Alaska Land Tours are they worth the extra $$$

[chuckles60]

Looking into doing the Land & Sea in Alaska. Is the land tours connoisseur service worth the extra $$$$$.. also how are the meals do you get anything more for the money

[jennybenny]

That's really up to you.  When we did Alaska, we stayed a week pre cruise and did things on our own.  It was less expensive than the land tours, by far, but, it was more work to organize.  We had a group of 8, 4 couples.  We did book a couple of nights at a Princess Lodge, and that was nice too.  We've been saying we want to go back because there is so much we did not do last time.  Time and money have kept us from booking,  🙂 

[paul929207]

"Worth It" is always subjective. We felt it was a good value, but I am sure others felt it was aver priced.

[cheeseclan]

For us it was worth every penny.  We really enjoyed it.  As far as dinners go: you could get a cold drink and a hot drink, one appetizer, a main meal and a dessert.   I always got the seafood for dinner while my boys would get the surf and turf.  It was always very yummy.

 

[chuckles60]

How many days did you do

[cheeseclan]

We did 5 nights post cruise.

[reedprincess]

Worth is in the eye of the beholder. 

To us, the connoisseur tour was absolutely NOT worth the extra money. We did the Off The Beaten Path tour instead - and paid for all our own meals and drinks, and it was "worth it" to do it that way. We weren't tied to the lodges for meals but rather ate out in town and such, we ate and drank all we wanted along the way, and came out way less expensive than the connoisseur tour would have been for same itineray.  We had a guide with us all the way, great room locations, and way more variety for meals versus eating at the lodges with the same menus at all of them.. 

Worked better for us. Others love the connoisseur tour.  YMMV.. Only you know what's "worth it" to you.. 

Edited December 17, 2018 by reedprincess

[1025cruise]

If you think going to Alaska is a one shot experience, then yes, a land tour is worth it. However, maybe look into booking your own, versus the cruise line?

[azbirdmom]

We've done two cruisetours neither of which were the Connoisseur version.  We were quite pleased with our tours and actually did eat most of our meals at the lodges which were quite tasty and provided a lot of variety.  If you're interested in seeing the menus, they should be under the specific lodges accessed through this link:  https://www.princesslodges.com/princess-alaska-lodges/ .   Just follow the "Dining" links - there's a few screens you need to go through to get there!

[c-boy]

we flew as a group from SeaTac to Anchorage where a new touring coach and guide met us. All our baggage was handled and off we went for an sunset site seeing  around town and arrived at Anchorage Marriott. We went to our room to find our bags already delivered. Cleaned up a little, a clothes change and went down stairs to dine ( first time I tried Elk) my wife had fresh salmon. The guide gave a short presentation (slides included) of what to expect the following day. We set out our clothes for the next day and put our suit case out to be collected later that night. We woke the sound of KNBA giving us the days forecast, clear skies, highs in the mid 60's winds out of the East at 5.  Opened the black out curtains to see the town was already buzzin at 6 am. A quick shower and shave for both of us. (Alaska brings out the beast in all of us) threw our jammies in the carry on and down to the dinning room for a breakfast. Most of the other tour group had already eaten and assembled in the lobby. So took out breakfast to go.  Once on the luxurious Prevost motor coach a quick head count and we were off. Heading west northwest on the A1.  Man let me tell you we covered some ground. We stopped at a way side station to stretch were we all took turns peeping thru a spotting scope a Dahl sheep on the side of a mountain and using the one toilet they had. Rounded us up again and off we went, galavanting thru the Alaskan tundra. We learned to sing the Alaskan state song, and about ten others,which was great because everything looked dead. At hour five we stopped at a grocery store in the middle of NO WHERE! There was asprin dated from 1980. Alka Seltzer from the seventies. No perishables to be found.  Caribou jerky, dried beans, coffee (instant) they even had Tang!  I started to get nervous thinking about what if(s). I asked the guide how much further to the nights lodging. She must of seen fear in my eye's " we're campin out tonite on the open tundra amongst the wolves and starvin' bears. So best fatten up on the caribou jerky PILGRIM!"  .....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stay tuned for part two.

[TW6cruiser]

We thought it was well worth the money when we did one of these in 2015 pre-cruise.  The food in the lodges was excellent (frankly better than on the ships).  We had premier hotel rooms in the lodges (in terms of views, quiet locations, etc.).  We had all our dinner reservations at the lodges handled by our tour guide (who asked us ahead of time did we want to eat early, late, by ourselves or with others).   We had the longer tour included into Denali.   

