Trip Review: Connoisseur Land & Sea (RB8) June 19 - July 4, 2018

[Worldtraveler 4727]

Love your review with pictures. I have taken 3 round trip Alaska cruises and I am thinking of doing an Alaska land & cruise.

 

Thanks so much!

I don't think you'd regret taking a land tour. Interior Alaska is so different than the coast and has so much to offer as far as scenery, animals, and experiences.

[Worldtraveler 4727]

I'm really enjoying your review. While we haven't taken the Connoisseur tour previously, we will be on a land tour to Denali (for 2nd time) next month. We are excited. One of these days we'll be able to take more days away and do more inland! I just can't bring myself to do only an inland vacation--I love the cruise portion too much!

 

Thanks so much!

And the answer to your "dilemma" is that the Land & Sea Tours are the best of both worlds! :D

[jr8934]

I have enjoyed reading along. In 2013 we took off the beaten track and found it expensive to buy meals and excursions like the Music of Denali dinner theater. So on July 18th we leave for a 13 day Connoisseur tour that starts in Fairbanks. I hope we are lucky enough to get Michael, He sounds amazing. Please let us know how the cruise went! Joyce

[Lucky TGO]

Thank you for one of the best review and great Photos!!! I love it.

Tony

[bcnvcanada]

Thank you for your review. We pictures were

great and your details were awesome. At times we thought we

we along with you on this wonderful journey.

[riclop]

Thanks for the review.

[Id rather be diving]

Thank you so much for this review. We are doing this connessiour tour mpnext August for my 50th birthday.

 

My question is did you see any mobility impaired guests? Ones using a wheelchair or scooter? I assume the buses are handicap accessible but I know a lot of the big buses that are used for tours are not. However with this being in the US I expect everything to be very ADA compliant.

 

Thanks, Kari

[caribill]

Day #4 June 23, 2018

After your meal, you just place your vouchers on the table, and the wait staff will collect them. Often we were asked to just sign the voucher on the back. Sometimes we received a paper receipt and were asked to sign that as well. The vouchers work very simply, and you can order whatever you'd like.

 

 

And the tip is included with the voucher.

 

 

While we were in the main lodge, we went to the reception desk to give them our cell phone number and to ask to be put on the Call List. I had read that you need to do this EACH DAY. Reception will call you 24 hours a day if the mountain comes out. I had read that everyone just comes out in their pajamas to take photos if the mountain comes out late at night. That's what my research had told me. Reality was, the woman at reception asked only for our room number and insisted that that they will only call the rooms. So if the mountain is out, and you happen to not be in your room, you won't get the notification.

 

When we were there and put our room number on the list, we learned it does not work as we expected it to, namely getting a call soon after the mountain becomes visible.

 

We woke up that morning (I forget when, but probably by 7 AM, and I looked out the window in our room and the mountain was there in all of its glory, not a cloud in sight. We quickly dressed to go outside for the good photos. After that we returned to our room, dressed for breakfast, went to breakfast and soon after returning to our room the phone call came that the mountain was visible. This was a good two hours after we had awakened and probably at least three hours since the mountain was visible. In other words, do not expect a timely call when the mountain becomes visible.

 

see above in red

[Worldtraveler 4727]

I have enjoyed reading along. In 2013 we took off the beaten track and found it expensive to buy meals and excursions like the Music of Denali dinner theater. So on July 18th we leave for a 13 day Connoisseur tour that starts in Fairbanks. I hope we are lucky enough to get Michael, He sounds amazing. Please let us know how the cruise went! Joyce

 

Thanks, Joyce!

I am planning on reviewing the cruise as well.

Have a great time ---just a few more sleeps till you go! :)

[Worldtraveler 4727]

Thank you for one of the best review and great Photos!!! I love it.

Tony

 

Thanks and thanks for reading along!

[Worldtraveler 4727]

Thank you for your review. We pictures were

great and your details were awesome. At times we thought we

we along with you on this wonderful journey.

 

Thanks for the lovely compliment, and thanks for reading along!

[Worldtraveler 4727]

Thanks for the review.

 

Thanks for reading along!:)

[Worldtraveler 4727]

Caribill, thanks for the reminder that the vouchers state a 15% gratuity is included.

 

That reminds me....Michael made it clear that tips for bus drivers are also included (actually he said he'd be taking care of that himself), unless you felt they performed an extra service for you or were in some way outstanding.

