Princess Alaska Cruisetours

[GibbysMom]

We just attended a short seminar by Princess at our local AAA on Alaskan cruises.   We have been talking about taking an Alaskan cruise for years.  The 14-17 day Cruise tours really seem like the way to go.  This would be a 1 time trip for us so we want to do it right.

 

Anyone do 1 of these cruise tours recently?

 

What did you like/dislike?

 

Would you do the cruise tour again or better yet recommend it to a friend?

 

Balcony vs Interior?

 

We are thinking May or June?  Thoughts?

 

Is there a benefit to the 17 day tour vs a shorter one ( say 14 - 15 days)?  Was there enough to do for that # of days?  Was it worth the extra $.  We were leaning more to the 15 day option.

 

The presenter was really selling the "medallion" ships - are they worth it?  Just seemed more "electronically connected" to me.

 

There are 2 of us in our early 60's.  We enjoy shopping, hiking and sightseeing.  Trying to do this right since we only plan on doing it once.

 

Appreciate your kind consideration and input.

 

[Steelers36]

2 minutes ago, GibbysMom said:

We just attended a short seminar by Princess at our local AAA on Alaskan cruises.   We have been talking about taking an Alaskan cruise for years.  The 14-17 day Cruise tours really seem like the way to go.  This would be a 1 time trip for us so we want to do it right.

 

Anyone do 1 of these cruise tours recently?

 

What did you like/dislike?

 

Would you do the cruise tour again or better yet recommend it to a friend?

 

Balcony vs Interior?

 

We are thinking May or June?  Thoughts?

 

Is there a benefit to the 17 day tour vs a shorter one ( say 14 - 15 days)?  Was there enough to do for that # of days?  Was it worth the extra $.  We were leaning more to the 15 day option.

 

The presenter was really selling the "medallion" ships - are they worth it?  Just seemed more "electronically connected" to me.

 

There are 2 of us in our early 60's.  We enjoy shopping, hiking and sightseeing.  Trying to do this right since we only plan on doing it once.

 

Appreciate your kind consideration and input.

 

Others can tell you more, but I would definitely do a combination of land tour and cruise voyage.  Note that ALL Princess ships are Medallion now, so the presenter was a little out of date. 

 

Also, take a look around Cruise Critic and find some reviews where folks took Princess to Alaska.  There are are a lot of "live" cruise reports from voyages taken this very season.  Look up a couple of those.

 

I would say universally, everyone who goes to Alaska is thrilled with the experience.  This is partly why it is on our list of future trips.

[Thrak]

We did a 13 day connoisseur cruise tour in 2016 and a 15 day connoisseur cruise tour in 2019. Fabulous. I highly recommend the connoisseur tours.

 

There is a really old thread by @caribill that helped us decide this was the way we wanted to go. We were not sorry. Give it a look.

 

Edit: Expect absolutely horrid Internet on an Alaskan cruise.

 

 

Edited August 11, 2022 by Thrak

[GibbysMom]

6 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

Others can tell you more, but I would definitely do a combination of land tour and cruise voyage.  Note that ALL Princess ships are Medallion now, so the presenter was a little out of date. 

 

Also, take a look around Cruise Critic and find some reviews where folks took Princess to Alaska.  There are are a lot of "live" cruise reports from voyages taken this very season.  Look up a couple of those.

 

I would say universally, everyone who goes to Alaska is thrilled with the experience.  This is partly why it is on our list of future trips.

Much thanks and Go Steelers!  We are from the Pittsburgh area!

[nwnittany]

My family recently did an 11-day cruisetour on the Royal.  

 

I'd definitely splurge for the balcony...one of the highlights of the inside passage cruise is all the amazing sights "just when sailing".  It also gives you a place to chill after an afternoon on deck viewing the glaciers. 

 

The one difference we noticed on the land portion was the level of luxury significantly falls off (maybe the way to look at it is that you get spoiled on the cruise portion).   I'm a "lazy traveler" and hate packing/unpacking and moving from hotel to hotel.  So, if you are similar, maybe book an itinerary to stay in one place longer, rather than hopping each night.

 

The weather can be erratic.  I think the best chance for good weather is end of June/early July.  But, to be honest, it's a bit of a crap shoot. 

 

I thought the medallion was fine and convenient.  Perfect?  well, no.  But we used the heck out of it and found it helpful. 

 

I guess one question that's commonly debated for cruisetours is "land first, or, sea first"? 

 

Another positive about the Alaskan cruise is that there is a wide range of activities and excursions, ranging from athletic/adventurous to, well, "enrichment" (lol).  There will be many folks in your age range and many folks who are also "doing it once", so you'll have alot of company.  

