Land part of Princess Cruisetour

[LCW]

We (re)booked our cruisetour for July 2022.  Will be heading up from Whittier via coach to Denali Princess lodge, then McKinley Princess Lodge the next day.  Train back to Anchorage. Have a several logistics questions...

 

- Approx. when does the bus arrive @ Denali Princess Lodge?  Where does it stop along the way?

- When does the bus leaves from Denali to McKinley Wilderness lodge?  We want to 1. Get our Nat'l Parks passport stamped at the visitor's center and 2. Hike to Horseshoe lake (family tradition).  

- The bus to McKinley Princess Wilderness lodge leaves in the afternoon.  Can someone give me an estimated time we need to be ready to load our bags?

- I'm assuming the bus to the train depot leaves McKinley Princess Wilderness lodge btwn noon and 1pm.  Is that correct?  If so, what time do we have to be ready with our bags to load onto the bus?

- How hard is it to find a upper deck seat (I'm assuming some people will already be on board)?  We sat on bottom deck in 2004, so would like to be higher up this time if possible.

- Finally, is there any specific activity @ McKinley Lodge you'd recommend for a 14yr old girl?  We'll have already done a zipline in Skagway, and I'll probably be hiked out by this time. 

 

Pls don't suggest we skip the land portion and do it ourselves. We chose this itinerary for several reasons and we are locked in now. 

 

 

[afiaccone]

When are you sailing in July? I can't help you with logistics but we are also doing a Princess Cruisetours July 9th, sailing July 14. Fairbanks & Denali. My daughter will be 14 then as well. 

[Coral]

Do you get to go to Denali National Park at all?

Edited May 4, 2021 by Coral

[don't-use-real-name]

Are you taking a PRINCESS Cruise ???

two more sites to browse

 

You might check the Princess forum site for more details info:

 

Princess Cruises: Ask a Question - Cruise Critic Message Board Forums

 

Also check the Princess Roll Call:

 

Princess Cruise Roll Calls - Cruise Critic Message Board Forums

 

 

[LCW]

On 4/21/2021 at 1:19 AM, afiaccone said:

When are you sailing in July? I can't help you with logistics but we are also doing a Princess Cruisetours July 9th, sailing July 14. Fairbanks & Denali. My daughter will be 14 then as well. 

 We are sailing on 2 July Majestic Princess.. 

 

Yes, we get to go to Denali Park, but only overnight.  That fits in with our plans (been there several times before). 

[donaldsc]

2 hours ago, LCW said:

 We are sailing on 2 July Majestic Princess.. 

 

Yes, we get to go to Denali Park, but only overnight.  That fits in with our plans (been there several times before). 

 

Since you have been to Denali before and you are there only overnight, can't you find a tour that doesn't go to Denali.  An overnight stay is a waste of your time.

 

DON

[geoherb]

3 hours ago, donaldsc said:

 

Since you have been to Denali before and you are there only overnight, can't you find a tour that doesn't go to Denali.  An overnight stay is a waste of your time.

 

DON

 

I disagree. We were there just overnight on our cruise tour and had a great time. We upgraded from the Natural History Tour to the Tundra Wilderness Tour. 

[StephAndy]

I haven't been able to try it yet- rebooked a cruisetour for June '22 after 2 previous cancellations- but was planning on doing the Byers Lake kayaking tour from the McKinley Wilderness Lodge. 

[LCW]

On 8/2/2021 at 12:52 PM, donaldsc said:

 

Since you have been to Denali before and you are there only overnight, can't you find a tour that doesn't go to Denali.  An overnight stay is a waste of your time.

 

DON

The whole point of going to Denali is to hike to Horseshoe lake with my daughter, in memory of my late father, who had us do the hike each time we visited Denali. So, no, not a waste of time. 

[donaldsc]

On 8/10/2021 at 10:34 AM, LCW said:

The whole point of going to Denali is to hike to Horseshoe lake with my daughter, in memory of my late father, who had us do the hike each time we visited Denali. So, no, not a waste of time. 

 

Under the circumstances, I obviously withdraw my comment.  I sure hope that you get there. 

 

DON

[Willwils]

I'm  on Princess GB4 cruisetour in July '22. But doing land 1st , flying into Fairbanks(2 days) + Denali Princess lodge(2  days), then train to Whittier. Does anyone know if we have an opportunity to visit in Talkeetna when we get the train? It's  not on our excursion & I heard its  a nice place to visit. 

[don't-use-real-name]

The Alaska RR train will make a brief stop at Talkeetna enroute from Denali to Anchorage.

That same train however does not go on to Whittier in the same say UNLESS it is a 

Princess chartered train ?

 

Often the cruise land tours will start end train travel at Talkeetna with a continuation

by motor coach aka THE BUS to another tour point.

