Princess Connoisseur Alaskan Cruise Tours

Looking to book an Alaskan Cruise Tour for June 2015. Will probably go with Princess but wondering if the 14 Night Princess Connoisseur Kenai Peninsula Cruise Tour (Tour PB7) is worth the extra money. It includes most meals on land and some tours with a guide. We have only done one other cruise so far to the Western Caribbean on Norwegian so we are not really very experienced as far as cruises go! This is also my first post on Cruise Critic. We have so many places on our bucket list and aren't getting any younger so we would like to see as much as possible in Alaska! Any tips would be appreciated.

Did a Princess escorted tour of Alaska 3 years ago and it was great. Princess really has things dialed in for Alaska with great lodges, tours and transportation. We found it to be an excellent way to see a lot of Alaska without all the fuss of planning everything yourself. It was really an enjoyable stress free couple weeks. We certainly feel like the expense was worth it.

Ditto as above. Did the 8 day land precruise; great to have nothing to think about. Princess has it all planned perfectly.

We have booked a Connoisseur 12 day cruisetour (6 sea, 6 land ) as this is our first trip to Alaska and wanted everything to run smoothly. The cost is double the cruise price, but it's pretty much all inclusive.

By the way , welcome to Cruise Critic :)

It's a tradeoff of budget versus efficiency. Escorted tours cost a bit more but as you noted, you get a little more in terms of what you see/do without the stress of planning it yourself.

Personally I prefer that approach, if you can afford it. If budget is tight, the standard cruisetour is also a great trip and there are even DIY options.

Having most of the meals paid for with a Connoisseur tour is one of the best parts. You can look at the menu and not have to eliminate some entrees due to their cost.

You can read my summary of our tour (including food prices) to get a good idea of how you will be treated on a Connoisseur tour.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1727858

Thanks to everyone for your replies to my first post! It really helps and we are going to go ahead and book an Alaskan Connoisseur Cruise Tour. Thanks especially to caribill for the summary of their tour. We feel like we have already been there!

Thanks to everyone for your replies to my first post! It really helps and we are going to go ahead and book an Alaskan Connoisseur Cruise Tour. Thanks especially to caribill for the summary of their tour. We feel like we have already been there!

Bill already posted the link but, if he hadn't, I would have posted it. I highly recommend you check out his review of his connoisseur tour.