Review of our 13-day Princess Connoisseur CruiseTour - Part 1: The Land Tour

This is a review of our 13 day Connoisseur CruiseTour with Princess.  We also added on one day in Fairbanks at the beginning of our trip and then two nights in Vancouver and three in Seattle at the end.  The opinions expressed are our own (or those of our friends who traveled with us!)  I had initially started this blog making entries daily but, then, when wifi and the internet were hard to come by, I had to stop.  Feel free, however, to go back and read those daily entries.

Our friends, Chris & Kim, wanted to do this cruisetour as a celebration of their twentieth wedding anniversary and, since we’re cruise buddies, asked us (hubby and I) to go along.  To be honest, even though this was on Kim’s bucket list, it wasn’t on our’s, and we had moved to Florida to get away from the snow and the cold and wearing heavy coats, hats and mittens.  But after much deliberation, we decided to go and make the best of it.  Wow…am I glad we did.

We are loyal Princess cruisers, so that was the easiest decision to make about this trip.  It took hours of reading, research, emailing and phone calls to figure out what type of cruisetour to do and then where to start.  We finally decided on the Connoisseur tour which included a dedicated tour guide for our group, almost all meals on land, tours in Fairbanks and the Tundra Wilderness Tour in Denali.  Little did we know then that there were unknown benefits to booking a Connoisseur tour.

We chose a tour at the end of May because that best fit into everyone's schedule and one that began in Fairbanks, and as we normally do, we flew in a day earlier to ensure we would be fresh and ready for our adventure in Alaska and booked an additional night ourselves at the Princess Fairbanks Lodge.  We all had early morning flights out on Alaska Air to Seattle…us out of Orlando and our friends out of Boston.   Staying overnight at the airport was the easiest way to get to the airport on time.  We landed in Seattle within 10 minutes of each other and had time to grab a really good lunch at Bigfoot Food and Spirits before boarding our plane to Anchorage.   

We then travelled together to Anchorage…where we saw our first moose.  It was stuffed...but it was a live moose at some point!  Then we grabbed a few beers, a snack and the best blueberry gingerale at Silver Gultch Brewing and enjoyed our one hour layover.  

Then it was off on the last leg our trip, a short one hour flight on a Horizon Air turbo prop to Fairbanks.  We were all excited because Horizon Air offers free Alaskan-made wine and beer on its flights.  Well…when we got on the plane the flight attendant informed us that the flight would only be about 45 minutes and by the time they served us our wine, we were told they were beginning their initial descent and we would have to finish our beverages.  Have you ever tried to chug-a-lug wine?  Yuck!!!

After 14 hours of travelling, we were so glad to finally be in Fairbanks.  And, because none of us had ever flown connecting flights before, we were very concerned about our luggage arriving with us.  Well…as good as their promise…Alaska Air had ALL of our luggage arrived on the carousel within 20 minutes of landing.  Whew…what a relief!  Now onto our cold, Alaskan adventure….except that when we stepped out of the airport…it was 91 degrees!!!   “What?!”, we said.  “It feels like we never left Florida!!”   Oh, well…we were glad we had packed shorts and t-shirts and figured maybe we would need those warm hats and gloves somewhere along the way.

A short taxi ride later we were checking into the Princess Fairbanks Lodge.  

It was underwhelming, to say the least…more like a Best Western.  But we were happy to have a comfortable place to hang our hat.  Since we were coming in one full day earlier than our tour, I had previously called the hotel and specifically asked if we could keep the same room for the entire three nights we were staying.  Well, our friends managed that, but hubby and I would be required to make a room change after the first night.  We were a bit upset, but understood.  The front desk, however, were very gracious and gave us a voucher for breakfast the next morning!

Since it was only 6 PM ADT, we were hungry and had a very nice dinner out on the deck overlooking the Chena River since the weather was so beautiful.  

