tamsocal

Has anyone experienced the Connoisseur Escoted Tour PB5? The tour is a total of 12 days with 5 days for the Land portion. I have booked this for June 2019 for a party of six including my two Grandchildren. (They will be 11 and 13 at that time.)

 

The tour starts in Anchorage, then Mt. Mckinley Lodge (2 nights), Denali Lodge (2 nights),and then the train ride from Denali to Whittier to board the Golden Princess. It seemed like a good overall start to our adventure. We plan to arrive one day early.

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I am starting to question my decision as I realize that we have to travel by bus from Anchorage on the way up.

 

For those that have taken this trip, I was wondering if it is an excessive amount of bus time? I know we will also be taking and enjoying the Denali Tundra Tour. Do the tours that start in Fairbanks involve less bus time, more train time, or less train time? If I could I would do all the traveling by train.

 

I have no doubt that the Connoisseur version is best for us. It is just a question as to if I picked the best one. It is everyone’s first trip to Alaska. (Except my fishing trip) My extended family really enjoys the outdoors, the Wilderness, and the Wildlife.

 

Thank you for your feedback in advance and all the great information posted that has aided my research.

 

Caribill, a special thanks for a great review that gets better with age.

we have done about 6 land tours-- the tour you picked sounds like a good option for your family. I agree that I favor the train but the bus is ok.

If anyone in your group wants more wilderness or possibly wildlife- Kantishna would be an upgrade to consider vs tundra wilderness tour. my kids were 3yrs & 7 when we went out 60+ miles on bus beyond the tundra wilderness tour. But the Tundra wilderness tour is a good option. If anyone wants the longer distance consider tickets thru the shuttle bus vs tour- tour is not really necessary. and shuttle bus so much cheaper. (they refunded the TWT back to us and we did shuttle bus to eilson)

we have done the con issuer tour DIY and standard princess & HAL land tours. All were enjoyable. Just take advantage of all the food you are prepaying for. FYI I was able to get a refund for the Denali princess theatre since we had gone before and no desire to return. several hundred back.

On any tour you pick it just varies re bus & train-- you have to be careful-- my girlfriend inadvertently picked a tour with all bus and that would make me sad.

the tours are usually clearly marked with bus vs train. I have done train from Denali to Fairbanks and bus.

you will at least ride the train one way

Very interesting indeed. I think I would have stuck with my same cabin too, being so close to sailing date. Maybe you'll receive a free upgrade before you sail.

 

 

Have a great cruise!

I would have taken the suite for $700 :)

Orange Juice, Apple Juice, Milk and Chocolate Milk are available free of charge in the dining room on Princess FOR KIDS.

 

Sorry - I don't know about the buffet.

 

Princess is in the process of putting lemonade on all their ships (for free) but I am not sure where it is offered free. Not sure if it is just the buffet or in the dining room also. Hopefully someone will comment on this.

this has been our experience as well

Any juice they have available free at all meals- sometimes have had pineapple juice but always OJ, Apple. Hot chocolate, Milk & Chocolate milk.

Also from buffet have been able to get small milk cartons both white and chocolate milk but on some ships there has been limited availability.

how much of a hassle it is to keep moving your luggage between lodges?...that's one of the many things we like about cruises and not having to move, pack, unpack.

 

I know there is something about sending a bag straight to the ship..but that may not be much for us as we don't do formal night on board with a suit, etc

yes us too sometimes we don't do formal wear thus we don't have a bag to send to ship - we are wearing the clothes on land that we will wash once on the ship.

not a hassle if you pack smart and strategically so you aren't emptying your suitcase nightly.

For my kids they had 1 gallon ziploc bags with their daily clothes-- just have to pull out one bag from the suitcase for next day. We also had a separate suitcase for dirty clothes.