 

Check with the land tour operator for exactly what you would expect to get !

[Willwils]

19 hours ago, don't-use-real-name said:

The Alaska RR train will make a brief stop at Talkeetna enroute from Denali to Anchorage.

That same train however does not go on to Whittier in the same say UNLESS it is a 

Princess chartered train ?

 

Often the cruise land tours will start end train travel at Talkeetna with a continuation

by motor coach aka THE BUS to another tour point.

 

Check with the land tour operator for exactly what you would expect to get !

Thanks for that info, even though it sounds disappointing since our train is supposed to go to Whittier, not Anchorage. 

[Gray Lady]

Never having been to Alaska, and NEVER having taken a cruise…I know, right?… we decided to do a cruise tour to see the most. We chose our cruise line based on the land itinerary. Wanted to see the most we could within our budget, did research, and talked to a lot of people to get input. We may have done this backwards, but ignorance is bliss at times. Hopefully our cruise component will be good. 

[don't-use-real-name]

IMO

 

Just a hint - take the land excursion portion before the cruise - 

You will be more relaxed and enjoy the pace a great deal more.

The land cruise you are packing up and moving your hotel lodgings almost with

every leg of movement (nightly) - of course the portage of your luggage is included -

Some meals are included others on your own dime (this most of the time)

 

With the cruise being last - you and your hotel lodgings stay put - your 3 or more

daily meals are included some drinks too - no commitments to board a bus train

or other dog cart transportation on someone else's schedule - only tough part

is leaving the ship and all those inclusives .

 

On another note - if the tour/fare package is less expensive doing the cruise first

and land tours last - decision time - also consider at the end of the cruise or tour

the travel transportation homeward - is that too rushed or relaxed ?

[Gray Lady]

1 minute ago, don't-use-real-name said:

IMO

 

Just a hint - take the land excursion portion before the cruise - 

You will be more relaxed and enjoy the pace a great deal more.

The land cruise you are packing up and moving your hotel lodgings almost with

every leg of movement (nightly) - of course the portage of your luggage is included -

Some meals are included others on your own dime (this most of the time)

 

With the cruise being last - you and your hotel lodgings stay put - your 3 or more

daily meals are included some drinks too - no commitments to board a bus train

or other dog cart transportation on someone else's schedule - only tough part

is leaving the ship and all those inclusives .

 

On another note - if the tour/fare package is less expensive doing the cruise first

and land tours last - decision time - also consider at the end of the cruise or tour

the travel transportation homeward - is that too rushed or relaxed ?

Yes, we booked the land component first. We did this all last year hoping for the best this year. The biggest change has been debarkation and needing to test on our own before flying home. Too expensive to change it now to go across by coach into Seattle. Hoping our proctored tests work on board. We booked everything with the HAL, so we should be able to get to the airport on time or else it is their problem. No time to test at the airport with all the crowds. Only plus is that many people are now choosing to fly out of Seattle. Like my dad always said, we are entering “virgin territory” for us with the entire land cruise experience.

[don't-use-real-name]

4 hours ago, Willwils said:

Thanks for that info, even though it sounds disappointing since our train is supposed to go to Whittier, not Anchorage. 

Just for clarification Whittier is one of the ports of Anchorage (the other Seward).

Looking at a Google Map LINK:

 

Google Maps

 

The cruise ships do not sail the long way around (Cook Inlet) to arrive in Anchorage.

 

Alaska RR has scheduled service to both of these ports and then there are the cruise

line chartered trains. The cruise line chartered trains may bypass the Anchorage Depot

and go directly to the port. There is also an Anchorage Airport stop - not familiar or sure

how Princess works this out. Princess has a great deal of influence in the movement

of its guests to/from ports and points of excursion land tours by Alaska RR.  

[Northern Aurora]

2 hours ago, don't-use-real-name said:

.....

 

Google Maps

 

The cruise ships do not sail the long way around (Cook Inlet) to arrive in Anchorage.

 

......

 

Actually some cruise ships actually do stop at the port of Anchorage.  But it is essentially a cargo port with no cruise terminal facilities.  The Anchorage port calls are for a few hours, not for an embarkation or disembarkation.  Shuttles are run down to the Eagan Center or another such centrally located facility.

[Kimhikes]

On 8/2/2021 at 1:09 PM, geoherb said:

 

I disagree. We were there just overnight on our cruise tour and had a great time. We upgraded from the Natural History Tour to the Tundra Wilderness Tour. 

We are going to be doing the same thing in August. 😄

[shiner6]

Does anyone have experience with purchasing alcohol at ports to bring back on ship? Will they confiscate it and return it to us at the end of the cruise portion?  I want to take some with me on our land portion.  Can we purchase it onboard duty free and then disembark and take it with us on the Rail car portion?