Your experience with "Connoisseur" Shore Excursions

[Murphey]

These are supposed to be "special". Any experiences with them???? What makes them special (other than price!) Thank you.

[juniper berries]

My Dh and i have only done one in Rome it was a Princess tour.We had fewer people on the tour and we used head sets so you could still look around and take pictures while listening to the guide. While visiting the Vatican on this tour it was Sept 11 2010 and we were each given a rosewood rosary. Which made the tour memorable. I like doing tours with less people so the connoisseur fits the bill and will be doing a few on an up coming cruise.

I hope this helps and you have a great cruise.:)

[Sea Day Cruiser]

I have done a couple of these tours and both times it was with smaller groups and excellent guides. The best guide I have ever had on a tour was on a connoisseur tour in Berlin. The drawback is that they are more expensive so fewer people sign up for them. I have had at least two of them canceled by Princess because not enough people were booked on the tours. If they wait until the last minute to cancel then you're stuck with whatever happens to be available. I have been told by Princess shore excursion people that the connoisseur tours have the best guides. My experience is that that is true.

Edited April 7, 2016 by Sea Day Cruiser

[nukesubsailor]

These are supposed to be "special". Any experiences with them???? What makes them special (other than price!) Thank you.

 

We have taken both escorted and unescorted tours in Alaska. We believe the escorted tour is a much better value even though it costs more. Not only does the escort provide a treasure trove of knowledge, but he handles meal reservations, detailed time tables for each day of the tour, and all other details that take the hassle out of the trip. There were only 24 people in our group and on our bus and rail car. If you take the Alaska escorted tour and get Jack Curtiss as your escort you can consider yourself to have won the lottery.

[Thrak]

I would suggest reading THIS THREAD by caribill for information regarding the Tour portion of an Alaska Connoisseur Cruisetour. It's got a lot of good information.

 

My wife and I are booked for a 13 day Connoisseur Cruisetour in Alaska this coming June. We are doing the land portion first - 6 days - followed by the southbound cruise - 7 days. We fly to Fairbanks on June 23. We decided on the Connoisseur Cruisetour partly based on information contained in the thread linked above.

 

I'm going "on vacation" starting when I walk out the door at 4:00 PM on Friday, June 17 and I'm never going back. My boss knows what's going on (he is in Sacramento and I usually only see him 3 times a year) but the staff in the office where I am based don't know that I'm actually running out the rest of my vacation and will retire on August 18. I don't want "the Luncheon" or "the Party" or "the Gifts" or any fuss. I'll let them know what's actually happening on my last day and will likely buy pizza for the office or something of that sort.

 

WAHOO!!! :D:D:D

Edited April 7, 2016 by Thrak

[doe326]

We've taken 3 of them with Princess. In my opinion they are the best way to go. Less hassle for you and bags. We had a wonderful tour guide in Alaska for our first Connoisseur tour. Each day we were given our food vouchers and each night we received information for the next day. He was very organized and so knowledgeable about Alaska. Our second was in Argentina and Brazil. Although not as organized as our first tour guide, the guides were wonderful.We just did the Outback in Australia. Eight days before the cruise. Again a wonderful tour director. Very organized and knowledgeable about the area. And she had to heard us through airport lines, bus lines, etc. We flew from Sydney, to Darwin, to Cairns, to Uluru and back to Sydney. She had her work cut out for her and did it very well. The Connoisseur tour makes for a much more relaxing vacation. Just have your bags ready for pick up, get on the bus or train, and arrive at your next destination. We are taking our fourth Connoisseur tour this June in Alaska and expect it will be like the others -- excellent.

[osofish2]

We have taken both escorted and unescorted tours in Alaska. We believe the escorted tour is a much better value even though it costs more. Not only does the escort provide a treasure trove of knowledge, but he handles meal reservations, detailed time tables for each day of the tour, and all other details that take the hassle out of the trip. There were only 24 people in our group and on our bus and rail car. If you take the Alaska escorted tour and get Jack Curtiss as your escort you can consider yourself to have won the lottery.

 

We also toured with Jack, and can't agree more about taking this tour. We would do it again without a thought.

 

Another aspect we really liked was that our meals were included. I had King crab almost every night!!, without worrying about prices.

 

Granted, it is more expensive, but what a treat-kind of like treating yourself to a suite once in a while.

[Kinkacruiser]

Our 6 day land tour in Alaska last year was excellent. Being first timers , there was no stress involved getting from point A to B . Our delightful escort handled everything and the days flowed beautifully. At least 2 meals (and they were huge!) were included.

I doubt we'll see Alaska again, so the outlay was very much worth it.

[phantomII]

We are going on the 13 day to Alaska June 25th. Cruise 1st northbound. I hope it is worth it.

Edited April 7, 2016 by phantomII

[Thrak]

We are going on the 13 day to Alaska June 25th. Cruise 1st northbound. I hope it is worth it.

 

Our 13 day is land tour first. We fly to Fairbanks on June 23rd and cruise southward on June 29. :D

[Murphey]

Thanks everyone....good information. But we are not doing Alaska. In the shore excursion lists there is occasionally a tour labeled Connoisseur, and I was interested in people's experience with them. It they were worth the extra and why. I like the smaller group, but not all indicate there are less people. Just curious what other people have run into.

[pablo222]

My boss knows what's going on (he is in Sacramento and I usually only see him 3 times a year) but the staff in the office where I am based don't know that I'm actually running out the rest of my vacation and will retire on August 18.

 

 

...unless they read cruisecritic!

[Working 2 Cruise]

Thanks everyone....good information. But we are not doing Alaska. In the shore excursion lists there is occasionally a tour labeled Connoisseur, and I was interested in people's experience with them. It they were worth the extra and why. I like the smaller group, but not all indicate there are less people. Just curious what other people have run into.

 

You really should specify where you're going. After 2 posts, we only know you're not going to Alaska. You may get better information if you tell us where this "excursion" is.

[Thrak]

...unless they read cruisecritic!

Nobody where I work cruises. I don't think any of them have ever cruised and they certainly don't "do" forums of any kind.

 

Sent from my K00C using Tapatalk

[caribill]

In the shore excursion lists there is occasionally a tour labeled Connoisseur, and I was interested in people's experience with them. It they were worth the extra and why. I like the smaller group, but not all indicate there are less people. Just curious what other people have run into.

 

In our experience these tours often see more than the non-Connoisseur tours do and thus are worth it even if the group is not very small.

 

We have never been disappointed by a Princess Connoisseur tour at a port.

[Woobstr112G]

We've done one Connoisseur Shore Excursion (Canne), albeit it was three years ago while on the Inaugural Royal T/A. I enjoyed the smaller group of cruisers on the excursion. The highlight of the excursion was lunch at the Cafe de Monte Carlo which we thoroughly enjoyed. Overall, I would say we enjoyed our excursion. It didn't blow us away (with the exception of the lunch), but we did enjoy it.....:):):)

 

Bob

Edited April 8, 2016 by Woobstr112G

[ggprincess2004]

We have done some of the connoisseur shore excursions that Princess offers. The smaller group size is always welcome, the guides are without question among the best we have had, knowledgeable and generally passionate about what they are sharing with their charges, committed to make sure all are enjoying the experience, and some of the experiences, well, that is what great travel memories are made of.

 

I cannot guarantee that all of them are going to be outstanding, but we have no complaints about those we have taken to date.

[Murphey]

Thanks you very much!! Very good feedback......I think we'll try a couple!!