Discovering Denali Precruise?

[jimlssi]

We are on the Navigator September 1 from Anchorage to Vancouver and are considering the Discovering Denali pre cruise excursion. From Anchorage to Denali, it's a long way, about 7 hours, but the trip is broken up by taking a motor coach the first 3 hours and a train the last 4 hours, which makes that long day bearable. It's the return from Denali to Girdwood (south of Anchorage) that concerns me because it is a long 7/8 hour motor coach ride. If you have done this excursion I would be interested in your over all opinions about it, and in particular the time spent in route. Thanks,

Jim

[Lvtocruize2]

On our first cruise to Alaska, which started in Anchorage, we took a pre-cruise tour to Denali. It actually was one of the highlights of our whole trip. This trip was arranged by a TA not associated with our cruise line (Cruise West) and it began with taking the Princess Dome train (we were not on a Princess cruise) to Denali Park. We spent 2 nights at the Princess Lodge there. One day we signed up for a day's bus trip all the way thru the park to the very end (Kantishna) which very few tours offer. The wildlife we saw was absolutely fantastic and actually had to stop the bus to allow some brown bears to cross "their" road...saw caribou, a gray wolf, eagles and mountain sheep. Luckily the weather was super that day and we saw Mt. Denali (all faces) in all its glory. The 2nd day was spent visiting the private home of Jeff King (several times Iditarod winner). He demonstrated hooking up his masher team to the sled, etc. and let us hold some of his puppies. His wife, who is an artist, showed us around her gallery and Jeff's trophies. No we did not personally know him but he could not have been nicer. There were only the two of us and the couple we went on the cruise with. I highly highly recommend taking a couple of days to see Denali. It is one of my very favorite places. We took a nice large motorcoach back to Anchorage. Time-wise, the train ride took at the most 6 hrs. but every minute was enjoyable due to the beauty of the scenery and the bus ride back to Anchorage was 4-5 hrs but the bus did stop for lunch. After spending a night in Anchorage, we flew to Juneau where we boarded our cruise ship to head to Seattle. Hope this helps! I didn't mean to get so "wordy" but we will go back to Denali if ever given the chance. Last summer we cruised on the Mariner from Anchorage to Vancouver but decided to spend extra time in Vancouver.

[Dreps]

Alaska is so easy to do on your own, I urge you to consider taking more time. Before we did our Mariner Alaska cruise, I spent a lot of time on the CC board for Alaska and took to heart Budget Queen's suggestions. Here's what we did:

 

We arrived in Anchorage fairly late (which I think is common). We rented a car at the airport and stayed overnight at a modest Hampton Inn. (I found that the train schedules were not convenient for any itinerary that I came up with.) Personally, I don’t think Anchorage itself has that much to offer.

 

The next morning, we headed for Denali. It’s an easy, but long drive. It was a beautiful day and instead of going straight there we stopped in Talkeetna (the basis for the TV show “Northern Exposure) and took a flight around McKinley, which was extraordinary. (We were supposed to do that a couple of days later, but one takes advantage of clear skies up there.) Then we drove to Healy (16 miles from Denali), where we stayed at a B&B recommended on CC, called the Touch of Wilderness. It was pleasant and economical, but nothing extraordinary. I have not read many great things about any of the lodges around Denali. The next morning we drove to the Park where I had already bought tickets online from the U.S. Park Service for the Shuttle Bus trip to Eielson Visitor Center, which is at mile 66. The round-trip was about 8 hours. If you are going to travel that far, I think that you want to go fairly far into the Park. I took loads of pictures but I didn’t have an ultrazoom back then, and I regretted it. Again the weather was great, we had a clear day and could easily see McKinley.

 

After the Park, we drove back to Talkeetna and stayed for two nights at the Alaskan Lodge, which is quite nice, but again not up to Four Seasons standards. (The King Crab legs were fantastic.) We used the Toursaver Coupon book for both the flight we took around McKinley and a River Cruise from Mahay’s Riverboat Service in Talkeetna that we enjoyed. (You have to see what offers are included in the Coupon book to see if it’s worth buying.)

 

We drove back to Anchorage the day of embarkation, returned the car at the airport, and boarded the special Regent train car that was actually at the airport and headed straight for Seward and the Mariner. (You have to check whether this special train transfer is still available.)

[hondorner]

We'll be flying into Anchorage from Vancouver in June, 2011, and will depart from there instead of Seward (Oceania Regatta). We're leaving our RV parked in Vancouver while we tour Alaska and cruise back to Vancouver.

 

Based on recommendations from two of our best friends who have driven their RVs to Alaska, we plan to rent an RV in Anchorage for approximately 8 days and drive to Talkeetna, Denali, and on to Fairbanks before circling back to Anchorage.

 

Meals and hotel costs are fairly high in Alaska, so the approximate $2,000 cost of this rental sounds like a bargain to us, and we are used to the freedom.

[jimlssi]

... for the information. It will help with our decision.

Jim