Anyone with experience on Kennecott mine tour (Princess)?

We are going on a Princess tour in late May. We will be in the Copper River lodge for 2 1/2 days. Is the land tour to Kennecott worth the 12 hours involved? It sounds like most of the trip is riding a bus. The air tour says "sold out." So, I am also wondering if there will be other tours available when we go there?

Is there another tour that may be better for us (we are in our 60s)? Most all of the Princess tours are sold out. So, I am wondering if there are other options when we get there for tours?

Thanks in advance.

We are going on a Princess tour in late May. We will be in the Copper River lodge for 2 1/2 days. Is the land tour to Kennecott worth the 12 hours involved? It sounds like most of the trip is riding a bus. The air tour says "sold out." So, I am also wondering if there will be other tours available when we go there?

Is there another tour that may be better for us (we are in our 60s)? Most all of the Princess tours are sold out. So, I am wondering if there are other options when we get there for tours?

Thanks in advance.

Kennecott is wonderful (we spent 2 full days there) but since you took a cruisetour instead of a DIY, it really is not worth it for the short time you will be there. Since Copper River Lodge is a typical Princess Lodge isolated in the middle of nowhere with all access and tours controlled by Princess, I guess that you may be stuck with whatever Princess tours are still available. Is it perhaps possible to arrange an air flight into and out of Kennecott directly through Wrangell Mountain Air - http://www.wrangellmountainair.com/? They do run day tours and I suspect that Princess uses them. The problem is that I believe that Princess does not allow tour operators that do not pay off Princess to go onto their properties so it may be difficult for Wrangell to pick you up

What we did was to stay at a wonderful funky B&B in Chitina which is at the end of the Kennecott Road. We flew into Kennecott and stayed there for 2 days where we paid for only 1 night instead of 2 because of our Alaska coupon book. We toured the mill, did glacier hiking (just me and the guide as I was the only person that day who booked the glacier hike) and hiked around Kennecott. We took the van out instead of flying both ways, picked up our car that we left at the Chitina airport and stopped back at the B&B to pick up the 6 dried and smoked Copper River Red salmon (Amazon gets $45 per pound for these salmon) that the B&B owner gave to us because she liked us, and continued on with our trip.

That is way many of us do DIY touring. Two days in Kennecott versus 2 days at the Princess Copper River Lodge.

It is probably too late to get out of the tour part of your cruisetour now but think about it for future trips.

DON

It is what it is and since it is almost certainly too late to cancel your cruisetour, no need to berate you for choosing it. In fact, the cruisetours that include Copper River Princess are unique in that they travel the Denali Highway, a road 99% of the car rental companies' rental contracts prohibit driving on.

But a few caveats. You would not see the Kennicott mine - that is an all-day, strenuous hike. It is the mill that you might see. But I read somewhere that I thought it is closed for renovation. Check that out before booking. Many people do a day trip there, so you would not be alone. In any case, doing some excursion is way better than sitting in the lodge all day.

You also might consider a glacier hike on Root Glacier, but that might not work on a day tour. Even the "half day" tour is +-5 hours.

I don't see why you couldn't contact a vendor about an independent tour and if Princess doesn't allow them on their property, perhaps walk 1/2 mile or whatever to get off their property.

Kennicott/McCarthy certainly is well worth the time, and frankly- why did you choose this location? At the very least, flightseeing should at least be considered to get a look at this beauty. :) I would think, you would want to take advantage of being there and see it perhaps You are at a disadvantage without your own transportation, but the walking to the Richardson Highway suggestion may be a good one to consider.

The road trip was pretty tough, about 3 hrs on the dirt road. But, it was well worth it to see the glaciers and glacier fed rivers. Incredible! We took a short air tour which was incredible. The mine was informative.

The road trip was pretty tough, about 3 hrs on the dirt road. But, it was well worth it to see the glaciers and glacier fed rivers. Incredible! We took a short air tour which was incredible. The mine was informative.

Glad you ventured out of the lodge. :) So you took a road tour back and forth to Kennicott? Was this the Princess tour?

but it was put on by a local company as we picked up 4 others along the way.

but it was put on by a local company as we picked up 4 others along the way.

Princess always goes with "local companies". They never operate any tours.

Princess Off the beaten path cruise/tour review

We flew into Anchorage, arrived late at the Captain Cook hotel. It seems to be a hotel used by Princess and maybe other travel companies to house tourists. It was nice enough. The breakfasts were very expensive. We walked next door to a cafe and ate a fine breakfast for about half that price. The front desk can direct you.

