Meal Plans on Alaska tours

We did almost the same trip you're doing. We, and our friends, bought the meal plan and wished we hadn't. We felt as if we would've come out better to have purchased food on our own. We wouldn't do it again.

The trip sounds like one you will remember the rest of your life. I would take the meal plan just so I could concentrate on the sights and not have to worry about finding a place to eat. Enjoy yourself.

We didn't take the food plan when we traveled there, because we didn't want to be locked into where we would eat. We found prices higher in hard to reach areas along the Daulton HWY... much higher, but there was no where else to eat!

A hitch and hop wrote:
There are 20 meals and the price includes soft drinks, tea / coffee and gratuities.

Sounds like a good deal to me.

Bobbo wrote:

donn0128 wrote:
If that includes three meals a day then do the math,
Ten day three meals a day equals 30 meals, divided by 390 dollars equals what..... $3.90 a meal. Pretty cheap in my book. When i was on the road, the company allowed us 35 dollars a day. Even 15 years ago it was hard to eat decently for that amount. I say go for it if it comes out to less than five dollars a meal

Umm, $390 divided by $3.90 per meal equals 100 meals, not 30 meals.

A trip of 9 days is 27 meals, if that is for 2 people, that becomes 54 meals. Divide $390 by 54 meals and you get a little over $7 per meal. Still not bad. If that is for one person ($390 per person) it becomes a little over $14 per meal. That may take some thinking.

$14/meal is pretty good in my book.

You might consider. The tour company has contracted with restaurants for meal service. In general the tour company wants to hold costs down. So they can make the tour price more attractive. So the restaurant will do the same. As they want to make a profit as well. They will not use the best cuts of meat etc

My guess is you will have limited menu choices (like 2) Think kind of like the daily special. Not bad food, but probably not as good as if you find your own.

Which I am sure you will pay more for.

You will leave the bus in a herd, eat in a herd, and exit in a herd. But at least you will get fed. Which could be a problem if you are fighting the local lunch crowd in another restaurant.

You might consider the above when you make your choice. Surely is a trade off either way

A hitch and hop wrote:
There are 20 meals and the price includes soft drinks, tea / coffee and gratuities.

That is $18.00 per meal, I would think prices in Canada will be higher than Alaska, sounds reasonable to me.

Don't know if you have been on a cruise before, but this is the one cruise you will NOT need to fight for a deck chair!

The views on the cruise will take your breath away!!!

There are 20 meals and the price includes soft drinks, tea / coffee and gratuities.

BarneyS wrote:

donn0128 wrote:
If that includes three meals a day then do the math,
Ten day three meals a day equals 30 meals, divided by 390 dollars equals what..... $3.90 a meal. Pretty cheap in my book. When i was on the road, the company allowed us 35 dollars a day. Even 15 years ago it was hard to eat decently for that amount. I say go for it if it comes out to less than five dollars a meal

HMMMM. The way I figure it $390 for 30 meals comes out to $13 per meal not $3.90. That seems to be quite expensive to me. Now, if that $390 is for two people then it only comes out to $6.50/meal which would be reasonable in my opinion.
Barney

Geeze, maybe I should learn not to try and do math in my head that early in the morning.:o
Still around 40 dollars a day for three meals is a pretty good deal IMHO

One thing that always comes into play when anyone travels -- the 'vendors', whether food, souvenirs, or whatever, Tourists always pay more, or another way of saying it, in tourist areas everything is higher cost.

Not exactly why that is - some vendors say because trade is seasonal, some say distance makes it more costly.

But, having lived in several tourist areas for a lot of years, there are often local prices and tourist prices. So, in some cases, it's gouging the tourist.

When folks are on vacation, they tend to 'price compare' less often, and expect it will be more and don't have the time or inclination to check.

SO, do we call it 'good business' pricing, or do we call it 'gouging' ... "Who knows?", or maybe "who cares?" I have a tendency to believe any meals you get on a meal plan will 'minimize' quality of choices you get ...