[PAKathy]

We've done two cruise tours to Alaska, both pre-cruise which I highly recommend.  One tour was a Princess one, and the other was a private travel agency that runs escorted tours.  Both were excellent.  We flew in to Fairbanks a day early each time, rented a car for the day and explored on our own.  Ate dinner at the Turtle Club and the Pump House restaurants.  Both tours were booked in to Princess hotels and used Princess transportation.  Second (private tour) one included more meals at the lodges.  The crab legs at the Denali Princess were outstanding!  The filet mignon at the McKinley Princess was very tasty.  

Make sure you take the long tour into Denali Park!  Ride the domed train!  Go to Talkeetna!  Eat at some local restaurants, try some new foods, talk to people!  Do a ride on a dog sled!  Enjoy Alaska!

We love Alaska so much we are taking our family on a cruise next year.  Unfortunately they cannot take time off from work to do a land tour so it's just the cruise part.  I'm sure we'll have a great time just being together in an amazing state.

[caribill]

You can see our report of an Alaska Princess connoisseur tour from several years ago at https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/1656270-details-of-the-tour-part-of-a-princess-alaska-cruisetour/

 

At that time we felt the connoisseur pricing was definitely worth it.

[Kingofcool1947]

15 hours ago, chuckles60 said:

Looking into doing the Land & Sea in Alaska. Is the land tours connoisseur service worth the extra $$$$$.. also how are the meals do you get anything more for the money

Yes,

[nukesubsailor]

We have taken a 3-day land tour before the 7 day cruise.  It was good but way too short.  Years later we took the 8 day Connoisseur escorted tour before the 7 day cruise.  It was fantastic and well worth the cost.  It takes all the hassle out of the vacation so you can really relax and enjoy all the sights and knowledge you will get from the tour director.  We are repeating that same cruise tour next year.  If you can afford the cost and time, you will not be sorry if you take the longest connoisseur tour offered.

[DougH]

I prefer to do a back to back on Princess. 2 stops in each port allows lots of time for multiple excursions. Northbound you are usually in port long enough to do the all day Adventure Bound tour to Tracy Arm from Juneau, 2nd week you can explore the area. Heading North you stop in Glacier Bay and College Fjord, South stops in both Hubbard and Glacier Bay. Lots cheaper than the tours also usually

[USCcruisecrazy]

11 hours ago, PAKathy said:

We've done two cruise tours to Alaska, both pre-cruise which I highly recommend.  One tour was a Princess one, and the other was a private travel agency that runs escorted tours.  Both were excellent.  We flew in to Fairbanks a day early each time, rented a car for the day and explored on our own.  Ate dinner at the Turtle Club and the Pump House restaurants.  Both tours were booked in to Princess hotels and used Princess transportation.  Second (private tour) one included more meals at the lodges.  The crab legs at the Denali Princess were outstanding!  The filet mignon at the McKinley Princess was very tasty.  

Make sure you take the long tour into Denali Park!  Ride the domed train!  Go to Talkeetna!  Eat at some local restaurants, try some new foods, talk to people!  Do a ride on a dog sled!  Enjoy Alaska!

We love Alaska so much we are taking our family on a cruise next year.  Unfortunately they cannot take time off from work to do a land tour so it's just the cruise part.  I'm sure we'll have a great time just being together in an amazing state.

Alaska truly is a magnificent place.  We lived there for four years and enjoyed the beautiful sites, the wildlife, and the incredible food.  From what you listed here, you did a great job of taking advantage of quite a bit Alaska has to offer!

[sammiedawg]

Princess Cruise tours are one of the great travel bargains in the world.  Absolutely worth the money.  The seamless, efficient organization amazed us each and every day. We would have tried the connoisseur experience but it didn’t match our dates.   We would love to do it in the future.  

[frugaltravel]

As was said above, whether it is "worth it" is very subjective.  Princess has been operating a long time in Alaska, so they have a good system.  My biggest issue with them is that you are locked into a pretty rigorous schedule.  Bags outside your door 1-2 hours before you need to be leaving, which is a complaint I hear a lot.  But it has to be that way in order to get the luggage retrieved, counted and loaded.

 

One of the biggest issues I have with Princess cruisetours in Alaska is that almost all of their cruisetours only include the Natural History Tour in Denali.  That only goes 26 miles into the park, whereas the Tundra Wilderness Tour goes 62 miles into the park.  Better yet is a transit shuttle bus that goes at least 66 miles into the park and costs 1/3 the price of the TWT.

 

If you opt for the cruisetour, just be certain you know what you are buying.  What exactly is included?  How long will you really spend in any one location?  What are the activities available in each location?  If you did the land tour on your own, you will have much more flexibility to stop when/where you want and be able to explore more on your own.  You will also be able to stay in more local type lodging or smaller less commercial properties.  Princess properties are nice, but are big and are designed to move a lot of people through them.  McKinley Princess Lodge is an hour from anything (i.e. Talkeetna) and really is just a "holding area" to/from Denali.  The only redeeming quality of the property is its view of Denali (the mountain), if it is even visible.