The food and service were good but we kept thinking, “This is Alaska…home of cold and snow?”   People were boating, kayaking and tubing down the river in their bathing suits!!!!   And then, because we didn’t want to go to bed too early (and be up extra early in the morning), we took a short walk around the property through the walking trails and met the Alaskan State Bird…the mosquito!   They drove us back inside and to a good night’s sleep.  The one thing I was glad that I had brought with me was a sleep mask.  The sun in Alaska didn't set until after 11:30 pm and was up again at 3:30 am!  And the curtains at all the lodges only came to just below the windowsill, letting in lots of light.  It was disconcerting seeing the sun so bright at 10:00-10:30 at night.  However, it never seemed to interfere with our internal clocks.  We never had a problem going to sleep.  

SUNDAY, MAY 24

On the following morning, we used our voucher for our complimentary breakfast at the buffet.  It was delicious.  Nice scrambled eggs, crispy bacon, reindeer and regular sausage, made-to-order waffles and omelets and cereals and fruits, juices and coffee.  We really enjoyed it!  The regular price for the buffet is $17.99 per person.

We had reserved a rental car as we had previously made reservations to go to Tales of the Trail with Mary Shields, the first woman to finish to Iditerod race.   This excursion took place in Mary’s home and it was wonderful.  She has four sled dogs that she still uses to travel to a another cabin she owns about 24 miles from the one we went to.  She and her husband built the cabin she is in and she introduced us to her dogs, told us all about her life in Alaska and her experiences running the Iditerod.  It was fascinating!  

We also had time to do a bit of riding around Fairbanks.  We were not impressed with the city.  While there are some nice statutes commemorating the natives and WWII, the rest of the city just isn’t very inviting.   

We did go to North Pole, Alaska to see Santa.  Again, we were disappointed.  While the streets getting off the highway are lined with candy-cane street lights, the Santa Claus House is a big white building just loaded with tons of souvenirs.  And while Santa did have a real beard…he was far from the real thing.   They also had some reindeer there which were just panting from the heat and did not look like they were well taken care of.  We could have, and should have, passed this one right by.

Our last stop of the day was at Pioneer Park, a public park that was built to celebrate the centennial of the sale of Alaska from Russia to the U.S.  It had some great little stores and some very interesting exhibits.  They also offer a Salmon Bake in the evening but it was pricey as we really weren’t that hungry.

MONDAY, MAY 25 

The following day we started our cruisetour with a welcome breakfast in one of the upstairs meeting rooms at the lodge.  We had an opportunity to meet our tour director, Jill, and the other individuals who would be travelling with us for the next 6 days.  There were a total of 50 of us.   The breakfast was OK…certainly not as good as the buffet breakfast we had the day before.  We were given time to get ready and then it was off to our first excursion…a paddlewheel boat tour up the Chena River.  While none of us was enthused about this excursion and the cloudy, drizzly weather didn’t help, it was surprisingly enjoyable.  The boat had multiple levels and you could choose to ride indoors or out.  They provided free coffee and delicious blueberry donuts for all.  We watched a floatplane take off and land, saw a sled dog demonstration at the home of Susan Butcher, the second woman to win the Iditerod, and then got off the boat to visit a replica of a Native Athabascan Indian settlement.  It was all very interesting and the weather cleared which made it even better.

Lunch was included with this excursion and was served family style indoors at the paddlewheel dock.  It included salad, miner’s (beef) stew, rolls, big pots of vegetables, and dessert along with water and soda.  The meal was OK…nothing exceptional, but the company was good!

Then it was back on the bus and we traveled a short way to Gold Dredge #8 to view the Alaskan Pipeline and to pan for gold.  The presentation about the pipeline was short but very informative, and then we all boarded an old-time, open train to get us to the gold dredge.  

The panning for gold was fun…we were each given a poke of dirt to pour in our pan and were given instructions on how to uncover our gold.  It was really hard work.  I don’t know how those old-timers did it, day in and day out for years!!   But, the hard work payed off and we each came away with about $12-14 dollars in gold.  You get to bring your gold flakes into a big room where they weigh it and then offer you the opportunity to put those flakes into some type of jewelry or magnet or other receptacle.  Hey…they’re not dumb…that’s how they make their money!!!  We also had an opportunity to tour the dredge itself.  All-in-all…it was a very good day.

We learned, at the beginning of the day, that we were not required to tip any of the bus drivers on the land portion or any of the tour people at the sites.  This was all taken care of by Jill, our tour guide.  Another nice benefit of the Connoisseur tour. 

