Meals on Alaskan cruisetour (land portion)

[Moonstruck1115]

Hi all!  I am wondering what everyone does for their meals on the land portion of the Alaskan cruisetour?  I was very surprised to find out that meals were not included!  My husband is freaking out because he LOVES to eat and he's worried about the expense of having to pay for our meals on land.  We were thinking about buying the meal plan for an additional $500 (covers both of us).  Has anyone done this before and if so, yay or nay?  Thank you so much for all the info!  My little Alaskan notebook is quickly getting filled up with pointers 😊

[WisCruiser2]

While some on our tour did buy the meal plan, we opted not to and were happy with our choice. We did a 7-day "off the beaten path," with stays at Copper River (2 nights), Fairbanks (2 nights), Denali, and Mt McKinley lodges. In Fairbanks we only ate breakfast at the lodge as lunch was included in the Riverboat/Gold Dredge excursion and we ate dinners at the Pump House and Chena Resort. At the other lodges, we mostly ate in the "bar & grill" venues, and felt it worked well for us. Note that you have to pay for your lunches while on the bus, even with the meal plan, I think.

You can view the menus at the various lodges to get an idea of the meal costs.

[FineAsFrogsHair]

WisCruiser2, thank you for your comments.  We're going in August for a CruiseTour southbound on the Coral.

 

[WisCruiser2]

I also budgeted "generously" for meals but we spent less.

[Thrak]

We cheat. We book the connoisseur cruised tours where "most" meals are included.

[Potstech]

Did a 5 day land tour and turned down the meal package.  We spent less than that on our meals. At that time it was only $300.00. And I think it is per person, at least it was then.

[reedprincess]

We too loved not having the meal plan or meals included. We ate and drank all we wanted at local restaurants or at the venues on-site and didn't come close to what the meal plan would have cost. 

Depending on where you're staying, local eateries are easy walking distance to a shuttle ride away.  Food costs weren't any more than a mid-range restaurant in a big city. And we ate really well! 

[margob111]

We also did the connoisseur class with meals included.  We were happy with our choice.

[Micahs Grandad]

1 hour ago, margob111 said:

We also did the connoisseur class with meals included.  We were happy with our choice.

Thanks for the info. We are doing the same thing in September.

[Thrak]

5 hours ago, margob111 said:

We also did the connoisseur class with meals included.  We were happy with our choice.

 

3 hours ago, Micah's Grandad said:

Thanks for the info. We are doing the same thing in September.

 

We did a 13 day connoisseur cruise tour in 2016 and fly out for a 15 day on May 17. It's more spendy but so very easy to deal with. 🙂

[MainePrincess]

All of the Princess Lodges have pub type dining options, along with the more formal restaurants.  There is a strip mall type place across the road from Denali Princess Lodge with several eateries.  I did not find the food very expensive.  Copper River Lodge is more remote, no place to walk to, but still two restaurants in the Lodge.  You will love the land tour, I predict.  I am doing another one this August.

 

Edited April 3, 2019 by MainePrincess
two, not too

[caribill]

We were also on a Connoisseur tour seven years ago. Mu report of that cruise includes a bit of information on meal costs.

 

So if you want to see what meals cost 7 years ago (I am sure prices have not gone down since then), take a look.

 

 

[cheeseclan]

We also did the Conoisseur tour 2 years ago and were happy we did.  We would look at the menu and be shocked by the prices in the lodges.  My boys can eat a lot if food 😜.  Worth it for us!

[disneyochem]

We’re doing a 17 day connoisseur tour this June—hubby decided to do this in part because of the included meals.  He thinks it will be nice to have that decision already made as well as having the reservations done for us.  We will have to buy some meals but probably not too much.  We have found that included meals on any trip are more than we usually eat.

[helpmesailaway]

We had meals included in our land tour and I was very happy with that.  The meals include an appetizer, main dish, and dessert.  Most of the food was delicious and the portions were on the large side!!!!  

 

There was no going hungry and it couldn't have been easier.  Just order, enjoy and sign your voucher - included the gratuities as well.

One more thing to consider - having the meals in the lodges also gave us a chance to enjoy some Alaskan specialties such as halibut and  alaskan salmon.  The dinners were expensive!!!!!

[cheeseclan]

1 hour ago, helpmesailaway said:

We had meals included in our land tour and I was very happy with that.  The meals include an appetizer, main dish, and dessert.  Most of the food was delicious and the portions were on the large side!!!!  

 

There was no going hungry and it couldn't have been easier.  Just order, enjoy and sign your voucher - included the gratuities as well.

One more thing to consider - having the meals in the lodges also gave us a chance to enjoy some Alaskan specialties such as halibut and  alaskan salmon.  The dinners were expensive!!!!!

Also included was a cold and hot non alcoholic drink.

Agree that dinners were pricey especially for things like the crab legs and salmon.

Edited April 3, 2019 by cheeseclan

[card61]

We have it on our cruise coming up in May. I looked at prices and thought it would be nice to not have to worry about where we will eat. 

[Thrak]

12 hours ago, caribill said:

We were also on a Connoisseur tour seven years ago. Mu report of that cruise includes a bit of information on meal costs.

 

So if you want to see what meals cost 7 years ago (I am sure prices have not gone down since then), take a look.

 

 

 

Great review. I've pointed a number of folks to that review when they asked about the connoisseur tours. It was actually your review that helped us decide on our first connoisseur tour. We enjoyed it so much we're doing another one soon. Glad to see the pictures are back. I know that photobucket messed with them at one point. The pics are helpful. Thanks again for such a great (and helpful) review.

Edited April 3, 2019 by Thrak

[SeaofStars]

Where are you going for the land portion? We also have a cruisetour before the cruise (2 days in Fairbanks, 2 nights in Denali, and a travel day to the cruise ship) and we don’t have a meal plan. We’re on the On Your Own Tour though so it’s less structured. I’ve been looking up places to eat so may have some suggestions if you’d like? I don’t really have anything for Anchorage but I know the Alaska forum can make some good recommendations.

[Thrak]

Our first cruisetour in 2016 was a 13 day connoisseur cruise tour. We had 2 nights in Fairbanks, 2 nights at Denali Lodge, and 2 nights at McKinley lodge. The one we have coming up in May is a 15 day connoisseur cruise tour. It has 2 nights in Fairbanks, 2 nights at Denali Lodge, 2 nights at Copper River lodge, and 2 nights at Kenai lodge.

 

At the Denali lodge you can go down the street for pizza or across the street to the Salmon Bake. One of the guys at the Denali lodge said they often have new employees make "The Bake Mistake". They go across the street to The Salmon Bake and have some food and drinks. Then they have more drinks. Then they have more drinks. When 3:00 AM rolls around and the drinks are cut off the new lodge employees are totally taken by surprise because it never got dark and they didn't realize what time it was. 🍺🥃

Edited April 4, 2019 by Thrak