Live From Majestic Princess JB5 Denali Explorer Alaska Cruise Tour 6-2022

[Steelers0854]

Coffee shop breakfast options. Lots of grab and go type of breakfast options. 
 

 

 

 

[c-boy]

9 minutes ago, Steelers0854 said:

You can definitely bring it on board but I dont believe you can consume it. A couple next to us had 3 bottles of wine with them. 

😃 say, my kinda people.

[voljeep]

7 minutes ago, c-boy said:

😃 say, my kinda people.

a 'screw top' cab, and a Princess 'sailing is so refreshing' tumbler - problem solved🍷

[Steelers0854]

Fun fact: they have had guests at the lodge since May 13, so for less than a month.

 

They have a buffet at the Fannie Q’s Saloon, I didn’t catch the price But it looked pretty basic. They had a few hot trays setup my guess with the usual suspects.

 

We decided to go the the sit down breakfast at King Salmon.

 

ALLERGY WARNING: the oatmeal they make with butter if you can’t eat dairy getting the oatmeal without the milk on the side still will not work.

 

 

 

They were out of the egg substitute which was disappointing but today was the first day they were open for service so they didn’t have everything they normally would. so DW just got a side of potatoes and a side of bacon. I got the breakfast scramble and we also got the French toast.

 

 

 

 

Breakfast was a fail. The French toast was the clear winner along with the bacon. Everything else was a huge disappointment. My scramble without potatoes also means it didn’t come with peppers or onions, which no one told us. Also neither of the scrambles came with cheese as it was supposed to. The potatoes were grossly undercooked and were mushy. I would hard pass on this unless you are opting for the French toast or something basic like yogurt etc.

 

 

[Cali Viajera]

Thank you for this trip report. We begin our cruise tour on June 18 and board the Majestic on the 25th. Your trip report is very explicit and informative. Thank you for taking the time out to do this.

[Steelers0854]

4 hours ago, Cali Viajera said:

Thank you for this trip report. We begin our cruise tour on June 18 and board the Majestic on the 25th. Your trip report is very explicit and informative. Thank you for taking the time out to do this.

you’re very welcome. I do these as much more me as the community. It’s nice to go back and remember what happened and also if we return what to do or not to do!

[Steelers0854]

The Tundra Wilderness Tour still goes the furthest into the park at mile marker 42. The only time you get off the bus is for the planned restroom stops about every 90 minutes and one scenic stop. It’s on a school bus with no onboard restrooms but the seats are coach style seats, they have an air conditioner and above seat storage. I also felt there was plenty of legroom.

 

 

They will stop for wild life but you stay on the bus when you stop. Our pickup time was set for 2:10 PM and we got back to the hotel 7:30 PM. Had it been the full tour it would have been another 2-2.5 hours. Not sure I would have liked that, this was definitely long enough according to my butt. Most of the trip is on a gravel road. It’s fairly smooth but if you’re sensitive to vibrations and bouncing you may want to reconsider.

 

 

 

Because it was at such an odd time we went to subway across the street right before. They have online ordering here which I would recommend as the line was VERY long. I got a sandwich and DW got a salad. They did give us a snack box on board with cheese crisps, nuts, a kind bar, turkey stick and brownie brittle.  They also had 2 cases of water on board.

 

It’s hard to rate this excursion. I think you have to look at it from 2 different perspectives: the scenery and the wildlife. On the scenery side it’s 5 stars. We had picture perfect weather and the views were magnificent. We unfortunately didn’t see much wildlife. A couple of moose and a handful of caribou which were at a pretty good distance from us. So 2 stars on the wildlife. I’m really glad we did this tour, the driver gave us a lot of great information along the way and it’s absolutely beautiful but I think your overall enjoyment is tied to seeing the wildlife and it was just too warm out for us to have much success there.

 

A couple of pro tips. If you’re only interested in seeing the wildlife bring food binoculars. A lot of the wildlife we saw was at a very large distance. If you want to document it bring a DSLR with at minimum a 250mm lens’s but bring a bigger one if you have it. I would frequent swap between my DSLR (with a 250mm lens) for distance stuff and my iPhone for the close up or overall shots. Where is the best place to sit? Both sides of the bus. The wildlife and views are everywhere and it’s impossible to predict which side they will be on. If you have a party that can divide between the 2 sides and share photos at the end that’s best.

