Meal package for Alaska land portion of cruise tour

[bjtravelnews]

Hello everyone.  New to Princess and want to book an Alaska Cruise Tour next summer.  I have looked through the posts and have read the pros and cons of purchasing the meal package for the land portion of the cruise.  The land portion I am looking at is for 2 nights at the Denali Princess and one night at Mt McKinley.  For those of you who have purchased the meals, can you kindly answer a few questions?  First, are you able to eat at any of the restaurants on site, or must you eat at a specific restaurant with the meal plan?  Second, can you pick items off the menu or is there a specific group of foods (special menu maybe) that you can choose from.  (If you get a voucher, is there a spending limit?)  Third, does the meal package include coffee, dessert or alcohol (assuming no to the alcohol but want to double check).  Lastly - for those who took the meal plan - would you take it again?  From what I can gather, food is expensive.  But you get a lot of food with the meal package - maybe more than we can eat? Really want to look at the fine details to see if it will be worth the cost for us.   One more thought - if the hotels offer a breakfast buffet, do they allow you to take anything out the restaurant (thinking maybe cookies, pieces of fruit or other items that can easily be carried for excursions that day).  Thank you everyone.  I have heard so many great things about Princess in Alaska and am really looking forward to this!

[cruisequeen4ever]

I can try to answer some of that, not from personal experience having it but from witnessing those who did have it. Please note, this was from pre-pandemic, so things may have changed.

 

For dinner, Princess let them choose an appetizer, entree, and dessert from any of the options at any of the restaurants on property. I’m not sure if no alcoholic beverages were included. I saw them getting crab and halibut, so you really can choose anything. For breakfast, they had a full buffet that only they could have. Those who didn't have the meal package needed to order off the regular menu. 
 

I live in Alaska, and our food prices are exorbitant, wherever you choose to eat. Yes, the meal plan is expensive,  but I consider it be a strong value and a great amount of convenience to be able to start and end your long touring days with filling, quality Alaskan food. 

[Mflem1278]

My experience is several years old, but we did the cruise tour with the meal plan and I am so glad we did.  You could order whatever you wanted. Appetizer, entree and dessert.  No alcohol, I do remember that.  I do not remember if tea and/or coffee was included, as we both drink water with our meals.

 

If you looked at the prices on the menu, they were terribly expensive and we probably would not have eaten as well as we did if we had had to pay the menu prices.