Plans are well underway for the trip. Since the last update in June, the date has come and passed for the final payment (August 9), which we have made. It was interesting to monitor the availability of cabins up until that date since reservations could be changed or even cancelled with full refund up until that time. From this date forward, until we sail in October, we are pretty well locked in to going, with just one more chance for a small partial refund if we had to cancel.
Since the price of this cruise is quite high, we did opt to purchase travel insurance through a company called CSA. We did a significant amount of investigation into the different types of policies available, all outside of coverages provided through Princess. Our investigation did show that most veteran travelers recommend getting insurance form a company specializing in travel insurance, not a cruise line, whose main objective it to make money. In the end, it appears that the same insurance company underwrites our travel insurance policy as well as the Carnival Cruise Lines policies, so we assumed that was the case for Princess Cruises, which is owned by Carnival.
One of the significant coverages, in addition to covering any cancellation of the cruise, is covering the cost of any type of medical evacuation in the event either if us becomes ill, or a non-traveling family member becomes ill back in the USA and we have to return home. Since this cruise ends up in a part of the world that is somewhat remote, and far from the USA, we felt that this was a good benefit to have. Apparently, medical evacuation can become quite costly, especially from the remote areas of the world we are traveling to. We hated to pay the cost of the insurance, but it does buy some peace of mind knowing it is there.
I do have to admit that while reading through reviews of most all of the major travel insurance companies, there were many less than complimentary review from people who had actually had to utilize their policy. From that information, I was able to determine that one really needs to know and understand the policy limitations, keep within the notification periods, and pay strict attention to the requirements imposed on the traveler when making a claim. Most of the unhappy reviews seemed to be a situation where they traveler just did not follow the rules set forth in the policy. Others that did follow the outlined rules had their claims fulfilled without issue. One interesting observation common across all of the various insurance companies was that none received an overall rating of more than about 3 out of 5 stars from their reviewers. Hopefully this is more a result of people wanting to find somewhere to give negative feedback than a true indication of the company’s performance. All in all, still a little unsettling, but it was consistent across the industry.
Princess also finally opened up their excursion list for the various ports. From monitoring the Cruise Critic web site forum for this cruise, we found out that there had been some unusual delays in opening up the excursions for this cruise. Most seemed to feel that this was a result of Princess visiting ports that are not normally part of their itineraries, and that some the ports that we do visit are usually done with a much smaller Princess ship. Apparently, they were having some issues lining up a sufficient number of excursions for some of the more exotic, smaller ports.
Although we are mainly doing port excursions on our own, I had read a couple if interesting items that resulted in a slight change in thought for our excursion plan in a couple of the ports. Fortunately, there is no negative side to signing up now for the excursions, the cancellation policy is very lenient, and there is no charge to cancel until right before the date of the excursion. The only two excursions we opted for through Princess were the Pearl Harbor-Arizona Memorial and Missouri Battleship Tour, and a tour in Samoa.
Pearl Harbor
For Pearl harbor, we opted to do this through the cruise line based on reading some stories online about there being potential problems with acquiring reservations for the Arizona Memorial when cruise ships are in port. Apparently, for some of the past Hawaiian cruises people have been on, they were unable to obtain reservations to the Arizona Memorial when they tried to go on their own. We did do some research on pricing of other independent tour operators offering a similar package, and found the Princess pricing to be only slightly more. In addition, there were some unwanted side trips for shopping with the independent operators, which we wanted to avoid. We still have the opportunity to do additional research to try and determine if we may want to do this tour independently, but we do know that the number of persons who are allowed to visit the Arizona Memorial is regulated.
Here is a description of the excursion to Pearl Harbor from the Princess website:
Take a fascinating tour of the Visitor’s Center which features a poignant short film with actual footage of the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 – the devastating event that shocked Americans out of isolationism and prompted the United States to declare war on Japan and thus enter World War II.
Then board a Navy launch and travel to the haunting USS Arizona Memorial. This graceful 184-foot long memorial seems to float serenely above the shattered hull of the sunken ship, destroyed by Japanese bombs on that infamous day. At once beautiful and sobering, this stunning memorial commemorates the 1,177 crewmen (75 were recovered, 1,102 remain entombed there) who were killed during the surprise attack.
