Is Connoisseur escorted worth it on a land/cruise to Alaska?

[Id rather be diving]

We did the 15 day connessiour tour last summer to celebrate my 50th birthday.  We did 2 nights each in Fairbanks, Denali, McKinley, and Kenai.  Originally we were not going to do the connessiour tour because I thought we could do it cheaper by paying for food ourselves.  But we had friends who really wanted to do the connessiour, so we switched.  After experiencing the trip, it was absolutely the best decision for us.  My husband is mobility impaired and our tour director took care of every last detail for us.  As we were waiting for our Tundra tour, I mentioned to her that the shower stool in the shower was really low to the ground.  I told her we could make it work because my sister was traveling with us, but was telling her for future guests.  When we returned from our tour, I got a text from her just as we were walking into our hotel room asking if housekeeping had delivered a more appropriate shower stool.  I went to the bathroom and the Cadillac version of shower stools was waiting in the bathroom.  She came to us on the bus and asked us each day if everything was okay, we’re the accommodations okay, etc.  our entire tour group was able to get a private train car because my husband’s mobility issues required us to be on one of only 2 handicap train cars, so the other 30 people in our group were thrilled to be in our group. Ha ha.  Due to our tour director this was the MOST relaxing trip for me in the last few years.  I am usually calling ahead to ensure everything is in place for my husband and always three steps ahead of everyone to ensure things work.  This trip I sat back and let Alexa handle everything.  This for me was worth every penny!  And after having done this tour, even if not traveling with mobility issues, I’d spend the money and do this again and again.  

I LOVED having our meals all paid for up front. I know myself well enough that I would have only had the $56 halibut one night rather than every night if I had to pay for it each night.  The rest of the time I would have opted for chicken.  This is a personal thing for me, but throwing it out there in case you know this about yourself as well.

We really got to know the other 30 travelers with us because we spent so much time together.  They also made the trip extra special.

We hope to book this trip again in 2022.  I, too, did a lot of research and reading Caribill’s trip review to know what to expect.

[Travlin grrl]

I need to do a land tour!! I've done Alaska twice but not the land portion. After reading these I want to add that on.

[voljeep]

On 8/29/2020 at 12:35 PM, Id rather be diving said:

connessiour tour

yep, if/when we go back we would do it that way ... land first, then cruise, and I believe they come in 6,8 or 10 land days before the 7 day cruise

[Cruisen Elf]

2 hours ago, Travlin grrl said:

I need to do a land tour!! I've done Alaska twice but not the land portion. After reading these I want to add that on.

 

Definitely!

[zalusky]

The train ride is very special:

 

[Thrak]

One our last Connoisseur Cruise Tour the last train portion not only included lunch but 2 alcoholic drinks per person. I was quite surprised.

[Lucky TGO]

36 minutes ago, Thrak said:

One our last Connoisseur Cruise Tour the last train portion not only included lunch but 2 alcoholic drinks per person. I was quite surprised.

Wow!! 2 alcoholic drinks that’s good enough for me Thrak signed me up.😁

Your Pal,

 

[Thrak]

28 minutes ago, Lucky TGO said:

Wow!! 2 alcoholic drinks that’s good enough for me Thrak signed me up.😁

Your Pal,

 

 

You, sir are a smart ass but I'm guessing that is no surprise to you.

Edited September 1, 2020 by Thrak

[Lucky TGO]

4 minutes ago, Thrak said:

 

You, sir are a smart ass but I'm guessing that is no surprise to you.

Hi Thrak,

I’m sorry!!  
Your Pal,

Tony

[Loki S]

I’ve started doing some research into the option of a Alaska Cruisetour. Do you book tours once you arrive at each lodge?

[Steelers36]

On 9/1/2020 at 12:10 AM, Thrak said:

 

You, sir are a smart ass but I'm guessing that is no surprise to you.

You can post that again!!  Er, I guess I just did!

[Mflem1278]

We did connoisseur in June 2016.  It was awesome.  Everything was taken care of.  Our tour guide helped us make some additional excursion reservations.  She was there to answer any questions we had on anything or handle any problems we had. Some in our group had problems with their rooms and she immediately took care of it.  She was very very informative - had been doing it for several years.  But she wasn't in your face all the time either.  Just available if needed.  I would do it again.

[Cruisen Elf]

11 hours ago, Loki S said:

I’ve started doing some research into the option of a Alaska Cruisetour. Do you book tours once you arrive at each lodge?

 

With a cruisetour, some tours are already included.  The cruisetour description should specify which ones are part of the package.  You can do some things on your own, but in Alaska, my experience was that you usually had to book tours through the cruise line as Princess, at least, seemed to have an arrangement with the tour operators to handle it this way.   I would recommend booking any tour you really want to do ahead of time, as many are sold out well in advance of your arrival at the lodges.

 

Here is a link to the Alaska boards, which is filled with loads of great information:  https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/33-alaska/

 

Alaska is amazing!  Enjoy!

[leck57]

11 hours ago, Loki S said:

I’ve started doing some research into the option of a Alaska Cruisetour. Do you book tours once you arrive at each lodge?

 

No, I would book them before. You can book them on Princess just the same way you would book ship tours. You can book at the Lodges but some were booked out.

As Cruisen Elf states, some tours may be included such as the Tundra Wilderness Tour, Paddle steamer in Fairbanks etc. This depends on the type of tour you book. We did a Connoisseur Tour and highly recommend them as an option.