Denalli with Hal.

hi, I am going on an 11 night land/cruise package in July, leaving from Vancouver. The cruise ends in Seward at 4.30 am then we bus to Denalli for 2nights. Can anyone who has done this tour give me a detailed itinerary on times, stops on the way etc. Hal will not provide this until the tour starts, but I what to see if I can fit in other tours, either before leaving Seward or at/after dinner in Denalli. I would like to do the buggy dinner, but don't want to book it if it won't fit in. Any tips appreciated.

hi, I am going on an 11 night land/cruise package in July, leaving from Vancouver. The cruise ends in Seward at 4.30 am then we bus to Denalli for 2nights. Can anyone who has done this tour give me a detailed itinerary on times, stops on the way etc. Hal will not provide this until the tour starts, but I what to see if I can fit in other tours, either before leaving Seward or at/after dinner in Denalli. I would like to do the buggy dinner, but don't want to book it if it won't fit in. Any tips appreciated.

Welcome to Cruise Critic and to the HAL Forum.

I did the three-night stay in Denali last year. Here is the disembarkation process from Seward:

There will be two briefings in the ship theater providing guidance for luggage and answer questions. Before the last meeting, you will receive an envelope with luggage tags and a time to report to the ship theater on disembarkation day. The Lido Market will be open at 5:00 AM for breakfast. Note that there will be many different itineraries heading for Denali so yours will not be the same for everyone else disembarking the ship. Your group will stay together for the duration.

Buses are loaded by group. My group was called to depart at 7:30 AM from the ship. There will be 15-minute stops every 90 minutes for "porta-potty" (disguised as log cabins) use. There will be a stop for lunch at a buffet restaurant in Wasilla at noon. There will be a stop at the Alaska war memorial around 3:30 PM. A few miles outside of the Denali lodge area, a HAL rep will board the bus and pass out room keys for your lodges/rooms. The bus should arrive around 5:30 PM and you will be dropped near your lodge. Your luggage, having traveled non-stop from the ship by truck, will already be in your assigned room when you open the door.

Your first night in Denali should be on your own for an evening excursion.

Hope this helps.

Thanks for that info. It is very helpful. Any chance you know the name of the Wasilla restaurant? I might arrange to meet someone there if possible. Cheers.:)

Thanks for that info. It is very helpful. Any chance you know the name of the Wasilla restaurant? I might arrange to meet someone there if possible. Cheers.:)

Our lunch stop was at Settlers Bay Lodge with a sandwich/salad buffet. Food was good. I found several of the rest stop facilities along the bus route to be fairly rustic and later in the day downright dirty so I would recommend drinking little water.

Thanks for that info. It is very helpful. Any chance you know the name of the Wasilla restaurant? I might arrange to meet someone there if possible. Cheers.:)

Here is a link to my Denali images to give you an idea of what to expect:

http://www.rogerjett-photography.com/place/alaska-2/denali/

As stated above, "Settlers Bay Lodge:

We also stopped for make your own sandwiches, salad bar, and cookies. Our stop at the war memorial was cut short due to a Memorial Day program. We arrived at McKinley Lodge and were able to book the dinner show that night. I hope your room is like the one in the pictures link. Ours was not.. Ours was very much more "rustic" and much smaller. The bedroom had a double bed and a single bed. Each were next to the wall on opposite sides. There was 24 to 36 inches between them. There was not enough room for the suitcase so it went back out to the sitting room on the couch.

The excursion through Denali, the next day, was fantastic! You will be assigned a time for you to meet your bus for the tour. You will see many animals and the bus driver will use a high powered camera to project the camera view onto small screens that drop down so everyone can see. Those near a window will be able to lower the window so there is no glare from the glass. You will be able to purchase a DVD made from the camera on your bus. If you are lucky you will get to see the entire Mt. Denali. Even with the "rustic" room I would go back again.

Thank you all for your help.