princess cruise tour fb4

• Princess Cruises

Meals on Alaskan cruisetour (land portion)

By Moonstruck1115 , April 2, 2019 in Princess Cruises

Recommended Posts

Moonstruck1115

Hi all!  I am wondering what everyone does for their meals on the land portion of the Alaskan cruisetour?  I was very surprised to find out that meals were not included!  My husband is freaking out because he LOVES to eat and he's worried about the expense of having to pay for our meals on land.  We were thinking about buying the meal plan for an additional $500 (covers both of us).  Has anyone done this before and if so, yay or nay?  Thank you so much for all the info!  My little Alaskan notebook is quickly getting filled up with pointers  😊

Link to comment

Share on other sites.

WisCruiser2

While some on our tour did buy the meal plan, we opted not to and were happy with our choice. We did a 7-day "off the beaten path," with stays at Copper River (2 nights), Fairbanks (2 nights), Denali, and Mt McKinley lodges. In Fairbanks we only ate breakfast at the lodge as lunch was included in the Riverboat/Gold Dredge excursion and we ate dinners at the Pump House and Chena Resort. At the other lodges, we mostly ate in the "bar & grill" venues, and felt it worked well for us. Note that you have to pay for your lunches while on the bus, even with the meal plan, I think.

You can view the menus at the various lodges to get an idea of the meal costs.

FineAsFrogsHair

WisCruiser2, thank you for your comments.  We're going in August for a CruiseTour southbound on the Coral.

I also budgeted "generously" for meals but we spent less.

We cheat. We book the connoisseur cruised tours where "most" meals are included.

Did a 5 day land tour and turned down the meal package.  We spent less than that on our meals. At that time it was only $300.00. And I think it is per person, at least it was then.

reedprincess

We too loved not having the meal plan or meals included. We ate and drank all we wanted at local restaurants or at the venues on-site and didn't come close to what the meal plan would have cost. 

Depending on where you're staying, local eateries are easy walking distance to a shuttle ride away.  Food costs weren't any more than a mid-range restaurant in a big city. And we ate really well! 

We also did the connoisseur class with meals included.  We were happy with our choice.

Micahs Grandad

1 hour ago, margob111 said: We also did the connoisseur class with meals included.  We were happy with our choice.

Thanks for the info. We are doing the same thing in September.

5 hours ago, margob111 said: We also did the connoisseur class with meals included.  We were happy with our choice.

3 hours ago, Micah's Grandad said: Thanks for the info. We are doing the same thing in September.

We did a 13 day connoisseur cruise tour in 2016 and fly out for a 15 day on May 17. It's more spendy but so very easy to deal with. 🙂

MainePrincess

All of the Princess Lodges have pub type dining options, along with the more formal restaurants.  There is a strip mall type place across the road from Denali Princess Lodge with several eateries.  I did not find the food very expensive.  Copper River Lodge is more remote, no place to walk to, but still two restaurants in the Lodge.  You will love the land tour, I predict.  I am doing another one this August.

We were also on a Connoisseur tour seven years ago. Mu report of that cruise includes a bit of information on meal costs.

So if you want to see what meals cost 7 years ago (I am sure prices have not gone down since then), take a look.

We also did the Conoisseur tour 2 years ago and were happy we did.  We would look at the menu and be shocked by the prices in the lodges.  My boys can eat a lot if food 😜 .  Worth it for us!

disneyochem

We’re doing a 17 day connoisseur tour this June—hubby decided to do this in part because of the included meals.  He thinks it will be nice to have that decision already made as well as having the reservations done for us.  We will have to buy some meals but probably not too much.  We have found that included meals on any trip are more than we usually eat.

helpmesailaway

We had meals included in our land tour and I was very happy with that.  The meals include an appetizer, main dish, and dessert.  Most of the food was delicious and the portions were on the large side!!!!  

There was no going hungry and it couldn't have been easier.  Just order, enjoy and sign your voucher - included the gratuities as well.

One more thing to consider - having the meals in the lodges also gave us a chance to enjoy some Alaskan specialties such as halibut and  alaskan salmon.  The dinners were expensive!!!!!

1 hour ago, helpmesailaway said: We had meals included in our land tour and I was very happy with that.  The meals include an appetizer, main dish, and dessert.  Most of the food was delicious and the portions were on the large side!!!!     There was no going hungry and it couldn't have been easier.  Just order, enjoy and sign your voucher - included the gratuities as well. One more thing to consider - having the meals in the lodges also gave us a chance to enjoy some Alaskan specialties such as halibut and  alaskan salmon.  The dinners were expensive!!!!!

Also included was a cold and hot non alcoholic drink.

Agree that dinners were pricey especially for things like the crab legs and salmon.

We have it on our cruise coming up in May. I looked at prices and thought it would be nice to not have to worry about where we will eat. 

12 hours ago, caribill said: We were also on a Connoisseur tour seven years ago. Mu report of that cruise includes a bit of information on meal costs.   So if you want to see what meals cost 7 years ago (I am sure prices have not gone down since then), take a look.    

Great review. I've pointed a number of folks to that review when they asked about the connoisseur tours. It was actually your review that helped us decide on our first connoisseur tour. We enjoyed it so much we're doing another one soon. Glad to see the pictures are back. I know that photobucket messed with them at one point. The pics are helpful. Thanks again for such a great (and helpful) review.