For me - instead of folding my shirts all together and shorts or pants all together-

I have outfits stacked in the suitcase so I don't rummage thru everything to the bottom of suitcase to find socks, etc.

this is the first summer in a few years we don't have an Alaska cruise tour booked :(

We had a 14 night connoisseur tour booked for 2019. We have our 6 year old son with us and in the end, after reading about all the 9 hour coach rides we decided to cancel and rebook the Denali explorer tour with less lodge stays. We think this one will more suit us this time round. I do look very forward to booking a connoisseur tour again one day for just hubby and I, as I'm sure I'll want to return to Alaska.

our kids have loved the tours. I have taken 7 year old and 9 year old twins on connoisseur tour 15 day last year and it was fabulous. They loved it.

kenai 2n, copper river 2n, Denali 2n, Fairbanks 3 nights

We are skipping school this October with the 11 yr olds. Older son staying home since he doesn't want to miss school. The kids enjoy club with minimal kids and with a large turnout. We have been on a So America cruise with very few children and a few Off season/school time cruises where # of kids were in single digits or <20 and have not had kids club closed despite advertising noting they may not offer if < 20 kids, etc. Our kids love Princess. Im sure you will have a wonderful time in January.

we are booked with this promotion for Canada/NE 10 night cruise.

our discount is only $100 (with the up to $300 advertised)

depending on your children-- you may want to consider this-- it worked great for us when on cruises to save cabin spaced the bed folded up or could just be moved out of the way during the day.

its a toddler cot.

On the island princess ocenview room forward cabin- this room was huge and we just left two of them made up all day long and the stewards would fold their bedding and gave them towel animals too one on each cot :)

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Regalo-My-Cot-Pink-Portable-Toddler-Bed/42340845?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=1172&adid=22222222227030173287&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=c&wl3=59790681311&wl4=pla-86951610057&wl5=1013650&wl6=&wl7=&wl8=&wl9=pla&wl10=8453398&wl11=online&wl12=42340845&wl13=&veh=sem

We will be going to Alaska on the Grand in June. We see two excursions in Juneau. The first is supposed to end 15 minutes before the second one begins. Based on those who know about Alaskan excursions is that too close?

which 2 excursions- can you possibly do one on your own or with a different tour co other than princess?

as others have stated too close doing ship excursions

renting a car in Juneau is easy if its something you are interested in considering depending on what excursions have peaked your interest

Booked on the Dec 19, 2018 Hawaii cruise on the Emerald. For all you seasoned Hawaii cruisers, I would love your advice on which you feel are the best excursions for Kauai, Maui, and big island and why! Oahu we are going to Aulani as we are DVC members and will enjoy the resort for the day! We are a group of 7 in three cabins with different wants, so any info on any excursion would be appreciated. Bonus points for tips on private vendors!!!;)

how do you get wristbands for the day at aulani without having a hotel stay? or have you booked a room for a night?

big island- volcano national park if you have never been. or flumin Kohala was fun but does not give a lot of culture/scenery. manta ray swim if you have a late night departure.

Thanks everyone for all of the feedback. Let me ask: how rigid are the kids group ages? I ask because when we are looking to go my kids will be just 2 months shy of 8yo. On MSC “junior club” is 7-11 and they did really well. I’m unsure that they will be interested in playing with 3 year olds. When I showed them pics of the 8-12 club they were much more excited.

 

 

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a little flexible has been our experience

but have witnessed some families on cruises having firm no's

just be prepared to kindly ask and not to be heartbroken if its a no

agreed 3-7 has been an age group I did not favor and we took probably 12-15 cruises during that time period- we were saved a few times when it was mostly 6-7 yo and no toddlers

I would do early traditional dining. This way the waiters will get to know your kid needs right off the bat. When we cruised with grandchildren the wait staff had their beverages waiting when we arrived, and brought the children’s food courses out early. The children’s menu has some nice main dishes and desserts.

 

We find that the wait staff loves to cater to well behaved children!

