Princess Launches Alaska Wilderness Sale on Convenient Cruisetours from Seattle, with Special Pricing Including Travel Between Seattle and Alaska Plus Stateroom Upgrade!
Princess Cruises announced today that it is again offering its popular Alaska Wilderness Sale promotion, but this promo also features a special lineup of cruisetours that offer passengers the extra convenience of roundtrip travel from Seattle. These unique packages make planning an Alaska land/sea vacation easier than ever by including ALL travel once the passenger gets to Seattle. This even includes airfare between Seattle and Alaska! The Alaska Wilderness Sale runs through December 31, 2009, and features 10 Seattle-based cruisetour options. Air travel between Seattle and Alaska, motorcoach transfers between Seattle and Vancouver, and an overnight stay in Seattle are all included in the package. Fares start at $1,899 for an interior stateroom and $2,299 for a balcony stateroom for an 11-night land/sea vacation, which includes a free stateroom category upgrade.
Princess Cruises offers a wide variety of Alaska Cruisetour options, including both northbound and southbound routes, with itineraries ranging from 11 to 15 nights. All passengers will experience Princess’ signature seven-night Voyage of the Glaciers cruise, combined with a variety of Direct to the Wilderness tours, or Explorer tours to the Copper River or Kenai areas. All tours feature Princess’ own riverside wilderness lodges, with at least two nights in the Denali National Park area and luxury train travel on ultra-domed railcars. “These packages make a visit to the heart of Alaska more convenient than ever, so the only other planning needed is travel to and from Seattle. We handle all other arrangements, so visitors can simply enjoy this incredible opportunity to experience Alaska’s top attractions, including Glacier Bay and Denali National Park.”
What sets Princess apart from many other cruise lines' Alaska cruisetours is that all of Princess' cruises feature daylight cruising of both Glacier Bay National Park AND either College Fjord or Hubbard Glacier. These itineraries provide guests with the best opportunities to view fantastic glaciers and wildlife. Another important distinction is that many cruise lines only offer one night in the Denali National Park area, but Princess includes at least two nights in this important area on every cruisetour so guests can maximize their experience there.
I think Princess has done an amazing job in deciding to offer roundtrip cruisetour packages from Seattle and I applaud them wholeheartedly. As a Cruise Specialist, I am very aware of the difficulties that come with booking a one-way cruise or cruisetour. On a northbound itinerary, arrangements often need to be made to get a passenger back to Vancouver or Seattle from Anchorage or Fairbanks; and on a southbound itinerary passengers often need transportation back to Anchorage so they can purchase the often lesser-expensive roundtrip air fares. It can often be very expensive and challenging to make this all work, but now Princess has made it so much easier.
With Princess' roundtrip Seattle cruisetour packages and their new Family Fun Cruisetours which I previously blogged about, there really is no reason now to forgo that trip to Alaska! So come on people and get those bookings done, as the Alaska Wilderness Sale ends December 31!
For more information, contact Sheila McPherson, Your Independent Cruise Specialist, at 630-868-6719, or toll free at 877-823-8597; or visit my website at http://www.serenitycruising.com/.
Showing posts with label family. Show all posts
Showing posts with label family. Show all posts
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Friday, October 9, 2009
Wanna Take the Kids to Alaska? Now Princess Cruises Makes it FUN!
According to Cruise Industry News, Princess Cruises has just announced a new Alaska family-oriented cruisetour. To make it easier for families to plan a trip to the 49th state, which offers stunning scenery, abundant wildlife, and plethora of active adventure opportunities, Princess Cruises has added a fun new cruisetour option designed especially with family groups in mind.
