Will Princess give a credit for Natural History Tour?

[Cardinal2013]

Will Princess give credit for the Natural History Tour that is included in our package?  We want to do the Tunda tour and it isn't offered the same day to switch them out.  

[LeeW]

Our TA took care of this for us.  Note that road in Denali is still closed so you don't get into good bear country (or good viewing of the mountain) on the Tundra tour.  Only go to mile 43 instead of 88.  Going to be at least until AFTER 2026.

[Cardinal2013]

Is the Tundra tour still better?  Seema like I read that it at least goes further than the other.  What’s your opinion? 

[azbirdmom]

15 hours ago, Cardinal2013 said:

Is the Tundra tour still better?  Seema like I read that it at least goes further than the other.  What’s your opinion? 

It is, even though it only goes in 43 miles (versus the 62 mile version before the landslide).  There's more information on these links - one from the NPS and the other from Doyon which sells the tours for the NPS:

 

https://www.nps.gov/dena/planyourvisit/bus-tours.htm

 

https://www.reservedenali.com/tours-transits/the-denali-tour-experience/#twt

 

I don't know if Princess would give you a credit if you choose not to do the included Natural History tour if the buy-up to the Tundra Wilderness Tour isn't available through them.  That would be a question to ask your TA (or Princess if you booked direct).  Depending on when your tour is it could be that the buy-up to the TWT isn't available yet.

[Cardinal2013]

Thank you!! 

[geoherb]

Our travel agent handled this for us, but it was 12 years ago. We paid just the difference in price. I'm so glad we did after talking to friends who went on the Natural History Tour. 

[Paula_MacFan]

We just returned from an Alaskan cruisetour 3 weeks ago.  We upgraded from the included Natural History Tour to the Tundra Wilderness Tour.  Our Princess CVP took care of it for us and we paid the difference.  I just wanted to chime in on the opinion of whether it's 'worth it or not' to take the tour even though the tour is now shorter.  Unequivocally I say YES it is still worth it!  Our tour lasted 6 hours and was a highlight of our 15 day cruisetour.  We had an excellent guide/driver who did a wonderful job with the spotting scope, driving, and sharing important information.  We saw grizzly, moose, caribou, fox, sheep, and birds. 

 

We were told by the tour guide and the visitor center that it may now be 2027 or later for the bridge to be completed.  Due to the very short construction season, the remoteness of the location, and permafrost issues, the project is taking a very long time and faces many challenges.  When we booked our cruisetour I heard the opinion that we should wait until the bridge was open to get the full experience -- originally projected to be 2023, then 2024, then 2025, then 2026, and now 2027......My point being you can put off your trip waiting on this bridge that may add a couple hours to your tour, or you can just go now and have a good time 🙂  According to our guide the tour used to take 8 hours and ours was 6 hours.  So I wouldn't put off a whole trip to Alaska on the basis of 2 hours less on a Denali tour. We still saw a plethora of wildlife.  

 

We were also lucky to get one of the newer buses with larger side-sliding windows instead of the older-style, up/down sliding windows.  Of probably 30 buses we saw on the road that day, we only saw another one like ours, so it's really the luck of the draw which style you'll get.  

 

I know I shared more info than the OP asked for, but just wanted to chime in with our current info for anyone who is considering the Tundra Wilderness Tour.  And also since people mentioned the shorter tour and the road/bridge issue.  

[Cardinal2013]

Thank you all, but unfortunately we just found out  the Tundra tour isn’t offered the day we are at Denali.  They said they may add it later but I am doubting that will happen.  It is offered on our second day there but we will have to leave for McKinley before the tour would end. Very disappointed 🤷‍♀️

[frugaltravel]

1 hour ago, Cardinal2013 said:

Thank you all, but unfortunately we just found out  the Tundra tour isn’t offered the day we are at Denali.  They said they may add it later but I am doubting that will happen.  It is offered on our second day there but we will have to leave for McKinley before the tour would end. Very disappointed 🤷‍♀️

A much better option is this. Go to reserveDenali.com. Book the East Fork Transit shuttle bus. It costs $35. Book it for no earlier than 8:00 a.m. departure. Then take the shuttle bus from the Denali Princess Lodge to the bus depot. You can travel the exact same length of the road as the tundra Wilderness tour goes. But this is cheaper than paying for the upgrade. When you pick up your tickets at the bus depot tell them that you had the natural history tour scheduled. That way they will not charge you the entrance for your second time. The entrance fee is already included in the price of the natural history tour.

[Cardinal2013]

Thank you! Sounds like a plan!