Tundra Wilderness or Natural History in Denali

[cowtec]

We are in the planning stages for our first Alaska cruise next summer. I have heard different things about these two tours and would love to have someone else's input on the pros and cons of each. If we stay in Denali with a package including the Natural History tour can we upgrade to the Tundra Wilderness tour? Thanks for all your help!!!

 

Sue

 

Dawn Princess - Panama Canal - April 2004

 

Dawn Princess - Alaska - August 2005

[lukiecat]

Don't do either. Take the park concessionaire bus. It goes further then either of the other tours, uses the same type buses, you can get off anywhere you want, hike a little and get on another bus and it is al ot less expensive. Go to the Denali National Park Web site for information.

[Genessa]

we were in a package that included the shorter tour, upgraded to the Tundra tour for @$35 each.

 

The shorter tour was about 1 1/2 hours in, 1 1/2 hours out. the Tundra, on the day we took it (it was clear, so Denali was "out") was about 4 hours in, 4 hours out.

 

The tour stops at every rest area(three if I remember correctly) and we spent about 1/2 an hour at the final turn around spot - think the brochure with a tourist bus in mid ground, and Denali as the background - that's exactly where.

 

We saw 90% of the wildlife we spotted after we passed the point the shorter tour stopped.

 

The box "lunch" was horrible - dried sausage (deer? or caribou?), crackers, not much else.

 

We only spent one night at Denali, so the Tundra tour was timed just right - with departure right from our hotel, brought us back to the hotel, not having to think about getting transportation to the park and back.

[Budget Queen]

The differences are vast. The Natural History tour goes to mile 16, value about $35, but offered free via the Park shuttle with ranger activities at Savage River- if of interest. The Tundra Wilderness tour goes to mile 53, but up to about 60 IF McKinley is viewable. Stops are about every 1 1/2 hours, value of over $70. As mentioned above there are also SHUTTLE buses. They travel the same road, Eielson is mile 66 and Wonder Lake mile 85. No guide on the bus, but I have never taken a shuttle bus where the driver didn't know every inch of the Park Road and was very informative. You must bring in all your own food and drink. Runs about 1/3 the cost of the tours buses. Here is more information. My opinion only, I find it very hard to justify a 3 hour tour into Denali Park when it takes all that time and money to get there. http://www.nps.gov/dena/home/visitorinfo/bus/index.html

[cowtec]

Thanks everyone for your input! The excitement and the planning are almost as much fun as the cruise itself! We are looking forward to spending some time seeing part of Alaska!!

 

Sue

[rnewste]

We did both the Tundra tour to Mile 53, then the next day did the full Kantishna run. Long, but the wildlife and views of the Mountain were spectacular. Would highly recommend the Kantishna tour if you are going all the way to Denali.....

 

Ray

[tg1974]

Thanks everyone for your input! The excitement and the planning are almost as much fun as the cruise itself! We are looking forward to spending some time seeing part of Alaska!!

 

Sue

Sue, did you update after you got to Denali or can that be done before we leave home? What time of the day did you depart and return?. We are doing the 19s cruisetour and have one night at Denali. Hoping we can do this!!

[tg1974]

Sorry, Sue,,,I misunderstood your original message. I thought you already did this tour.

[schoolmarm]

tg1974

We are doing the same cruise tour as you. We are starting on 8/08. I called Princess and upgraded to the Tundra Wilderness Tour on the phone several weeks ago. You may be able to do this also. :)

[cowtec]

schoolmarm, I know tg1974 and I will be looking forward to hearing about your trip! I know we will have lots of questions for you! have a great time!!!

 

Sue

[schoolmarm]

Now that I'm a young retired schoolmarm (53), :) I'll have time to post a review when we get back!

[Fireplug]

Thanks for all the input. We will upgrade to the Wilderness tour also!

 

Squid

[JohnQ]

Sue,

As Budget Queen stated so well, either upgrade to the tundra or take the shuttle bus for $23 to Eielson. We took two days in row, May 31st only goes to Toklat River about where tundra bus turns around, and June 1st to Eielson. Remember to take your own food, drink and snacks.

