Princess Land - Denali to Whittier train or bus

[love2bonboard]

We are booked for the land/sea tour w/ Princess. For an additional $150.00pp we can get the express train from Denali to the cruise ship in Whittier and a tour in Denali. We don't want the tour in Denali (would rather do the rafting); but we are not sure if we want to do the 8.5 hour bus ride to the cruise ship. Has anyone done the bus ride? Should we pay the $150.00pp to take the express train?

[JerseyBoy]

My wife and I did the Princess cruisetour this September starting in

Fairbanks, then to Denali, and then to Mt. McKinley lodge. Princess then took us from the McKinley Lodge to Whittier via the Princess Sightseeing Train. On the train you can walk around, eat and drink and have great scenery to take in. The only negative was that the passangers that left from the Denali lodge were on the train for 8.5 hours, whereas we boarded from the McKinley lodge the train took 6.5 hours to Whittier. Although I thought the train could have gone faster then it did, I would not want to be on a bus from Denali to Whittier for 9 hours, that is a haul and would be uncomfortable and boring. At least on the train it is very scenic and interesting as each car has a hostess on it for your every need.

 

Hope this helps.

[love2bonboard]

Thanks for the post/info. The train does sound nice, but I am hoping to save the $300.00 and take the bus. Is there anyone out there who has done the 8 hour bus ride? Is there plenty of restroom stops? Sightseeing?

[PennyAgain]

I take the train or I drive. The bus is not an option for me. I hate buses. You can have delays on the bus due to traffic, accidents or just plain weather. The buses have to deal with Anchorage traffic.

 

You will be much more comfortable on the train where you can walk around as you please and get decent food to eat.

 

The buses do make toilet stops, but only you will know if they happen often enough. Taking photos through the bus windows makes for lousy photos.

 

The speed of the trains is determined by the Alaska Railroad. If it is too fast, many passengers complain that they don't have time to take photos.

 

The train will stop for good scenery, major animal sightings and to let coal trains and freight trains move along.

Edited October 24, 2010 by PennyAgain

[Budget Queen]

Are you on one of the "do it yourself" bookings? And not a "cruisetour"? There is available rafting of the Knik Glacier area, Matanuska etc. that could be a better use of time, perhaps, rather than going back and forth to Denali Park, with no interest of getting into it?

 

The train Denali to Whittier is 10 hours, the above information is not correct.

 

The bus is less than 8 hours with stops. These are available, both to you??

 

Both these transits, have mostly the same scenery, since they run parallel, most of the time.

 

IF you want to save money, then take the bus.

Edited October 24, 2010 by Budget Queen

[love2bonboard]

Are you on one of the "do it yourself" bookings? And not a "cruisetour"? There is available rafting of the Knik Glacier area, Matanuska etc. that could be a better use of time, perhaps, rather than going back and forth to Denali Park, with no interest of getting into it?

 

The train Denali to Whittier is 10 hours, the above information is not correct.

 

The bus is less than 8 hours with stops. These are available, both to you??

 

Both these transits, have mostly the same scenery, since they run parallel, most of the time.

 

IF you want to save money, then take the bus.

 

We are signed up for the Princess Denali on your own. So, we get the transportation included...we just get a bus vs. the express train and we don't get the afternoon tour of the park (don't really like bus tours anyway). So, we would end up paying $300.00 for both of us to add the train/tour package. I was wondering if the train and bus had the same scenery...so, thanks for the info. I think we will stick with the bus and spend the $300.00 on a excursion. I do like trains, but to change the reservation is a huge hassle as we have booked restricted Air tickets w/ Princess and it is really difficult to change the tickets over to a "new" booking w/o them wanting to charge a huge fee from the airlines.

[Budget Queen]

We are signed up for the Princess Denali on your own. So, we get the transportation included...we just get a bus vs. the express train and we don't get the afternoon tour of the park (don't really like bus tours anyway). So, we would end up paying $300.00 for both of us to add the train/tour package. I was wondering if the train and bus had the same scenery...so, thanks for the info. I think we will stick with the bus and spend the $300.00 on a excursion. I do like trains, but to change the reservation is a huge hassle as we have booked restricted Air tickets w/ Princess and it is really difficult to change the tickets over to a "new" booking w/o them wanting to charge a huge fee from the airlines.

 

You may want to perhaps rethink this itinerary choice. You state you do not like "bus tours anyway"??? I question why you are, then, going all the way to Denali Park?? You have no plans to enter it, and are still investing a great deal of time in transit to get there?? This definately is NOT an intense scenic transit, and for me, pretty boring on a stright run.

 

Frankly, I would suggest you may want to consider spending your time in Seward?? 2 overnights there offer plenty of variety and plenty to do without big amounts of time in transit. The transit is also more scenic. With the train option here, a big bonus in scenery.