 

 

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This is what we always try for and have done about 90% of the time. Its great- Dining is while kids club is closed (for the most part). The waiters get to know them on day 1 and asked us if we wanted to order drinks and meals ahead of time for the next day.

Sitting thru dinner and the shows- they were great and they knew early on with cruising that that was the only thing acceptable.

Agree with other post- check you port times and consider your shore excursions if late port times -- will you be able to make early traditional work or will you get back to the ship 3 times after your dining time.

I don't have 2nd day experience but do have first day experience with beverage purchase already made and was told that there would not be retroactive credit for prior same day beverage purchase-- only moving forward purchases

oops didn't read 3 posts ago that you are cool keeping things as is.

would be interesting to know if this was a booking error from the beginning or a Princess shuffle

Seems like you probably have lots of options with travel this far out unless you booked thru a TA that has cancellation fees, etc

• when you initially booked does your confirmation have what you intended to book or has the booking been the same all along- not as you wanted from the beginning
  
• Have you called to ask for it to be changed?
  
• is what you wanted to still available?
  
• If the booking has changed from initial booking without your consent you can likely get it changed back if still available and possibly at the original fare booked
  
• If the booking was never what it was supposed to be and was a phone communication issue/mixup when the agent selected the tour you may have some trouble getting the price matched but could be possible. Most companies can listen to phone conversations to see what transpired, your error, their error, etc
  
• I have never experienced a change in a cruise tour booked but have only been on about 6. This would be surprising if Princess changed it-- and especially 2 day Denali vs 1 as this is pretty important to some cruisers and the entire point that most probably chose that specific option. I can't imagine that would go over well for most. (definitely not me- it would be a no go Cancel cruise tour, but they have many 1 night Denali and plenty of passengers choosing those)
  
• Either way I didn't see mention of contacting Princess or TA - that would be a place to start and if help needed or advice wanted posting what transpired would help others guide you
  

There are a lot of rules/guidelines on the Princess website- some are more flexible than others. The hand held day bag is not too flexible. It has to be able to fit under the seat or in overhead on the bus. Your large suitcase is sometimes not even on the same method of transportation you are using. Train- usually your large bag goes by Truck. Bus- sometimes on your bus but for us it has not always been. Carry on- basically its like gate checking for a flight- on a train you leave it outside the train just before boarding. Same with Bus in our experience.

Make sure you plan ahead- if you arrive to the hotel and have a shore excursion immediately- you want to have everything you need on you or in your carry on and not in the large suitcase as others have stated.If you have more than one large suitcase I have seen people having more. I have also asked on one cruise tour because we ended up scrambling last minute with wanting to pull out heavier clothes one year for colder weather. Debated do I have time to repack a little and transfer things form bag to bag and the tour guide/representative said here is another tag you can either send to ship if you move things around or use the extra meet me at the hotel tag and just not bother repacking. I ended up repacking quickly because I didn't want a bunch of bags in each of the stops but it was a nice gesture to not have to if I ran out of time.

All Princess cruisetours include our hassle-free luggage handling service every step of the way. During the land portion of your vacation, we'll take care of transporting your luggage from one location to the next.

Important luggage reminders:

• Essential medicines, travel documents, valuables and breakables should be hand carried in your possession at all times.
  
• All Alaska luggage tags for the land portion of your cruisetour will be distributed by Princess Representatives in Alaska. Luggage tags for the cruise portion of your cruisetour should be printed prior to leaving home.
  
• Luggage fees imposed by airlines are the responsibility of each guest. Please check with each carrier prior to departure for specific guidelines.
  
• Many domestic airline carriers now impose baggage fees for one or more bags and bags weighing over 50 lbs., so check with your carrier regarding weight restrictions.
  
• Princess will make every effort to assist you in safeguarding your belongings. But remember, you are responsible for your things at all times. Princess is not responsible for money, jewelry, cameras, binoculars, documents or any other articles you retain in your personal control.
  