 

In any case, I think you will really enjoy it and hope you do it and have a great time.

[cr8tiv1]

When I first started cruising seriously (before that it was sort of a hit and miss), I did a short cruise tour in July.  It was HOT.  

 

But here are my take aways.

 

1.  Do the land portion first.  It seems to have less time on the road/rails.

2.  Pick up the ship in Whittier/Anchorage.

3.  Be sure it includes Glacier Bay

4.  I much prefer the smaller ship with the full promenade deck.  The Grand Class ship to the new Royal Class.  

5.  I was not really impressed with Denali.  It's a tall mountain.  I have not done the Kenai Peninsula.  I would think that was much more "Alaska".  

6.  More land days would have been nice.

7.  If you have the time and the money, I would still do the land portion first and then do a back to back ending up in Vancouver.  

8.  Loved the book ends (May and September).

 

Enjoy your planning.  Welcome to Cruise Critic.  Most everyone here are really helpful.

[GibbysMom]

1 hour ago, nwnittany said:

My family recently did an 11-day cruisetour on the Royal.  

 

I'd definitely splurge for the balcony...one of the highlights of the inside passage cruise is all the amazing sights "just when sailing".  It also gives you a place to chill after an afternoon on deck viewing the glaciers. 

 

The one difference we noticed on the land portion was the level of luxury significantly falls off (maybe the way to look at it is that you get spoiled on the cruise portion).   I'm a "lazy traveler" and hate packing/unpacking and moving from hotel to hotel.  So, if you are similar, maybe book an itinerary to stay in one place longer, rather than hopping each night.

 

The weather can be erratic.  I think the best chance for good weather is end of June/early July.  But, to be honest, it's a bit of a crap shoot. 

 

I thought the medallion was fine and convenient.  Perfect?  well, no.  But we used the heck out of it and found it helpful. 

 

I guess one question that's commonly debated for cruisetours is "land first, or, sea first"? 

 

Another positive about the Alaskan cruise is that there is a wide range of activities and excursions, ranging from athletic/adventurous to, well, "enrichment" (lol).  There will be many folks in your age range and many folks who are also "doing it once", so you'll have alot of company.  

 

In any case, I think you will really enjoy it and hope you do it and have a great time.

Much thanks!

 

[GibbysMom]

2 hours ago, Thrak said:

We did a 13 day connoisseur cruise tour in 2016 and a 15 day connoisseur cruise tour in 2019. Fabulous. I highly recommend the connoisseur tours.

 

There is a really old thread by @caribill that helped us decide this was the way we wanted to go. We were not sorry. Give it a look.

 

Edit: Expect absolutely horrid Internet on an Alaskan cruise.

 

 

Just finished reading the thread you suggested- thank you it is an excellent reference!

[Torfamm]

I’d agree that land first is the better choice. An often unmentioned benefit is that southbound cruises leave most people with an easier flight home. I also prefer avoiding Royal class ships as they are too large to sail the inside passage

[jsglow]

We're actually doing a northbound 'cruise first' later this month.  With testing requirements still in place, we view our protocols to be somewhat advantageous. We'll test at our son's home in Seattle before crossing the border and boarding, all within the required 2 days.  After that we'll leave Canada and return to the good old USA avoiding any chance at a Canadian government imposed isolation. 

[georgiacat]

We did a 14 day cruisetour with Princess this June (2022) on the Royal.  We did the land part first (recommend).  Previously we had done the same tour in reverse in June of 2011 on the Coral with land part second.

 

We had a balcony mini-suite that we felt is worth the money.  The land part is definitely worth the money, and there is plenty to do.  I would recommend staying 2 or more nights at each lodge.  We liked them all.

 

we prefer the smaller ships (Coral), but were assigned the Royal with all the cancellations and changes that Princess made.

 

The weather in June was good, still snow on the mountains.  It was warm in Fairbanks (70's) and cool on Glacier Bay (high in the low 50's).  We saw whales, eagles and lots of wildlife.  In June we did not see salmon and bears (fall is their season, I hear).

 

We are not electronic people.  We used the medallion to get in the room and on/off the ship.  We had a wonderful time on the cruise without checking into the medallion.  Princess still does paper daily notices of events.  Be sure to go the the naturalist talks; some are better than others.

 

Check the Alaska boards and read everything you can find on the internet; check out youtube videos.

[beg3yrs]

We also did a 17 day land first connoisseur tour in late May this year. It was amazing. We're already planning to book the complementary tour they offer, Heart of the Rockies,  in May/June of 2024 when they are released for booking.

