Denali Explorer - Tour AB3

[jormot]

I would love to hear anyone's thoughts about this cruise tour. It is 3 days and seems pretty hectic but we can't take more time off from work that this. Any thoughts, suggestions, reviews would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!

[Fuzzyape]

jormot,

 

I didn't cruise Princess when DW and I went to Alaska (someone else was driving the show). But if some of that time allows you to see Denali do it!!!!!

 

If you are not a nature person, then nevermind, but Denail was fantastic. 6 millions acres of wilderness, that isn't intruded upon by man is a spectacular sight.

 

I'm sure someone who has actually done this will give you a better idea. But if you can do a tour that includes Denali, do it!

[Times Prince]

I would love to hear anyone's thoughts about this cruise tour. It is 3 days and seems pretty hectic but we can't take more time off from work that this. Any thoughts, suggestions, reviews would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!

I assume this would be bus/train to Denali, then the bus tour into the park, then a bus/train back to Anchorage. We took a 5 day Princess Cruisetour, and used Princess excursions.

 

Check out the ports of call for the Denali park tour. There are a lot of opinions that, based on the month one is there, wildlife viewing could be sparse, and one should book a private tour which goes further into the wilderness (and takes longer). Our experience of the Princess tour was fantastic - we saw bears, goats, and all sorts of other wildlife. It was also the day after a rain, and the view of Mt. McKinley (aka Denali) was totally clear and awesome. The tour guide acknowledged that we hit the jackpot - previous tours that week had seen very little wildlife, and the mountain was shrouded with clouds.

 

It can be a hit/miss thing, but the countryside was totally unique to us, even after touring much of the lower 48 states, and this was the first scenic train ride we've taken.

 

I wish you luck on seeing the sights !

[John99]

Hi Jormot,

 

We are retirees that enjoy traveling. DW and myself have completed 2 Cruise Tours to Alaska. This trip is doable as long as you have no physical issues. We found that there was always enough time to relax in the evenings after some site seeing.

 

Land tour AB3 only gives you 3 land tour days. For me, that is not enough time to see Alaska's pristine wilderness -- Denali National Park. If your can squeeze in an extra day (3 to 4 land tour days) my choice would be tour DB4. That extra day is precious. Denali National Park and Preserve is the big prize. I mean BIG!! As previously stated before, millions and millions of true wildness. You really need a full day to see the park. The Historic tour only gives you a limited tour of the park.

 

We have been to Denali National Park twice. Both times we took the Tundra Wilderness Tour which is about 1/2 day into the heart of the park with and equal amount to time to exit the park. If I remember correctly, the tour went all the way to Stony Hill -- approx. 80 miles. We passed Polychrome Pass, Sable Pass, Toklat River, Promise Ridge, plus braided rivers that wander back and forth through the valleys. These rivers carry huge sediment loads eroded by glaciers at the rivers headwaters. The tour as a trained interpretive naturalist that provide a more complete knowledge of the Park. He/she is contracted by the park service. The National Park service is the only provider of bus transportation within the park. We were lucky both times to see the Big five -- Dall Sheep, Moose, Gray wolfs, Caribou and grizzly bears.

 

As stated before, I would arrange a private tour versus a Princess tour. Well worth it. You can register for Tundra tour at the park entrance which located about a mile from the Princess Lodge. There are busses that leave of a regular schedule to the park entrance from the Lodge. Please note, these tours leave very early in the morning -- like 5:30am. No commercial buses are allowed into the park. Also, if you take this Tundra tour cancel your Historic tour to receive a credit against you folio account. This can be accomplished at the front desk of the Lodge.

 

Wow, that extra day is important. Hope you can work it out!

 

John

[suzski]

We looked at doing the Princess tour and opted instead to do it on our own. We're still doing the 3 nights but were able to arrange a flight that leaves out at 10:00 pm at night...basically giving us a whole extra day. We are renting a car and driving to the Denali area (Healy) for the night, and then taking the shuttle that goes all the way to Wonder Lake and back the next day (11 hours RT). The following day we're slowly making our way back towards Anchorage, spending the night in Palmer so that we can check out things like the Independence Mine and the Matanuska Glacier.

[donaldsc]

Just my opinion but I think that the tour is totally horrible. You spend more time traveling than seeing stuff. You have a useless half free day. You take a lousy short tour into a little bit of Denali.

 

This is a a perfect example of why people should never take the Tour part of Princess CruiseTours.

 

DON

[margob111]

I believe this is the tour I have signed up for next May. I will upgrade to the Tundra tour. I usually agree that I prefer my own tours to a ship's tours but I've heard very good things about the Princess tours. I have a year to do my research and planning and can rearrange

the cruise accordingly but who knows if I will get back to Alaska so I thought I'd include the extra land days in case I don't.