For dinner that evening, as part of the Connoisseur tour, we had a wine dinner which consisted of a different wine for each course.  The wines were very good, the food…some was good, the rest...well the best we could say was that it was “banquet food.”   But it did give us another chance to chat with our fellow travelers and get to know our tour guide better.

A word about Jill, our tour guide.  She was wonderful!!   She always had a smile on her face, made an effort to get to know everyone and put a name to a face and was happy to accommodate as many as she could.  We had discovered the evening before that somehow we had lost the battery charger for the camera I had purchased specifically for this trip.  I was so upset thinking that now I wouldn’t be able to use the camera at all. I had learned that there was a camera store in Fairbanks, but I didn’t know how I would get there before they closed for the day.  Jill took it on herself to ask the bus driver to make a special stop for us.  So at the end of our excursions for the day, the bus driver popped into this small strip mall to drop us off so we could purchase the charger.  We were thrilled...our vacation memories would be saved!

TUESDAY, MAY 26

We had our luggage out early (6:30 am) and by 9 were on the bus and headed to the Princess Denali Lodge.  It was a 3 hour trip on another beautiful day with temps in the 70’s, and we made a stop half-way at a little town called Nenana.   It really gave us our first look at a small Alaskan town.  There was a nice cultural center there with exhibits and a store with home-made items.  The prices were excellent!  A small cedar basket I purchase for $10 went for $34 in other stores in Denali!!

We arrived at the Denali Princess Wilderness Lodge around 12 noon.  We were surprised to see it was on a main highway with a large number of souvenir and tour shops across the street.  The lodge itself, however, was very nice.  

This was where we discovered a number of benefits of the Connoisseur tour.  We never had to check into the hotel.  Jill had a packet of information for each of us and it already had our room keys in it, maps of the hotel property and information on tours we had booked with Princess.  The bus driver also delivered us directly to the building we were staying in.  In our case, building J…right on the river with wonder views and very close to the hot tubs and restaurants!  The rooms were basic but had a rustic look and were adequate for the two nights we would be there.

We spent the afternoon doing a bit of shopping in the stores across the way.  Oh…and it is true...jackets are very inexpensive everywhere…we saw so many nice ones for $20.  If you need one, wait till you get to Alaska.  And we hit the hot tub…oh…so nice.  

That evening, as part of our tour, we attended a dinner show, The Music of Denali.  The food was OK…salad, beef brisket, salmon, mashed potatoes, corn and dessert.  The musical was not so good.  The servers are the singers/actors and while they are serving they take turns singing Frank Sinatra type songs.  We had a hard time making the connection between Frank Sinatra and Denali.  Then when dinner was over, they started the “show” which was about some guy trying to climb Denali, falling, meeting the guys who first climbed it…all the while singing very corny songs.   Our friend, Chris, summed it up best…”There goes the 3 hours I gained traveling from East to West!”  If you can, opt out of this one.

Hubby and I had booked the Tundra Mountain Golfing Excursion through Princess at the Black Diamond Golf Course.  We were exciting to be golfing in the Land of the Midnight Sun and had an 8:15 pm pickup.  There were four others plus ourselves waiting for our pickup, which was late.  When the van arrived, the driver informed us that he didn’t have room for all us…turns out there were more people than expected at his first pickup.  The foursome graciously allowed us to go ahead and would wait for the next van.  Black Diamond was a short 15 minute drive away, and when we arrived, we were surprised at the look of the place.  Guess we expected more than a dump.  We went into the office and were given a plastic grocery bag that contained 6 golf balls, a few tees and a marker.  The van driver was then directed to take us to the starter shack.  At the shack, there was no one there to help us.  The van driver asked around for the guy who is usually there, but no one knew where he was.  We waited a bit, but no one showed.  The van driver was very apologetic, as he knew nothing whatsoever about golf.  There was a golf cart there with the key in it along two bags of very old clubs on it.  He told us to take that and directed us in the general direction of the first hole. 