 

Because we got back late tonight with the tour we had seen the Canyon Steakhouse at our sister property next door where the HAL passengers stay, earlier in the day. You can make reservations via OpenTable which we did for 8:30 PM. This place seemed to have a much better menu than King Salmon where we ate last night. It’s a very short walk or they have a shuttle that circles between the 2 properties about every 20 minutes. Since we got back early we are just enjoying the property and waiting for our time as they are very busy tonight as expected.

[hapster85]

On 6/6/2022 at 2:52 PM, Steelers0854 said:

We landed about 12:15AM, right on time and it was an “easy” flight.  After being up for almost 24 hours I’m not sure anything at that point was easy.

 

In baggage claim they had all the major cruise lines there with personnel to help the arriving passengers.  We spoke with the Princess rep and had 2 options since we were booked on our own that night:

 

1. Come back to the airport in the afternoon of checkin, get our welcome packet and take a bus to the hotel.
2. Our welcome packet could be sent directly to the hotel and we could make our own way there and pick it up when we arrived.

We chose option 2, she filled out a piece of paper with our information (where we are staying tonight, which cruise line (Princess, HAL) and what hotel we are staying at with Princess, and told us that our welcome packet would be waiting for us at the hotel.

 

We called the Hampton Inn and in 20 min they arrived with a shuttle to pick us up and take us to the hotel.

 

Fun facts shared by our shuttle driver:

1. It’s mosquito hatching season, for the next 2 weeks they will be terrible, and already are.  They are HUGE and everywhere.
2. In 2 weeks is the summer solstice, they have a huge festival in town and at midnight the sun i up and it looks like it is noon so they all gather around at take pictures.
3. The Hampton Inn has an amazing view of the Northern Lights.  It looks out into an area where there are no lights and the photos she showed us are amazing.  She said the best times to come for that are March and November.

 

It’s a nice hotel, breakfast was so so, but serviceable.  The weather is beautiful, clear, sunny and a high of 75 today.

 

We have no real plans for today, just going to bum around town and head over to the Westmark in the late afternoon to check in.

 

 

 

Curious why you chose to book the extra night on your own instead of with Princess? Our land tour starts the 26th, but we are flying up on the 25th, so we just added a night. We now know we'll also be at the Westmark.

 

I think I had to make 3 calls before getting someone who could actually handle it, but thought it was really nice that you could do so. Prices were very reasonable, too at $200 for the two of us. Which from what I see on their website, is cheaper than the going rate at Westmark.

[Steelers0854]

4 minutes ago, hapster85 said:

Curious why you chose to book the extra night on your own instead of with Princess? Our land tour starts the 26th, but we are flying up on the 25th, so we just added a night. We now know we'll also be at the Westmark.

 

I think I had to make 3 calls before getting someone who could actually handle it, but thought it was really nice that you could do so. Prices were very reasonable, too at $200 for the two of us. Which from what I see on their website, is cheaper than the going rate at Westmark.

we used points so we stayed for free. 

[hapster85]

13 minutes ago, Steelers0854 said:

we used points so we stayed for free. 

Free is definitely cheaper! Lol

[Steelers0854]

25 minutes ago, hapster85 said:

Free is definitely cheaper! Lol

After the price tag for this trip I’ll take anything that’s free!

[Steelers0854]

They had a great menu at Canyon Steakhouse. We got the scallop and firecracker shrimp appetizers. The shrimp was just ok, I have had better. It generally lacked flavor but they were definitely crispy. The scallops were good but the accompanying sauce fell flat and was just ok. We also got a salad to share as they were very good sized.

 

 

 

For entrees we got the rockfish and DW got the filet. The rockfish was amazing. That Cajun seasoning was on point and really spicy. DW’s filet was unfortunately under cooked and despite warning about her food allergies it looked like they had put the bernaise sauce on the veggies but then scrapped it off. We asked and they assured us that it was safe. DW avoided the veggies but unfortunately it was enough and she got sick later that evening.

 

 

 

It was almost 10pm when we finished our meal and walked back to the hotel to we packed our stuff as we had to have it out for pickup at 7am the next day and called it a night.