 

Next time we'll try to book a Grand class ship as they go inside of Vancouver Island rather on the ocean side. Much more scenic.

 

Also, it just seemed that the seven day ship portion wasn't enough so we'll add a return B2B on the same ship and cabin.

[SightCRR]

Is it for 2023 or 24? If 23 the Denali road is likely not to be open yet and c-19 will still have some or many places at reduced capacities so I would skip the tour portion. 

Look at the HAL 14 day cruise in May 23 which will be Vancouver RT and take you to several different cities with good port times. 

sightcrr

[odie1024]

We just did a 15 day connoiseur cruisetour this year that started June 10th in Fairbanks for 2 nights. Will say very disappointed in the Princess Lodge as far as the food as we only had very limited buffet food. Told it was due to staff shortage. Also hit Mckinley Lodge for 1 night, Denali Lodge for 2 nights and Kenai Lodge for 3 nights. The Kenai Lodge had the best accommodations and definitely best food. Definitely need to do an excursion on the Kenai Peninsula.  We boarded the ship on the 18th and would advise doing the land portion first so you can relax a little on the ship. The days can be hectic as luggage goes outside your door fairly early. This was our first trip with Princess and would highly reccomend. If you go too early in May the roads in Denali may still be snow covered and not open. We did also go to Alaska in Sept. 2019 which also had terrific weather.

[SightCRR]

About 1/3 to 1/2 of the people this year who did land first got c-19 and could not board ship for cruise and several had to quarantine in ANC. From this years reviews and maybe only one of the party but enough to mess things up. 

sightcrr 

[GibbysMom]

54 minutes ago, SightCRR said:

About 1/3 to 1/2 of the people this year who did land first got c-19 and could not board ship for cruise and several had to quarantine in ANC. From this years reviews and maybe only one of the party but enough to mess things up. 

sightcrr 

Thats definitely a wrinkle that needs to be considered as it would definitely screw things up.

[skynight]

17 hours ago, GibbysMom said:

We just attended a short seminar by Princess at our local AAA on Alaskan cruises.   We have been talking about taking an Alaskan cruise for years.  The 14-17 day Cruise tours really seem like the way to go.  This would be a 1 time trip for us so we want to do it right.

Balcony vs Interior?

Balcony - Club Class mini suite if it is within your budget We really enjoy all the  daylight. In June  in Alaska it will be daylight most of the time.

 

The presenter was really selling the "medallion" ships - are they worth it?  Just seemed more "electronically connected" to me.

Stay as connected or unconnected as you  like. Some nice onboard advantages. Pre-cruise is currently full of bugs

 

A few thoughts above. After many years we have determined that there just isn't one trip of a lifetime. We think of each trip as another experience. Have fun.

[cruisequeen4ever]

The cruisetour gives you the most Alaska in one trip; I definitely recommend it. As others have said, Covid aside, doing the hectic land portion first allows you to relax on the ship after. It also gets your longest flight out of the way first. The Connoisseur version includes meals, which truly give you the opportunity to experience any and all Alaskan food offered on the menu without thinking about the cost of each item. A balcony is the best way to see Alaska, especially on glacier days, but it’s not the end of the world to go without because you can spend your time up on deck during the scenic cruising. All Princess ships are now Medallion ships, so you can’t escape that. Weather is all over the place in the summer in AK but generally in the 50s and 60s, with some rainy days and some sunny days. You could experience a really warm day into the 70s. Bring layers. Princess does Alaska best, so you picked a good one! Happy planning!

[beg3yrs]

3 hours ago, SightCRR said:

About 1/3 to 1/2 of the people this year who did land first got c-19 and could not board ship for cruise and several had to quarantine in ANC. From this years reviews and maybe only one of the party but enough to mess things up. 

sightcrr 

I don't know where you got those numbers. Would you please post your sources?

 

Our cruisetour in late May had 38 people. One person was diagnosed with Covid at the end of the land portion and therefore that person and their partner could not board the ship.

 

I know that's a single tour sample but it sure is a lot less than 1/3 to 1/2 of the people.

[babs135]

Just how strenuous is the land portion?  Sadly, although I use a stick, my mobility is not as good as it could be and it concerns me that I may struggle.  I also worry that I could 'slow' everyone down which is something I would hate to do.

[Cali Viajera]

We did the cruise tour first, from Fairbanks to Kenai. The lodges were great, with Denali the most centrally located one. So nice not to have to worry about renting a car, gas, etc. They took care of everything. Definitely go to Kenai, the fjords tour is worth it to see so many sea animals up close. After the hustle and bustle of getting to lodges and on transportation, the cruise is so relaxing. The Princess 'Voyage of the Glaciers' includes both Hubbard and Glacier Bay. We had a club class mini-suite and loved eating in the club class area of the MDR. I recommend you read Steelers36 trip report. I did as it is so informative!

