First time cruiser with lots of questions

[pdchief]

Taking our first cruisetour to Alaska May 31 with HAL. Also new to this board though I've been reading the posts for over a year to help select our cruise. Anyone have experience with Vancouver tours arranged through BC Passport? We have looked at their 8:30 morning tour with pickup at hotel and drop off at Canada Place at 12:30. Also staying one night pre-cruise at Best Western Uptown. Needed a place to lay our head after arriving late on the 30th. Finally: heard good and bad about McKinnley Chalets. Any of their buildings/cabins better than the other? Thanks.

[Budget Queen]

Taking our first cruisetour to Alaska May 31 with HAL. Also new to this board though I've been reading the posts for over a year to help select our cruise. Anyone have experience with Vancouver tours arranged through BC Passport? We have looked at their 8:30 morning tour with pickup at hotel and drop off at Canada Place at 12:30. Also staying one night pre-cruise at Best Western Uptown. Needed a place to lay our head after arriving late on the 30th. Finally: heard good and bad about McKinnley Chalets. Any of their buildings/cabins better than the other? Thanks.

 

McKinley Chalets are nice, in the middle of Glitter Gulch. :) But plenty of food options nearby. Good location without a car.

[cjnky]

Because we had such a late flight, we chose to stay close to the airport in Vancouver which gave us the advantage of free shuttle to the motel. Landsea or Vancouver tours picked us up the next morning and gave us an excellent tour. When they delivered us to Canada Place, our luggage was already in our room. I highly recommend them. I'm not familiar with BC Passport - we arranged our tour directly at www.vancouvertours.com.

[Pssunshinegal]

McKinley Chalets is fabulous. It is very beautiful. If you are getting mixed reviews - and you mentioned cabins, it could be that people stayed in the actual "cabins." The cabins are no longer being used for visitors, the ones that are left are being used for housing for the employees. I can't imagine anyone having a complaint with the accommodations at the Chalets.

 

Janice

[agabbymama]

I stayed at the McKinley Chalet Resort on our HAL Yukon Wilderness Cruisetour in Aug '07.

 

We thought they were absolutely wonderful. The "Cabins" are actually like a duplex in the woods. I believe there were two rooms on the lower level, then our two rooms were on an upper level, but you didn't have to climb stairs. They were designed on the hillside so that entry to each level was on a level with the road and a deck in front of our floor. Inside was a small living room, a bedroom and the bathroom, so it seemed like you were in your own log cabin. Everything seemed to be made of wood and to look rustic. We loved it there. Discussed possibly going back sometime and staying a week just there instead of touring around.

 

The only drawback at all was we had to plan time well to catch the shuttle, as you sometimes had to wait for 2 or 3 to go by as they

were full and there was 4 of us that had to fit. The walk from the main building back into the woods uphill/downhill wasn't doable for us. Some may be able to make the trek, but they do run shuttles as the cabins are spread out over a pretty large area.

[AkSusan]

If I wasn't in a tent at Denali I was at the Chalets. Love them, especially if you get one of the buildings in the back that overlook the river.

 

Susan in Anchorage :)