Advice for total Princess noob
 

Never taken a cruise before, but my in-laws are hard core Cunard folks. This August will be their 50th anniversary, and my husband and I celebrate our 25th a few months later. They want to have a big family celebration by taking a cruise together in August. They want to do Alaska, and they want to leave from SF (they live in the UK, but we live near SF and they want the ease of not having to fly to an embarkation point). Given these limitations, they've selected a 10 night Princess cruise from SF in early August. There are no other options that meet their needs. They also like to have a roomy stateroom, so nothing smaller than a mini-suite will do. This ship doesn't have all that many mini-suites...and it looks like there are only 6 left of the class they want.

My issue is this. I'm cheap. I expect my husband, 14 year old son, and I will squeeze into an inside cabin and cash in a heck of a lot of Marriott points to keeps our price down (this trip comes right as we face the realities of high school tuition, so I'm hoping to spend as little as possible). As to my in-laws, it looks like I'll need to book it for them (Princess insists on selling them an air package from the UK, which they do not need). It's going to cost over $8,800 for the two of them in the cabin they want. Given the exchange rate, that's a heck of a lot of money for them. So...before I commit them to that crazy expense (they are not rolling in dough), I'd like to know:

1. Is it worth waiting to see if prices fall (but watching to ensure that the mini-suites don't sell out)? Is there unlikely to be discounting on the mini-suites?

2. Are there trustworthy travel agents you would recommend who would do better for them than booking direct with Princess?

3. When I checked prices, there did not seem to be a senior discount for this cruise. Does that seem right?

4. They are Cunard Platinum and Diamond. Will this be any help with Princess, as they're owned by the same company? Would this be a reason to book direct with Princess?

Thanks for any and all help. I'm totally at sea on this.

Wife and I did the August Sailing on Princess last year.
I would suggest you go on the Princess site or call Princess directly and do a booking in their name. If discounts are available due to age, or residence the booking will indicate that. I would also ask the CS if there is a brake on price if cabins are assigned later(also known as "guarantee"). I would be suprised if prices fall on an August sailing(high season). Good Luck

I almost never (like not in 20 years) use a travel agent, but to book that same SF-Alaska cruise on the Dawn Princess last summer, I booked though AAA as their contract rates were better than I could get myself on 6 week's notice. That's maybe $200, $300 hundred better, plus a few minor perks.

If you're an AAA member, wouldn't hurt to see what their travel desk can do for you.


Addendum: FWIW, I think 2 adults and a teen could be very uncomfortable in an inside cabin. 9 yr old and I shared an outside balcony cabin on our cruise, and it felt tight. During the day, when you're out of the cabin, it won't be much of an issue, but at night, if one snores or snuffles, the other two are going to be kept awake. Unless maybe you're used to sharing a tent? And the bathroom is so tiny that changing one's clothes in it is quite tricky, too.

Also wouldn't hurt to ask AAA if booking 2 cabins at the same time gives you any quantity/group discount.

They can decline the airfare. Princess CANNOT make them use their airfare. They should, however, fly in at least a day ahead to make sure they don't miss their cruise. Check out www.vacationstogo.com and www.cruisesonly.com for fares. The perks they will get for being Cunard will be onboard perks. You must be sure to put in their Cunard numbers when you book. I wouldn't wait as Alaska gets filled up pretty quickly. What is the date of the cruise?

Definitely an AAA member. I'll check out their prices. Thanks for the tip!

I'm totally concerned about the three in a cabin situation, but there are no balcony cabins that take three, and the window cabins are smaller than many of the inside cabins. The three of us really should take a mini-suite, but there's just no way, given next year's tuition expense we're facing. And no, I do not relish celebrating our 25th anniversary sharing 150 square foot cabin w/ our 14 year old son.

I think cruisecritic.com (and similar sites) are better sources of info than FlyerTalk for this sort of thing.

I do think that with the limited number of mini-suites, discounting is unlikely. On the other hand, last year I snagged a last-minute discount on a balcony cabin (NON-suite) for an August Alaska cruise on the Star Princess (out of Seattle). Princess' ships have a relatively large number of balcony cabins.

Is there any possibility that the son could bunk in his grandparents' more spacious mini-suite rather than his parents' regular cabin? Or is that idea just too outlandish? ;)

I also find the lack of a senior discount UNsurprising. So many cruisers are seniors, after all....

Check Costco Travel (by phone) as well as other travel agencies.