 

It’s a beautiful and cool morning thus far. We have to meet the bus at 8:10AM to transfer to the train station for our trip down south which should take about 3-4 hours

[Steelers0854]

 

Another glorious morning!

[Steelers0854]

It’s first come first served for the bus. You basically just jump on any bus to the train depot that you would like. It’s a very short 10 minute trip.

 

The train is absolutely amazing. There were separately branded cars for HAL and Princess.

 

The top level is a dome and that’s where your assigned seats are. The bottom level is the dining section that you can go to as needed.

 

 

The seats are incredibly comfortable and spacious. But keep in mind there is obviously no overhead storage. So anything you bring with you will take up your legroom.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Willwils]

Thanks again,  keep up the great reporting.  Do you also  have a pic of the downstairs dining menu?

[Steelers0854]

37 minutes ago, Willwils said:

Thanks again,  keep up the great reporting.  Do you also  have a pic of the downstairs dining menu?

Yup!  cell service is spotty out here coming up when I can. 

[Steelers0854]

The service has been exceptional despite them being understaffed. They had been running 60 guests per rail car up until now and today is their first day they are full with 85. They should have 2 people for the dining car but ours only had one and she did an amazing job you would have never known. There is a guide that will talk about points of interest along the way. Upstairs there is also a bartender that will serve you drinks during the entire trip and small snacks after 1pm.

 

We opted for breakfast instead of lunch. DW got oatmeal which was very good and the rest of us got the breakfast burrito which was delicious. The eggs were not over cooked, they were HUGE, and the reindeer sausage was delicious. I felt it was a good deal for $15. Lunch starts at 11. There is limited seating in the dining car compared to the total 85 in the seating area.

 

 

 

 

The train had a couple of open air viewing platforms for use.

 

We were very lucky today. Denali was in rare form and had absolutely no clouds. It was magnificent. This apparently happens less than 30% of the time.

 

 

There is no Wi-Fi on the train and cell service is quite spotty on board

 

There is no Wi-Fi on the train and cell service is quite spotty on board.

 

We did get the chance to see a grizzly playing in the river as we passed by.

 

Talkeetna is about a 45 minute drive from the McKinley Lodge where we are staying. There is a free shuttle that runs until 7:30PM that will take you to the lodge from the town if you wanted to stay in town after arriving in the train.

 

We booked an excursion to the Sun Dog Kennels immediately after our arrival.

 

 

[Steelers0854]

The train overall was fabulous and I would highly recommend it. The service was outstanding, the views are unbeatable.

 

We exited the train and got our packets with our info in it at the bus. It was a very short bus ride into town, like 100 feet short lol. We got off our bus and walked across the street to the bistro to check in for our tour which starts at 3pm.

 

I’m going to pause here to discuss a couple things. We knew we would have to test here for the cruise boarding. Immediately after getting our packets we accessed the website to book a test. There were no testing windows open this evening and the only available window was tomorrow at 10:30AM, 30 minutes after we depart for Anchorage. What!?  I called the hotel and they stated the testing site will accept walkins and are open til 8pm.

 

Also we found out that masks will now be required onboard when inside. We only brought one but I know they will have some for us if needed. Too bad, I thought we were turning a corner with the pandemic but I guess here we go again!

 

We boarded our van and headed out for a 5 minute drive (I think just about everything in this town is about 5 minutes haha!) to the kennel.

 

We met with the owner and he told us about his team, 40 dogs which is actually small, a large team would be 100.  He has run the Iditarod several times finishing 16th out of 96 teams in his best run. We got to meet the dogs and the. They hitched them up to an ATV and we got to go on a run. Totally exhilarating. He answered all of our questions and we headed back to the shuttle pickup point to head to the lodge. This was well worth it and I would highly recommend it.

 

 

 

The shuttle picks up every hour at the bottom of the hour for the 45ish minute trek to the lodge.

[Steelers0854]

The lodge sits atop a hill with a beautiful view of the mountains.  There is no Wi-Fi in guest rooms, only in the lodge itself.  AT&T gets weak (very weak) service here but Verizon has good signal.

