Client Review: Princess Alaska Connoisseur Escorted CruiseTour

Recently, four Premier Custom Travel clients traveled to Alaska via Princess Cruises “Connoisseur Escorted” CruiseTour. We’ve had plenty of travelers head to this incredible destination over the years but we wondered – would these folks think that the higher price for this premium product was worth it? What were there experiences? Lucky for us they were nice enough to write a review of their trip — and even share a few great photos. Enjoy!

First, here’s their itinerary from the trip:

Jul 31 – Arrive in Fairbanks and transfer to hotel (Fairbanks Princess Riverside Lodge)
Aug 01 – Welcome Breakfast/AM Gold Dredge /PM Riverboat/Three Course Dinner
Aug 02 – Breakfast/Coach: Fairbanks To Denali/Afternoon At Leisure/Three Course Dinner At King Salmon Restaurant/Hotel – Denali Princess Wilderness Lodge
Aug 03 – Sourdough Breakfast/Denali Park Tour/Tundra Wilderness Tour/Music Of Denali Dinner Theater
Aug 04 – Transfer: Lodge To Rail Depot/Rail: Denali To Talkeetna/Lunch Aboard Train/Transfer: Rail Depot To Lodge/Evening At Leisure/Three Course Dinner Mountain View Restaurant/Hotel – Mckinley Princess Lodge
Aug 05 – Breakfast At Mountain View Restaurant/Coach: Mckinley To Kenai/Three Course Dinner At Eagle’s Crest/Hotel – Kenai Princess Wilderness Lodge
Aug 06 – Breakfast At Eagle’s Crest/Day At Leisure/Three Course Dinner At Eagle’s Crest
Aug 07 – Breakfast At Eagle’s Crest/Day At Leisure/Three Course Dinner At Eagle’s Crest
Aug 08 – Breakfast At Eagle’s Crest/Coach: Kenai To Whittier/Embark cruise on Grand Princess
Aug 09 – Hubbard Glacier (Scenic Cruising)
Aug 10 – Glacier Bay (Scenic Cruising)
Aug 11 – Skagway
Aug 12 – Juneau
Aug 13 – Ketchikan
Aug 14 – At Sea
Aug 15 – Vancouver/Transfer: Pier To Hotel (Fairmont Waterfront Hotel)
Aug 16 – Day at Leisure
Aug 17 – Transfer: Hotel To Airport/Flight home

And here is their review…in their own words:

I wanted to write and let you know what a wonderful time we had on our Land and Sea tour we had with Princess. As you know we opted for the Connoisseur Tour package. The choice of that package was the best thing we could have done. Our tour host Carlos took care of all of our needs for the land portion of the tour. He made sure our dinner reservations were booked every night. His insight and commentary as we toured via bus and train was very good and not boring or irritating. Sometimes you just want quiet to enjoy the scenery. Other features of the Connoisseur Tour I did not expect were the welcome breakfast and the wine paired surf and turf dinner hosted by our tour guide. Our group was 40 strong and were very friendly and easy going, which made it great for everyone.

In Fairbanks we took the two tours that were included in the package. We thoroughly enjoyed the trip to the Gold dredge and the Alaskan pipeline. We managed to pan enough gold to file a locket for (my wife) Claudine which makes a great keepsake of the trip. The river tour was ok but not our favorite, it was raining which did not help.

Denali National park tour was one of the best I have ever been on. We were very fortunate that the mountain (Denali) was cloudless for the 2 days we were in the area. We saw a lot of wildlife on the tour. Grizzly Bears, Moose and Caribou were all seen on the bus tour of the park. The bus tour was also included in the connoisseur package. Next stop was Princess McKinley Lodge for one night great deck to observe the mountains from. The view is quite different from Denali National Park as you are viewing the opposite side of the mountains. It is breathtaking. Food in the lodge was excellent as it was at all of the locations we visited. Crab legs seemed to be everyone’s favorite. The next day the train took us to Talkeetna.

The train trip was very enjoyable and relaxing. At Talkeetna we boarded the bus to Anchorage for lunch and time to explore on our own. We headed to the Kenai Peninsula and the Princess Kenai Lodge in early afternoon. I cannot put in words how beautiful the trip to the lodge was. The Kenai Lodge was home for three days. The setting of the lodge on top of the bluff overlooking the Kenai River is fantastic. The accommodations were top notch with a fireplace in every room. We took a couple of excursions that were not part of the tour package. Claudine and my sister took a cruise tour of the Fiords National Park. They were both very impressed, saw a lot of wildlife whales, seals and orcas. My brother-in-law and I took the day to go salmon fishing. We limited on salmon and caught a few trout also. The hi-light of the fishing trip was the bear sightings. We had a brown bear with 2 grown cubs come into the area where we were fishing on a gravel bar.

Off to the cruise portion of the trip.

We embarked the Grand Princess in Whittier. The first two days were spent visiting the Hubbard Glacier and then the Glacier Bay National park. We took a whale watching excursion in Juneau. Good tour; saw whales and Orcas. I had been on the same tour last trip and it is very well run and enjoyable even with the rain. Other stops were in Skagway and Ketchikan on the way to Vancouver. The suites on the ship were very nice and comfortable. Service on the ship was outstanding and the crew was the most upbeat and friendly of any cruise I have been on. The two specialty restaurants were very good the Crown Steak House was unbelievable. Hard to get reservations though.

A couple of quick observations:
Always take the land tour first. When you get to the ship you are ready to relax.
We all thought the value receives for the extra cost of the connoisseur package was better that expected.
Thank you to Dean, Claudine, Ron & Dawn for allowing us to help plan their Alaska adventure and special thanks to Dean for sharing his thoughts and photos. A few more pictures to end this article: