HAL Short Cruisetour

[scotlady]

Hi,

 

HAL offers a very short cruisetour that is basically a night in Anchorage and a night in Denali - with a train ride to Denali and coach back.

 

Has anyone taken this?

 

We are very short on time, but would love to see a little bit of Denali.

[mapleleaves]

Hi,

 

HAL offers a very short cruisetour that is basically a night in Anchorage and a night in Denali - with a train ride to Denali and coach back.

 

Has anyone taken this?

 

We are very short on time, but would love to see a little bit of Denali.

 

And with only 1 night in Denali, a little bit is all you'll see! :(

Carefully read the details of this tour.. what time will you arrive at Denali and what time will you depart? Most of those short trips arrive to Denali mid-afternoon or 4pm, leave at noon the next, and only include the Natural History Tour which goes to Mile 17 of 100 miles of park road. Not much opportunity to view the scenery or wildlife in this short section.

Does you arrive in Seward? Does it looks like this:

Day 1 arrive in Seward, transfer to Anchorage. overnight

day 2 train to Denali which arrives at 4pm. O/N

day 3 bus to Anchorage. What time is your flight home?

Would you consider renting a car and driving yourself? You could either pick up a pricey one-way rental at Hertz in Seward and drive to Talkeetna (5hr) to overnight the first first day, Then drive to Denali the next ( 2 1/2 hrs), take a noon shuttle to Eielson at mile 66, overnight, then drive back to Anc ( 5-6 hrs). Or if a RT rental is lots cheaper, take a bus or transfer to Anc, pick up the car and drive to Talkeetna.

If driving isn't an option, look at the train and bus schedules to work out an itinerary that provides more time in Denali. It would be a long day, but the Park Connection bus leaves Seward at 10:30am and arrives in Denali around 9pm. But it would give you a FULL day in Denali.

http://www.alaskarailroad.com/travel/Transit/Schedules/tabid/98/Default.aspx

 

http://alaskacoach.com/schedule.html

[scotlady]

Hi, Mapleleaves.

 

Yes, I'm concerned about the limited time. That's why I wanted to see if anyone has done this. We are talking about Seward, but we are looking at the Southbound - so we would get into Anchorage, spend the night, then train to Denali, then bus back to Seward the next morning.

 

Actually, even typing that it seems really rushed :eek:

Maybe I can add a day. I originally starting looking at this because we want a balcony on the Southbound, but right now those are only available with a cruisetour. Guess I need to find out when they will open those up for cruise only, and what the availability will be. I'm guessing they won't sell out all the balconies with their cruisetours?

[mapleleaves]

What time does your flight arrive in Anchorage? If it's mid afternoon you could easily drive to Talkeetna. It's only 2 1/2 hrs.

Is a rental car not an option? It would give you more time to play with since the train and bus schedules are so limited. Otherwise add a day if getting to Denali is a priority. Going to mile 17 when there is 100 miles of park road to explore seems like a missed opportunity. Good luck!

[vbmom87]

I don't know what the norm is, but I can tell you that in 2008, the balconies for my June cruise opened up in early March. You have to watch the website daily. However, if my memory serves me right, the balconies were double the cost of the other cruiselines that year so we did not opt for one. :(

 

I do not know if HAL still allows you to book a cruisetour, get your balcony and then cancel the land portion prior to final payment, but still letting you keep your balcony cabin. I know there have been reports in past years that this was the way to get around their balcony policy. I believe you said you had friend/relative that was a TA. Perhaps s/he would know how HAL handles it now.

 

Since you are going SB, I would look at Princess. They include both GLacier Bay and Hubbard Glacier....the two premier glacier viewing areas along the cruise route. This is the jackpot cruise in my mind.

 

Unless you and those you are travelling with really do not like driving, I too would look into driving yourselves. You could maximize your limited time in AK if you had a car. Something to think about anyway.

[scotlady]

Mapleleaves & vbmom:

 

Thanks for replies. I have basically come to the same conclusions you have. Planning on adding a day so we can do Denali properly, and we're considering the Southbound Princess cruise. It really does look like a perfect itinerary for 1st timers. I was just considering HAL because I'm just a little concerned about number of kids in summer on Princess. I've never done a summer cruise before, so I don't know if the kids kind of take over the ship? I've been at resorts where that has happened - hot tubs full of kids, screaming and running into you in the dining room (hmm, maybe it's actually parents who don't supervise their kids that I don't like :p)