Then visit the USS Missouri Memorial berthed on the former “battleship row” at Ford Island. The 887 foot long “Mighty Mo” battleship is a living museum that offers guests a glimpse into the past and the experience of being aboard a ship that is alive with history as well as modern technology. You will be educated and entertained with exhibits, memorabilia and activities that give you a sense of what life at sea was like aboard the world’s last and most celebrated battleship.
Discover the thrilling details of the kamikaze attack on the Missouri; stand in the shadows of the 16-inch guns that pummeled Inchon, Korea; see where 28 Tomahawk missiles were launched during the Gulf War and stand on the “Signature Deck” where General Douglas MacArthur stood when Japanese officials signed and presented him with the “Articles of Surrender” that ended World War II.
We still plan on getting or rental car for the day in Oahu, just later in the afternoon. We are in port in Honolulu until 10:30 PM, so there will still be ample time for some additional sightseeing with the rental car once we complete the Pearl Harbor excursion.
Western Samoa and American Samoa
We are still not sure what we will do in American Samoa, or Samoa, so it seemed prudent to at least book one tour in one of these ports. Again, since there is no cost to make a reservation or to cancel, we have signed up for an excursion called the “Piula Cave Pool & Vailele” in Western Samoa. The excursion is described on the Princess Website as follows:
Piula Cave Pool & Vailele – Board your colorful open-air bus and begin a fantastic half-day island adventure. From the wharf, take a scenic drive out of Apia to the Piula Cave Pool. Travel past the main houses in many of the villages, and observe their European construction. Just behind the houses are spectacular Fales, traditional Samoan thatched huts used during the day for cooking or eating.
Drive along the shore, and observe the sharply eroded, dramatic lava cliffs leading to Piula College. This Methodist seminary is built over a naturally occurring freshwater cave pool. Enjoy a drink of fresh coconut and take a plunge in the subterranean turquoise waters. Explore the underwater passage linking two cave chambers as you swim in the pool. Land lovers will have free time to explore the grounds of the college.
Leave the pool, and get ready for another unique cultural experience. Travel to famed author Robert Louis Stevenson’s house in the small village of Vailima. Stevenson’s final residence now serves as a historic museum with authentic period furnishings. The museum’s well-maintained gardens feature a stunning collection of tropical plants and flowers. Your visit includes a Kava ceremony, celebrating the medicinal powers of the Kava plant, and cultural entertainment. You will also have the opportunity to relax in the gardens surrounding the house.
On your return trip to Apia, stop for photographs of the lagoon and the world famous black-sand beaches at Lauli’i and Solosolo.
We still do not have a firm plan for American Samoa, other than to possibly visit an establishment called Tisa’s Barefoot Bar, apparently one of the more colorful spots in the American Samoa port of Pago Pago.
Tahiti
We have also signed up for a 4 x 4 excursion on the island of Tahiti, but again, only as a place holder until we finalize our own plan for that port. The main reason for possibly doing a ship excursion here is similar to what we faced while visiting the Canary Islands on a previous cruise. The City of Papeete in Tahiti is our last port of call before we head back the eight days across the Pacific Ocean for Los Angeles. If we were to have a mishap and “miss the boat” we would face getting back to Los Angeles on our own, and missing a good part of the cruise. Maybe for this port, we will either just stay around Papeete and shop for Tahitian Pearls, or go on this excursion and take comfort that we are not responsible for getting back to the ship before it sails.
On another note, we were able to take advantage of an opportunity to get some additional ship board credits by applying for a Princess Credit Card. If you utilize the card for Princess related purchases, you get double points, which in turn can be cashed in for ship board credits. We applied for the card a few weeks ago, and then utilized the card for the final cruise payment. Based on the amount of points we acquired, we are now able to get $300 of shipboard credit. This was another tip we picked up through Cruise Critic’s Roll Call forum for this trip. We will take “free” money whenever we can. Although we are not sure that this was the best way to maximize the value of a credit card rewards program, the doubling of the points seemed to be a good value, or at least, as good as any other credit card program.
There is also a $250 shipboard credit available for shareholders of Carnival Cruise Line Stock. This option is available to anyone who owns at least 100 shares, and ranges in value based on the duration of the cruise. This benefit is available for any and all cruises the shareholder takes in the year it is approved by the Board of Directors, and apparently, has been approved every year for quite a number of years. One learns about all kinds of ways to maximize the savings from fellow passengers through the Cruise Critic forums.