kathyemma

Kathyemma: We live about 2 to 2.25 hours north of Denali, so go down frequently. The shuttle trip into Eielson is about 8 hours total. Depending on how frequently and long a shuttle stops when wildlife is spotted, it could take 4 hours to reach Eielson, but 3 to 3.5 hours would be much more typical.

Northern Aurora - thanks! When I was on the NPS website it made it sound like Ranger lead hikes are at noon - are they AT noon or do they start at noon?

Kathy

You would probably not want to get off unless you are on a very early shuttle. The morning shuttle buses go out full and if you wanted to get off and hike and then get back on, you might have to wait a while for a shuttle with empty seats. The hike is decided on by the ranger according to weather, group size and ability, etc. I would buy the tickets as soon as possible. The visitor's center is worth some time. Lots of interesting artwork including a beautiful wall quilt by Ree Nancarrow.

 

I prefer to go to Savage River as an after-dinner thing. The last shuttle goes out around 8:30pm and comes back around 10pm. It is nice and quiet then as most of the buses have finished for the day and you tend to see a few more animals. If Denali is out, you can catch a nice sunset picture depending on the time of year.

Any clue how long it takes to get to the visitors center?

Thanks for the suggestion on making Savage River an after dinner thing - that sounds like a nice way to end the day.

Kathy

We have decided to ditch the TWT thru HAL and take the bus to Eielson in hopes of catching a ranger hike at noon. Has anyone been on the ranger hike? How long of a hike? If we catch an early shuttle - do we have time to stop along the way to Eielson or should we stay on the shuttle and go directly to Eielson to make the noon hike? Also, do I need to buy the tickets now? Do they sell out? Or would we be fine buying them that day.

I read another post that mentioned the Savage River shuttle and hike. Do you think we that would be a good thing to do after Denali or should we find something else? We have booked a tour with the husky homestead for the night before. This is our only full day in Denali so I want to see as much as possible.

TIA

Have everyone bring their own - I brought a 10x50 and my wife didn't want anything that big so she brought a compact 8x25. Guess who got to use which one most of the time, LOL!

You are a good husband!!!

So as part of our prep we had detailed packing lists for everyone. Constantly in the week leading up to the cruise last August reviewing items and reminding both daughters (13 & 9) what they needed to pack. Stopped at an outlet mall on the way to the airport as DW wanted a new rain jacket for the trip. We are in the store and it is at this point that DD13 remembers that she didn't pack her jacket (you know the new one we had bought her for the trip). [emoji51]

 

Now not to be outdone, as we are pulling in to Juneau for our first stop we find out that DD9 didn't pack any socks. None. Zilch. Zero. Her American girl doll had multiple outfits, including socks. [emoji31]

 

Sent from my Lenovo TB3-850F using Forums mobile app

Thank you for the morning laugh.

Mine are - always with me. :) I will never be without them in Alaska. Yep that's me, on the rare times in the dining room, with them around my neck. ;) Actually, I do freely lend mine. A lot of people, do not bring them, and binocular sales are probably strong, since I pretty much always see customers, at the Canada Place kiosk to start with, then on the ship. :)

 

Mine get a lot of use, multiple times every year, so in my case, quality was essential. I've seen a lot of crappy binoculars out there, so depends on the priority. But, overall, you "need" wide angle for marine wildlife, you need that extra field of view. And for scenery, birds, land animals- Denali as example etc, you need power, at least 10 in my opinion.

 

Yep, everyone having their own is ideal. Sightings can be a few seconds- then over. :)

Would these be okay?

Bushnell Falcon 10x50 Wide Angle Binoculars

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B000051ZOA/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I agree with the non-share people. Both of you will want to grab their binocs when something interesting flies or swims by. My wife and I have different focus and inter-occular settings and I do not want to have to reset the binoculars if I grab them after she has used them.

 

Also, occasionally I am on deck or at a scenic spot and someone asks if they can borrow mine to see something. I am tempted to ask them why they did not bring their own but I am polite and I just say "no".

 

DON

I would never ask a stranger to borrow binoculars. How strange! Of course, I am also totally paranoid about getting pink eye.

Kathy

Should everyone have their own pair of binoculars - or does sharing work?

Since in another post, you state it's the TWT, it's mile 63 you are going to. Unfortunately you are missing Eielson, But, you have good chances of seeing bears. :) Be certain, to have a good pair of binoculars, I like 10/12 power, wide angle. Bears can be seen in Denali most of the "bus" season. :) Good luck.

THANK YOU for giving me hope!!!! I love all types of wildlife and really hope I get to see bears. I am really torn about the tour. I love the idea of having a narrated tour but I also love the idea of going about it at my own pace.

Thank you!

Kathy

Are you using the shuttle bus at Denali or a "tour"? The shuttles go deeper into the park, have the same views and are much cheaper: https://www.nps.gov/dena/planyourvisit/shuttles.htm

We are doing the full length tundra wilderness tour thru Hal on June 4th. Should we ditch them and take the shuttle?

 

For your bear watching. be certain to include Denali Park. Only one time there, I didn't see bears, well over 30 trips in. My min distance in is Eielson via shuttle bus, I don't consider less.

Budget Queen,

You have just given me hope. However, I am prepared for you to crush it right now. We will be going to Denali the first week of June. We are going in (I think) 66 miles. I would absolutely love to see a bear. But I have told myself I'll be there too soon. What do you think my chances are of seeing a bear in denali the first week of June?

Kathy

The day before you get to Seward you will be given specific luggage tags for your land portion. Luggage will go out the night before. I seen it done both ways -- sometimes people had to claim their luggage and take it to the bus -- other times there was enough staff to do that for you.

