Question about rail service in Whittier

[TravelRookie]

Hello everyone,

 

I attempted to find this question by doing a search but seemed to only pull up threads about 4 years old.

 

I know that to transfer out of Whittier is done either by railcar or motorcoach. What I'm having issues with is finding out if the railcar is only cruise ship owned or, as they are pulled by Alaska Railroad, are there any of the cars from Alaska RR that we can use to make a direct transfer from Whittier to Denali?

 

We're doing our own land tour, not a cruise tour. I know on the Princess website, they have a Direct-to-the-Wilderness rail service but is it only for the cruisetours or can that be booked independently?

 

There's also the Denali Princess Lodge that has rail packages that take you to Denali and back to Anchorage, but do those only depart from Anchorage or is the Whittier pick-up part of it (so far, the dates online don't show a tour that includes our arrival date, only the day after)?

 

We want a lodging that is close to the entrance to the Park so that is why we've sort of chosen the Denali Princess Lodge but nothing's been booked or set in stone.

 

Here is our land tour itinerary:

 

Arrival in Whittier at 12:30 am on June 3, 2013. Here, we want to embark on a rail to get to Denali (hubby does NOT want to rent a car and is definitely not thrilled with the idea of a motorcoach).

 

Get to Denali in the afternoon of June 3, 2013 and just do what we want for the rest of the day. Overnight in Denali

 

June 4 take the Eielson Visitor Center tour (after which, do whatever we wish for the remainder of the day). Again overnight in Denali

 

June 5 take a return train back to Anchorage. Overnight in Anchorage

 

June 6, rent a car and do a day trip of Anchorage. Return car rental and head to the airport.

 

June 7 at 12:30am, take our flight back home

 

Any suggestions on how to make this all work out? Actually, any suggestions or recommendations would be appreciated (transportation, lodgings etc).

 

Thanks!

[frugaltravel]

A few notes:

 

Though you arrive at 12.30am you won't disembark until 7am or later.

 

Direct to the Wilderness is, as far as I know, only for cruisetour passengers. Therefore if you take the train you won't be able to get to Denali until June 4.

 

Being "close" to the park entrance you can be in Healy or Carlo Creek, each only about 10-15 minutes from the entrance and much less crowded, much less of a Walt Disney World feel than the area where the Denali Princess is located.

 

So without a car rental, your trip will probably look like this:

 

June 3 to Anchorage, do your day tripping this day

June 4 train to Denali

June 5 shuttle (I suggest to Wonder Lake and decide once you arrive if you go that far or not)

June 6 train back to Anchorage, taxi to airport, fly out at 12.30am on June 7

 

You are cutting it a bit close on June 6 but it should work if you are on the ball.

[bonvoyagie]

As frugaltravel pointed out, there are some advantages of using a cruisetour instead of DIY. I suggest that you use the AKRR website to do your planning http://www.alaskarailroad.com/ As far as I know the Princess, HAL, and RCCL cars are tacked onto a regular pax train and follow the same schedule. I believe that the cruisetours use a combination of bus and rail in order to make their schedule. BTW it takes about the sametime to drive to Denali as it does to take the train.

 

There are several different charters that will take you to and around Prince William Sound - you can easily do one of these between when the ship debarks and the train leaves. The RR offers these tours as a "day trip" out of Anchorage.

[frugaltravel]

As far as I know the Princess, HAL, and RCCL cars are tacked onto a regular pax train and follow the same schedule. I believe that the cruisetours use a combination of bus and rail in order to make their schedule. BTW it takes about the sametime to drive to Denali as it does to take the train.

 

Not totally correct. Some regular scheduled trains of the AKRR have the cruiseline cars just attached. But the "direct to the wilderness" train from Whittier is not one of them.

 

Also, it does NOT take about the same time to drive to Denali as it does to take the train. Figure 8 hours by train and about 5 hours by road between Anchorage and Denali. Sure it may well take longer than 5 hours by road with stops en route for photos, sightseeing, etc. But pure travel time is way less by driving.

[PennyAgain]

Driving yourself out of Whittier you have to consider the time it takes to match up with the tunnel opening and closing times.

 

The Direct to the Wilderness train is coordinated with the times the train uses the tunnel (cars use the same tunnel).

 

I would seriously look at the cruise tour Direct to the Wilderness as a strong option.

 

I've driven to Denali NP many times and do take my time when I can do so, but there are also often delays for traffic, accidents and road construction that make keeping a schedule iffy.

 

I enjoy the train when I have the time and organization to use it.

