Cruise tour meal plans?

[trixietx]

I know this has been asked before, but what are your opinions on HAL prepaid meal plans for the land portion on Alaska cruise tours. Last year we went on an Alaska cruise tour, but a meal plan wasn't available! We ate most breakfasts and dinners where we were staying and I don't remember being disappointed, but I do remember it being expensive. What are your thoughts and opinions?

[Sea-travelers]

I know this has been asked before, but what are your opinions on HAL prepaid meal plans for the land portion on Alaska cruise tours. Last year we went on an Alaska cruise tour, but a meal plan wasn't available! We ate most breakfasts and dinners where we were staying and I don't remember being disappointed, but I do remember it being expensive. What are your thoughts and opinions?

 

The meal plans gives you more choices. You can pick anything off of the menu. dinners include your non alcoholic beverage and dessert. A good value if you are a normal to heavy eater but if you eat light then the cost of the meal plan may not work to your advantage price wise. Call HAL directly and a reservationist can give you the break down of what is included in each meal.

[jtl513]

We debated and chose not to go with the plan. On our C/T we were often too tired after a land day to have much of an appetite for a big dinner. IIRC about half the per diem was allocated to that meal, so had we taken the plan we would have wasted a lot of money.

[northernphoenix]

We are planning to purchase the land tour meal plan, on the 20day cruise/landtour August/14. Would anyone know the fee for the meal plans?

Thanks,

Marilyn

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[trixietx]

We are planning to purchase the land tour meal plan, on the 20day cruise/landtour August/14. Would anyone know the fee for the meal plans?

Thanks,

Marilyn

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

 

I was quoted $449.00 pp or $898.00 for the two of us. That was for 7 breakfast, 1 lunch and 6 dinners, I think!

[geoherb]

I know not everyone will want to do what I did last year on our cruise tour: brought our own breakfasts. That was a big money saver. We had granola bars, dried fruit, and other packaged breakfast food. One lunch was included in our tour (on the paddlewheeler excursion in Fairbanks). We ate sandwiches from a coffee shop before our Denali excursion. We ate light meals in the lodges for dinner and were satisfied.

[serendipity1499]

I was quoted $449.00 pp or $898.00 for the two of us. That was for 7 breakfast, 1 lunch and 6 dinners, I think!

 

That seems expensive to me..When we were in Alaska we purchased our own meals.. Believe we did have one meal included in our land tour, but can't remember where..

 

OP hope you enjoy your land/cruise..We loved ours..

 

Cheers..:)Betty

[jtl513]

Believe we did have one meal included in our land tour, but can't remember where..

Ours included 3 lunches: at Fairbanks Gold Dredge, a buffet in Wasilla on the bus ride from Denali to Seward, and a box lunch on the Tundra Wilderness bus at Denali.

[agabbymama]

As others have said, if you are light eaters, it might not make sense to get the meal plan. ON the other hand, if you are big eaters (as my family is) we wish we had purchased the meal plan.

 

We had 3 lunches provided in our cruisetour (1 on the Yukon River boat, 1 at Fairbanks Gold Dredge and 1 at a roadside stop). Other than that, lunch isn't given much consideration (maybe an ice cream or grab a quick bag of chips, or a cup of chili). Not really a big lunch, so by the time we arrived in the towns between 5:30 and 6:30, we were starved and ready to eat dinner.

 

We had a bad experience at the first stop in Whitehorse, in that all the restaurants close by were either full with an hour wait, or closed. We walked about a 6 block square looking for an hour, then ended up at a Subway and paid $23 for a sandwich, salad & drink. After that we decided to just eat at the hotel we were staying at, as they were able to accommodate the folks from the tour buses without an hour wait.

 

And to add, the waitresses always seemed surprised when we said we were paying cash. Most of the folks (on our two coaches anyway) had purchased the meal vouchers and thought they were a good deal, as Sea travelers said you can order anything on the menu and your beverage is included.

 

We were paying $15 for breakfast and $30 for dinner. With lunch a free for all whatever you could find. We didn't starve, but didn't feel we saved any money either.

[Shmoo here]

I’ll start out by saying that DH & I are not big eaters.

We did the 19 night cruise/tour last year. Our included meals (on the land portion) were a welcome dinner in Whitehorse, lunch enroute from Whitehorse to Dawson city, lunch in Dawson City (Yukon River Boat), lunch at Gold Dredge No 8, box lunch in Denali (Tundra Wilderness Tour),

On top of that, we had booked excursions during the land portion that included: lunch at Kluane (River Float Trip), lunch Dempster Highway, dinner (Alaska Salmon Bake) in Fairbanks, dinner at Denali (Cabin Nite dinner theatre), and lunch on Kenai Fjords tour.

All that wound up being 6 lunches and 3 dinners. Plus, while on the bus we had many times that the guide and driver got together and bought snack sort of foods for us to share onboard the bus.

We purchased dinner in Whitehorse (in hotel dining room - $40.00 for two), Denali ($28.00), and onboard the train ($36.00).

We stopped at the local market(s) and bought, fruit, crackers, cheese, peanut butter, sodas, juice, trail mix (around $40.00). We used this stash to cover breakfast and whatever other meals were not already covered. So, each day, between the included meals (either as part of the tour or excursions we booked) and our own food we had plenty to eat.

[northernphoenix]

This is certainly "food for thought" ( some Canadian humour ), but we will purchase the meal plan, since DH is known for his appetite, and I am known to be somewhat short on good humour at the end of a long day( days) when I am ready for my dinner. I can't see us packing meals, or wandering the streets of a strange city, looking for dinner. Food in these remote cities are likely quite pricey, and time is money in my vacationworld, so meal plans it is . DBIL is willing to participate in whatever plan we choose, so make it three for the meal plan. We enjoy a glass of wine pre and post dinner, so should we load up on our favourite at our last port of call, or can we find a decent selection of wine once we are on the land portion of the holiday?

Marilyn

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app