Princess Alaska Land Tour review - On our own option

[LCW]

We did the land tour after our cruise (northbound).  Princess provided rooms and transportation, but that's it, no tours. We chose that option. We've been to Alaska before, just w/o our daughter.  This was for her.  

 

We were requested to be in the disembarkation lounge by 0700.  Very shortly after that, our group was called to disembark.  We transferred to the bus fairly quickly. As the tunnel from Whittier changes direction at specific times, we didn’t leave until 0800, and had maybe 5 or 10 min to wait to go thru the tunnel.

After about an hour, we stopped at a marshland park in Turnagain Arm.  Spent about 15-20 min there, long enough to let the wheelchair lady use the facilities, and for the bus driver to clean up the mess from the kid that threw up in the aisle (he wouldn’t sit down…so we don’t know if it was motion sickness or Covid).  Masks not enforced on the bus.  The driver did provide some interesting info during the trip.  

 

We continued on to the Princess McKinley Lodge, where we had a box lunch.  FYI, the main lodge room is very cold…it was warmer outside. However, there are 2 other rooms, one by the coffee bar and the other with tables/chairs, that were normal temperatures.  As it was raining, we didn’t get to see the mountain.  45 min later, we were back on the bus to Denali.

 

We arrived at the Princess Denali about 4pm, give or take a few minutes. Our package was handed to us when we got on the bus, so we had our room assignments and keys in hand.  The previous occupant’s luggage was still in our room, so we just set it outside. For a family of 3, they gave us 2 queens.  Dinner at Fannie Q saloon. Good size meal, ok taste.  Good service. Long day, so we took it easy. Checked luggage had to be out by 0700 next am for transfer.

The next am, we got up early, grabbed some food at the coffee bar, and caught the 0700 shuttle to the Park at the flagpoles out front.  Buses seem to run every 30 min.  The driver dropped us off at the Horseshoe Lake Trailhead parking lot – only ones there, not sure if it was the rain or early hour that gave us our private hike.  Did our traditional family hike down to the lake ( I lived in Alaska 6 yrs when I was little).  The Alaska State bird (Mosquitos) were out in force by the lake, so didn’t sit still, but did get to see the beaver dam that created the lake - Impressive!  A pleasant, relatively easy hike, although the views of the lake are harder to see than 20 years ago, due to growth of the surrounding trees.   The trail has been improved since we did it last, with some steps built in the steeper sections.   The trail head is just down the railroad tracks from the parking lot. We made it back just in time to catch a shuttle heading to the visitor’s center.

 

  The drop off point has a little store that is not connected to the visitor center store. Restrooms are just up the hill, and follow the signs to the visitor center store and visitor center itself. Masks enforced in the visitor center.  Watched one of the movies, got our NPS passport stamp.

Back to the lodge, checked out by 11.  DH went across the street to do some shopping.  We grabbed a bite @ the pizza place in the lodge… not too bad, considering where you are.  On the buss by 1:30, headed towards McKinley Wilderness Lodge.

 

No wildlife sightings, as it’s still raining. Arrived @ McKinley Lodge around check-in time.  Handed our package with keys when we got off the bus.  This property is more spread out, so some people opted for the shuttle to their rooms.  We were in bldg. 17, so just walked down the hill a short way.  Our bldg. is next to the theater, so stopped by for the mountain climbing talk by Todd Huston.  His story as a mountain climbing amputee is very inspiring.  Dinner at the restaurant next door.  The weather cleared a bit after dinner, so spent a couple hours on the lodge deck hoping the mountain would show; unfortunately she was being coy that day.  But, as there is a 70% chance you WON”T see the mountain on any given day, that’s fine.

 

Luggage had to be out by 0900 for transfer this am. Walked up to the treehouse, which was further than we expected (FYI, no restroom up there).   The shuttle will drop you off at an intersection, then walk up hill until you see a gravel road with a sign pointing to the treehouse. Continue uphill on that gravel road, and you eventually come to it. Nice view, if the weather cooperates.  They show the Treehouse Master’s episode on the TV, which we watched.   Check out again by 11, caught the bus to the train station @1245. Seats are assigned on the train, in the dome section.  They ask you shortly after arrival if you’d like to eat lunch downstairs, which we did.  Good burger, but didn’t care for seafood chowder. Saw some moose on the trip.  Full bar in domed section, bill is separate from the dinning car section.  There is no overhead storage, so unlike the bus, we checked our carryon when we got onboard.  No issues getting it when we got off. Arrived in Alaska around 6pm, but had to wait awhile before they allowed us to exit the train.  We took a bus to the Captain Cook hotel, a nice but dated hotel in downtown Anchorage.

