Tours to Prudhoe Bay

We have just done a Denali cruise with Princess on the Coral Princess. Prior to making the booking tried to get a Princess tour to Prudhoe Bay but none were on offer. I was surprised as I was sure I had read somewhere that they went there. So we organised our own tour up there and we were so surprised at the beauty of the Dalton Highway and the animal life that I find it hard believe that Princess do not go there. Frankly it was the best part of our trip, it beat the cruise part hands down.

Now we are home I have seen photos on flikr of both Holland America and Princess buses at Prudhoe Bay and other points on the Dalton, taken around 2007/2009.

So my question is, why do they not go up there any longer. Did they have an accident.

As an aside, we did see a plane crash near the top of Atigun Pass. The plane pancaked in about 400ft below the summit about a week earlier. 3 pax and the pilot all suffered serious back injuries. Reports in the local paper said they were Princess cruise passengers. Whatever, they were extremely lucky.

Mike

I was told, complaints from customers about accommodations in Coldfoot was part of the reason. I would suspect the tour operators just could not win with some of the visitors that are grossly unprepared. I know, I have seen many "shocked" people unloading at Coldfoot, then outraged about the rooms and meal options, costs etc. I shook my head, since it was clear to me, this tour wasn't for them. I stayed away from these groups when I stayed in Deadhorse, since we stayed at Deadhorse Camp, which the tours don't use.

I was also up there this year, and find the area fascinating. I took my nephew, since I wanted him to experience the Arctic Ocean and the midnight sun. :) Of course, it was another excellent trip, with my 4th time using the same excellent company. I did the loop fly up, van back with a fantastic guide. Well worthwhile touring IF you have the interest and are well prepared. :)

Thanks for your response.

That is very sad to read, but after some of the behaivour we saw on the Coral Princess it does not surprise me. i have not seen so many loud, demanding and frankly ignorant people on a cruise before.

It is not only the way they behave but that they spoil it for everybody else as well.

When I am booking a trip I always try and get as much info as I can before I go and in the case of the Dalton it was obvious if you were looking for Hilton type accommodation you'd be out of luck. But at the end of the day the rooms at both Deadhorse and Coldfoot were perfectly adequate. As long as they were clean,warm, good beds and had hot water. What's the problem. The meals, yes they aren't 5 star but they were good and the helpings were HUGE. We stayed at Deadhorse camp also, quite OK.

I feel sorry for all the people who now miss all this, the most stunning part of Alaska because of this type of person. We are already making plans to return, this time hiring an RV.

I just wish we had "discovered" Alaska earlier in life.

I have been to Prudhoe quite a few times. Once, private charter and overnight to ANWR.

That ANWR trip was super special. But I'm with Budget Queen-just too many people, particularly the women, complaining about the accommodations.

If they still give the BP presentation to the general public, it is really worthwhile. But one time, was in the presentation room with a bunch of Princess cruisetour passengers and the women talked almost nonstop until DH said SHUT UP. A bunch of them walked out and a bunch of their hubbies were reaming my husband. If you weren't interested, why bother to attend? I have seen it many, many times as one of my x employees is a safety engineer there so I get to see more than a lot of people. But just the first time, with the bare basic trip, was simply fascinating.

It is DEFINITELY not a trip for those not interested in the remoteness, the wildlife and the oil industry. I always found the ecological and safety concerns at Prudhoe one of the most fascinating parts of the entire trip. NO BOOZE, the extra pans under the oil pan in all the vehicles to catch ANY fluids that might leak, NO HEAVY EQUIPMENT until it is at least 20 below, all the horizontal drilling that is going on. The care they took building the caribou crossings so as not to disturb the natural migration routes. At first, they put the pipes overhead and built little ramps for the caribou to walk over. They wouldn't cross under the pipe. So they dropped the pipes at certain places INTO THE GROUND WITH REFRIGERATION so as not to thaw the permafrost. The caribou are happy campers.

They are within 20 miles of ANWR right now. But they will probably never get the oil out of ANWR in my lifetime. There are just too many people who have never been there and are sooooo concerned it will wreck the environment and decimate the caribou herd. Funny thing-when they started the pipeline in 1974, there were approx 7,000 caribou in the Prudhoe area. Now there are 4 times as many (the herd last year was almost 27,000) and they are killing themselves off due to overpopulation. They LOVE those warm oil pipes-it is quite the sight to see them all come in at a certain time every night to lay under those warm pipes.

You can't take an RV legally to Prudhoe. The only way you can drive yourself is your own vehicle or one of the specially equipped cars rented out of Fairbanks (extra tires, extra belts, CB radio, extra battery, etc. etc). But you can sure RV it all over most of the rest of Alaska.

My BIL and 3 other Cedar Rapids firefighters had been dropped off for caribou hunting not far from Prudhoe on Sept 8, 2001. They were supposed to be picked up on Sept 11. We all know what happened that day except them. Thank goodness, they are all experienced outdoorsmen, EMT's and paramedics to boot. Their plane could not fly until Sept 13 to pick them up. They have since been back but the second and third trips, they took a sat phone with them. BIL said he loves the remoteness but when you are supposed to have a plane out of a very remote place, he really would prefer to have some way to contact someone when the plane doesn't show up. It was a little spooky that first time since all but one had got their caribou and BEARS and other animals were coming around. They actually saw a couple of wolverines which are very rare to see. They were on a plane that night out of Fairbanks straight to NYC. My SIL was a little put off that she had to drive to the Chicago airport and get all their caribou. But darn glad they were safe and not left in the wilderness.

Enjoy your next trip!!!

We went to Prudhoe Bay with an outside company and had a great trip. I can see why some of the people would complain about the accommodations, but we found them to be just fine we don't need a high class hotel to make us happy. And for the chance to see that part of Alaska was wonderful. I loved Coldfoot it was such a qurky stop. You just have to learn to go with the flow.

<shaking head> People! Visit a frontier outpost and expect the Hilton. Prudhoe Bay, ANWR are on my bucket list. Along with Tierra del Fuego and Antartica. Love remote places.

I was told, complaints from customers about accommodations in Coldfoot was part of the reason. I would suspect the tour operators just could not win with some of the visitors that are grossly unprepared. I know, I have seen many "shocked" people unloading at Coldfoot, then outraged about the rooms and meal options, costs etc. I shook my head, since it was clear to me, this tour wasn't for them. I stayed away from these groups when I stayed in Deadhorse, since we stayed at Deadhorse Camp, which the tours don't use.

 

I was also up there this year, and find the area fascinating. I took my nephew, since I wanted him to experience the Arctic Ocean and the midnight sun. :) Of course, it was another excellent trip, with my 4th time using the same excellent company. I did the loop fly up, van back with a fantastic guide. Well worthwhile touring IF you have the interest and are well prepared. :)

Have you ever stayed in Wiseman on the Dalton highway. There is a B&B there.

DON