We knew, from viewing the Black Diamond webpage, that the course would not be like those we have played in Florida.  We knew it would be rough and unmanicured; however, we certainly didn’t expect to find horse dung all over the course.  We doubted this was their way of trying to fertilize the course, there were huge piles everywhere.  Add to that the barely marked tee boxes and signs directing you to the next hole, along with terribly mismatched and dinged clubs and it all added up to a horrible experience.  The only nice thing about the evening was the scenery of beautiful mountains everywhere.  When we complained to the woman behind the counter, she offered us a free soft drink and a free t-shirt…really???   We did also complain to Princess the following day and asked for a refund, but Princess had informed us we must follow up with the vendor.  We will do that but we are disappointed in Princess’ response.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 27

This was the day I had been waiting for... Denali National Park…a place filled with nature, beauty and wildlife.   Included in our Connoisseur tour was the Tundra Wilderness Tour, an 8 hour bus ride that takes you 55 miles into Denali National Park.  Ughhh…we thought.  Eight hours on a converted school bus…with no toilet.  This is not going to be good.  And it wasn’t good…it was great!  

We were up early and used our voucher at the breakfast buffet, held in the Music of Denali building.  It was OK…the usual breakfast items…scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, cereal, fruit, coffee, juice.  

Our tour group was picked up at 7:00 am from the hotel in a school bus (but with more comfortable seats) driven by a park ranger named Katie, who has been doing this for 22 years.  

She was wonderful.   She narrated the whole trip sharing with us her vast knowledge of the park, its history, the habits of the animals, how many species of each one can be found in the park and where.  And all this while she’s constantly scanning the view for animals to see!

She also asked everyone on the bus to keep a sharp eye and to yell when you see something so she could stop and we could all see it..  All of us were a bit timid at first…we really don’t know what we’re looking for and are afraid to say, “Look a moose on the right side!” only to have it turn out to be a rock.   By the end of the tour, we could all easily spot wildlife and were yelling like crazy!

We started out driving through lots of forest, headed up into the mountains, which was beautiful but we're not seeing any wildlife.  We’re all hoping the entire 8 hours is not like this.  (Another reason not to take the National History Tour!)  We stopped about 90 minutes or so into the trip for a potty break and to enjoy the scenery.

We're back on the bus scanning the area and then….Katie sees a moose in the distance on a mountain.  Turned out it was moose cow with two babies!  

Then we saw a ptarmigan in a tree.  Chris said it looks like a cross between a chicken and a pidgeon…a chidgeon!!!   It turns pure white in the winter so that it’s predators can’t see it in the snow.

So now we’re happy…we’d at least seen one of the big five animals in the park – moose, bear, caribou, wolf and dahl sheep.  We continue to travel along the narrow gravel road higher and higher and the trees begin to give way to more bare mountains.  It is just beautiful.

An bit later, someone spots something on the hills…it’s caribou.  A small herd of them.  Amazing!!!   That’s two of the big five!  

Katie then brakes quickly for a cute ground squirrel who runs in front of our bus.  He stops on the side of the road to check us out.

A while later and we see larger mountains, and there, way up high, are a herd of dahl sheep.  It’s amazing watching them move around so easily on surfaces that are more vertical than horizontal.   Number 3 of the big 5!

Then, someone yells “Bear!!!”  and there she is… a huge grizzly with three little ones not very far away.  Oh my God…they are so cute!  We stopped for at least 5 minutes to watch the triplets play.  

Then, to everyone’s surprise, mama rolls over and begins to nurse her babies.  What an amazing thing to see!  We all felt like we were in a National Geographic special!  And we’ve now seen 4 of the big 5 animals to be found in Denali.

We continue on our way and see more caribou, moose and bear!  

We’re not minding the bus ride at all at this point and then, off on the right, there she is…Denali!  So clear in the distance!  Everyone is so excited…we are in the 30% club!   Only 30% of visitors ever get to see Mt. McKinley when they visit Alaska. 

We go as far as the Toklat River – Mile 55 – and have an opportunity to stop, explore the area, try on some caribou antlers, use the restrooms and just enjoy the beauty and grandeur of the park. 

After a ½ hour, we’re back on the bus and hoping to see even more animals.  And we do.  Some dahl sheep have come down off the mountain and are right next to the road.  We could almost reach out and touch them!  

