Help needed: Alaska cruise/Pre-cruise short Denali land tour for 4-6 people/best priced? Threads or references please!!

[Jayhawk]

First time Alaska cruisers.

We just booked a Princess Southbound cruise out of Whittier on June 28th. I spent some time finding the right one that would work for what we wanted to see and our college girls' schedule restrictions. I know I need to dive into excursions at the three ports but think I've got plenty of time for that and will be spending time searching on this forum (but feel free to drop in favorite ones for Juneau, Skagway or Ketchikan). 😃

 

We want to arrive early to Anchorage (e.g. Tuesday night) for our cruise out on Saturday evening, and hoping to make a short trip to Denali. I'm trying to do research and completely overwhelmed by everything I see. I am wondering if a few of you could be so kind as to point me to any other threads or the best way to think about this, as I feel a sense of urgency to act pretty quickly. I know it's going to be a bit costly, but the ~3 day train/lodging/tour packages I see look something like $6K for a family of 4, which is out of budget for just those days. We will also be visiting a friend's daughter and husband in Anchorage who is up there for a mission year....thought it could be fun to take them with us. They are new to the area and mentioned they've heard others that rent an RV, but my husband is a bit intimidated of that (we're not camping types) and most look like 7 day rentals anyway?

 

Ideas? Do people rent a car and drive to it (and them maybe return the car in Whittier Saturday night)? But then where would we stay (place for 4-6), and what are the best bus tours you would you do up there as it looks like you can't drive too far into the park? I know several of the roads are still closed next summer. Or is there a reasonably priced train tour that would include a bus tour of the park for 3 days total (I know only 1 full day in the park) that would plan it all for me?

Thanks in advance!!

 

Edited Sunday at 04:24 PM by Jayhawk

[oaktreerb]

Have you checked with Princess cruises for a pre cruise land tour that would get you to Denali on the train and back to Whittier to join the ship?   You will have to take a park service bus to actually enter into the larger area of Denali National Park.  See the Tundra Wilderness Tours narrated tours that you can arrange through the cruise line or park service.  Other tours are also available.  Look at the Denali National Park website at nps,gov.  Princess has a lodge near the visitor’s center.  Grayline Tours or Alaska Railroad also have multiple day tours to Denali.  Two nights will give you one full day at Denali,  

 

Anchorage tourist information is online or you can request to have a printed brochure mailed to you.  If you want to rent a car you can rent one from several agencies in Anchorage.  You do need to plan ahead as Alaska is a popular tourist destination.

 

Research this Alaska board and the Holland America and Princess boards for trip reports and advance planning ideas for trips to Denali and the Anchorage area.

[AKStafford]

The cruiselines do a great job of sailing through Southeast Alaska. I feel their land tours are pretty poor.

In my opinion, a better option would be to rent a car in Anchorage to explore Southcentral and Interior Alaska. You can return the car in Anchorage and use a bus or train to get to your ship.

There's nothing offered on a "cruise tour" that can't be done on your own, often for cheaper.

For getting into Denali National Park, use the transit bus:  https://www.nps.gov/dena/planyourvisit/shuttles.htm  Same road as the Tundra Wilderness Tour, same views, but much cheaper.

[wolfie11]

Rent a car. Book a hotel in Healy for two nights.  It’s about a 6-8 hour drive to the park.  Drive your car to Savage River the first day for a hike.  Take the green shuttle bus into the park the next morning. Spend the afternoon hiking or at the dog sled kennel.  Take the shuttle bus into the park again the next day or go rafting, atv or whatever.  Drive back to Anchorage on Friday.  There’s one road. You can’t get lost.  Keep it simple. Do your own thing.  I wouldn’t do one of there cruise tours if they paid me - herded around like a bunch of cows.

 

The train is expensive and for the most part boring compared to driving and you don’t have transportation when you get there.

