post cruise?  Can Princess Lodges only be booked by Princess cruise passengers?  Will booking a Princess Lodgers pre or post tour be coordinated with the cruise itself and getting us to the ship at the end of the tour?

[Guest ldtr]

2 hours ago, cusematt4 said:

Thanks.  I think I'm a little confused - I thought a big reason to book a Princess Alaska cruise was the ability to do a Princess Lodges pre or post cruise.

 

What's the difference between booking a land tour with Princess at the time of booking the cruise vs booking a Princess Lodges land tour for the 3-4 nights pre or post cruise?  Can Princess Lodges only be booked by Princess cruise passengers?  Will booking a Princess Lodgers pre or post tour be coordinated with the cruise itself and getting us to the ship at the end of the tour?

The cruise tour combinations have to be booked together. One can book cruises without the tour, one can book land tours without a cruise. One can do a do it yourself land trip and book nights in Princess lodges just like any other hotel.

 

But you cannot add a land tour to an existing cruise or add a cruise to an existing land tour.

 

It is the coordination with between the two and the transportation from one to the other  that comes from booking the combination.

 

If booked separately you would be responsible for getting from where one ends and the other starts and have to make sure the timing works.

[cusematt4]

Thanks. What's very confusing (and Princess Lodging phone line doesn't seem to be aware or have an answer) is what the difference is between booking a pre-cruise Princess Lodging land tour (3-4 nights) vs booking the same pre-cruise Princess lodging land tour attached to the cruise. Does anyone have more specifics on what the difference is?

 

It was and remains impossible to book a pre-cruise land tour at the time of booking the cruise as 2024 Alaska Princess lodging tours aren't even out yet and are not available to browse or book. I can't imagine everyone who has a Princess Alaska 2024 cruise booked cancelling their cruise to then rebook it alongside a pre-cruise Princess lodging land tour once the tours are published in the next few months. Can I add on a pre-cruise land tour to the cruise before final payment? Or should it just be booked not attached to the cruise?

[Torfamm]

On 9/19/2023 at 5:56 PM, cusematt4 said:

Thanks.  I think I'm a little confused - I thought a big reason to book a Princess Alaska cruise was the ability to do a Princess Lodges pre or post cruise.

 

What's the difference between booking a land tour with Princess at the time of booking the cruise vs booking a Princess Lodges land tour for the 3-4 nights pre or post cruise?  Can Princess Lodges only be booked by Princess cruise passengers?  Will booking a Princess Lodgers pre or post tour be coordinated with the cruise itself and getting us to the ship at the end of the tour?

The only way to book a tour at the lodges combined with a cruise is with a cruisetour through Princess Cruises. Anyone can book at the lodges either as a part of of tour or just as lodging, there is no requirement to be a cruise passenger.

 

I liked the flexibility of choosing my own land tour and also the fact that the rail tours didn’t have bus travel the way the cruise tours did. We started in Fairbanks and did the 3TS unescorted 6 night tour to Anchorage, stayed 2 nights there, and booked our own transfer to Whittier with Salmonberry Tours

[cusematt4]

2 hours ago, Torfamm said:

The only way to book a tour at the lodges combined with a cruise is with a cruisetour through Princess Cruises. Anyone can book at the lodges either as a part of of tour or just as lodging, there is no requirement to be a cruise passenger.

 

I liked the flexibility of choosing my own land tour and also the fact that the rail tours didn’t have bus travel the way the cruise tours did. We started in Fairbanks and did the 3TS unescorted 6 night tour to Anchorage, stayed 2 nights there, and booked our own transfer to Whittier with Salmonberry Tours

Thanks. What's very confusing (and Princess Lodging phone line doesn't seem to be aware or have an answer) is what the difference is between booking a pre-cruise Princess Lodging land tour (3-4 nights) vs booking the same pre-cruise Princess lodging land tour attached to the cruise. Does anyone have more specifics on what the difference is?