 

Please note: The tip for Lisa, our driver on the Tundra Wilderness Tour, is not an included one. She deserved one, to be sure.

[Worldtraveler 4727]

Thank you so much for this review. We are doing this connessiour tour mpnext August for my 50th birthday.

 

My question is did you see any mobility impaired guests? Ones using a wheelchair or scooter? I assume the buses are handicap accessible but I know a lot of the big buses that are used for tours are not. However with this being in the US I expect everything to be very ADA compliant.

 

Thanks, Kari

 

Hi Kari,

The short answer is no, we did not see any wheelchairs or scooters on the land portion. We did see a few onboard the cruise portion.

 

None of the coach buses we were on had anything like a wheelchair/scooter lift. I would think that if you had a collapsible wheelchair and could make it up the bus stairs, that would work. Our tour buses only had our group of 26 onboard each time, so there'd be plenty of room for a collapsible wheelchair.

 

In addition, there are no wheelchair lifts on any of the small shuttles on the lodge properties, but again, with a collapsible wheelchair and being able to walk up the steps into the shuttle, that would work.

 

Also, The Tundra Wilderness Tour (included in the Connoisseur Tour) is run by the National Park, and they use school buses only inside Denali. The bus was full, so even a collapsible wheelchair on this tour might be an issue for you. Even the large shuttle buses used in the Denali National Park (at the Denali Princess Lodge) were all school-bus type, and they were always packed.

 

Hope that helps,

Kathy

[jimbri]

Excellent pictures and wonderful review! Thank you so much.

[Worldtraveler 4727]

Excellent pictures and wonderful review! Thank you so much.

 

Thank you, and thank you for reading along! I'm gathering my notes and will post reviews of our 7 cruise days on the Coral as well.

[sunsetbeachgal]

Question, do the Connoisseur tours include food or was it an option you selected? It sounds wonderful!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[BcIcemen]

On your cruise portion did you book a balcony cabin?

[BcIcemen]

Thank you for the detailed land portion of your vacation

Edited July 9, 2018 by BcIcemen
spelling error

[nbist]

Thank you for your thorough review. We are considering the Connoisseur or the Off the Beaten Path for 2019 or 2020. Like you, we are usually very independent travelers, but after doing some research it looks like we would be pretty much going to all the same places as the land tours, so why not let them do the driving and coordinating!?

 

One question regarding the Connoisseur - you mentioned that you were "assigned" to dine with various people on different nights. Is that mandatory, or is it possible to dine at a table for 2? Thanks!

[Marvie227]

Caribill, thanks for the reminder that the vouchers state a 15% gratuity is included.

 

That reminds me....Michael made it clear that tips for bus drivers are also included (actually he said he'd be taking care of that himself), unless you felt they performed an extra service for you or were in some way outstanding.

 

Please note: The tip for Lisa, our driver on the Tundra Wilderness Tour, is not an included one. She deserved one, to be sure.

 

 

We are taking this tour next June. Can you tell me about how much you tipped the Tundra tour bus driver?

[voljeep]

Thank you for your thorough review. We are considering the Connoisseur or the Off the Beaten Path for 2019 or 2020. Like you, we are usually very independent travelers, but after doing some research it looks like we would be pretty much going to all the same places as the land tours, so why not let them do the driving and coordinating!?

 

One question regarding the Connoisseur - you mentioned that you were "assigned" to dine with various people on different nights. Is that mandatory, or is it possible to dine at a table for 2? Thanks!

 

Excellent question, as we would also like that..I believe now, we would request with the 'leader' of our land portion that assigns tables, etc at the beginning...

[Worldtraveler 4727]

Question, do the Connoisseur tours include food or was it an option you selected? It sounds wonderful!

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

It truly was wonderful!

I believe that the 15 day Connoisseur tour includes the food, but I also believe that the Tours involving fewer days have the option of not including the food.

[Worldtraveler 4727]

On your cruise portion did you book a balcony cabin?

 

We wound up with an Oceanview Mini suite.

Friends we made onboard had a balcony, and although we had really great weather overall, it was too chilly to really use.

You will find many people on CC that say a balcony is a must for Alaska, and many others who say it isn't.

We had decided that the 15 Connoisseur Tour was pricey enough and had originally booked an Oceanview room. I will tell the story below on how we landed in a mini suite.

[Worldtraveler 4727]

Thank you for the detailed land portion of your vacation

 

Thanks for reading along! :)