Princess already offers a variety of Alaska cruisetours, but this one is different, as this 12-night cruisetour includes a variety of special features not usually included in a cruisetour package. Families will have the opportunity to travel on a jetboat, pan for gold, take an interactive tour of Denali National Park, and experience what Alaska is like in the winter when it’s many degrees below zero. The cruisetour (number: FUN) is offered at a 25 percent discount for all berths, so all members of the family are included in the special pricing. “This is really the ultimate family vacation,” said Charlie Ball, president of Princess Tours. “Alaska is a wonderful travel destination with kids, so we wanted to make it easy and affordable to plan the perfect Alaska experience for everyone in the family.”
Included in the Family Fun cruisetour are a seven-night Voyage of the Glaciers cruise plus a five-night land tour featuring one night at Mt. McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge, two nights at Denali Princess Wilderness Lodge and two nights at Fairbanks Princess Riverside Lodge. At sea, families can also take advantage of Princess’ many onboard programs especially for children, including a special Junior Ranger program in Glacier Bay National Park. Princess owns all of its lodging options in Alaska and all are conveniently located to nearby activities.
These are the special inclusions for the Family Fun Cruisetour:
Daily Breakfast – Everyone in the family can start their morning off with the most important meal of the day.
Direct-to-the-Wilderness Rail Service with Lunch – Princess’ acclaimed Direct-to-the-Wilderness rail service gets families to their wilderness lodge faster, and includes lunch aboard the train.
Three Rivers Jetboat Tour (Mt. McKinley) – An exhilarating alternative to taking a motorcoach to Mt. McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge, this tour travels from Talkeetna to the lodge by jetboat, with stops along the river to view historic encampments and learn about the native wildlife.
Arctic Blast (Denali) – Family members can experience winter in Alaska – in the summertime. This special chamber is chilled to wintertime temperatures, so visitors can find out what happens to hot water when it is thrown in the air and whether soap bubbles can survive the cold.
Music of Denali Dinner Theater (Denali) – This rollicking musical comedy tells the legend of the first expedition to the summit of Mt. McKinley, accompanied by a hearty, family-style meal featuring smokehouse ribs and Alaska salmon.
Experience Alaska with Alaska Geographic Tour (Denali) – A more intimate tour of Denali National Park, this special experience includes a variety of interactive experiences, including an enhanced view of the Denali ecosystem and current research taking place. The narrated bus tour takes guests 15 miles into the park to a beautiful river valley where they embark on a short walk to the historic Savage River Camp, where they can participate in a number of hands-on experiences.
Denali Sourdough Expedition Breakfast (Denali) – While fueling up for the day with a family-style, Alaskan roadhouse-style breakfast, guests experience an unforgettable journey up Denali through breathtaking images in Laurent Dick's Climb Denali. Participants have the opportunity to meet this real mountain climber and ask questions about mountain climbing.
Riverboat Cruise and El Dorado Goldmine Tour (Fairbanks) – Families can enjoy traveling on an authentic sternwheeler for a fully-narrated cruise along the Chena River and try their hands at gold panning at the El Dorado Gold Mine, where they will learn about Alaska's gold mining history.
Princess already offers a variety of Alaska cruisetours, but this one is different, as this 12-night cruisetour includes a variety of special features not usually included in a cruisetour package. Families will have the opportunity to travel on a jetboat, pan for gold, take an interactive tour of Denali National Park, and experience what Alaska is like in the winter when it’s many degrees below zero. The cruisetour (number: FUN) is offered at a 25 percent discount for all berths, so all members of the family are included in the special pricing. “This is really the ultimate family vacation,” said Charlie Ball, president of Princess Tours. “Alaska is a wonderful travel destination with kids, so we wanted to make it easy and affordable to plan the perfect Alaska experience for everyone in the family.”
Included in the Family Fun cruisetour are a seven-night Voyage of the Glaciers cruise plus a five-night land tour featuring one night at Mt. McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge, two nights at Denali Princess Wilderness Lodge and two nights at Fairbanks Princess Riverside Lodge. At sea, families can also take advantage of Princess’ many onboard programs especially for children, including a special Junior Ranger program in Glacier Bay National Park. Princess owns all of its lodging options in Alaska and all are conveniently located to nearby activities.