Where are you going for the land portion? We also have a cruisetour before the cruise (2 days in Fairbanks, 2 nights in Denali, and a travel day to the cruise ship) and we don’t have a meal plan. We’re on the On Your Own Tour though so it’s less structured. I’ve been looking up places to eat so may have some suggestions if you’d like? I don’t really have anything for Anchorage but I know the Alaska forum can make some good recommendations.

Our first cruisetour in 2016 was a 13 day connoisseur cruise tour. We had 2 nights in Fairbanks, 2 nights at Denali Lodge, and 2 nights at McKinley lodge. The one we have coming up in May is a 15 day connoisseur cruise tour. It has 2 nights in Fairbanks, 2 nights at Denali Lodge, 2 nights at Copper River lodge, and 2 nights at Kenai lodge.

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in

• Welcome to Cruise Critic
• ANNOUNCEMENT: Set Sail Beyond the Ordinary with Oceania Cruises
• ANNOUNCEMENT: The Widest View in the Whole Wide World
• New Cruisers
• Cruise Lines “A – O”
• Cruise Lines “P – Z”
• River Cruising
• Cruise Critic News & Features
• Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
• Special Interest Cruising
• Cruise Discussion Topics
• UK Cruising
• Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
• Canadian Cruisers
• North American Homeports
• Ports of Call
• Cruise Conversations

Announcements

• New to Cruise Critic? Join our Community!

Write Your Own Amazing Review !

Click this gorgeous photo by member SUPERstar777 to share your review!

Features & News

LauraS · Started 6 hours ago

LauraS · Started 7 hours ago

LauraS · Started 12 hours ago

LauraS · Started Yesterday at 08:38 PM

• Existing user? Sign in OR Create an Account
• Find Your Roll Call
• Meet & Mingle
• Community Help Center
• All Activity
• Member Photo Albums
• Meet & Mingle Photos
• Favorite Cruise Memories
• Cruise Food Photos
• Cruise Ship Photos
• Ports of Call Photos
• Towel Animal Photos
• Amazing, Funny & Totally Awesome Cruise Photos
• Write a Review
• Live Cruise Reports
• Member Cruise Reviews
• Create New...

New to TTG?

Princess cruises pushes back launch of new ship following review.

Princess Cruises and Italian ship builder Fincantieri have announced the mutual decision to postpone the delivery of Star Princess. 

Following a review of the remaining construction milestones, both parties have chosen to push the second Sphere-class ship’s delivery from 29 July 2025 to 26 September 2025.

The move means Princess will cancel nine of the ship’s sailings. Star Princess’ new maiden will now be an 11-day Mediterranean cruise on 4 October 2025.

Following a subsequent seven-day Mediterranean voyage on 15 October, the ship will begin a 14-day transatlantic crossing to Fort Lauderdale on 22 October. 

The ship’s new itineraries will go on sale on 30 April 2024.  

Affected guests will be given several options: book any Princess cruise worldwide, including onboard the new Star Princess, sister ship Sun Princess or any other Princess ship.

Guests who choose to rebook with receive future cruise credits and onboard credits depending on the cruise they select. 

Customers will also have the option to cancel and receive a full refund of the cruise fare. 

The line confirmed that it will protect travel agent commissions on all bookings that have been paid in full. 

Princess president John Padgett said: “Despite our collective dedication and relentless pursuit to deliver the ship in late July, it has become evident that additional time is required to ensure the Star Princess is delivered to the highest standards expected by our guests.”  This is not the first time Princess has been forced to delay the launch of a Sphere-class vessel this year. In February,  the line postponed the launch of Sun Princess twice to allow for additional work to be completed .  The 4,300-passenger ship finally set sail on 28 February – 20 days later than originally planned. 

French air traffic disruption prompts Foreign Office warning

The new flight that brings a quirky canadian province closer, new lufthansa subsidiary to debut at birmingham airport, yasmin mckechnie and josh smith join princess cruises trade sales team, is there anywhere more chill in california than this, loganair axes three routes and cuts frequencies to restore reliability.

Harry Kemble

Read TTG April 2024

Editor's pick.

Queen Anne's UK arrival delayed to ensure 'final touches are complete'

Brexit ban on overseas staff may be overturned as eu urges talks, red sea holidays hires sarah lavender as trade relations manager, govt pledges to guard against air fare hikes as it unveils saf mandate, 'agents have to work harder to show google their content is truly valuable – here's how', amsterdam to cut river cruise calls to keep city ‘liveable’, sign up for weekday travel news and analysis straight to your inbox, recommended for you.

TTG Top 50 of 2024

Blue Diamond takes entire property portfolio into the metaverse

Gold Medal welcomes 50 agents to HQ for first Access All Areas event of 2024

Latest travel jobs.

Senior Sales Consultant

Branch Manager

Sales & Marketing Manager - UK, Ireland, Scandinavia & North America

Competitions.

Win £500 worth of shopping vouchers with Oceania Cruises

Win an easyJet holidays suitcase and a £100 shopping voucher

Win a three-night stay in Austria this summer 

Earn vouchers and win fam places when booking with Club Med

Ttg luxury journey.

TTG Riviera Fest 2024

Fairer Travel Month 2024 by TTG

TTG Fairer Travel Festival 2024

TTG Fairer Travel Diversity Forum 2024