Alaska/meals on land tours

[lyadams]

I'm taking my second cruise to Alasak, but have never been on the land tours b/4. Was wondering, most meals are not included (at least that's what the brochure says) so how does this work? We're doing #14 May '06 & we have two nights in Denali. I know there are most likely restaurants around, but are prices reasonable and transportation to these restaurants? We have a diabetic on our trip and I just want to be prepared. Any thoughts appreciated!

 

Happy sailing everyone.

[klingoncruiser]

Prices are not really reasonable, (middle of Alaska in a tourist town) but are plentiful. You will most likely be staying in a hotel waaaayyyy up on top of a hill. There is a very nice place to eat at the hotel. If you take a trip into the park with a tour, a box lunch will be provided by the tour. They will not let you starve along the way. Denali is a very nice place. Bus or Train there? I hope the train, it is WONDERFUL!

[wolfcathorse]

We did a land tour of Alaska and no matter which meal we ate or when it was, it seemed to cost $12-$15 per person per meal. Cabin Nite Dinner theater in Denali is $50 per person, but its all you can eat Salmon and Ribs. Our dinner on the Wilderness Express was $52 for 2 and we didn't have any alcoholic drinks nor the most expensive entree either.

[lyadams]

Prices are not really reasonable, (middle of Alaska in a tourist town) but are plentiful. You will most likely be staying in a hotel waaaayyyy up on top of a hill. There is a very nice place to eat at the hotel. If you take a trip into the park with a tour, a box lunch will be provided by the tour. They will not let you starve along the way. Denali is a very nice place. Bus or Train there? I hope the train, it is WONDERFUL!

 

thanks for the input and yes - it's the train to Denali! More train than bus on this package which is one reason this package won out over others.

[Aprille]

Do you have 2 nights in Denali? I strongly recommend a package with 2 nights in Denali. Then you get the full tour into the park. If you're only staying 1 night you will get the short tour and most likely won't see much, if any, wildlife. The full tour is 62 miles into the park and estimated to take 6 to 8 hours. Ours took 9 hours because we saw so much wildlife and kept having to stop. It was one of the highlights of our trip!

 

Back to your original question. As has been pointed out, all the lodges you will be staying in have at least one (sometimes more) places to eat in them. If you are not within walking distance of "town" the lodges usually provide a free shuttle service. The price issue has already been addressed. I'd say budget for 50% more than you're use to paying at home and you'll be okay.

 

I'm assuming you're sailing Radiance north-or-southbound since you're doing a land package. If so I have a recommendation for a place to eat in Icy Strait Point. You must go to the Office Bar and have fresh (and I mean FRESH!) dungeness crab. Yummy! And at $14 for a whole crab I thought it one of the best bargain meals of our entire trip.

 

Edited to add: See page 6 of the Alaska Trip Photos link in my sig for a picture of those yummy crabs! :)

[Aprille]

I'm going to attempt to bump this thread up. My last post didn't seem to "register". Boards are being screwy this morning. :p

 

ETA: Well, this one didn't bump it up either. :confused: I guess we should consider ourselves lucky they're showing up at all.

[lyadams]

Do you have 2 nights in Denali?

 

Yes, that was another reason we went with this package as it has 2-days in Denali, so really looking foward to that. Thanks for the restaurant recommendation. We're NB so our land is after the cruise. Nice time to walk off all that cruise food!!!!

[lyadams]

Do you have 2 nights in Denali?

 

Yes, that was another reason we went with this package as it has 2-days in Denali, so really looking foward to that. Thanks for the restaurant recommendation. We're NB so our land is after the cruise. Nice time to walk off all that cruise food!!!!

[Barbee524]

I thought the prices were comparable with what we normally pay in Chicago. I recommend the Glacier Brewhouse if you're spending any time in Anchorage, save room for the bread pudding for desert. Yum!