 

Hotel issues: We got to our room, only to find out there was just a king bed, and no space for a rollaway for our teen daughter.  They offered us a room with 2 full beds (not much bigger than a twin), not 2 queens like the lodges.  This is when we found out that booking a premium suite on the cruise has no impact on your hotel room for the land portion.  We have some medical issues that require a bit more room that this offered, so the hotel eventually upgraded us to a suite. Grateful to the hotel for working with us when the cruise line didn’t seem to care.

 

Not a great deal of things to do in Anchorage that are family related and short.  Most tours are half day or longer. Ate dinner at Humpy’s, which has excellent fish and chips. Around 1130pm, had a little earthquake  (4.7), which felt like a semi rolling by (we were on the 19^th floor). But it was short.  The next am, we slept in, left our checked luggage in the room per instruction, and dropped our carry-ons at the bell desk.  Lunch at the Sandwich Deck across the street, which was decent.  Then walked to the Trolley Tours and Visitor center.  There are no bathrooms @ the visitor center, so you have to go across the street to the Alaska Public Lands Information Center.  Give yourself time, as you must go through a metal detector.  After the 1 hour Trolley Tour (Which I recommend), we did a bit of shopping, then headed to the Info. Center.  They had a presentation from the Zoo with a live porcupine. We stayed and watched the next 3 short movies, as we had a late flight.  Dinner at Uncle Joe’s Pizza, the best pizza we had all vacation. 

 

Got our bags around 7pm, to meet the bus at 7:15pm.  Bus was loaded early 7:05pm, and took off, but had to turn around as we were missing 1 person.  Still managed to leave on time. At the airport, took a few min. to get our bags, then had to walk a ways to Delta check-in. No issues with getting through TSA.  Stopped to grab last minute gifts for dog sitter, then headed to our gate.

 

Bottom Line: I’d recommend you stay 2 nights in Denali if you’ve never been, because it is a long trip and you need the extra time in the park.  Also, it’s probably better to fly out of Fairbanks if airfare allows, so you don’t have the long bus ride.  For us, the cost was significantly cheaper to go out of Anchorage.  Was the land portion worth it? Once yes.  As this is our 2nd time (daughter's 1st),  I'd say no. Teenager was unimpressed/bored with the land portion.  

[CyberTag]

Thank you for your review.  We are looking to book for next July.  Is the land portion with Princess the DIY or On your own tour? We are thinking of doing the Denali Explorer or Wildlife tour or something along those lines.  There is a group of us who have been on an Alaska cruise but not the land portion.  Would you recommend the Denali hotel over McKinley?  We are traveling with elderly parents and wondering if there is an elevator at either lodge.
 

We will be traveling from California and hoping Covid will be less of an issue next July.  We just returned from a cruise in the Mediterranean and it was very nerve wracking! Did you like doing the land portion after the cruise?  Any other thoughts or tips you care to share? 

[cruisequeen4ever]

Thank you for detailing your experience for us. I’m surprised the Captain Cook’s rooms have 2 full beds as it’s the most iconic hotel in town. Glad they made it right for you. 

[GottaLuvCruising]

Thank you for sharing your experience.  Ours mirrors yours in many ways.  

Thankfully no mishaps on our motorcoach to Denali.  Box lunch at McKinley resort was a pleasant surprise, but stopping there made our overnight later in the week rather anticlimactic.  We found very little to do at that resort, but did enjoy our (drizzly) trail ride.  

We DID do two nights at Denali and agree it's a must.  ALL of our rooms (Denali, McKinley and Captain Cook had a king bed - perfect for us.)  

We were two couples traveling together.  For reassurance, I tested (negative) Tuesday evening in Anchorage.  We got home (long delays) 4am Thursday and sister tested positive that afternoon.  Rest of us were negative.  I became symptomatic Friday morning and tested positive.  Sister and I are on paxlovid with mild symptoms.  Guys are still negative and keeping their distance from us.  

When I'm feeling well, I'll work on a review.  

Edited July 24, 2022 by GottaLuvCruising
OCD spelling

[babs135]

Can you tell me how strenuous the land portion is? We are senior citizens, both with mobility issues - need a stick and for me going up stairs is difficult and slow.  I have a further problem in that I have IBS and when I have a flare up I often need the toilet quite urgently. Are there plenty of facilities ?