[TravelRookie]

What about the Denali Star Train from Alaska Railroad or the McKinley Explorer through Grey Lines of Alaska? These all state from Anchorage to Denali, but I see train transfers from Anchorage to Whittier through Alaska RR so shouldn't there be something similar, going from Whittier to Anchorage and then just keep going to Denali? Trying to find these routes directly online just isn't working out so good.

[frugaltravel]

What about the Denali Star Train from Alaska Railroad or the McKinley Explorer through Grey Lines of Alaska? These all state from Anchorage to Denali, but I see train transfers from Anchorage to Whittier through Alaska RR so shouldn't there be something similar, going from Whittier to Anchorage and then just keep going to Denali?

 

No there shouldn't. Either you didn't read my first reply to your question, you didn't understand it or you just want a different answer :):). Unfortunately there is not a different answer.

[bonvoyagie]

Here are some other options that seem to have a well planned tour for a reasonable price http://www.alaskatravel.com/tours/post-cruise-tour.html

 

The McKinley Explorer are GreyLine cars on the train between Anchorage /Denali/ Fairbanks there is no mention of Seward or Whittier

 

It looks like Princess (being the 800 lb gorilla they are) has the exclusive Direct to Wilderness train while HAL/Greylines does a motorcoach between Whittier and Anchorage and uses the McKinley Explorer cars to get further north. http://www.aboveandbeyondtravel.us/alaska/cruisetours.html

[PennyAgain]

Here are some other options that seem to have a well planned tour for a reasonable price http://www.alaskatravel.com/tours/post-cruise-tour.html

 

The McKinley Explorer are GreyLine cars on the train between Anchorage /Denali/ Fairbanks there is no mention of Seward or Whittier

 

It looks like Princess (being the 800 lb gorilla they are) has the exclusive Direct to Wilderness train while HAL/Greylines does a motorcoach between Whittier and Anchorage and uses the McKinley Explorer cars to get further north. http://www.aboveandbeyondtravel.us/alaska/cruisetours.html

 

Yes, that is how Alaska runs and has run since the cruise business got so huge. The coach transfer to Anchorage for the train north eats up a lot of time. Yes, many folks do that but perhaps they have a longer vacation planned than the OP.

[TravelRookie]

No there shouldn't. Either you didn't read my first reply to your question, you didn't understand it or you just want a different answer :):). Unfortunately there is not a different answer.

 

Oops, I apologize, I did miss your first reply! My bad.:o

[TravelRookie]

Thanks for the links everyone.

 

Bonvoyagie, there are a few options available at the alaskatravel.com link, but I was hoping to use a TourSaver coupon for a BOGO roundtrip rail tour to cut down on the price.

 

Frugaltravel, that itinerary does work, but doesn't leave you much in time on the way back if anything should happen to the train that would delay the return to Anchorage on June 6 before we are to take our flight early morning June 7.

 

I'll keep looking at cruisetours and price things out but we might end up doing a transfer to Anchorage and then renting a car to drive up to Denali and back so we can keep our current itinerary. To be able to overnight in Anchorage on June 5 and be there all day June 6 so at least we don't have to worry about making our way back in time to take the plane.

 

If it ends up that way then I guess we'll just have to get our train fix in Skagway!

[Chenega]

Princess is the only operator of a Whittier to Denali direct train since they use Whittier as their primary port; Holland America has their ships come into Seward which adds several hours to the trip. Their rail cars are found on the Anchorage-Denali-Fairbanks run of the Alaska Railroad while Princess has a dedicated set of rail cars operated by the Alaska Railroad from Whittier. The Princess train from Whittier is for the exclusive use of their cruise ship passengers.

 

The Whittier to Denali trip makes for a very long day since it travels right through Anchorage. It's easily a 9-10 hour trip and you skip the sights of Alaska's largest city.

[Budget Queen]

Also the farthest you will get in Denali is Eielson. The Wonder Lake shuttle doesn't start until after you leave.

 

You are far better off with time drving yourself, also allows more lodging and meal options and much greater ease hooking up with the Park shuttle buses.

 

 

You indicated you were renting a car for a single day, even though you didn't want to for Denali Park. Maybe step back and take another look?

[TravelRookie]

Also the farthest you will get in Denali is Eielson. The Wonder Lake shuttle doesn't start until after you leave.

 

You are far better off with time drving yourself, also allows more lodging and meal options and much greater ease hooking up with the Park shuttle buses.

 

 

You indicated you were renting a car for a single day, even though you didn't want to for Denali Park. Maybe step back and take another look?

 

I was already planning on doing the Eielson trip, wasn't looking at any other shuttle so I'm good there.

