Cruise Tour question

[Katesmeem]

Hello!  Looking at signing up for the Cruise Tour in September on the Sun Princess ( 31 days with Transatlantic to Ft. Lauderdale).  I was wondering if anyone has taken the land package before that Princess offers?  We are in our 70’s, able to get around well, but want to see Spain’s main cities and cruise home.  Any info is appreciated!

[cjpj]

I'm booked for one this December. It is my understanding that, although expensive, they are all first class. Sure, you can do it yourself for cheaper, but sometimes you just want everything done for you and have nothing to worry about.

[Thrak]

We have never done a cruise tour to that area but have done two Connoisseur Cruise Tours to Alaska. We loved them and were pleased to have so much taken care of for us. If we ever do another Princess Cruise Tour we will almost certainly do another Connoisseur tour.

[coldweather]

29 minutes ago, Thrak said:

We have never done a cruise tour to that area but have done two Connoisseur Cruise Tours to Alaska. We loved them and were pleased to have so much taken care of for us. If we ever do another Princess Cruise Tour we will almost certainly do another Connoisseur tour.

 

Hello Thrak  @Thrak

We are looking into a cruise tour to Alaska this year (2024).  We have cruised before but have never paired a cruise with a cruise tour.

 

We are looking at a Connoisseur Cruise Tour (RB5) or Denali Explorer (HB5) or Off the Beaten Path (MB6).  I am struggling to understand what is different with each tour.  (I do understand MB6 is a day longer.)

 

I can see the Connoisseur Cruise Tour includes Breakfast and Dinner as part of the land tour.  It also includes the "Tundra Wilderness Tour" that is an add on for the other tours.

 

Can you please help me understand a bit more about what is included in the Connoisseur Cruise Tour?  Does this tour help you get reservation in the lodge restaurants to avoid long lines?  Are there other tours/services/perks that may be included that I am not seeing? 

 

Since the lodges are somewhat isolated it seem that everyone who stays there must need to use the lodge-restaurants.  Also, I am assuming many people are trying to get ready for tours that start at similar times.  What is the breakfast and lunch food rush like?  Is there a restaurant open for lunch at the lodges?

 

Thanks for your help.  The prices are all over the place and it is hard to get a handle on what is included. 

Edited April 19 by coldweather

[Thrak]

We do the land tour first so we can unwind on the southbound cruise. Both times we started at the Fairbanks lodge. They provided breakfast the first day and we then went on included excursions. The attached document is a bunch of snips from our Travel Summary for a 15 day Connoisseur Escorted Tour. I did it in a hurry just now so hopefully didn't miss a day or double a day or something dorky like that. Lot's going on here at the moment so I did it in a hurry. However, even if I messed it up it should give you an idea of what is included. Also, I will attach a link to an old post by @caribill which is one of the factors that helped us decide on this type of tour in the first place.

 

TRAVEL SUMMARY PORTIONS

Travel Summary Snips.docx

 

POST BY caribill

 

 

EDIT: Be aware that the Tundra Wilderness Tour can't go the full distance at the moment as part of the mountain slid off and took the road with it. It will be quite some time before they can "replace" that portion of the road.

 

Edited April 19 by Thrak

[Ken the cruiser]

We are in our early 70s too and did a 17-day Princess Canada/New England land-cruise last fall, which included 5 days traveling from Toronto before embarking on the Caribbean Princess in Quebec City, and had an awesome time (see my Live From thread in my below signature). Here are the details of the land portion of your cruise which looks pretty cool!

 

 

https://www.princess.com/cruise-search/details/?voyageCode=U436&resType=T&tourCode=T4F02D

[Paula_MacFan]

 

1 hour ago, coldweather said:

We are looking into a cruise tour to Alaska this year (2024).  I am struggling to understand what is different with each tour.  Can you please help me understand a bit more about what is included in the Connoisseur Cruise Tour? 

 

We have an Alaska cruisetour booked for next month and in addition to posts here on CC (both this Princess forum and the Alaska forum) we found this Princess page helpful:  https://www.princess.com/en-us/faq/cruisetours

 

This page compares all the different cruisetour options in chart form:

https://www.princess.com/learn/cruise-destinations/alaska-cruises/cruisetour-options/cruisetour-finder/

 

The attached Princess Alaska PDF also has good info.  

alaska-cruisetours-overview-what-to-expect.pdf.coredownload.inline.pdf

[geniesue]

We did the Spain cruisetour last year and thoroughly enjoyed it!  You have a guide and buss driver that accompanies you on the tour.  There are daily excursions Included, and optional excursions available at extra costs on occasion.  The escort handles all the logistics, you just enjoy the trip.  We’ve done Italy, Switzerland, 2 different Alaska cruisetours and were extremely happy with all of them.  Hotels are always top rated in excellent locations.  They deal with luggage handling, you’re responsible to putting  outside your room and will see it in your next hotel room.  We are also in our 70s and appreciate the excellent service given. Although the trip is pricey, you’ll have a wonderful trip!

