HAL - D6C Cruise - Denali 2 nights, McKinley Chalet questions

[RetiredTravelered]

Hi all. We have a Reservation in July, 2025 on the Nieuw Amsterdam, for a north bound, D6C, 10 nights cruise. The package includes 2 nights in Denali - I think the name of the lodging is McKinley Chalet. 

 

Our questions are related to the stay in Denali. (Lodging, Food, Wilderness Tour, etc.)

 

On the Ship (Nieuw Amsterdam), we paid for a Veranda (Balcony) Room on the 6th Deck. We are pleased, and excited. 

On the Ship, there is the Main Dining Room, The Buffet, and a few other food options that are INCLUDED.

In addition, there are a few Restaurants (Steak House, Asian Restaurant, Italian Restaurant), for an up charge, with additional options.

 

We do not know anything about the Denali (McKinley) experience.

Since we paid for a nice room on the Ship, does that include a nice room at the McKinley Chalet?

For Meals, is it like the Ship, some included, some up charge?

 

We have read that there are two separate McKinley areas. (Upper, Lower)

We have no information on the differences. 

Are they close to each other?

Will we be close enough to walk to meals, etc. 

 

Thanks ahead of time.

 

 

[dfilpus]

Your tour includes a standard room at McKinley Chalet, regardless of your ship cabin class. There is a room upgrade available at an extra charge. 
The only meals included in the cruise tour are those on included excursions. There are expensive meal plans available at an extra charge.

 

The Chalet has a shuttle service that circulates through the property from the upper to lower level. Walking from lower to upper level requires an uphill climb. We did both during our time there. There is also a shuttle from the front of the resort into Denali National Park.

 

There are a number of restaurants available at the Princess Resort next door and across the highway. You can take the shuttle to the upper level and there is an easy walk to other restaurants. Prospector’s Pizza is quite good.

[sue1898]

This article has valuable information https://www.hollandamerica.com/content/dam/hal/marketing-assets/manage-my-cruise-already-booked/faqs/2024 AK Journey Tip aug 24 ada.pdf

[Mary229]

You can upgrade your hotel room but otherwise you are assigned by availability not by your ship room class.  There are plenty of restaurants around and the on site Karstens is pretty good as well. You pay for your own meals on land 

[RetiredTravelered]

Sue. thank you for sharing the PDF (Journey Tips). We agree, it does have some useful information. 

[RetiredTravelered]

Mary, DFILPUS, and others, We thank you for the helpful information.

[maggiev]

I agree with @Mary229 Kirsten’s is good. We eat there both nights & walked from our room. We heard May say the dinner show was fun with very good food 

 

[Crew News]

McKinley Resort Lodges

 

 

 

Bus stops

[Crew News]

McKinley Resort Accommodations

 

 

 

[RetiredTravelered]

Crew News. We thank you, VERY helpful 

[Btimmer]

We've stayed at the McKinley Chalet each of the last three years.  The rooms are clean, comfortable, and pretty spartan like a log cabin. We never spent any time there other than to sleep and they were quite comfortable   There is no air conditioning (none needed when we were there).  We have found the steakhouse in the main lodge to be good, the buffet dinner show to be fun but a bit cheezy, and we ate most of our dinner meals at the Princess restaurants.