 

I've been doing a couple of spread sheets and the least expensive at this time is indeed renting a car in Anchorage and having it from June 3 to June 6; drive to Denali, stay there a couple of days, drive back and keep it for the overnight in Anchorage on June 5 and do some sight-seeing the day of June 6 before returning it at the airport and taking our flight early on June 7.

 

Even with the BOGO for the rail, the entire itinerary it's more expensive then the 4-day car rental. Not by much, mind you.

 

I'm still crunching numbers and I haven't looked at other hotels in the area besides the Princess Lodge. I had looked at the Lodge simply for the reason that we wouldn't have access to a vehicle and wanted to be close to the park entrance. If we go with the car rental route, that opens up a few more possibilities.

[frugaltravel]

I was already planning on doing the Eielson trip, wasn't looking at any other shuttle so I'm good there.

 

I've been doing a couple of spread sheets and the least expensive at this time is indeed renting a car in Anchorage and having it from June 3 to June 6; drive to Denali, stay there a couple of days, drive back and keep it for the overnight in Anchorage on June 5 and do some sight-seeing the day of June 6 before returning it at the airport and taking our flight early on June 7.

 

Even with the BOGO for the rail, the entire itinerary it's more expensive then the 4-day car rental. Not by much, mind you.

 

I'm still crunching numbers and I haven't looked at other hotels in the area besides the Princess Lodge. I had looked at the Lodge simply for the reason that we wouldn't have access to a vehicle and wanted to be close to the park entrance. If we go with the car rental route, that opens up a few more possibilities.

 

The nice thing about the rental car with such a short trip is that it allows you to make stops wherever you want along the way. The North and South Denali Viewpoints, Talkeetna, Byers Lake, Veterans Memorial, etc. You can't do that on the train. Even if the rental car was MORE expensive than the train it would be my preference if for no other reason than the above.

 

You will be able to find much less touristy lodging options with a car, not to mention probably less expensive. That will save you more money vs. the train.

[mapleleaves]

if you're concerned about the train's late arrival on 6/6, another option to consider is the Park Connection Bus. The early coach leaves Denali at 7:45am, arrives Anchorage at 1:30pm.

My vote is for a RT rental car from Anchorage. A car gives you more flexibility with your schedule, the ability to make other interesting stops, and access to cheaper and more interesting lodging choices. You can find a room or cabin with b'fast or a microwave/fridge for under $150 a nite.

http://www.alaskaone.com/_dcc/accommodations/

[TravelRookie]

Sorry, I've been away for a bit.

 

Thanks for the link Mapleleaves, and about the Park Connection Bus. I didn't know about that.

 

Thanks to everyone else for all the suggestions, I really appreciate it.

 

What's your car rental suggestions, doing it directly with the company or through sites such as Hotwire or something similar? I feel silly asking that question! But I've never had to rent a car.

 

Oh, and your suggestions for a Whittier to Anchorage transfer. Which companies do you use. My TA said the transfer option she would book for us (and I have no other information other then that, so I don't know what we're to take) would cost over $100. Is that a reasonable price? Doing some searches, I've found a few other companies offering transfer options much less then she told me. Just wondering how good they are and is the quote mentioned by my TA completely out of left field?

[kcbbq]

Last year hubby and I used the Princess motorcoach transfer for our south-bound trip (ANC to Whittier). I believe it was $54 per person, which was the best rate I found. If you decide to rent a car at the airport, this option might work for you.

[Budget Queen]

Sorry, I've been away for a bit.

 

Thanks for the link Mapleleaves, and about the Park Connection Bus. I didn't know about that.

 

Thanks to everyone else for all the suggestions, I really appreciate it.

 

What's your car rental suggestions, doing it directly with the company or through sites such as Hotwire or something similar? I feel silly asking that question! But I've never had to rent a car.

 

Oh, and your suggestions for a Whittier to Anchorage transfer. Which companies do you use. My TA said the transfer option she would book for us (and I have no other information other then that, so I don't know what we're to take) would cost over $100. Is that a reasonable price? Doing some searches, I've found a few other companies offering transfer options much less then she told me. Just wondering how good they are and is the quote mentioned by my TA completely out of left field?

I'm assuming your agent means for the both of you?

 

There are several independent bus/shuttle options, listings http://www.anchorage.net

 

Also I highly recommend taking advantage of being in Whittier and the opportunity for a Prince William Sound boat tour, just way superior to anything seen from your cruiseship. :)

 

Fits in great with embarkment/disembarkment and a one way Anchorage transfer via Alaska RR.