Our first driver was a fine young college student who kept us entertained with info on the area and jokes on our trip to Wrangell-St Elias National Park. We were late arriving at the Copper River Princess Hotel due to another bus having a flat tire and our driver having to help change it. We missed our flight excursion that day because of this. The hotel was very nice for where it was and is about the only decent hotel in the area.

They had a very nice flag lowering ceremony which I got to participate in because I am a veteran. All veterans present were honored by the hotel manager.

The food there was great. We really enjoyed the salmon and caribou filet. The breakfasts were expensive, about $15 for the buffet. The staff was very friendly there. There is a great view behind the hotel of Wrangell Mountain Range.

The next day, we took the Kennecott mine excursion by van. We thought it was by bus, but a 14 passenger van showed up for the other couple and us who went from the Princess hotel about 7:30am. We picked up a couple from Ohio on the way who were in an RV and a young couple from Switzerland, also in an RV, who had reservations. The trip was an absolute “trip from hell.” The van was not very comfortable. And the road was very rough. If you can imagine a 3 ½ hour trip on the roughest dirt road you can remember, that’s it. By the time we arrived at Kennecott, I was very beat up, tired and sore. I have back problems. And, I could hardly walk. Realizing that we had another 3 ½ hour trip back, I searched for someone with an airplane who would fly me back to the Princess Hotel. I found one. But, they wanted $500 to fly my wife and I back. I declined. But, we did take a 35 minute flight for $105 each, which was one of the highlights of the whole trip. I would recommend it. We saw the glaciers and Wrangell Mountain range up close. They are some of my best photos.

Surprisingly, we did not get into McCarthy which is not as close as we were led to believe.

There was absolutely nothing open at Kennecott to buy, even, a stick of gum or snack. Fortunately, the inn there served lunch, which was pretty good. We missed the tour of Kennecott mines because of our air trip. But, we did our own walking tour. Most of the tour guides were just arriving as they are college students. They were very friendly and helpful.

I would encourage all to go but be warned that the trip by van is very uncomfortable. I would not do it again. If you are not in great physical shape, don’t do it. We were gone for 13 ½ hours btw. Pay the money and take the air tour. You will be glad you did. The trip back seemed shorter and I made sure that I sat up front in the passenger’s seat which is more comfortable. The driver was good on local info and we made several great stops for photo ops. The glacier fed river and the Copper River were awesome to see. That was one advantage of the land trip.

We left Copper River Princess the next day and travelled to Fairbanks. The trip was uneventful. When we arrived at the Fairbanks Princess Lodge, we found that 10 of us on the bus were staying at the Bear Lodge rather than the Fairbanks Princess. Our driver did not know this and our luggage was not marked. So, the unlucky 10 of us had to remain on the coach while our driver found and reloaded our luggage while the others were taken to their rooms at the Princess Fairbanks. He, then, took us to the Bear Lodge. Again, he was not made aware of this by Princess. This wasted about one hour of our time here. This was the only really bad part of the trip. Those of us who were sent to the Bear Lodge felt like we were second class citizens, regardless of the reason for us being split from the others. The Princess rep at the Bear Lodge was very short with us when we complained about being put in a different lodge. She was not sympathetic at all and just made the situation worse. The Fairbanks Princess Lodge is on the river. So, we missed this scenic part. But, the Bear Lodge was ok. But, it seemed to be in a bad part of town and kind of away from downtown Fairbanks. The Princess reps at the Bear were either not very friendly or not very helpful compared to the others we met. One advantage was the car museum nearby. It has autos from about 1890 to 1920. They are perfectly restored. It was a real treat to visit. But, be sure it is open as it has erratic hours of operation. I wanted to visit it again but it was closed the next day when it should have been open. It cost $5 for hotel guests to visit. The hotel restaurant was mediocre. The second night, we walked to a nearby Italian restaurant. It was Geraldo’s Restaurant or something like that. Be sure to dine there if you stay at the Bear Lodge. The food is good and reasonable. The breakfast buffet at the Bear is not very good and is expensive. But, you have no choice as there is nothing else within walking distance.

Our day in Fairbanks was good. In the morning, we did the paddle boat trip on the river which was included in our trip. We and every other tourist in town were there. It gave us the chance to see mush dogs and dog sledding. There was, also, a replica village of life in early Alaska, which included presentations by young natives. There were reindeer, a village, salmon catching (fish catchers), and a girl dressed in native garb. It was very entertaining. We had a nice lunch afterwards back at the dock which was also included.

