Denali to Seward via Park Connection bus?

[Tarheel72]

It looks like most postings concerning the Park Connection bus are for the Anchorage-Seward leg. We are interested in doing a land tour prior to the cruise, similar to the HAL package, that transports you from Denali to Seward in one day for a 8 PM sailing. The Park Connection bus leaves Denali about 8 AM and indicates they arrive in Seward at either 5:30 or 6 PM, depending on the website you read. I understand the drop off is the harbor area, about a mile from the cruise docks.

 

My question is, has anyone used this service to transfer from Denali to Seward? Did you have any problem making your cruise departure? This doesn't seem to leave a lot of time to spare, but as best I can tell it is pretty much the same timetable that the HAL pre-cruise tour is on, unless the HAL bus leaves at the crack of dawn! Or is it possible to book a one way transfer Denali to Seward on the HAL bus? I did not see that on the shore excursion listings on HAL's website.

 

Thanks