• All luggage should have a sturdy personal identification tag that will not be lost or damaged in the course of typical airport and trucked luggage handling.
  
• On journeys including air travel, luggage will be subject to a considerable amount of handling and we would recommend that your luggage be of sturdy construction.
  
• Princess recommends that your travel protection is adequate enough to cover any possible loss or damage which may occur. Any loss or damage caused by Princess or an airline must be reported immediately to the responsible party.
  
• For guests who have purchased an Air Advantage package, please refer to your detailed itinerary found in the Cruise Personalizer® for additional details regarding luggage.
  

Packing for your Land Tour

Cruisetours involve many modes of transportation including motorcoaches, trains and sightseeing vehicles so make sure you take only the things you need to ensure comfort for you and your fellow travelers. There are different types of bags to consider for the land portion of your cruisetour.

Hand-Carry Tote/Backpack

• You'll want this bag with you every step of the way, so include only the essentials.
  
• Items to pack in this bag include travel documents, photo ID, important medication, toiletries, camera, and any extra layers of clothing such as jackets or hats.
  
• Your hand-carry tote bag should be a size that is comfortable to carry and should be able to be stowed under your seat. We recommend soft-sided tote bags or backpacks no larger than 17" x 14" x 4" with a zip enclosure.
  
• Wheeled carry on cases that are used to carry-on luggage on airlines are too large and are not suitable as hand-carried luggage on motorcoaches and trains.
  

"Join Me Tonight" Luggage

You are allowed one piece of "Join Me Tonight" baggage per person on the land portion of your cruisetour. You will simply pack one bag and place luggage where instructed. Our handlers will pick it up and deliver it to your room at the next overnight location on your land tour.

• This bag will be transported separately from you and will not be accessible during transit.
  
• Items to put in this bag include clothing, sleepwear, nonessential toiletries, extra shoes and anything else you might need at your hotel but do not need access to during the day.
  

"Join Me Onboard" Luggage (for guests who cruise after their land tour)

• Guests who cruise after their land tour should pack a separate bag for items they will not need on land.
  
• This bag is perfect for the items you may need on your cruise but will not need on your land tour, such as formal wear, dress shoes, or dinner jackets. On the land portion of your cruisetour, the dress code is always casual so there is no need for any formal wear.
  
• All luggage is delivered to the first destination on your land itinerary. Upon departure from that city, the "Join Me Onboard" tagged bags will be securely stored until they are delivered to your stateroom onboard.
  

"Join Me in Fairbanks/Anchorage" Luggage (for guests who cruise prior to their land tour)

• Guests who cruise prior to their land tour should pack all the items they used on their cruise and will not need on land in this piece of luggage. After disembarkation from the ship, these bags will be inaccessible until delivered upon your arrival in the final destination of your itinerary.
  
• Please identify your chosen pieces of luggage (excluding the one "Join Me Tonight" bag) with the "Join Me" tags based on your final destination.
  

Regarding luggage. We will be departing Denali on the train at 4:00pm but hotel checkout is 11:00am. We would like to do a tour, or whatever in Denali in the morning. What happens to our luggage after 11:00??

you put your luggage out in the am and it is picked up and taken to the train depot

I want to use my obc to pay for excursions for my daughter & me. When booking our excursions online how do I make sure my daughter's obc is not also used? Thanks.

you could always return the OBC credit to her once on the ship

They can adjust the excursions to the folio you want it to hit.

Or you could also buy her more OBC if you have depleted both of yours OBC if she wants to buy things in advance -- if not buying anything in advance I would just have them swap it around once on the ship- its easy

Same with a Canada Cruise I have been re fairing this Fall

BF $1699 (3/7)->1499->1329(3/21)-> $2349:o (8 hours later 3/21)

good luck- maybe sign up for a price drop notification

wait. Haven't you been saying not nice things about princess?

 

Fairness is in the eyes of the beholder.

lol!!