Most of the times when we were in Seward, the train to Anchorage left early -- anywhere from 6:30 - 7 AM. They filled up first.

Then the buses going to Anchorage left shortly after that.

The buses for the various land portion had different leave times. Doubt if you will have any time to shop for wine.

Thanks! Guess I will shop in Vancouver. We will be heading to Denali. I have yet to tell my family how long of a drive it is.

Kathy

This will be my first sea/land vacation. How does it work? Do we put our luggage out the night before, collect it by customs and bring to the bus ourselves - or will they bring to the bus for us? Do we have free time between the ship docking and the bus leaving? We are on Westerdam, northbound, docking in Seward. I would like to bring a few bottles of wine with me for the land portion. I am assuming if I bring on board with me in Anchorage they ship will hold them for me until the last night, correct?

TIA

This is what scares me about other cruise lines. I do want a more elegant experience, but I do not want relaxing. I want something going on every minute of the cruise. The other option we are considering is leaving our Carnival cruise intact and spending the extra money to eat in the steakhouse several nights. We are already booked in a suite on Carnival and being a longer cruise we are hoping the crowd will be a little more upscale.

If it's a longer cruise I think the crowd won't be as crazy. I have only sailed on HAL once and I got bored during the day. I am sailing on HAL again in May for Alaska. I think you should stick with the cruise you have booked.

I'd get a wine package and order reds. Your wine steward will keep the opened bottles for you and you'll get two days per bottle, assuming two people drinking a glass a day. I'd simply pay for the bottled water - or, if you can make it to a happy hour, buy them there with the buy one, get a second at $2 happy hour price.

That sounds like a good idea. We will be on the Westerdam. Do you know the times and location for happy hour?

Thanks!

I am really on the fence with the drink package. If we were going to the Caribbean I would get it in a heartbeat but we are going to Alaska. Two days we will be off the ship until 9 or 10 pm. I don't think I will drink more than one glass of wine before falling asleep on those days. The other days I will have plenty of opportunity to drink wine and sparkling water. What do you guys suggest? The beverage package or a wine package? The only drinks I will really order are sparkling water and red wine.

TIA

When are you going?

http://skagwayexcursion.com/skagway/wildlife-safari-skg/ bears in Skagway.

http://www.jayleensalaska.com/ - Whale watching in Juneau.

I just got the following email Any clue how far we will be going into the park? We will be in Denali the first week of June. Originally, I thought we were only going to go to mile 53. I am excited to go further into the park.

Dear Costco Travelers,

Costco Travel received the following itinerary change in regards to your ms Westerdam cruise tour.

The National Park Service has advised that the full-length Tundra Wilderness Tour will operate between June 1 and September 13, 2018.

Guests scheduled for a tour between May 16 - 19 and Sept 14 - 19th will be rebooked on the Denali Natural History Tour. This fully narrated 4.5-5 hour tour travels to mile 30 of the Park Road to the Teklanika River Overlook.

Guests scheduled between May 20 - 31 will be rebooked on the Tolkat tour. This 6-7 hour fully narrated tour travels to mile 53 of the Park Road to the Tolkat River rest stop.

As noted in Holland America?s brochure, this is an annual early and late season modification. As such, it has been considered into the pricing of the Journey departures that may be affected.

Our 4x4 tour runs from 10:45 to 4:00pm. That would get you back in time. You could try here. https://skagwayshoretours.com/

Is this a ship sponsored tour? We are doing a 4x4 Glacier Adventure tour with Southeast Tours in June.

No, the atv and raft tour were thru ShoreExcursionsGroup.com. They cancelled the raft tour. I found two other companies with afternoon raft tours - but they are all cancelled! They didn't have enough people sign up. I really want to be back in town by 5/530 so we can have dinner and drinks at the brewery. I am starting to think I might have to cancel the atv tour and find a longer full day tour - something that runs from 8 to 5. Any suggestions? We are somewhat active - we can all walk and hike a few miles - but my daughter just had ankle surgery so nothing more that a few miles. And I HATE zip lines - so those tours are off the table.

Any suggestions? We will be there May 31.

The ocean raft is cancelled for the afternoon. We are looking for something a bit more exciting than the river float. Off to check skayway.com for other ideas. If anyone has any suggestions please let me know. We are looking for something that will leave around 2pm and last for a few hours. We want to be able to have dinner and drinks in Skagway before getting back on the ship (which leaves at 9pm).

Did you book this independently? I'm not seeing any date that the afternoon tour isn't available with Skagway Float booking direct. https://skagwayfloat.rezdy.com/index

 

otherwise, did you happen to take a look www.skagway.com for ideas?

Yes, I booked it independently. And it wasn't so much cancelled as they moved the time from 3pm to 1230pm. We won't be back from the ATV tour until 1pm. I will check Skagway Float and http://oceanraftalaska.com/.

Thanks!

Alaska Canopy Adventures has the "Rainforest Canopy & Zipline Expedition" that's about 3-1/2 hours. We did it in May '16. We both loved it. Great fun!

 

Good Luck!

Zip lines terrify me! The rest of my family is doing on at another stop.

In Skagway we are going on a five hour ATV tour. 8am to 1pm. We were signed up for a two hours raft trip at 3. It got cancelled. What other short afternoon excursion can we do? We want to have a few hours free for grabbing a drink before we sail away at 9pm.

TIA

Kathy

I need to know about this too! My dh and dd are going on a canopy tour. I am not. I have about four hours to myself. I heard there was a lot of great shopping.