Discovering Denali land package?

[jjeffjb]

Booked this pre-cruise land pakage for June 24. Cruise begins June 28. Any thoughts, advice, recommendations?

[ChatKat in Ca.]

We booked Denali post cruise on our own. I speak the language and it was a matter of booking the Gold Star Train on Alaska Railroad from Denali to Anchorage Booking a hotel, the Grande Denali, and then I found a car service who will take us from Whittier to Denali with a stop for lunch.

 

We saved about $400 per person. The hotel arranged transportation while in Denali and any thing else we needed.

[hvsteve1]

We did a pre-cruise land package last summer and found we would have been happier on our own (no "have your bags out a 7 am") and did not really need a tour guide.

 

I agree the new Gold Star service on the railroad is really nice. The cars were delivered last year to one-up the luxury cars used by the cruise lines. The train is staffed by college age kids who are specially trained. They not only keep up a running commentary on the trip,they pass around (as part of their internship) scrap books of their growing up in Alaska.

 

Denali is easy to get around if you stay in one of the on-site hotels. They are all run by the National Park Service contractor and,as a result,run a bus route that takes you to all the hotels,restaurants,stores,etc. So far as the park tour,you have to be on a park service bus,so it doesn't matter if you are with a group or on your own.

 

To get from Whittier,I would recommend taking the train,overnighting in Anchorage to look around,and taking the Denali Express the next morning.

[gf]

I assume you're talking about the RSSC "Discovering Denali" package? We did this post-cruise 7/05 and were very pleased with the tour. Guide and driver were excellent, everything delivered as advertised. Weather overall not very good; never saw the mountain, but that's always a gamble from what I read. We didn't do any optional tours as DH became ill. I'm not sure any flightseeing at Denali was done because of the overcast as well as smoke from fires in the area. Any questions, I'm happy to answer.

[Iamboatman]

There are advantages and disadvantages to booking a pre or post tour through a cruise line. There are two benefits that can be very good doing it through RSSC. First, it is seamless so the hassle is reduced. Second is that RSSC limits the number of people and tends to do a few little things to make it a bit more enjoyable/upscale. I doubt you would be disappointed

 

That said, there are some "better"/different experiences which might even cost a little bit less (though some are much more money). There are some special private tours that can make your stay a bit more of an adventure and provide you with some additional viewings/experiences. Some may be a bit more roughing it than you might want or they might be exactly what you are looking for. Overnights in high-tech tents for bear watching nearby, for example.

 

As another poster said, flight-seeing is a day by day thing. Most times the mountains are cloud covered, but last summer there were quite a few days of clear. There are a number of outfits that do them and they can be arranged both through RSSC or independently. Also, check out the Toursaver coupon book. It can save you many hundreds of dollars; especially if you do it on your own.

[ChatKat in Ca.]

There are 12 of us traveling to Denali post cruise (8/.30 Mariner) and we called a tour company. It turns out they are the company that packages the tour for RSSC and others. Since we did not have enough to be an official group, I called and found the transportation company that the tour company used. The hotel was easy.

 

We are doing the identical package that you'd get by booking through RSSC. The transportation is the same, the hotel is the same, the park service is the same. We saved (for 12) about $4800. and our experience will be the same on the Denali end. Two nights at the Denali Grande. and one night in Anchorage. We split up which hotels since some of our group were more budget conscience. We can stop at Iditerod Hdqtrs. on the way up. and we are doing Gold Star back. If you were going precruise you might have to book a night in Anchorage, do two nights in Denali and then do the train back and spend one more night in Anchorage.

 

It would be very easy to book this on your own. There are car services that will pick you up in Whittier for a post cruise experiences and take you straight up with stops for photos., lunch and sightseeing on the way.

[hvsteve1]

Sounds like you are doing Premier Alaska Tours. Make sure they book you on Gold Star service on the Alaska Railroad leg. I believe they did that with the Radisson grooup but not ours,which was booked dierectly through them to save money. It was quite a bit less expensive but not as high class.

[jjeffjb]

Thank you to all who posted. You've been a great help!

[Iamboatman]

One other thing you might consider is driving for part of your trip. I do not think the train to Whittier is worth it. We flew into Anchorage, did our thing, then drove out to Kenai and spent some time rafting, etc. and then drove down to Whittier, stopping along the way. It was five very nice, relaxing, and beautiful days. Driving to Denali is even an option if you like that sort of thing (I do, but I don't think the family would be thrilled). Literally everything that you do as a group you can do as an individual.