These are the special inclusions for the Family Fun Cruisetour:
Daily Breakfast – Everyone in the family can start their morning off with the most important meal of the day.
Direct-to-the-Wilderness Rail Service with Lunch – Princess’ acclaimed Direct-to-the-Wilderness rail service gets families to their wilderness lodge faster, and includes lunch aboard the train.
Three Rivers Jetboat Tour (Mt. McKinley) – An exhilarating alternative to taking a motorcoach to Mt. McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge, this tour travels from Talkeetna to the lodge by jetboat, with stops along the river to view historic encampments and learn about the native wildlife.
Arctic Blast (Denali) – Family members can experience winter in Alaska – in the summertime. This special chamber is chilled to wintertime temperatures, so visitors can find out what happens to hot water when it is thrown in the air and whether soap bubbles can survive the cold.
Music of Denali Dinner Theater (Denali) – This rollicking musical comedy tells the legend of the first expedition to the summit of Mt. McKinley, accompanied by a hearty, family-style meal featuring smokehouse ribs and Alaska salmon.
Experience Alaska with Alaska Geographic Tour (Denali) – A more intimate tour of Denali National Park, this special experience includes a variety of interactive experiences, including an enhanced view of the Denali ecosystem and current research taking place. The narrated bus tour takes guests 15 miles into the park to a beautiful river valley where they embark on a short walk to the historic Savage River Camp, where they can participate in a number of hands-on experiences.
Denali Sourdough Expedition Breakfast (Denali) – While fueling up for the day with a family-style, Alaskan roadhouse-style breakfast, guests experience an unforgettable journey up Denali through breathtaking images in Laurent Dick's Climb Denali. Participants have the opportunity to meet this real mountain climber and ask questions about mountain climbing.
Riverboat Cruise and El Dorado Goldmine Tour (Fairbanks) – Families can enjoy traveling on an authentic sternwheeler for a fully-narrated cruise along the Chena River and try their hands at gold panning at the El Dorado Gold Mine, where they will learn about Alaska's gold mining history.
Fares for the Alaska Family Cruisetour (#FUN) start at $1,743 per person for the first and second berths, and $1,191 per person for the third and fourth berth passengers. That's under $100 per night for the third and fourth berth passengers, so a really good deal!
For more information on this Family Fun Cruisetour or any other cruise vacation, please contact Sheila McPherson, Your Independent Cruise Specialist, at (630) 868-6719 or toll-free at (877) 823-8597.
Friday, March 13, 2009
Cruise Carnival, Get Paid? Carnival Cruise Lines Now Offers Cash Back!
Carnival Cruise Lines announced a few days ago a new promotion offering "cash back" of up to $240 per stateroom for a wide range of the line's "Fun Ship" departures this summer.
The new promotion is available in conjunction with virtually all three- to eight-day summer departures, including voyages to the Caribbean, Bahamas and Mexico from fourteen (yes, 14!) convenient North American homeports. Bookings must be made between March 9 - May 10, 2009, to qualify for the promotion, which is valid with the line's "Fun Select" advance purchase discount fares.
The cash back option is provided in the form of a shipboard credit that can be redeemed once on board. Guests will receive a $100 per stateroom shipboard credit on three- and four-day cruises; $150 per stateroom shipboard credit on five-day voyages; and $240 per stateroom shipboard credit for six-, seven- and eight-day sailings. $240 is quite a bit of money to spend, so this is a great deal!
The shipboard credit is automatically applied on guests' Sail & Sign accounts when they board their cruise and can be redeemed toward shore excursions, spa treatments, supper club reservations, gift shop items and a variety of other shipboard purchases. Any unused funds at the end of the cruise will be returned to guests on debarkation day in the form of a check. And that's the greatest part about this promotion, because usually shipboard credit is not refundable, so if you don't spend it, you lose it.
