ALASKA — The first thing you need to know about Cruisetours is: Don’t confuse them with shore excursions. Not only are they different, but “shore excursions” are available when you’re on a Cruisetour.
In Alaska, Princess sets the standard for Cruisetours. They are combined with a 7-day cruise and there are four types of varying lengths. The least expensive, called On Your 
Own, covers hotels only. The most expensive, called Connoisseur, covers everything but “optional excursions.” In between the two is the “Denali Explorer” which focuses on getting cruiser passengers to or from Mount McKinley…and “Off The Beaten Path” which includes one of the Princess properties that’s not “off the beaten path.” The beaten path, obviously, is the ship-to-mountain route. To get you there by express, Princess has its own train cars — sometimes its own train — for “direct to wilderness” service.
If nothing else, this makes it confusing to match what you get and what you pay…until you talk to a cruise agent.
Having said all that, a Cruisetour is — just our opinion here — the only way to see Alaska. And having said that, if you can afford it, the Connoisseur package is the way to go (figure on doubling what you’re paying for the cruise).
Here’s what happens when you go on a Connoisseur Cruisetour:
• Once you arrive, whether on your ship or by flying into Anchorage or Fairbanks, you’re picked up and taken to one of the Princess Wilderness Lodges (there are five, although the one in Fairbanks is more of a hotel).
• There is one tour director for your group, and you travel on the same bus (coach), so whenever you’re on the move you only have to find one person.
• That one person is expert at telling you what you need to know, and at solving any problems you have. He (or she) also takes care of the gratuities.
• You have x number of nights of deluxe accommodation (and it is deluxe) in the lodges, usually the best rooms in the property, and most of your meals are included…most is a safe word, it’s pretty much all your meals.
• When you get to Denali National Park, you take a Tundra Wilderness Tour, a $149 value.
The last point is pertinent. That’s the only “land excursion” you don’t pay extra for…anything like flightseeing, fishing or whale watching is extra. Think of it as substituting 
the bus for the boat. It gets you there, wherever “there” is, then you decide and pay for what “excursions” you want to take.
Is the Connoisseur worth the cost?
There’s no correct answer, only subjective ones. How do you attach a dollar value to having an Alaska vacation that’s smooth and probably without problems or issues? What’s it worth to hand over a meal coupon and pick whatever you want from the menu (few exceptions) — a meal package that is probably worth about half of what you’re paying for the Cruisetour?
Having said that…you be the judge.