Then, halfway back, we see the caribou we had seen earlier, just relaxing in the grass.  

Suddenly, they jump up and begin to run.  Out of the brush comes mama bear and her three cubs.  Mama is heading toward the caribou, and we’re beginning to think we’re going to see the Circle of Life!   But mama is just warning the caribou away from her cubs.  We’re really feeling like we’re watching Animal Planet Live!

We enjoy the scenery for the last quarter of the trip and don’t see any wildlife except for a friendly gull who is looking for a handout at our last pit stop.  

We got off the tour bus at the Visitor’s Center, enjoyed the great exhibits and had a snack at their small restaurant.  We easily caught the shuttle (which comes every half hour) back to the Princess lodge.  What an amazing day!  We all felt so fortunate to see the mountain and so many animals during this tour.  During our travels we talked to so many people who did not see anything except maybe some sheep way up high.  Note: most of those people had done a Natural History Tour. 

It was back in the hot tub when we returned and then dinner in the King Salmon restaurant to celebrate Chris & Kim's anniversary.   Throughout our the land portion of our tour, our tour guide made dinner reservations for us.   Our dinner vouchers were for a 3-course dinner:  Appetizer or soup or salad, an entrée. a dessert and a non-alcoholic beverage.  And there was no dollar limit on the voucher.  King Crab Legs ran $44 and the halibut and steak were in the upper $30 range.  The bill for the food for the four of us came to $281.  Any alcoholic beverages were paid for separately.  The food and the service were excellent.  We were sorry that we didn’t have the opportunity to eat here the evening before instead of the dinner theatre.



THURSDAY, MAY 28

We’re off to our next destination…Mt. McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge.  At this point we know we know we never want to do a bus tour anywhere.  It is exhausting living out of a suitcase and getting up early to spend hours on a bus.

Mt. McKinley Lodge is beautiful and is truly out in the wilderness.  The lodge itself has beautiful inside spaces and outside decks with front and center views of Denali.  

And, yes, we got to see Denali everyday we were there!!  The weather was glorious!   While some people say there is nothing to do here, we disagree.  Yes, you have to book tours, but isn’t that why you go on vacation…to see things.  The lodge also offers very instructive talks given by park rangers and those who have climbed Denali.  As before, upon arrival, our tour guide had our packets all ready for us with our room keys, excursion info and general lodge information.  The bus also dropped us right at our building.   The rooms were attractive, functional and clean.  We were in easy walking distance to the 20,320 restaurant, the firepit area and just a bit of a walk to the lodge.  We never minded that walk, however, because the mountain was right there as you came around the corner past the restaurant.  So beautiful!

We opted to do a covered wagon tour when we arrived at the lodge.  It was very good…especially because we were the only ones on the tour!   

They brought us up a trail to an overlook with a spectacular view of The Mountain and a glacier in the distance.  Breathtaking!

We then followed the trail back down to an area where we panned for gold (and found some), roasted marshmallows and made s’mores, fed some reindeer and tried on some reindeer antlers.  The couple who ran the tour were very professional and provided us with lots of insight about living in the area.

That evening, our tour guide hosted a cocktail hour for our group by the firepits, which was very nice, even if it was a bit smoky.   

We ate dinner the both nights we were there in the Mountainview Restaurant.  Vouchers included the same 3-course dinner options with no dollar amount limit.  Food was very, very good as was the service.   We ate breakfast the first morning in the Mountainview Restaurant and the next in the 20,320 restaurant.  Vouchers covered the usual…breakfast entrée including sides and a beverage.   Both were very good.

FRIDAY, MAY 29

On the following day we had booked the Three Rivers Tour excursion through Princess.  The tour began in Talkeetna, a small town about an hour away, so we decided to take a late morning shuttle into town to have lunch and walk around this funky little town.  Princess runs hourly shuttles for visitors and charges $10 round trip.  However, if you have an excursion booked that requires the trip into Talkeetna, then you don’t need to pay the $10 if you take an earlier (or later) shuttle.  Just show your tour confirmation/voucher.