"A 'Fun Ship' cruise is already an affordable vacation option for today's value-conscious consumers and this new promotion - which provides guests with cash back that can be used toward any shipboard purchase -- makes the value of a Carnival cruise even more outstanding," said Lynn Torrent, Carnival's senior vice president of sales and guest services. I heartily agree!
The new promotion is capacity controlled and applies to new individual bookings for stateroom categories 4A to 11. To book, give me a call today at (630) 868-6719 or
(877) 823-8597, and you'll be on your way to getting some bucks back from Carnival!
The new promotion is available in conjunction with virtually all three- to eight-day summer departures, including voyages to the Caribbean, Bahamas and Mexico from fourteen (yes, 14!) convenient North American homeports. Bookings must be made between March 9 - May 10, 2009, to qualify for the promotion, which is valid with the line's "Fun Select" advance purchase discount fares.
The cash back option is provided in the form of a shipboard credit that can be redeemed once on board. Guests will receive a $100 per stateroom shipboard credit on three- and four-day cruises; $150 per stateroom shipboard credit on five-day voyages; and $240 per stateroom shipboard credit for six-, seven- and eight-day sailings. $240 is quite a bit of money to spend, so this is a great deal!
The shipboard credit is automatically applied on guests' Sail & Sign accounts when they board their cruise and can be redeemed toward shore excursions, spa treatments, supper club reservations, gift shop items and a variety of other shipboard purchases. Any unused funds at the end of the cruise will be returned to guests on debarkation day in the form of a check. And that's the greatest part about this promotion, because usually shipboard credit is not refundable, so if you don't spend it, you lose it.
"A 'Fun Ship' cruise is already an affordable vacation option for today's value-conscious consumers and this new promotion - which provides guests with cash back that can be used toward any shipboard purchase -- makes the value of a Carnival cruise even more outstanding," said Lynn Torrent, Carnival's senior vice president of sales and guest services. I heartily agree!
The new promotion is capacity controlled and applies to new individual bookings for stateroom categories 4A to 11. To book, give me a call today at (630) 868-6719 or
(877) 823-8597, and you'll be on your way to getting some bucks back from Carnival!
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
It's All About the Family
Let's face it: cruising is wonderful, in fact it's probably the best vacation value around, but it can sometimes get tricky when you're trying to book a stateroom and you have more than four people in your family. I have five people in my immediate family, as I am married and we have three kids under the age of 16. I grew up in a family of five, so it was always two adjacent hotel rooms for us when we would travel, but trying to accommodate all of us comfortably on a cruise ship gets a little more complicated. This is because my husband and I always insist on having a balcony stateroom, and then we need to be able to find an inside stateroom across the hall to accommodate our kids. (We've never booked far enough in advance to snag one of the limited number of "family staterooms" that are available on most ships.) The good thing, however, is that it finally seems as if cruise lines are getting smarter and more hip to the fact that many families exceed the "perfect four" of mommy, daddy, son, and daughter. Family staterooms, those that accommodate five or more passengers, are becoming more commonplace, and thus, easier to book than ever before.
Take Royal Caribbean's new Oasis of the Seas, for example. The Oasis of the Seas has several different categories of staterooms that will accommodate larger families, ranging from the Family Oceanview Stateroom with Balcony, which sleeps six; all the way up to the tony Royal Loft Suite, which sleeps six in grand style in a two-story stateroom complete with baby grand piano, indoor and outdoor dining rooms, and a huge balcony furnished with an LCD TV, entertainment area, and Jacuzzi. And if you need even more bunks, there's even the Presidential Family Suite which sleeps FOURTEEN! Now those are what I call FAMILY staterooms!!!
For more information on the fabulous Oasis of the Seas or to book, visit my website at www.serenitycruising.com or call me today at (630) 868-6719 or toll-free at (877) 823-8597.
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