 

It was and remains impossible to book a pre-cruise land tour at the time of booking the cruise as 2024 Alaska Princess lodging tours aren't even out yet and are not available to browse or book. I can't imagine everyone who has a Princess Alaska 2024 cruise booked cancelling their cruise to then rebook it alongside a pre-cruise Princess lodging land tour once the tours are published in the next few months. Can I add on a pre-cruise land tour to the cruise before final payment? Or should it just be booked not attached to the cruise?

[Torfamm]

8 minutes ago, cusematt4 said:

Thanks. What's very confusing (and Princess Lodging phone line doesn't seem to be aware or have an answer) is what the difference is between booking a pre-cruise Princess Lodging land tour (3-4 nights) vs booking the same pre-cruise Princess lodging land tour attached to the cruise. Does anyone have more specifics on what the difference is?

The lodges don’t book cruise tours. The only way to compare their tours and cruise tours is to look at the options on both websites or perhaps consult an experienced TA

 

Cruise tours include transfers to the ship and often use motor coaches rather than all trains

Edited September 22, 2023 by Torfamm

[Tranquility Base]

22 minutes ago, Torfamm said:

Cruise tours include transfers to the ship and often use motor coaches rather than all trains

Or Catamaran from Valdez (ex Copper River).

[cusematt4]

Thanks.  How can someone book a pre cruise land tour in Alaska with Princess if the tours aren’t available and published yet for the 2024 Alaska season?  I can’t imagine everyone will cancel their cruise and rebook when they are released.

 

if we want to do more than just lodges with Princess and book a pre cruise land tour with Princess lodges .com how can we do this if our cruise is already booked?  Can we have them link it to the cruise?

 

i thought half the point of cruising with Princess to Alaska was the ability to book the 3-4 night rail and lodging tours before or after a cruise in Alaska and it seems incredibly confusing and difficult to do so if the tours haven’t event been published yet.

[t&atravel]

@cusematt4.  I’m not sure where you are looking as I get 65 results when I select alaska cruise tours for 2024. Sorry my link pulls up all land tours so page back to select AK as the destination 

 

https://www.princess.com/cruise-search/results/?resType=T

Edited September 22, 2023 by t&atravel

[kamelia]

1 hour ago, cusematt4 said:

How can someone book a pre cruise land tour in Alaska with Princess if the tours aren’t available and published yet for the 2024 Alaska season?  I can’t imagine everyone will cancel their cruise and rebook when they are released.

 

if we want to do more than just lodges with Princess and book a pre cruise land tour with Princess lodges .com how can we do this if our cruise is already booked?  Can we have them link it to the cruise?

 

i thought half the point of cruising with Princess to Alaska was the ability to book the 3-4 night rail and lodging tours before or after a cruise in Alaska and it seems incredibly confusing and difficult to do so if the tours haven’t event been published yet.

What you are trying to book are two different trips.  You can currently book a cruisetour with Princess to combine a cruise with a land tour, and those itineraries for 2024 are currently available to be booked on Princess.com.  The screenshot you have included in your post above is from the PrincessLodges.com website, and that's the one that you would use to make independent travel arrangements to stay at a Princess Wilderness Lodge.  I used it back in 2021 and was able to make a reservation at Kenai Princess Wilderness Lodge for our independent trip during the cruise pause.  I have not booked the Denali Rail Service, but I suspect that those tour itineraries are not yet available because Alaska Railroad has not released their schedule for summer season 2024.  Have you tried calling the phone number on the PrincessLodges.com website?  It is 800-426-0500.  You might be able to speak with someone who could at least give you a general idea of when the itineraries might be available.  That doesn't help you know now what your options might be to coordinate with the cruise you already have booked, but unless you book an organized cruisetour with Princess, adding the independent travel as in your original post is going to have to wait.  That's probably not the answer you were hoping for, but at least hopefully you'll have a better understanding of what's going on.  HTH!

Edited September 22, 2023 by kamelia

[cusematt4]

Thanks so much.  If i am trying to book a 3 or 4 night Princess pre cruise Alaska tour - 

 

would anyone who has done this recommend booking with Princess and adding something onto the cruise vs booking with princess lodges and not attaching it to the cruise?