Edited Monday at 05:34 AM by wolfie11

[Jayhawk]

On 9/29/2024 at 9:37 PM, oaktreerb said:

Have you checked with Princess cruises for a pre cruise land tour that would get you to Denali on the train and back to Whittier to join the ship?   You will have to take a park service bus to actually enter into the larger area of Denali National Park.  See the Tundra Wilderness Tours narrated tours that you can arrange through the cruise line or park service.  Other tours are also available.  Look at the Denali National Park website at nps,gov.  Princess has a lodge near the visitor’s center.  Grayline Tours or Alaska Railroad also have multiple day tours to Denali.  Two nights will give you one full day at Denali,  

 

Anchorage tourist information is online or you can request to have a printed brochure mailed to you.  If you want to rent a car you can rent one from several agencies in Anchorage.  You do need to plan ahead as Alaska is a popular tourist destination.

 

Research this Alaska board and the Holland America and Princess boards for trip reports and advance planning ideas for trips to Denali and the Anchorage area.

 

Land additions are sold out for that date already, but the other dates were still close to $2K a person which was pretty prohibitive for four of us. 

[Jayhawk]

On 9/30/2024 at 12:33 AM, wolfie11 said:

Rent a car. Book a hotel in Healy for two nights.  It’s about a 6-8 hour drive to the park.  Drive your car to Savage River the first day for a hike.  Take the green shuttle bus into the park the next morning. Spend the afternoon hiking or at the dog sled kennel.  Take the shuttle bus into the park again the next day or go rafting, atv or whatever.  Drive back to Anchorage on Friday.  There’s one road. You can’t get lost.  Keep it simple. Do your own thing.  I wouldn’t do one of there cruise tours if they paid me - herded around like a bunch of cows.

 

The train is expensive and for the most part boring compared to driving and you don’t have transportation when you get there.

Love this! Ideas for rental car companies (Avis when I looked up those dates said no cars available??) or any specific places in Healy? How do we get from lodging to the park shuttle buses? (Is that all on the park we site?) Any suggestions welcome!

[markeb]

2 hours ago, Jayhawk said:

Love this! Ideas for rental car companies (Avis when I looked up those dates said no cars available??) or any specific places in Healy? How do we get from lodging to the park shuttle buses? (Is that all on the park we site?) Any suggestions welcome!

 

Much of that is on the NPS web page. Most of the hotels have shuttles to the visitor's center and Denali Bus Terminal. If you have a car there's adequate parking at both locations. You can drive as far as Savage River as mentioned. Beyond that you need either a Transit Bus or a narrated tour bus. We did the Tundra Wilderness Tour and really enjoyed it. The Transit  Buses are transportation. The primary advantage is you can get off, explore, and catch another bus. The Tundra Wilderness Tour is more expensive, and you're on the same bus for your entire tour. But it's specifically designed to look for wildlife. 

 

For lodging, check the Chamber of Commerce site: https://cca.discoverdenali.org/stay-_21_9353_category.aspx#ccaContentTop

 

We stayed at the Denali Bluffs Hotel. When I asked this question last winter that was one of the recommendations. Which was a good thing because several of the other options were booked up. 

 

You're probably too early to reserve a rental for next summer. Whatever your preferred rental company is will almost certainly be at the Anchorage airport. We used Hertz, which is what I normally use when travelling. The Hertz location (and I suspect some if not all of the others) was not a corporate location but a franchise. No President's Circle, and frankly a poorly informed, bordering on surly, agent. Not a great experience. The drive isn't bad and you can pull over at the observation areas where you can (on a good day) see Denali. One absolute recommendation is no matter how long the line, how expensive, or how crappy the gas station appears, fill up before driving south! There is a VERY long stretch with no services...

[oaktreerb]

4 hours ago, Jayhawk said:

Love this! Ideas for rental car companies (Avis when I looked up those dates said no cars available??) or any specific places in Healy? How do we get from lodging to the park shuttle buses? (Is that all on the park we site?) Any suggestions welcome!

We rent from Avis in downtown Anchorage.  Do not rent a car online.  Call the location directly and save your paperwork.  The airport rental is more expensive but more convenient when you are flying in.  Some who have rented online have had their reservations cancelled or lost somehow.