 

[cheeseclan]

I agree with frugaltravel as far as you should know what is included since each cruisetour is different.  

Ours included the tundra wilderness tour which was awesome.  You get a box snack box with a water.  Our guide said might be good to get a sandwich to take as well.  Good idea so we ordered and picked up at cafe in lobby area prior to getting on the bus.

the McKinley lodge was amazing.  The sights from the deck were stunning.  We had great weather and got to see Denali!  There were several awesome restaurants, tons of seating outside and inside and a great fire pit area where we had a party with everyone on the tour!

on our free day the boys went on a fast boat up a river with rapids.  I went horseback riding:  it was great.  Some on our bus took the shuttle to Talkeetna for the day.

 

this is all imho.  But I would definitively do it again!!!

[Roo]

On 12/17/2018 at 4:34 PM, reedprincess said:

Worth is in the eye of the beholder. 

To us, the connoisseur tour was absolutely NOT worth the extra money. We did the Off The Beaten Path tour instead - and paid for all our own meals and drinks, and it was "worth it" to do it that way. We weren't tied to the lodges for meals but rather ate out in town and such, we ate and drank all we wanted along the way, and came out way less expensive than the connoisseur tour would have been for same itineray.  We had a guide with us all the way, great room locations, and way more variety for meals versus eating at the lodges with the same menus at all of them.. 

Worked better for us. Others love the connoisseur tour.  YMMV.. Only you know what's "worth it" to you.. 

 

Hi there,  When you mentioned that you ate out in town etc., which stops/hotels were you close enough to eat somewhere other than the hotel?  Could you walk into 'town"?

Thanks,

Nancy

[Shelldor]

We went to Alaska in 2008 and took a cruisetour through Princess.   I don't know if things have changed much, but we are planning a second trip to Alaska and will probably just rent a car and do it on our own.  The tour we took used the train, which was never on time.  We hung around waiting for the train on numerous occasions.  The Princess properties were very nice, but we found them to be placed well away from towns so spent time shuttling to and from.  Like I said earlier, if you don't mind the extra planning, rent a car and do it on your own.  It's not like you are in  foreign country ! :-) 

[reedprincess]

41 minutes ago, Roo said:

 

Hi there,  When you mentioned that you ate out in town etc., which stops/hotels were you close enough to eat somewhere other than the hotel?  Could you walk into 'town"?

Thanks,

Nancy

Denali Lodge is literally across the street from a long stretch if shops, restauranrs, bars, etc.  We ate there for both dinners, lunch one afternoon, and grabbed some snacks from the grocery shop. They had the most amazing popcorn and fudge shop there - amazing stuff. Just delicious.

In McKinley, we went into Talkeetna and had lunch and  dinner there on arrival day .  We aren't big breakfast people at all, so had a muffin and water we had picked up in a coffee shop in Talkeetna the next morning on the bus on the way to our next stop.  

In Copper Mountain,  we had to eat at the lodge - the only time we ate at the lodges. The car that ran a shuttle into the one diner into town was broken down, and the shuttle from the lodge itself stopped at 2pm.. So not available to go into town for dinner.. As we hadn't eaten at any of the lodges yet, rhe menus were fresh - to us.  Heard a few folks complaining about the repeats.  Food was fine, nothing special, regular hotel food. Some Alaskan "specialties" that were the same at all the lodges, and weren't all that special.

You can see the menus at the Princess Lodge website. 

We ate and drank all we wanted at every stop and came in way cheaper than a connoisseur tour would have, or even just the add-on meal plan..  We had rooms in great locations, no complaints there.  And our driver/guides were wonderful, enjoyed them very much.   I would have not liked being tied to the resorts for all our meals - the repetition would have been too much. And there was wonderful interesting food at the various stops..  

[satxdiver]

The land tour is worth it as AK is a fantastic experience.  It all goes down to what you want to pay for from luxury to bare bones.  There is a lot to be said for luggage handling by the staff, superior meals  fancy rooms and top notch tours but you have to pay.  For me who has been to AK several times on land tours only and one tour that ended on a ship, I prefered the self guided tour.  However it required planning on my part making reservations ahead of time etc.  On all trips I rented a car in Anchorage and drove to Denali, Fairbanks and Homer stopping at points along the way at my leisure.  I prefered the independence that it gave me while others want to simply sit back and let someone else take care of everything.  AK is a remarkable natural experience so enjoy your visit no matter which method you pick. 

[hokiefans]

Hi there,

We are doing the connoisseur tour in May 2019 and were wondering how formal formal nights are?  We usually like to dress for dinner and in the Caribbean, my husband has worn a blazer, etc. but I am worried about weight and the space sweatshirts and sweaters take up.  Any advice would be appreciated.