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Tundra Wilderness Tour

Luvtoteachell

By Luvtoteachell,
in Princess Cruises

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nukesubsailor

nukesubsailor

Posted
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The road does have curves but you are travelling pretty slow and the curves are not hairpin turns. I have taking the Tundra Wilderness tour 3 times and I cannot imagine anyone suffering from motion sickness on it. When riding on the bus you will be looking for wildlife in the distance. Just like when on a ship---keep your eyes on the horizon rather than the waves close to you and you are less likely to become nauseated.

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geoherb "Live from...." Rare

geoherb

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It's definitely worth the upgrade to the Tundra Wilderness Tour. The friends we made on the train ride down from Fairbanks to Denali told us they saw very little wildlife on the Natural History Tour. We were one of two couples in our group who upgraded. Unfortunately, the bus had picked up other passengers before stopping at the Princess lodge. We ended up having to sit apart. I had a great seat near the front of the bus with a fun family. DH got stuck in the back of the bus.

 

If you have two nights at Denali, see about taking one of the shuttles into the park instead of either tour.

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D&N LUV 2 TRAVEL

D&N LUV 2 TRAVEL

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Is it worth it to upgrade to Tundra Wilderness Tour from the Natural History?

 

By all means do the Tundra Wilderness Tour if you can. We did not have enough time to do so and had to get up at 6am for the Natural History Tour and it was not really worth it. No wild life at all.

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coo359a2

coo359a2

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Check to see what tours are being offered by by the Park Service. We went in June 2010. Asked that Princess give us a credit for the National History Tour and we booked the Park Service tour equivalent to the Tundra Wilderness Tour. The only difference was that the school bus used by Princess had some type TVthat you could see the animals on and they provide a small box lunch. Our driver provided great commentary and we saw most every animal up close and personal in the park except for the wolf. We got a lunch box from Subway right across the highway from the Denali Lodge. Tickets for 5 adults (no charge for our 2 children under 16) cost the same as one adult ticket from Princess

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caribill

caribill

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It may look like a school bus on the outside, but the inside is closer to what a Greyhound bus is.

 

Very comfortable seats. A TV screen that shows closeups of wildlife that the driver spots and zooms in on.

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georgetheblue sldjed

georgetheblue sldjed

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If you want to take it sign up uickly because it is extremely popular and fills up fast. I have family going in May and waited to long to get on this tour.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have been told the operator doesn’t begin running this tour until June 1

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

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coo359a2

coo359a2

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It may look like a school bus on the outside, but the inside is closer to what a Greyhound bus is.

 

Very comfortable seats. A TV screen that shows closeups of wildlife that the driver spots and zooms in on.

 

In 2010, For family of 6 we saved $500+ going with the Park Service. Couldn’t turn that down.

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Thrak

Thrak

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We did a connoisseur tour so the Tundra Wilderness Tour was included. In addition to the "usual" wildlife we saw a grizzly camped on top of a kill and a wolf. The wolf is very unusual to see as there are very few of them in the huge park. The guide said the kill was almost certainly made by wolves and then the grizzly ran them off and camped on top of it. The wolf we saw was checking it out but unable to get at it because the grizzly wasn't letting him have a shot. What was really cool was that we not only got a good look at the wolf while he was trotting away from the grizzly but he actually came up onto the road. The bus was stopped while we watched and the wolf came up on the road very close behind the bus and the driver just let us roll slowly back down the road following the wolf very (very!) closely for quite a way. We got a fantastic view as he trotted down the road. As there are only something like 50 wolves in the entire park (approximately 9,500 square miles) it was definitely a pretty amazing thing to see.

 

We were back in Denali last year when we took a 7 week camping trip and drove as far as allowed in our own vehicle but you just don't get to go far enough to see much wildlife. Definitely upgrade from the Natural History Tour if possible as the Tundra Wilderness Tour goes so much farther.

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dreaminofcruisin

dreaminofcruisin

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In 2010, For family of 6 we saved $500+ going with the Park Service. Couldn’t turn that down.

 

Definitely agree with choosing the National Park Service Shuttle if you are there long enough to do that. Cheap enough that you could even cancel if the weather is awful and you don't think you will be able to see anything because of the rain. You do have to reserve way ahead of time though....online.

:D

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TheRabbit

TheRabbit

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So much of viewing is by luck. We did these trips back to back while camping in Denali for a few days. On the first day we saw over 30 bears and so many elk with huge racks we didn't even bother to stop at the end. 10 hour trip turned into 12 and a half with all the stops. Next day we saw maybe 3 elk and no bears.

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fishin' musician

fishin' musician

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So much of viewing is by luck. We did these trips back to back while camping in Denali for a few days. On the first day we saw over 30 bears and so many elk with huge racks we didn't even bother to stop at the end. 10 hour trip turned into 12 and a half with all the stops. Next day we saw maybe 3 elk and no bears.

 

Elk or carabou?

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mytime53

mytime53

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Elk or carabou?

 

Elk I believe. Will go back and check.

 

It was moose or caribou; you won't find elk on the mainland.

Elk have been transplanted on some islands in Alaska. They can be found on Afognak, Raspberry, Etolin, and Zarembo islands.

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TheRabbit

TheRabbit

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It was moose or caribou; you won't find elk on the mainland.

Elk have been transplanted on some islands in Alaska. They can be found on Afognak, Raspberry, Etolin, and Zarembo islands.

I remembered it as elk, but looking back at the pictures, not elk.

As they say, as you you get older, you lose two things, your memory and I cant remeber the other thing!

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caribill

caribill

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I'd say they are more like school buses than greyhounds.

 

I have never seen a school bus that looked this plush inside

https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipOvnSGy6KTgMz4M9gmX61I75whGigYzB1HdpUQCsh44zu4i-dwxhrQHH7_reRz9LA/photo/AF1QipOey0egp1b-YymVom22udalGla8gHjXTEcuiFL3?key=SU1sQkxIQlp2emVUN2dPWEN6cjFmYWNhV3BTV3ZB

 

 

AF1QipOey0egp1b-YymVom22udalGla8gHjXTEcuiFL3?key=SU1sQkxIQlp2emVUN2dPWEN6cjFmYWNhV3BTV3ZB

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