 

 

 

 

We went right to get our testing done, which could not have been easier and not having an appointment was literally no issue.  We scanned a QR code, filed in the vital info, they handed us a post it to put our name and DOB on and he headed downstairs.  They watched us swab our nose and took he sample and that was it.  The whole thing took less than 10 minutes and couldn’t have been easier.  They said if you were positive they would call you within 20 minutes, otherwise you will get an email later that evening with your negative test.  It came a little over 2 hours later and we were all set.

 

We had made reservations earlier in the day for 7:15 at the North Fork restaurant (You can book it on OpenTable) and I am glad we did as they were busy.  I would call this upscale bar food, nothing super fancy.  Sorry I missed quite a few of the pictures but we were pretty hungry and trying to juggle testing and everything made it a long evening.

 

We started with the spinach and artichoke dip which was probably the best thing we ate all trip.  That bread bowl that it came in was soooooo good with rich sourdough flavor.  I had a small blueberry salad which was delicious and the others got chili and the salmon chowder which they both said were outstanding.

 

 

 

 

 

For mains, I got the Salmon BLT and the others split the fish and chips.  The fish was well battered and cooked, crispy and delicious.  The Salmon BLT was ok, the bacon was so so and the salmon cake was just cooked, but not hot.  They skimped on the sauce which made it dry but the bun was soft and delicious.  The fries were also very good.

 

DW struggled here tonight.  The Pad Thai had soy sauce in it (unusual for Pad Thai but often non-Thai places do this which is why we asked) and Rib-eye is not her favorite cut of meat.  So she ordered a burger and because the fries had batter and no one know if the batter was GF she got a side salad with the blueberry vinaigrette.  They brought out the salad but brought a balsamic dressing saying that they wanted to be sure it was safe for her to eat but they also said that the blueberry dressing was made in house, so they know what’s in it, but said she could eat it?  It was all very confusing.  I had just had the dressing on my side salad and I knew there was no cream or cheese in it so she had them bring her the dressing.  Then her burger came out and it was a veggie burger that literally looked and felt like a hockey puck.  Now I have had some excellent veggies burgers, in fact at True Food Kitchen, their Vegan Double Cheeseburger I prefer to almost any other cheeseburger I have ever had.  This was horrific.  So well called the server over again and she apologized she had no idea why they gave that to her as that wasnt what she entered.  So it took almost 20 minutes for them to finally bring her burger, which of course the rest of us were long done eating by now.  It was a good burger, good sized but of course just a burger.

 

I will say we did see the berry cobbler at the table next to us and that hung looked AMAZING!  If you are into that I would highly recommend it.

 

After dinner we headed to the room to get our stuff situated since we had not been there yet.  We got our luggage tagged for the 9am drop off tomorrow morning, we leave the hotel at 10am.

[Steelers0854]

Good Morning on another picture perfect day. 
 

 

20320 is located in a building Sudo adjacent to the main lodge. Here are the breakfast and dinner menus. You will see it’s essentially the exact same menu as North Fork with a couple of minor differences. 
 

 

 

 

the coffee shop is located inside the main lodge. Here is the menu. 
 

 

 

Here is North Forks breakfast menu.
 

 

here is an activity list at the lodge as well. 
 

[Lucky TGO]

Hi Gregg,

Have a great cruise!! I will be following along.

Tony 

[Lucky TGO]

Hi Gregg,

Enough with all the food pictures I’m starving 😁 Everything looks soooooooooo good. 😋 Just kidding.

Tony

 

 

[SightCRR]

Thanks for the photos and trip review. Especially the diet info. In the past we had a hard time with only dairy free let alone g/f. It was easier on HAL ship. sightcrr. 

[gdlamberth]

The Majestic Pri currently has at least 3 cabins on board with COVID. As best I tell none seem to have severe symptoms.

[Steelers0854]

5 hours ago, gdlamberth said:

The Majestic Pri currently has at least 3 cabins on board with COVID. As best I tell none seem to have severe symptoms.

Yea it’s pretty much everywhere so this is not unexpected.  Can you tell me if our when the laundry rooms are closed?  I’m hoping its not the whole trip but I do remember them being closed some of the time, for some reason I thought it was just during Glacier Bay.  Hoping to get some laundry done tomorrow when we get onboard.