If they book with Princess in the UK, it is very likely that they can ONLY book the cruise with airfare. For some reason, the rules and requirements of cruises booked outside of North America is totally different than within NA. For example, if we make a deposit on a cruise (in Germany, in our case), and decide to cancel 24 hours later (even if we are still months away from the cruise date and outside final payment), we lose our deposit. That's a fact! Additionally, most UK travel agencies require booking with travel insurance, whether one wants it or not!
The above are all reasons why we book all our cruises through U.S. travel agents online and use the mailing address - if necessary - of a friend or relative in the U.S. Princess' website will not accept any bookings online from any person with an address outside the U.S. or Canada.

Read some of the CruiseCritic postings to verify this information. It's not fair, but that's how it is!

Hope you enjoy your Alaskan cruise as much as we did. Sailed with Princess out of Seattle a few years ago...

Agree with the thoughts about sharing an inside cabin...might get cramped.

Also, something else to keep in mind is that if I remember correctly, on Princess ships the mini-suites are below the "regular" balcony cabins - so the people with balcony-only rooms overlook the balconies of the mini-suite cabins (no privacy). Also, I think the only difference between the two is a small sitting area in the mini-suite...is it really worth the extra $$?

As far as discounting, our travel agent inidcated the Alaska cruises are quite popular and generally do sell out - especially the balcony cabins because the scenery is so beautiful. If they do discount, it will be within the last 60-90 days - after final payment is due. I have often heard of people reserving one cabin below their desired category and calling the cruise lines 30-15 days out to ask about purchasing an upgrade. Seems to be more successful...

Would definitely recommend waiting until you get on-shore to purchase excursions. We did this in each of our ports and I think it worked out much better - less expensive, got to see more, the money went to the "locals". In fact, we shared a fishing boat with one other couple and I caught a >20 lb. salmon - they told me it was the biggest one of that season and I believe them because they ended up using my picture on their website.

Hope you have a wonderful time!

Ok to echo, enhance and reinforce some of what's already been said.

I did an Alaska cruise last summer - (same as you - celebrating my inlaws 50th :) ). Some thoughts.

I'd highly recommend cruisecritic.com. They are to ships what FT is to planes. Like here - lots of hard core cruisers.

Reason for the fare difference is there are substantially stronger consumer protection laws in the UK for travel. Hence it costs the companies more and they charge more. I've also read they release cabin space at different times in different parts of the world.

I just received a promotion offer for a 2 for 1 deal with Princess to Alaska this year - so I'd check the website and travel agents. They're probably feeling the economy too.

Now as to the stateroom. I found the standard balcony room to be small but OK for two. If your inlaws need the extra space for medical reasons (like a walker in my case) - then I'd suggest checking into a handicapped room. A bigger room ( and bigger bathroom) - and they were comfortable - without going to the minisuite.

Enjoy!

This I don't think is correct for most ships. We were on Deck 11 of the Dawn Princess - basically the top deck of cabins - and there was no way to see onto anyone else's balcony. The ship's sides are close to vertical, not staggered, so you really can't overlook anything on the ship from a balcony.

What did bother me was that in two different places, the ship sent out a small boat with photographers with telephoto lenses, and photographed all the people on their balconies. That I really thought was an invasion of privacy. I personally wasn't doing anything embarrassing, but some folks were less than fully dressed in their photos.

To the OP: if you're going to Skagway and interested in fishing, I can recommend an excellent private guide and boat. PM me for details.

Size matters...
 

On this ship the mini-suites are twice the size of the balcony rooms. My in-laws want the larger room because, "that's the size cabin we book on Cunard," and because my father-in-law snores. I expect he'll be relegated to the sofa bed in the living room area. This means, of course, that our son will not be bunking with his grandparents.

As for the three of us, our option are limited. There are no outside cabins for three available other than mini-suites (which would hit us for well over $9k for the three of us) and window cabins on lower decks (which are actually smaller in square footage than the inside cabins we're looking at, and will cost us more). Would the psychological space provided by the window be better than the extra 10 feet or so in the inside cabin?

I cruised all the time with my parents and a younger brother on Princess when I was a teenager. We had an inside cabin with bunkbeds. It was tight, but truthfully, we spent so little time in the cabin that it didn't matter.

Mike

Thanks. It's a relief to hear that. We really can't afford to do more, not with high school tuition in our future.

on the price side, I recommend trying www.cruisecompete.com, where you post details of what you want and different agencies reply with their offers. (Something like a reverse auction). We saved approx $500 per cabin using it for an Alaska cruise.

One thing to consider is to see if there are any handcap or accessible cabins available. We stayed in one and it slept 3 comfortably. We didn't have to provide any documentation, we just requested it.