[John99]

Hi Margaret,

 

Over the years, we have taken both private and Princess Tours and enjoyed both. Some of the best Princess tours (for us) were in St. Petersburg Russia and Istanbul Turkey. On the other hand the Princess tour to Paris was to rushed and included too many people on the bus. The lunch provided was just OK. We still enjoyed that tour but we could have done better by using a private tour company.

 

Private tours that we really enjoyed included County Cork Ireland, Dublin, Scottish Highland, London and others. Bottom line -- do your homework and read these board which provide very good information from CC members. Blarney Castle tour was easy and a blast to plan on your own. Alaska should be no problem. Again, research is key. Look at both private and Princess tours and make the choice that's best for you.

 

You may have notice that I did not mention anything about the Caribbean. All the islands seem to offer the same -- sun, beaches, snorkeling and Diamonds International (everywhere). But, every winter we go back for relaxation because we still enjoy the warm weather and the beautiful islands. In February 2014, we plan on checking out the new Royal Princess. Variety is the spice of life.

 

John

[LeeW]

Agree with John99 - AB3 is too short. First of all, the McKinley lodge is about a 40 minute ride from Talkeetna. Good view of the mountain, when it is out, but otherwise you are limited to Princess property. We hit one stay where you couldn't see off the property. Other stay had cloudless sky and massive Northern Lights. Prime rib dinner for two with cheaper wine was over $130 by the way, although there were other cheaper options.

 

Second, AB3 doesn't allow the Tundra Wilderness Tour in Denali (around 9 hours). The Natural History tour goes to the end of the paved part of the road where only tourbuses are allowed further. View of mountain is pretty limited up to that point. Most of the bear, reindeer, wolf and goat habitat is beyond that. By the way, September is a great time for animal viewing.

 

At a minimum, I would recommend two days in Denali Park and avoid McKinley at all, but most tour packages include this stop. If you want to do flightseeing McKinley is the place, but be prepared for the long (and costly) bus rides. You only get one trip out and back for free.

 

All of this said, if you have never been to Alaska and can get a good price go for it - it is a quick sampler of the interior that you can't get from the cruise!

 

Having been on two train trips (which were great) we will probably do a roundtrip cruise from Vancouver next time and skip the interior. Cost is about the same. Then maybe another interior trip with 3 nights in Denali.

[Times Prince]

Agree with John99 - AB3 is too short. ...

Second, AB3 doesn't allow the Tundra Wilderness Tour in Denali (around 9 hours). The Natural History tour goes to the end of the paved part of the road where only tourbuses are allowed further. View of mountain is pretty limited up to that point. Most of the bear, reindeer, wolf and goat habitat is beyond that. By the way, September is a great time for animal viewing.

 

At a minimum, I would recommend two days in Denali Park and avoid McKinley at all, but most tour packages include this stop.

The tour we were on (see below) was the Natural History Tour, and we visited mid-August.

 

The Princess lodges were well appointed and the one at Denali had a great dinner theater show with local theme.

 

We took a 5 day Princess Cruisetour, and used Princess excursions.

 

Check out the ports of call for the Denali park tour. There are a lot of opinions that, based on the month one is there, wildlife viewing could be sparse, and one should book a private tour which goes further into the wilderness (and takes longer). Our experience of the Princess tour was fantastic - we saw bears, goats, and all sorts of other wildlife. It was also the day after a rain, and the view of Mt. McKinley (aka Denali) was totally clear and awesome. The tour guide acknowledged that we hit the jackpot - previous tours that week had seen very little wildlife, and the mountain was shrouded with clouds.

 

It can be a hit/miss thing, but the countryside was totally unique to us, even after touring much of the lower 48 states, and this was the first scenic train ride we've taken.

 

I wish you luck on seeing the sights !

[Host Jazzbeau]

You are much better off renting a car in Anchorage and doing the land portion on your own. Enterprise has great rates (we got ours through Costco) and great service.

 

That allows you to stay in or near Talkeetna, which is a nice funky town, rather than 40 miles out of nowhere at the Princess lodge -- so you can enjoy a choice of restaurants, craft vendors, and you are right near the airport for Denali flightseeing.

 

When you get to Denali NP, you can stay at the Princess lodge there (it's convenient to the park entrance, but it's also a huge campus so you're actually never near anything even when you're home) or a wide range of other hotel and B&B options. Allocate a full day for the park shuttle bus to Eielson and you'll see much much more than the dinky Natural History Tour (and spend much much less than the Tundra Wilderness Tour which doesn't even go all the way to Eielson).

 

The drive between Anchorage-Talkeetna-Denali is easy -- the road is straight and smooth so even the driver will get to enjoy the views and there are several viewpoints where you can pull over and let your jaw drop.

 

It's really not difficult at all -- you're in America, everything is in dollars (even if it takes a few more of them that you might be used to), and everyone is friendly and helpful.