Dining on cruise tour

[Denise&Paul STL]

Going on a Princess cruisetour to McKinley and Denali to Fairbanks. I am on a budget and wondered what low-cost dining options are available in those areas or if anyone has suggestions for grabbing some snackfood after the ship docks before we take off for the tour. Anything to save some money for those excursions!:eek:

[notes4theheart]

Going on a Princess cruisetour to McKinley and Denali to Fairbanks. I am on a budget and wondered what low-cost dining options are available in those areas or if anyone has suggestions for grabbing some snackfood after the ship docks before we take off for the tour. Anything to save some money for those excursions!:eek:

 

I've read (while doing my own thrifty research) that there's a subway across from the Denali Princess that's about $10 per person. I also found "the Cookie Jar" in Fairbanks that seems very reasonable. I was even able to find a restaurant.com dining certificate to get a bit of a discount on them

[MichiganStateMom]

We ate at Subway and Denali Doghouse. They are both across the street from the Denali Princess Lodge. There were also a couple of pizza places around.

 

We didn't have a car in Fairbanks, so Pike's landing was nice burger bar next door to Fairbanks Princess Lodge. If you want to load up on snacks, there is a Fred Meyer in Fairbanks close to the lodge that you easily get to by taxi. To save money on snacks, I packed protein bars in my luggage. They came in handy when going through Denali on the bus. Hope that helps!

[Webecruzen]

We packed Nutragrain bars in our luggage and had those for breakfast on out land tour. Breakfast ran $15.00pp for a continental breakfast and $20.00 for a buffet at the lodges. We picked up $8.95 footlongs from Subway in Seward for the bus trip and also took them on the train. The boxed lunches at the lodge were about $20.00pp I believe. We also took Crystal Light single packs to add to water for a change of pace. Granola bars, Cereal bars, and trail mix are all good easy to carry snacks.

[PennyAgain]

We packed Nutragrain bars in our luggage and had those for breakfast on out land tour. Breakfast ran $15.00pp for a continental breakfast and $20.00 for a buffet at the lodges. We picked up $8.95 footlongs from Subway in Seward for the bus trip and also took them on the train. The boxed lunches at the lodge were about $20.00pp I believe. We also took Crystal Light single packs to add to water for a change of pace. Granola bars, Cereal bars, and trail mix are all good easy to carry snacks.

 

Yes, to this list of good ideas!

 

In addition I nearly always have a small jar of peanut butter and either a loaf of bread or a sack of crackers for DIY snacks.

 

I also have a small water boiler and tea bags (also instant coffee) for making hot drinks in my room as I travel.

 

Warehouse stores like COSTCO have wonderful snacky options at decent prices. Yes, I do bring some things from home and add to my stash as trips go on.

[bjones555]

We just returned from our crusetour and depending on where you are from food can be a big expense. Our tours left very early with little chance for breakfast other than at the lodges before we left. Two mornings we ate at the buffet $15pp and $18pp. Once we ate that we were good untill 5pm with perhaps a small snack. Think at least $50 per couple for a simple dinner. Don't deprive yourself of good Alaskan food by eating all subways and pizzas. Your trip cost thousands it's only a couple hundred more. I do wish we had taken more snacks with us, peanuts or snack bars. A can of pringles was $4.50, a can of peanuts $9, and a box of snack bars as much as $7. Fairbanks prices were the best. Have fun

[Denise&Paul STL]

Thank you so much for all those ideas!! Everyone seems to talk a lot about eating at the lodges and that the food isn't great, so I am truly grateful for some alternatives - we will be getting lots of great local food throughout, but nice to find less expensive places as well! Much appreciated!!

[ROCruiser]

A little muffin cost $3 at the Bear Lodge where Princess put us in Fairbanks, ouch! As mentioned above, meals can be expensive but there are some experience that we did not mind paying a little extra for, like the breakfast at Roadhouse in Talkeetna, breakfast served on the train (around $10pp) from Fairbanks to Denali, and light dinner at the Bear Bar (I think that's the name) in McKinney Lodge where you can enjoy the view of Denali. Also, get some pasties to go from Roadhouse, they are inexpensive and delicious.