Talkeetna is a town consisting of approximately four streets filled with shops and restaurants.  You can do fun things like take a picture with a stuffed moose or meet the mayor of Talkeetna – a cat named Stubs! -  at the local general store.  

None of us thought it was worth the $10 cost and 2 hour round-trip bus ride, but if you have to go in for a tour, then it’s worth going in early.   We had lunch at the Denali Brewing Company.  Very good beer which is brewed there, and the sandwiches were delicious.

The Three Rivers Tour was good.  The boat holds approximately 40-50 people and travels up and down three rivers in the area - the Talkeetna, the Chulitna and the Susitna.   It is narrated and very informative about the habits of the rivers and the wildlife.  The scenery, particularly of Denali, is spectacular and the boat does stop at certain spots on the rivers to allow you to take pictures.  There is  also a small outside deck area on the back of the boat which can hold up to 6 people and is a great place to view the rivers and take pictures throughout the excursion. 

We did make one stop and got off at an area where we learned about the lifestyles of the local native people.    

Some vegetation in Alaska is huge because of all the sunshine.  We were amazing at how tall these ferns grew!!!

The nice thing about this tour is that it ends one mile from the Mt. McKinley Lodge.  It pulls right up on the bank of the river where staff from the lodge meet you and guide you up to a van which takes you back to the lodge.  One word of caution…it was difficult for some people to exit the boat and then walk on the gravel river bed and up a slightly steep hill to the vans.  This should have been conveyed to people in the  description of the excursion.

SATURDAY, JUNE 30

The next morning it was breakfast and a late morning bus (11:30) to Talkeetna to catch the train.  We debated about going into Talkeetna early to spend some time and meeting the group there for the train, but it seemed very confusing about where to meet the train (it’s not at train depot in town but quite a bit away).  We decided to just hang around and catch up on emails and picture editing.

FYI…wifi access was available in the guest rooms in both the Fairbanks and the Denali lodges as well as in the main lodge.  At Mt. McKinley, it was only available in the main lodge and in the restaurants.  Our Verizon accessibility was spotty…and was probably the worst at Mt. McKinley. 

The Direct-to-the-Wilderness train was OK.  We were disappointed because we did not have a double decker train.  Seems like those are used for the 8-9 hour ride going to/from Whittier all the way to/from Denali Lodge.  From Talkeetna to Whittier was a long 5 ½-6 hour ride with four people to a table…2 facing forward, 2 facing back.  Our Connoisseur tour included lunch on the train, and we were very surprised at the quality.  Sandwiches and salads are made by a chef right in the car.  They were fresh and delicious as were the yummy desserts.   There were two conductors working our train car and they would take turns narrating about sites of interest along the way.  Some of the scenery was beautiful, other times we were just traveling through towns along the way, and we didn’t see any wildlife except for one moose off in the distance at the beginning of the trip.  We were able to step out between the cars to take pictures or just enjoy some fresh air.  Oh, and each train car had its own bathroom.

When we reached Anchorage, the train stopped to bring on Princess representatives who processed our boarding passes, checked our passports and provided us with our cruise cards.  So easy!!   We were sad, however, because it was also time to say goodbye to Jill, our tour guide.  We couldn’t thank her enough for making the land portion of our trip so easy and enjoyable and showed our appreciation by giving a well-deserved tip.

The most exciting thing about the rail ride was seeing the Grand Princess at the end of the trip.  This would be our fourth time on the Grand, and it is one of our favorite ships.   

Disembarkation off the train and onto the ship was easy, but it was disconcerting getting on the ship at 6:30-7:00 in the evening.  We are used to getting to the cruise pier around noon and having a whole day to the enjoy the ship.  We felt rushed…finding our room (no luggage), doing the muster drill at 7:30, and then dinner…which was in our traveling clothes as our luggage still had not appeared.  We did not sail away until after 9 PM as it seemed the luggage from the McKinley Lodge was delayed in the getting to the ship.  (They truck it down separately; it does not go on the train with you.)  

Whittier is a very small port with nothing there except a small marina and beautiful mountains.  All of the people who live in Whittier live in that one multi-story building!

It was a long, boring day and once we finally got our luggage, we were ready for bed.

A review of the cruise portion of our trip will be next.