 

With your current plans in the Denali direction, compares to going to Disneyland, and not even getting through Main Street of the attraction, more like not getting out of the parking lot. Is it worth the overall??? As a seasoned Denali repeater visitor- not for me.

 

Only point of these comments is to bring about the best touring for you, with perhaps other ideas that may not have been looked at initially?

[love2bonboard]

You may want to perhaps rethink this itinerary choice. You state you do not like "bus tours anyway"??? I question why you are, then, going all the way to Denali Park?? You have no plans to enter it, and are still investing a great deal of time in transit to get there?? This definately is NOT an intense scenic transit, and for me, pretty boring on a stright run.

 

Frankly, I would suggest you may want to consider spending your time in Seward?? 2 overnights there offer plenty of variety and plenty to do without big amounts of time in transit. The transit is also more scenic. With the train option here, a big bonus in scenery.

 

With your current plans in the Denali direction, compares to going to Disneyland, and not even getting through Main Street of the attraction, more like not getting out of the parking lot. Is it worth the overall??? As a seasoned Denali repeater visitor- not for me.

 

Only point of these comments is to bring about the best touring for you, with perhaps other ideas that may not have been looked at initially?

 

We are going into Denali Park. We have two excursions that we want to do, just not the Princess one. We are younger and somewhat athletic so we are opting for the rafting and the hike. We are going w/ family members who are not able to walk very well...they are signed up for the entire package (train and bus tour). Our family members want us to take the train w/ them, but we just don't want to spend the money. While I would not book an excursion on a bus; I don't think I care if we are on a bus for transportation purposes (although 8 hours is long). I think we decided to skip the train upgrade.

[nasa1974]

The bus or a rental car would be faster from point A to B, but I would recommend the train. My wife and I did the cruise/tour in 2007 and took the train between stops vs. the bus and really enjoyed it. It was about 5 hours between stops but we did not consider it boring. We meet some very nice people on the train and still stay in contact with them today. I would also recommend the land portion first because it was more hectic and structured. Then you get on the ship and relax and get pampered. Good luck on your decision.

[wolfie11]

We are going into Denali Park. We have two excursions that we want to do, just not the Princess one. We are younger and somewhat athletic so we are opting for the rafting and the hike. We are going w/ family members who are not able to walk very well...they are signed up for the entire package (train and bus tour). Our family members want us to take the train w/ them, but we just don't want to spend the money. While I would not book an excursion on a bus; I don't think I care if we are on a bus for transportation purposes (although 8 hours is long). I think we decided to skip the train upgrade.

 

Are you doing the Discovery Hike that the Park Service offers? If so, you will probably take a bus part way into the park. If you are doing one of the commercial guided hikes you will be going into Denali State Park, not Denali National Park.

 

These are nice excursions, but be aware that you will very likely NOT see any wildlife on either. If seeing anything other than possibly a moose or maybe a caribou, depending on the time of year, is a priority, you need to take the shuttle bus or a tour into the national park.

[Big Thunder]

What onboard dining choice did you all make? We chose a large group table of 8 or ten can't remember which. Always nice to bump into those that post on the roll call.

 

Tom

[Great Sky Girl]

My husband and I took the train from Denali to Whittier a few years ago. Our time frame was the last of May. The train was rough and I got ill. Thank goodness I did not lose my breakfast. If I had, I would not have been able to get on the ship for precaution of a virus. However, the people on the train said the ground was not fully thawed and that was the reason. The train did go slow and stopped a few times to let people board in the wilderness. It took us 11 hours to get to Whittier. Tough for me. I could not eat a thing the whole trip, but did get a ginger ale and some dramamine. Mine was packed in the bags that went to the ship early! We did see bears and moose and Denali was out and beautiful!

[Cairn Mom]

My husband and I took the train from Denali to Whittier a few years ago. Our time frame was the last of May. The train was rough and I got ill. Thank goodness I did not lose my breakfast. If I had, I would not have been able to get on the ship for precaution of a virus. However, the people on the train said the ground was not fully thawed and that was the reason. The train did go slow and stopped a few times to let people board in the wilderness. It took us 11 hours to get to Whittier. Tough for me. I could not eat a thing the whole trip, but did get a ginger ale and some dramamine. Mine was packed in the bags that went to the ship early! We did see bears and moose and Denali was out and beautiful!

 

 

My husband and I hated that train ride. Fortunately, we did not feel sick, but it was way too long. The train stopped briefly a few times so people could take photos. It went so slowly that we thought we'd never get to Whittier. We will never do another scenic train ride. Very pretty but not for us. We need to be more active.

 

 

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