[SightCRR]

1 hour ago, beg3yrs said:

 

 

I know that's a single tour sample but it sure is a lot less than 1/3 to 1/2 of the people.

Semi live review Y1L Holland America’s Alaska Land and Sea CruiseTour, June 1 – June 19, 2022 - Holland America Line - Cruise Critic Community Post #202, #205 &#217

 

Bad experience - Page 4 - Holland America Line - Cruise Critic Community

 

Alaska Cruise Tours why so many positive Covid? - Page 2 - Princess Cruises - Cruise Critic Community

 

Live From Majestic Princess JB5 Denali Explorer Alaska Cruise Tour 6-2022 - Page 2 - Princess Cruises - Cruise Critic Community    Post #54.

sightcrr

[cottagelady]

We are leaving Tuesday for a cruise tourwith Princess to Alaska on the Majestic.  We also booked with AAA after a seminar back in 2019 and afer  2  cancellations fineally going.   We are doing 11 days with the land first.  This is our first cruise with Princess but have done 14  with other crusie lines.   It will be intersting to see how they compare to the other lines we have been on.   The medallion has me  a little concerned but not as much as the pre  ship covid testing.    I will post when we get back if you have any questions.   I did read Steelers review but not sure how to find it now.   Any one out there who can help with that?  I would like to read it again before we leave.  We are in our 70's and from Pittsburgh.  I'll let you know how strenuous the tours are.    

[beg3yrs]

1 hour ago, SightCRR said:

Semi live review Y1L Holland America’s Alaska Land and Sea CruiseTour, June 1 – June 19, 2022 - Holland America Line - Cruise Critic Community Post #202, #205 &#217

 

Bad experience - Page 4 - Holland America Line - Cruise Critic Community

 

Alaska Cruise Tours why so many positive Covid? - Page 2 - Princess Cruises - Cruise Critic Community

 

Live From Majestic Princess JB5 Denali Explorer Alaska Cruise Tour 6-2022 - Page 2 - Princess Cruises - Cruise Critic Community    Post #54.

sightcrr

From Post #202: "We just heard that at least 12 received a positive test, but more groups are embarking today, we now no of at least 3 couples in our group of which one of the partners tested positive, so at least 3 couples stay behind." - This post doesn't reference the size of the groups so there's no basis for determining 1/3 to 1/2 positive here!

 

From Post #205: "We are now on board the cruise train, turns out only 17 out of the original 33 in our group made it!!! " - Now this post has some good info, 16 didn't make it out of 33, that's almost half, assuming everyone actually tested positive which with couples isn't always the case.

 

From Post #217: "We learned from another group that is travelling the same route, but through a tour-company, that they went from 94 to around 70, so also quite a few positive cases that were denied to cruise. " Pretty much hearsay here but 24 out of 90 is less than one third.

 

Page 4 of "Bad Experience": There was no mention of numbers, just a lot of people complaining.

 

From the "Why so many positive" post, page 2: "One earlier 2022 HAL cruise tour with the land first only 17 out of 33 in group were allowed to board the ship because of + c-19 tests. Not all were positive but had at least one person traveling together +.  " And that was your own post referencing post #202! Can't count that twice!

 

From Post #54: "yes we know of a handful of people that tested positive at the Mt McKinley lodge but just by third hand information. " Again, it's admittedly hearsay with no information on which you can make a percentage call.

 

So even if we allow the two posts which had some usable numbers, combined with my actual experience (1 of 38) we're at 16 plus 24 plus 1  (41) testing positive out of a sample of 33 plus 94 plus 38 (165) provides us a generous 1/4 as I didn't reduce the couples numbers which would make it much lower. Finally, cherry-picking data is fraught with peril as that introduces bias in an attempt to prove a point. These posts are likely written because the originators were upset at the numbers they saw. How many posts were not written by those who didn't have problems on their tours? I don't know an exact number but it's probably greater than zero!

 

So in conclusion, tossing around numbers based on gut feel can be very wrong. Usually my gut feel is due to something I ate rather than good objective numbers!

 

Edited August 12, 2022 by beg3yrs

[SightCRR]

Let me change my reply from 1/3 to 1/2 to some people couldn't go on cruise. I would choose not to be one stuck in hotel. 

Here is one more then I am done with this. Maybe 2023 will be different. We just canceled our 2023 AK in case it is not. 

Is COVID still prevalent on land tours in Alaska? - Holland America Line - Cruise Critic Community

sighcrr