Bad HAL Cruisetour arrival and Tundra tour times in Denali and Fairbanks - normal?

[MisterBill99]

We are doing cruisetour 13 on HAL in August, which includes 2 nights in Denali with the Tundra Wilderness tour, and 2 nights in Fairbanks. It appears that we get to Denali around 6pm the first day, which is fine. But the 2nd day they have us scheduled for the Tundra tour that leaves between 1:30-3:30pm (exact time to be provided when we get there) which means that if the tour lasts 8 hours (they claim 6-8 hours) we could potentially not be back until 11:30pm. Obviously this makes a shambles of any attempt to make dinner plans. Is this the norm for these cruisetours? Is there any advantage to taking the afternoon tour that should make me happy about this? I suppose we'd need to have a big lunch that day and not expect to have dinner.

 

Similarly, the next day we leave for Fairbanks at 4pm and it's a 4 hour train ride. Presumably that means it will be close to 9pm by the time we're checked into our hotel. Are we going to be relegated to eating on the train? Or should we just plan for another big lunch in Denali?

 

Naturally, on the days we arrive at reasonable times (Denali that first day at 6 and Fairbanks in the afternoon, our 2nd day after included tours), lunch is included.

[Budget Queen]

Sounds like meals are a priority for you?? Yes this is typical timing for cruisetours with the Tundra Wilderness tour- think about on an 8 hour tour- you are GOING to be out during a meal. So, eat up before you go, and as repeatively recommended by me- take food with you on the bus. You will have plenty of time to pick something up.

 

As for the train, SAME thing. IF you don't want to eat in the train's dining car, then purchase something and bring it on the train with you. Pretty simple.

[roly]

"Are we going to be relegated to eating on the train? " If this is the Hal cars on the train it is a first class restraunt, not to worry about being relegated to it. They have their own kitchen and people doing it all.

As far as getting back late from Denali, Remember this is a area that has 3 months to make their way. They deal with this every day and will be open to make money. They are well aware of when people will be returning.

On the tour the hotel check in was done by Hal. They handed us the key while we were on the bus and you went straight to your room. Hal has this down to a science and everything normally works smoothly. Roly

[ro the teacher]

Buy a small foldable cooler and pack your lunch/supper. There is a Subway near the tour center and it is open 24 hours a day!

[MercedMike]

Those HAL tours are a jigsaw puzzle to put together. They have to combine train arrival times, TWT times, dining times and so many other things.

 

The TWT is a looooong tour. You are going to miss some meal. As many have posted, the "snack" box they provide is light. Frankly what we did was bring along our "goodie box" which we take on many tours, full of Corn Nuts, chocolate, raisins and other snacks we like, as well as 2 bottles of water apiece, and just nibbled our way through the tour! We missed a meal, we saw six grizzlies. Good tradeoff? (and yes, like BQ notes, meals ARE a priority with us!)

 

Eating on the train is the usual plan. On our car, they took us down to the dining room in groups so everybody had a chance. The food was very good and for Alaska not too pricey. It is a lot of fun and fills in the time on the train.

 

Check out our trip report and pictures at http://www.bully4.us/ct3.html and you can see some pics from the TWT and also the dining on the train. I think you will enjoy it and it will work fine for you.

 

Have a GREAT cruise!

[countrygal52]

We ate on the train for our HAL Alaskan cruise tour - one breakfast on the way to Denali and one Dinner on the way to Anchorage (if they still serve it, try the Reindeer breakfast sausage!) Yummmmm! The prices were not that bad and the food very good. Food in Alaska is just a little higher priced than what we usually expect in Wisconsin.

 

Our TWT left at 5:30am! Imagine getting up at 4 and going to the breakfast buffet for a decent breakfast so we had time to go back and get our cameras etc.! We then walked across to Glitter Gulch to eat lunch when we got back and went back to our room for a nap before going to Cabin Night dinner that evening. Very full day!:)

But lots of good memories!

[negc]

If the HAL dining car has fare the equivalent to what we have had on both Princess and RCI rail cars, "relegated" is definitely an inaccurate choice of words to describe the dining experience. Food and service on all legs of our train ride was very good. I purchased a sandwich and snack at the Grille at the Denali Visitors Center for our TWT which began at about 1:30 pm and it, along with the snack box that was provided on the bus, was more than enough to tide me over until we arrived at the Grande Denali Lodge shortly after 9pm and were able to get a more substantial meal, though service at the Grande Denali Lodge was so severely lacking that I actually spoke to the General Manager of the property who indicated that there was new management at the Lodge and admitted that staff training was terribly mishandled. In contrast, the food and service at the Talkeetna Alaskan Lodge was first-rate and one would never guess that they, too, had only been open for business for less than one month.:)

[whale-watcher]

We really enjoyed our train dining experiences with princess a few years ago...great salmon for dinner, and reindeer chili for lunch were our top picks.

[zoethesailor]

Hal has excellent food on their trains, very fresh and tasty. The price you pay is more than the typical price in the lower 48, but in line with Alaska's food prices Their main train cars are also very comfortable, as they have the seats all facing forward. This gives you privacy to talk, and in my DH's case nap.

 

The Princess train's food was not as fresh. The main train cars were also a little akward, as you have a table between you and other people that you may not know, and either you or them are facing backwards. Last year they were having problems with the air conditioning, so in the heat of the day everyone was extremely hot.

 

Princess is my favorite cruise line, but not their trains.

[catmagusa]

We ate on the train for our HAL Alaskan cruise tour - one breakfast on the way to Denali and one Dinner on the way to Anchorage (if they still serve it, try the Reindeer breakfast sausage!) Yummmmm! The prices were not that bad and the food very good. Food in Alaska is just a little higher priced than what we usually expect in Wisconsin.

 

Our TWT left at 5:30am! Imagine getting up at 4 and going to the breakfast buffet for a decent breakfast so we had time to go back and get our cameras etc.! We then walked across to Glitter Gulch to eat lunch when we got back and went back to our room for a nap before going to Cabin Night dinner that evening. Very full day!:)

But lots of good memories!

 

How was Cabin Night? We are considering that, but don't know if we'll be too tired to enjoy it!!