In the afternoon, we went to a nearby gold mine for gold panning, which was, also part of our package. The Alaska oil pipeline comes through this location. And, we were given a very good talk on it and took photos of it. Then we were put on a train to go pan for gold. It was fun and most of us found traces of gold in the small bag of dirt that we were given. The employees there were very helpful. You could buy another bag for $10 to pan for more gold. Then they try to sell you a gold chain for a bracelet or necklace to put the gold in. But, it was fun and I would say that we enjoyed this part. We were then put back on our bus and taken back to the lodge. This worked out well as the Bear Lodge was on the way back. So, we got back to our hotel early.

The Bear Lodge does have a shuttle into Fairbanks if you would like to see Fairbanks.

The next day, we were bused to Denali. We had a new driver. But, she was very good and full of info. We arrived at Denali just in time to take the shuttle to the Wilderness Access Center. We had cancelled the Natural History tour and signed up in advance for the park shuttle to Eielson for $33 each. Princess refunded us the $99 each for the Natural History tour. That was one of our best decisions. The Natural History tour did not go far enough to really see Denali. There were only about 12 people on the shuttle bus and the driver was very informative. He lived nearby and had a lot of info on the park. Along the way, we saw several moose, bears, sheep, a porcupine and much beautiful scenery. Mt. McKinley was covered with clouds at first. But, just as we got to the ranger station at Eielson, the clouds moved and we had a great view of McKinley. It is incredible! The trip took about 8 hours. And, it was well worth it. We left at 2pm and returned to the Wilderness Access Center about 10pm. We called the Princess Denali lodge and they sent a van to pick us up. Be sure to check with the lodge on a return shuttle. They stop running early, maybe like 7 pm. We had called earlier to make sure. I would not want to be stranded at the WAC very long. It is pretty isolated. We heard that there are taxis but are expensive.

Since we returned late, most of the restaurants at the lodge were closed. We ate at the bar at the lodge. It was typical bar food. The lodge was spread out but very walkable. The next day, we walked across the 4 lane road to shopping. There is a Subway, a hamburger place, a convenience store, and several stops. There is a liquor store there to buy beer, wine, and liquor. Liquor stores are hard to find in Alaska; at least they were on our trip. So, it is a good place to stock up. The lodge was very crowded with guests in the lobby waiting for buses. And, we had a two hour wait for our bus to McKinley Princess Lodge. So, we ate across the street at the hamburger place.

It started raining on the way to the McKinley Lodge. The lodge is very spread out and they have a shuttle that runs about every 15 minutes. Since it was raining, we had to take the shuttle. But, we could walk to the main building from our room. We dined at the 20320 Restaurant, I believe it was called. It is separate from the main building. We went early and were glad we did as it got very crowded later in the evening. Unfortunately, we could not see Mt. McKinley while we were there due to the rainy weather and clouds. We were so glad that we saw it on our Denali trip. The office had games available to play if you ran out of things to do.

The next day, we were bused to the train “station” which is nothing but a stop on the railroad with no building or other comforts. Fortunately, it was not raining.

We boarded our train car for the 6 hour ride to Whittier and our ship. The car was staffed by a lady who lived in the area and two assistants. The lady was very informative and kept us up to date on what we were seeing. They sold sandwiches and drinks in the car. The train was nice enough and we enjoyed the trip and our guide.

We arrived about 5pm at Whittier and boarded our ship, the Island Princess. Embarkation went very smoothly as Princess staff had boarded the train earlier and had our paper work completed. We went to our cabin and met our cabin attendant who was very nice and helpful during the trip. We went to our assigned dining room as we had “anytime dining.” We asked to be seated with others in the dining room. We met several very nice couples from all over the US and one from England. The food was very good and service was also good.

The ship had a lot of entertainment such as comedians, bands, shows, and a casino. Everything was done well and we never lacked for entertainment.

I will post more on the actual cruise as I get time.

We did the Kennicott mill tour but we flew into McCarthy. I would not recommend the 3 hour each way driving on a dirt road excursion. When we stayed at Copper River on a Princess cruise tour we went to Valdez and did the Stan Stephens glacier cruise. It was incredible! I would highly recommend it! You get up close and personal to the glacier ice. Seems like it took us about an hour and 1/2 to get to Valdez plus the trip to Valdez was scenic.

We enjoyed our trip very much. The ride out really aggravated my sore back. But, we enjoyed the scenery during the trip. We took a 35 min air tour while at Kennecott. But, there were nothing open except the lodge. We could not buy even a soda.

the Wrangell Mountain Range is incredible and was one of the highlights of our trip.