Alaska Cruise Tour Meal Program - Is it worth it?

[NYKYCruiser1]

We are going on a Alaskan Cruise tour in May 2023.  We are staying at  Denali and Mt. McKinley resorts  I was advised meals are not provided. I have price list from Princess on the cost of the plan they offer but wasn't sure it was worth it?  Does anyone know if those resorts or the area have more then one  restaurant and/or how are the prices?  

Thanks 

[Rudy888]

It depends on what you want to order. If you want burgers, fish & chips probably not. If you want halibut,  crab etc meal plan may be best

 ALASKA food is not cheap. I chose the meal plan so my wife doesn't worry about cost and otfer the cheapest thing on the menu.

It is vacation.

 

[NYKYCruiser1]

Thx

How is the menu? It it varied,? I cant eat seafood . Do you know or does anyone know of you can get a sample menu of what's offered? 

[cruzin4us]

1 hour ago, NYKYCruiser1 said:

Thx

How is the menu? It it varied,? I cant eat seafood . Do you know or does anyone know of you can get a sample menu of what's offered? 

can you not eat fish or shellfish or both?      Halibut fish and chips are soooo good if you can eat that.   The salmon too.    

[NYKYCruiser1]

I can`t eat any seafood.  So if the menus are fish heavy I would like to know before I waste my money.  

Edited April 30, 2022 by NYKYCruiser1
adding

[mtnesterz]

On 4/29/2022 at 11:25 AM, NYKYCruiser1 said:

...We are staying at  Denali and Mt. McKinley resorts  I was advised meals are not provided...

First, you should know that McKinley and Denali are not resorts but wilderness lodges. The difference being that you're in the middle of nowhere and there's no heading down to the corner or across the street to a fast food joint. So if you are going to eat, you either pack it in or eat there. Since you have a menu, you know the prices.

You mention a problem with seafood, but this can include freshwater finfish. At the time of our visit, there was a breakfast and lunch buffet, a casual coffee shop and a separate dinner restaurant featuring salmon and a coffee and pastry counter. You don't have to eat fish, many choices.

Sounds like you bought the, On Your Own, or Denali Explorer package. I would see if you can change to the Connoisseur package so meals, and excursions, are included. 

[reedprincess]

19 minutes ago, mtnesterz said:

First, you should know that McKinley and Denali are not resorts but wilderness lodges. The difference being that you're in the middle of nowhere and there's no heading down to the corner or across the street to a fast food joint. So if you are going to eat, you either pack it in or eat there. Since you have a menu, you know the prices.

You mention a problem with seafood, but this can include freshwater finfish. At the time of our visit, there was a breakfast and lunch buffet, a casual coffee shop and a separate dinner restaurant featuring salmon and a coffee and pastry counter. You don't have to eat fish, many choices.

Sounds like you bought the, On Your Own, or Denali Explorer package. I would see if you can change to the Connoisseur package so meals, and excursions, are included. 

FWIW - Denali Lodge is hardly the middle of nowhere. It's located smack on a busy road, with a quite large shopping area directly across the street with numerous restaurants, bars, grocery, fast food, etc.  

McKinley is an hour from Talkeetna, yes more isolated, but not exactly in the middle of nowhere.  

[mtnesterz]

8 minutes ago, reedprincess said:

FWIW - Denali Lodge is hardly the middle of nowhere. It's located smack on a busy road, with a quite large shopping area directly across the street with numerous restaurants, bars, grocery, fast food, etc.  

McKinley is an hour from Talkeetna, yes more isolated, but not exactly in the middle of nowhere.  

Perhaps this is the case now at Denali. I did say, "At the time of our visit..." which was years ago. We were there in September and the few stores across the street were closed up for the season. So functionally, if we wanted to eat, the lodge was it. In May for the OP's trip, they might not be open yet or out of business due to Covid.

Also at the time, was a huge rainstom. We couldn't get to Talkeetna from Mckinley because the town was underwater.  The word Talkeetna means something like, where rivers meet. Well they did, to disasterous effect. Also, we transferred to buses because the train tracks were washed out.

All said to say to the OP, the weather is fierce and unpredictable in Alaska even in summer. If they have restrictions, plan for it.

One more thing, Alaska in May? Bring mosquito repellent.

[sewingmolly]

It's been a while since we've been to Alaska, but another consideration is that we found food to be much more expensive in Alaska.  You really can't compare the cost of the meal plan to restaurant costs where you live.  Between most food having to be shipped long distances and tourist businesses needing to make a year's earnings in a few months, eating in Alaska in comparatively expensive even in chain fast food places.

[sirclean]

I was at both five or six years ago.  The food was wonderful at the resorts.  I know that there were a few places across the street from one of them (mentioned above) but the food there was not exactly less expensive.  I remember that before the rail to the ship, we picked up some subway sandwiches.  At the time, they offered $5 footlongs, but they were not that cheap in that part of Alaska!  So you may be better off eating in the resort restaurants.  I did a quick search for you and hopefully this is a link to a menu for one of Denali's locations:

 

https://www.menupix.com/menudirectory/menu.php?id=250331372

 

Here is a link to the resort, you can look here for the names of the other places and search those names too

https://www.princesslodges.com/princess-alaska-lodges/denali-lodge/

[Elizabeth K.]

We stayed at both lodges in 2018 on a 12 day cruise/land package. There were lots of choices on the menus at the restaurants in the lodges. Plenty of meat choices if you don't eat seafood. My husband is vegan and he managed with salads along with accommodating staff subbing in black beans and avocado. We didn't do the meal plan. Prices were moderate I would say. Breakfast at McKinley Lodge was probably the worst sticker shock (I'm thinking like $15 for pancakes) and I don't recall there being tons of dining venue choices there. But we were on a bucket list vacation and it's part of the budget. One of the lodges, I don't recall which, had a Starbucks with breakfast options like oatmeal, KIND bars and the like.

 

I agree there is a  strip mall across a busy road from the resort at Denali NP lodge. There was a shuttle if you didn't want to walk. There were a variety of choices there including a Subway and a funky cafe that had veg and vegan choices. Don't know if they survived the pandemic. There were also some options on either side if the strip mall.

 

I hope you enjoy your trip as much as we did.

[cruisequeen4ever]

It’s definitely quite a spread if you go with their meal plan, true full course meals and amazing food. If you don’t eat seafood, there will still be options, but I did see most people having crab and halibut, since those are AK specialties. 

[NYKYCruiser1]

Thx everyone. I'm thinking the meal plan is the way to go.

[Mom&MeCruiseAL]

I'm an accountant so, of course, I crunched the numbers.  The package that was available for us to buy only included breakfast and dinner, no lunches.  I would have to order the most expensive meals to come anywhere close to the cost of the package.  Definitely, not worth it for us.  

 

We spent two nights in Denali in 2018.  The food was good and more pricey than home but not unreasonable.  Lynx, the pizza joint was great.  We will eat there again this time too.