[elephant98]

If wildlife sightings are your priority, then perhaps you should wait until you know the weather report before you decide to upgrade to the Tundra Wildnerness Tour. We did the Tundra Tour last week and didn't get to see much because of the heat.

 

From what I had read prior to booking, the best wildlife sightings are normally made on the extended tour. But, because the temp. got near 80 degrees on our tour, most of the wildlife had run for cover well before we got to the extended portion of the tour!

 

Ironically, we saw three caribou and some dall sheep during the first hour of our tour, and nothing after that. (We took the morning tour). But, I'm not complaining. As noted above, if the weather is clear, you can go an extra 10 miles or so to a very scenic overlook of Mt. McKinley. There wasn't a cloud in the sky last Saturday. So, we got to take many breathtaking pics of Mt. McKinley from the base, all the way to the summit! (In fact, there wasn't a cloud in the sky for near four days, so we got many a glimpse of McKinley as we drove down the George Parks Highway.) Hope this helps.

[cowtec]

elephant98, did you do the cruise tour? Any information you can give would be appreciated!! Thank you for the hint about the weather - I hadn't even thought about that affecting the wildlife! JohnQ, my understanding of the cruise tour we are looking at is that there is one day at Denali Princess and one day at McKinley Princess then two days at Kenai Princess. Thank you so much for your advice!

 

Sue

[tg1974]

I called Princess to do the upgrade but the Tundra Wilderness Tour was all filled. Oh well, I'll enjoy the shorter trip too, I'm sure. Thanks everyone for all your help.

[Fireplug]

Same report for me. All filled up.

 

Squid

[Budget Queen]

As for the weather question- the Tundra Tour does NOT leave near as early as the shuttles of which I am always on the first bus. These leave 5:30am now to Eielson. These would have more opportunity for wildlife sightings. My opinion only- I would pay for the shuttle rather than taking the Natural History tour. Arrange for a bag lunch and drinks- as none on the shuttles- you must bring your own.

[elephant98]

Cowtec,

 

I didn't do a cruise tour. Instead, I rented a car in Fairbanks and drove to each destination. However, we did stay at four of the Princess lodges (Fairbanks, Denali, McKinley and Kenai) and did plenty of excursions. We were VERY happy with the accomodations at each of the Princess lodges. Unless you have a suite or a "family room" at Fairbanks, Denali or McKinley, the rooms are fairly small - plus none of them have a balcony. But, that's not going to be much of a problem as you will only be in the room to catch some zzzz's. The Princess Kenai rooms, however, are magnificient. You get a couch, a chair, a KING size bed, a balcony and a log burning stove.

 

The Princess Mt. McKinley lodge has a deck at the main building that offers a breathtaking view of Mt. McKinley and the surrounding mountains. (Plan on taking some time to sit out on the deck, order a drink, and enjoy the view, weather permitting.) The Denali lodge offers an exceptional view of the Nenana river and vista. We saw several moose from the Denali overlook. The Kenai Lodge, though considerably smaller than the others, also has a pleasant lobby and deck viewing area.

 

We enjoyed each location immensely. There were certain aspects of the Princess hotels that could use some improvement (ie: the front desk, housekeeping). But, I suspect that many of the problems are related to the fact that, except for Fairbanks, the Princess hotels are only open in the summer.

 

Finally, beware, except for the Fairbanks lodge, NONE of the other Princess lodges had air conditioning. This ended up being a slight inconvenience for us because it was relatively warm during our trip (daily highs in the upper 70s and low 80s). It wasn't much of a problem so long as you left your windows open at night. Plus, our rooms in Kenai and McKinley had ceiling fans. (Our Denali room did NOT have a ceiling fan). We wore ear plugs at night just in case outside noise would bother us at Denali as our room was by a high traffic area. But, our rooms in Kenai and McKinley were secluded enough that we didn't worry about the noise. Enjoy your trip!

