HAL Alaska land and sea question

[rsldonk]

I booked a HAL cruise which includes a night in Denali and two nights in Fairbanks. Does anyone know what hotel they use in both of these places and also what is included (like meals)?

 

 

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[catl331]

Ten years ago in Fairbanks we stayed in the Westmark (which HAL owns, or did then) and the McKinley Chalet Resort in Denali. The only included meals we had were a box lunch on the Tundra Wilderness bus, a lunch at the Gold Dredge, and a lunch buffet in Wasilla on the bus ride to Seward. HAL sells meal plans on most (if not all) Cruise-Tours, but we did not think it was worth the price. Most of the per diem is allocated to dinner, and we usually did not feel like eating much at the end of the day. But be forewarned that almost everything in AK, including meals, is at least 50% higher than we pay in FL.

Edited May 12, 2018 by catl331

[Koali]

We stayed at the McKinley chalet in Denali 5 years ago. I thought the chalet had a really nice log cabin feel. There was a separate living room from the bedroom. It was a super comfortable stay. No meals were included for our stay but we ate at the resort most meals. It was expensive and if I recall very salty!! There are a few restaurants within walking distance (across the Main Street) that we also ate at. We went on one excursion where you go on a 4x4 that included a hot meal. There was only 6 of us and 3 guides and they made sooooo much delicious food on the grill. It was one of the best excursions there.

 

 

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[Fairfield Nana]

We are leaving tomorrow for a 5 day land trip Fairbanks via Denali to Anchorage/Seward, and 7 day cruise to Vancouver. Our hotel in Fairbanks and Anchorage is as mentioned earlier--the Westmark, and the Denali res. is in McKinley Lodge (also operated by Westmark). I've heard that Westmark is owned by HAL.

[alwaysfrantic]

The Westmark in Fairbanks and McKinley Chalet in Denali (you can look up Westmark Denali). The park on was great. Fairbanks not so much.

 

No meals are included on the land tour. Only exception is if you are doing the 8 hour bus into Denali you get a snack box.

 

Restaurants at hotel in Denali were nice. You’ll want to walk into town in Fairbanks.

[catl331]

I found this post about a year old that sounds like they got a free lunch after the paddle wheeler ride in Fairbanks: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=53144442&postcount=6

[alwaysfrantic]

If your group does the paddle boat there is indeed a family style meal served afterwards.

[baxley]

I would love to see more comments on a land/cruise. What did you like most? What did you like least? We'll be going on one in about a month and we're eager for information.

[Koali]

I would love to see more comments on a land/cruise. What did you like most? What did you like least? We'll be going on one in about a month and we're eager for information.

 

 

 

We did a 5 day land followed by week long cruise. First off I would definitely recommend doing the land portion first because it is a bit more active than the cruise. You get shuttled around a lot of the land portion and it’s nice to end your vacation with the cruise. We arrived in anchorage and took the train to Denali for a few days. It was opening week in Denali and had a freak snowstorm so not a lot of things were open. We still enjoyed what we were able to do and would return. A coach bus took us back to Seward to catch our cruise. We had an incident on the bus where it broke down but it was actually pretty perfect. We were able to see Denali mountain in clear skies on a nice day while waiting for them to get the bus working again. Since we were close to a Princess resort, they dropped us off there for a restaurant lunch as opposed to box lunch which is what I heard other coach passengers got. While we were the last ones to get on the cruise ship, they made sure to wait for us! Holland America did a great job accommodating us even in a tight situation.

 

 

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