How Strenuous Alaska/Cruise Tour

[MudderBear]

Scenario:  69 year old in great shape except .....needing achilles heel surgery (possibly first week of March).  Alaska/Denali cruise tour scheduled for end of May/beginning of June.

Great deal on HAL that can't be duplicated.  

 

What would ya'll do?  cancel, postpone, etc?  Can't even find anything remotely close to what we are getting in August and/or September........Princess almost matches the perks, but their rooms are tiny.  I'm in an SS on Noordam.  Also, Princess doesn't seem to do the tour in Denali?  Am I misreading that?

 

Ugh.....

[catl331]

Since you're still 90 days or so out, I'd buy a HAL Cancellation Protection Plan (standard or platinum) and wait as long as possible to make the decision. Our "Double Denali" C/T wasn't all that strenuous.

Edited February 19, 2020 by catl331

[MudderBear]

I forgot to mention that yes, I did purchase cancellation insurance back in November.   Not the first tier one, but the second one....😀

[VermeulT]

What is your prognosis/ limitations during the time of the cruise? how must can you expect to do?

What tours were you planning on?

[Mary229]

It depends on the optional excursions you want to take.  I have taken that cruise with elderly, less mobile companions and then I have taken it with very young, athletic people and had a great cruise both times.  There are excursions for all tastes.  I do think the Princess cruise offered far more athletic/active excursions.  

[oaktreerb]

HAL cruise tours are not terribly strenuous.  Your luggage is handled for you.  All you have to do is put it out for pickup.  You will receive it in your hotel room shortly after you arrive.  The Chalets at Denali is a huge property but shuttles run constantly from the cabins/lodge to the activity centers.  Mostly you will be on the train, the bus, or a shuttle unless you choose an activity.  So, as long as you can get on and off of these modes of transportation you will be fine.  You will probably do more walking on the ship.  The Yukon tours are a bit more strenuous and activity based.  

 

Princess usually offers the shorter Natural History Tour in Denali while HAL on almost all itineraries includes the longer Tundra Wilderness Tour which goes much further into the park for wildlife viewing.  The park road usually opens in early June but there may be a delay in the road opening this year due to a landslide or late snow.  You can look at road conditions on the Denali section of nps.gov.  

 

Check with your doctor.

[MudderBear]

Haven't booked excursions yet.  I guess we will wait on booking those...

[MudderBear]

Thanks for the nps.com link.  It's informative and amazing!

[Hlitner]

The term "strenuous" is very subjective.  Consider that on most cruises a majority of passengers consider it "too strenuous" to walk down a single flight of steps.  In your situation we would have a nice chat with the surgeon about your post surgery rehab program and how long before you can expect to be able to walk some distance without pain.  As to Denali, when we were recently in AK, we simply flew in a few days early, rented a car, and drove to Denali for a few days.  We had a great time, did what we pleased in the park without being burdened by a tour group, stayed in a neat place in Healy, and loved every minute.  So consider changing your cruise and simply doing your own thing at Denali.   Our only mistake is that we should have flown into Fairbanks rather then Anchorage since it is a shorter drive to Denali.

 

Hank

[catl331]

9 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

Our only mistake is that we should have flown into Fairbanks rather then Anchorage since it is a shorter drive to Denali.

Then how would you get to the cruise afterward, fly to Anchorage?

[kstrittm]

Dunno exactly what the surgery is, but I had heel surgery once and - at worst, you will be in a boot.  I went all over the place in that darned thing - didn't keep me from doing anything.  So, I guess what I'm saying is that I don't think you should consider canceling because you could be immobile.  I think you will be fine with the boot on (if that is indeed the case).  It looks kind of wonky, but if that doesn't concern you, you'll be fine!

[Hlitner]

9 minutes ago, catl331 said:

Then how would you get to the cruise afterward, fly to Anchorage?

LOL, fair question.  We would have simply done a one-way rental, picked the car up at the Fairbanks Airport and then dropped it in Anchorage where we caught the train to Seward for our cruise.  Driving round trip from Anchorage is OK, but its a long drive.  Many Americans treat AK like it is a foreign country but it is simply one more State with the benefit of much less traffic then many places I the lower 48.  

 

Hank

[oaktreerb]

15 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

The term "strenuous" is very subjective.  Consider that on most cruises a majority of passengers consider it "too strenuous" to walk down a single flight of steps.  In your situation we would have a nice chat with the surgeon about your post surgery rehab program and how long before you can expect to be able to walk some distance without pain.  As to Denali, when we were recently in AK, we simply flew in a few days early, rented a car, and drove to Denali for a few days.  We had a great time, did what we pleased in the park without being burdened by a tour group, stayed in a neat place in Healy, and loved every minute.  So consider changing your cruise and simply doing your own thing at Denali.   Our only mistake is that we should have flown into Fairbanks rather then Anchorage since it is a shorter drive to Denali.

 

Hank

It seems to me that renting a car and staying in Healy would be a lot more strenuous than having someone handle your luggage at each location and having accommodations just outside the park entrance with shuttle transportation from your cabin

to wherever you want to go on the property and to the national park visitor’s center.   The tour group is certainly not a burden but it does facilitate your tour.  No waiting to check in or out at the hotel.  You are told where to meet for the TWT and go directly from the hotel out the park road.  No change of bus once you get to the park.

 

Have you ever taken a HAL cruisetour?

[Stateroom_Sailor]

The toughest part of the cruise tour is excessive sitting.  If you can climb in and out of a tour bus, a flight of stairs on the train, walk up to 100 yards at a time, you'll be fine.  I only saw one woman in her 80's, extremely poor shape, having trouble.

[Hlitner]

30 minutes ago, oaktreerb said:

It seems to me that renting a car and staying in Healy would be a lot more strenuous than having someone handle your luggage at each location and having accommodations just outside the park entrance with shuttle transportation from your cabin

to wherever you want to go on the property and to the national park visitor’s center.   The tour group is certainly not a burden but it does facilitate your tour.  No waiting to check in or out at the hotel.  You are told where to meet for the TWT and go directly from the hotel out the park road.  No change of bus once you get to the park.

 

Have you ever taken a HAL cruisetour?

For us, being on most tours is akin to mild torture.  :).  Being on our own allows us the freedom to do what we want, when we want, with who we want.  And we can also choose our own accommodations, where and when to eat, etc.   And imagine a day when you do not have to wait for a group to go the  bathroom, not sit on a bus waiting for that last passenger who always seems late, etc.   Sure, many folks do like large group tours....but we only do them when it is the only option.  With HAL that happened to us in Murmansk and Constanta.  

 

As to hotels, when we stayed in Healy we booked a delightful cabin at a place where there were only 3 other cabins.  The views were fantastic and we could sit on our quiet porch listening to the birds, watching wildlife, etc.  When we wanted to go to dinner we simply jumped in our car and drove to a nice place in Healy frequented by the employees of Denali.  There were no large tour buses in sight and few cruise ship passengers.  In the morning we enjoyed breakfast made in our own kitchen and made the short drive to the park on our own schedule.  While in the park (where we spent 2 1/2 days) we hiked quite a few wonderful trails, one of which was deep in the park in an area not visited by any tour group.  Denali also has its own buses (we took one ) that goes to parts of the park not visited by large tour buses.  

 

You need to understand that not everyone wants to be led by the hand or spend their day following a tour guide.  But I will admit that we did love a few small group tours we took on our Seabourn cruise in Alaska, but our group size was about 14 and everyone was able to keep up on a long hike into bear country.

 

Hank