[goblue]

you can still check the Denali Park shuttle bus schedule - they may have seats available - all depending on how much time you have in Denali - princess also runs passenger shuttles between the lodge and the Park visitor's center -

they posted a schedule at both Princess lodge and the Park visitor center. so if you have enough time, you can hop on the passenger bus and go to visitor's center and find out - there is a web site/link for the shuttle bus info/schedule :

http://www.nps.gov/dena/home/visitorinfo/bus/schedule.html

 

One thing, bring your own food/water/snacks if you go with Park's shuttle bus for the 8 hr tundra tour - and children under 12 (or maybe 11) is free on that tour !! we paid a total of 66 dollars for 2 adults, one young adult and oone freebie for that 8-hr tour - well worth the money and the bus driver was great - her 5th year working there so knew the area very well ... so you dont' miss anything other than the boxed lunch if you go with the Park's shuttle bus tour instead..

 

good luck ....

[cowtec]

Thank you everyone for all your help! I know I will have many more questions before our cruise and I know just who to ask for the answers. This board is awesome! Is there time to do the Tundra Wilderness tour (or the park tour) and catch the Music of Denali Dinner Theater that night or will we be too tired to do more than enjoy the view?

 

Sue

[Budget Queen]

Plenty of people do both in the same day.

[elephant98]

Cowtec --

 

Funny you should ask that question, because we did the a.m. Tundra Wildnerss Tour and the 5:30 pm Music of Denali Dinner Show on the same day. Because our a.m. tour ended around 1:30pm, we had plenty of time to relax back at the hotel before going to an early dinner.

 

The dinner show experience runs under two hours with the food coming first. While you eat, a piano player bangs out some familiar sing-a-long tunes.

 

The food at the dinner show was just okay compared to the very good food you can get at the Summit Restaurant nearby. I suspect that this was mostly because the food was served family style. That being said, you certainly won't go hungry. You get all-you-can-eat of salmon, salad, bread, corn on the cob and one other side that escapes my memory. There is also a tasty dessert.

 

The musical show that follows is cute and runs about 45 minutes, I think.

 

A word of warning, however. First, there is no air conditioning in the restaurant. There are plenty of ceiling fans running at high speed, but it didn't do enough to cool us down. (Though I compounded the problem by having a pitcher of Alaskan Amber. Alcohol really raises my body temperature . . . But Alaskan Amber is so darned good that I couldn't resist!) The temps. at Denali were pushing 80 when we were there a couple of weeks ago. Hopefully it will be cooler when you go.

 

Second, the tables you sit at are really more like long picnic tables. You sit on a long bench with no back support. So, if you get back pains like me, the last half hour might be difficult. Hope this helps.

[cowtec]

Thank you so much!! elephant98, I have to admit to getting more aches and pains as I get older - and the trip is a whole year from now!!! Ouch! Although, now that I think of it, those aches and pains could come from teaching, too! Anyway, thanks for your words of wisdom - I think we will try to do both. I'm not sure what time we will arrive in Denali, but once things get going here I am sure I will know more definite times. It's awful to look at my countdown clock and see 13 more months up there, but that's 13 months to plan and look forward to!!

 

Sue

[IDOLUV2CRUISE2]

The differences are vast. The Natural History tour goes to mile 16, value about $35, but offered free via the Park shuttle with ranger activities at Savage River- if of interest. The Tundra Wilderness tour goes to mile 53, but up to about 60 IF McKinley is viewable. Stops are about every 1 1/2 hours, value of over $70. As mentioned above there are also SHUTTLE buses. They travel the same road, Eielson is mile 66 and Wonder Lake mile 85. No guide on the bus, but I have never taken a shuttle bus where the driver didn't know every inch of the Park Road and was very informative. You must bring in all your own food and drink. Runs about 1/3 the cost of the tours buses. Here is more information. My opinion only, I find it very hard to justify a 3 hour tour into Denali Park when it takes all that time and money to get there. http://www.nps.gov/dena/home/visitorinfo/bus/index.html

Budget Queen,

How far can cars be driven into the park? In your opinion, is that a good ieda ? I've done the short bus trip as well as the longer one. I know I would never do the longer one again. Too long... too many people crammed into that school bus..

It's between the short trip and driving the car in.

Do you have any suggestions?

BTW... How many times have you been to AK? Or did you once live there. Beautiful state for sure.. This will be my 5th trip.