[Mary loves to travel]

On 4/19/2024 at 1:24 PM, Thrak said:

We do the land tour first so we can unwind on the southbound cruise. Both times we started at the Fairbanks lodge. They provided breakfast the first day and we then went on included excursions. The attached document is a bunch of snips from our Travel Summary for a 15 day Connoisseur Escorted Tour. I did it in a hurry just now so hopefully didn't miss a day or double a day or something dorky like that. Lot's going on here at the moment so I did it in a hurry. However, even if I messed it up it should give you an idea of what is included. Also, I will attach a link to an old post by @caribill which is one of the factors that helped us decide on this type of tour in the first place.

 

TRAVEL SUMMARY PORTIONS

Travel Summary Snips.docx 52.53 kB · 6 downloads

 

POST BY caribill

 

 

EDIT: Be aware that the Tundra Wilderness Tour can't go the full distance at the moment as part of the mountain slid off and took the road with it. It will be quite some time before they can "replace" that portion of the road.

 

I see now they are doing a "turnaround" at Mile 43, due to the Pretty Rocks Landslide at Mile 45.

How far did the Tundra Wilderness Tour go before the landslide?

 

Thanks,

Mary

 

[wolfie11]

7 minutes ago, Mary loves to travel said:

I see now they are doing a "turnaround" at Mile 43, due to the Pretty Rocks Landslide at Mile 45.

How far did the Tundra Wilderness Tour go before the landslide?

 

Thanks,

Mary

 

67?  Depends on whether you were turning around at Stony Overlook or at Eielson.

Edited Tuesday at 11:01 PM by wolfie11

[Mary loves to travel]

7 minutes ago, wolfie11 said:

67?  Depends on whether you were turning around at Stony Overlook or at Eielson.

that sounds like a pretty big difference!

we're debating whether to go soonish, or wait until the road is cleared.

 

Mary

[wolfie11]

There’s no guarantee they’re ever going to be able to fix the road, although they say 2026.  I’m going this May and taking the shuttle in as far as I can.

[reedprincess]

On 4/19/2024 at 3:14 PM, coldweather said:

 

Hello Thrak  @Thrak

We are looking into a cruise tour to Alaska this year (2024).  We have cruised before but have never paired a cruise with a cruise tour.

 

We are looking at a Connoisseur Cruise Tour (RB5) or Denali Explorer (HB5) or Off the Beaten Path (MB6).  I am struggling to understand what is different with each tour.  (I do understand MB6 is a day longer.)

 

I can see the Connoisseur Cruise Tour includes Breakfast and Dinner as part of the land tour.  It also includes the "Tundra Wilderness Tour" that is an add on for the other tours.

 

Can you please help me understand a bit more about what is included in the Connoisseur Cruise Tour?  Does this tour help you get reservation in the lodge restaurants to avoid long lines?  Are there other tours/services/perks that may be included that I am not seeing? 

 

Since the lodges are somewhat isolated it seem that everyone who stays there must need to use the lodge-restaurants.  Also, I am assuming many people are trying to get ready for tours that start at similar times.  What is the breakfast and lunch food rush like?  Is there a restaurant open for lunch at the lodges?

 

Thanks for your help.  The prices are all over the place and it is hard to get a handle on what is included. 

FWIW - we did the Off the Beaten Path, and only ate at the lodges a couple times. 

Denali Lodge is across the street from a largish shopping and restaurant center. 

McKinley, we took the shuttle into town, explored, ate out there. 

Only at Copper River did we eat all our meals there, as the shuttle to the town diner was down...

Worked out much less expensive for us, and we had a much wider, more local experience. 

We're also not big breakfast eaters, vastly prefer the extra sleep.  If breakfast is a must for you, a tour that includes it may be a better fit..  some water and a snack bar later in the morning is more than enough for us,  any day! 

Our rooms were in great locations at the different lodges.  Views of the river at Denali, faced the mountain at McKinley and Cooper River.. 

Our drivers and guide were excellent..