 

are the princess lodges yellow and blue tours the same exact thing as booking a pre cruise tour through Princess?  Or are the 3-4 night pre cruise tours through Princess and being added into the cruise reservation a different experience?

 

can anyone book a Princess lodges 3-4 night tour but not a princess pre cruise tour?  I was told one reason to book an Alaska cruise with princess is for their pre cruise Alaska tours and am unsure if that means the princess lodging yellow and blue tours vs something through Princess added to the reservation.

 

does princess cruises offer complexly different pre cruise lane tours or Alaska than what’s offered through Princess lodges?

 

princess said some tours aren’t released until October.  How can they require pre cruise tours be booked at the time of booking a cruise if some aren’t even available and released yet?

 

Thank you.

[cusematt4]

I think the biggest points of confusion are

 

is there a diff in the tours  through princess cruises vs Princess lodges?

 

can we still add a pre cruise tour onto the reservation to the Princess cruise through a travel agent if a cruise is booked?  Especially since not all tours for next season are released yet and won’t be until October?  If so where do we find the list of pre cruise princess tours to choose from?

[no1racefan1]

You referenced many people suggesting doing a Princess cruisetour/pre-cruise tour, and I can almost definitely say that would be through Princess cruises. I haven't heard of many people using princesslodges.com, and most certainly not if you are trying to put together a cruisetour. 

 

2024 Princess cruisetours are available to book through princess.com and while I don't know the answer regarding if they are the same as what's available from princesslodges.com, I would be very, very surprised if there was much, if any, difference.

 

My understanding is you cannot add a cruisetour onto an existing cruise booking. You may be able to independently book a stay/tour at Princess lodges, that would not be linked to your cruise booking.

[no1racefan1]

Find a TA who has experience with Alaska cruisetours.

[letscruise321]

 Now I’d the time to call a travel agent ‘n 

[portiemom]

On 9/19/2023 at 5:38 PM, cusematt4 said:

Hi All,

 

I have a princess Alaska cruise booked and was told that the land tour portion with princess can be added on at any time. Who told you that? we were torn whether to do a 3, 4 or 5 night land tour, and we also wanted time for some research.

 

I just called Princess land tours and was told we need to book the land tour at the time of booking and cancel our cruise and rebook. Correct.  We intentionally booked the cruise early to lock in a rate.  This contradicts what we had been told by being able to add it on at a later time, ideally before final payment. Who told you that?

 

Does anyone have any info on if land tours with Princess can indeed be added on. No, they can't be added. You need to cancel and rebook. I can't image everyone having their exact pre or post cruise land tour figured out at the exact time of booking. Yep, that's exactly the way to do it. And I noticed multiple past posts where you were doing your research to figure this out. Good for you!

 

Also - does anyone have any recommendations for which 3 or 4 night Princess cruise land tours to consider? If that's the maximum time you have available, then any should be fine.

 

Thanks! Have a great trip!

See replies in red above.

[portiemom]

On 9/22/2023 at 5:38 PM, cusematt4 said:

I think the biggest points of confusion are

 

is there a diff in the tours  through princess cruises vs Princess lodges? Yes, there is a difference between a cruisetour through Princess Cruises and a vacation package from Princess Lodges. A cruise tour includes a cruise and a land tour. Princess Lodges offers land tours: "When you book a Princess Lodges vacation package, you can choose from a wide selection of “Land Only” train tours that include rail transportation to/from Anchorage, Fairbanks or Seward."

 

can we still add a pre cruise tour onto the reservation to the Princess cruise through a travel agent if a cruise is booked?  No, if you want a cruisetour, you need to cancel and rebook. Especially since not all tours for next season are released yet and won’t be until October? Cruisetours for 2024 are available now.  If so where do we find the list of pre cruise princess tours to choose from? Discuss with your TA or go to princess.com.

See replies in red above.