Sheilaclapkin's Blog;

Of course Princess does not own Alaska, but there is that rumor. They do own most of the stores in towns they frequent, they own Lodges and lots and lots of busses to bus around their clientele and even a railroad to give tourists a train ride out to their lodges where everything you see, do and buy is their product. I am not badmouthing them, oh no, just showing you how you can be smart and build a conglomerate within the travel industry or most possibly any industry you are familiar with.

Wait and get a grip. PRINCESS OWNS ALASKA? Preposterous you and I say, I agree, but not totally.  Before much more is said, I suggest you look up Princess stock under the title, Carnival Corporation and watch it for a while. I am not, hear me now, NOT telling you to buy, just look under Carnival Corporation traded on the N.Y. Stock Exchange with the ticker symbol CCL. If in London the ticker symbol is CUK. A big birdy called Google told me that if you buy some shares, you get special sailing perks and shipboard credit. Do not quote me. You can also look and see how many cruise lines are under this umbrella. So, this is interesting.

Princess owns the waterfront stores in the towns they visit and hire out of the state personnel to run their Alaskan stores, It gets to be a little over the top in my book. The prices when you travel are up everywhere, but when you own everything your cruisers go, then, you may charge what you like and they will buy. We found it hard to buy anything with the Princess upgraded prices.

Our trip took us deeply and unknowingly into the Princess Conglomerate. After our lovely cruise, a Princess bus took us to the Princess Railroad Line, where food and drink was for purchase, during the entire 9-½ ride through the wilderness of Alaska to The DENALI PRINCESS LODGE where once again you are stuck out in the wilds with a number of Princess owned restaurants and Princess owned local tours. By the way, as a sideline, the mosquitos were as thick as fleas, for real. Everyone was swiping and swatting for dear life and not the life to the mosquito.  There were unusually large amounts of bombarding black mosquitos in the wilderness of Princess.  All of the outside events were complete with a thick smell of deet filled sprays and swatting. Where did you get the spray? Yeap, the Princess Lodge souvenir stores.

This is not intended to be rude to a very good business and a smart conglomerate. It is to tell you that with all of that business know how, they also know how to make everyone in the crowd feel special and safe. The ship personnel have wonderful qualities and personalities that shine out. Everything runs smoothly. The ship is spiffy clean and kept that way. The food is good and their specialty dining is fabulous. They will go out of their way to help you with your requirements if able. They are there to make your stay with them fine enough for you to boast to your friends. They do deserve a round of applause. So clap, clap, clap, and clap.