So the cruise lines actually break down the cost. Interesting. I asked on board for cruise only and cruise with tour and that's only way they would break it down. My TA has group bookings for Celebrity and they wouldn't let him put the cruise portion in as a group booking, meaning I couldn't get favorable rates or even the extra perk my TA throws in with a group booking. It was then that we decided to stay with a cruise only booking and figure out Denali on our own. At least, this way, I know how much I'm paying to rent a minivan, lodging, excursions, food, etc. It's no guess. I think I'm saving a bundle, but I don't know the value of a day each of tours at Talkeetna and Denali. I do know that those tours are NOT what I would choose.

yes we refunded TWT and Music of Denali theatre. they tried to refund kids rate since it was one adult and 2 kids but I didn't get a kid rate for passenger #2- it was a full fare rate so they refunded the adult price for both. This was Princess cruise- I don't know that all cruise lines will

we were easily provided with distilled water & extension cord on Island last month.

Did not need the extension cord

What do you mean by "two people deciding to join us"? Did two additional people who weren't chosen just show up at the appointed place and time and were actually allowed to glom onto the tour? When I took the UST on Star Princess in 2011 ship's security checked, double checked and rechecked again everyone's cruise card against the list of participants at the start of the tour. And on that cruise the tour was almost cancelled due to lack of interest (which contrary to the posts above is quite common); I was not informed until Day 8 of a 10 day cruise that the tour would run the next morning--and they ran it even though one couple apparently changed their mind once learning the tour would start at 8:30 AM on the last sea day.

yep- they joined us at the 2nd or 3rd stop and I wasn't quite sure what was going on and ignored them. then when we were in completely confined spaces and they were standing up front and myself and others could not see. I mentioned something to the CD staff that those people joined our trip just before we went to backstage theater- are they supposed to be here- she answered LOL yeah we frequently get tour hijackers (I don't know if she used that exact word but whatever word it was it was fairly similar meaning). kind of caught me off guard so I didn't have a response although I thought to myself *** tell them to go away since I paid $150 and they are impacting my hearing, seeing and enjoyment of the tour.... if you are going to hijack at least stand in the back??? so then I said something again about 2 stops later having to do with- I don't really think it is fair that they join in the tour when I am paying and they are not and some of these spaces are really crowded. She then responded oh- I didn't;t realize before that they are family of the Ships Doctor on board. I told her that made no difference to me and she should arrange for their own tour and that it was inappropriate they tag along on something that is mentioned repeatedly of space is limited due to the nature of the tour.

She told me a few minutes later they would be leaving. Then the couple when walking away made a point of saying goodbye we will not be continuing on with you.

if you are going to tag along for free, do you really have to stand in the front?:confused:

we didn't get notice until probably 48hrs in advance but they mentioned please notify asap as we have a waitlist - I asked at probably day 5 so have you made a decision about UST at PS desk and they looked for me and there was definitely a long list and additional page

Agreed my suitcase nor I wanted the gifts.

tour was fun- It was my third tour- not as exciting as the first but still a nice experience and a few new places visited but sadly a few things not included- my first tour we had snacks and drinks in the Captains lounge/conference area- not sure the exact room title- but it was fun sitting in there with the captain for a few minutes.

This past tour 2 people decided to join us :(and you could easily see why the number of people on the experience needs to be limited. It was a challenge to see things once the extra 2 came into the group. Tour size needs to be limited for good cause in many of the locations. doesn't seem the cost will likely be lowered- they usually have too many people signing up from what PS said. usually have too many people on wait list

I am not sure if this is possible....

 

if a family member traveling with us paying a single suppliment separate cabin, who cannot drink alcohol, wants to join us, is there a possibility of a 'food only' price point if he joins us for this?

I personally have not asked recently but I did ask many years ago when my husband and I did CT and there was not a lesser price option avail for my husband who does not drink wine

I think each time I have gone there has been at least one person who doesn't or didn't drink

always worth asking