Vegetarians is not an issue. Price is. Restaurants are expensive there. It is the nature of the beast as food prices itself is expensive. Wages are expensive too and so it goes. Nothing is cheap in Alaska, except end of the seson sale. $20 for a jacket and DW picked up 5 of them, LOL.

Agree w/ Eschew on eating, very expensive at Denali. There were a couple of restaurants at the HAL Lodge we did eat at because you are not going to drive around the area looking for cheaper places. LOL They did have pizza on one of the menus. There were a couple of take out places you could go to.

From the Princess website: "Dining is always a treat at Denali Princess Wilderness Lodge. Enjoy spirits, appetizers and casual fare on the river view deck or inside at the Base Camp Bistro. Try King Salmon Restaurant for delicious, Alaskan cuisine and panoramic views. Or, hang with the locals at Lynx Creek Pizza and Pub and indulge in a huge pizza and pint of our very own Denali Red microbrew.

For those who are on the go, we have Rapids Morning Express and River Run Espresso offering espresso and coffee, cinnamon rolls and a variety of grab and go items."

There were some stores, shops, etc. right across the street from the lodge where you could probably purchase take out food items and eat in your room to save some money. I saw the stores but we didn't visit them.

On the Princess website I see the list of activities offered and you can book the Tundra Wilderness Tour right there. I might suggest that as soon as you get your dates, flights, etc. firmed up you book that excursion as it is very popular and if you want to get a morning tour those times go quickly. We ended up going in the afternoon but then you get back to your hotel very late in the evening (remember it will still be daylight in Alaska until midnight (?) in July. It was the most bizarre feeling to be walking around and still having daylight, you think it is the afternoon.

One other suggestion for you that we didn't think about. When you book the Tundra Wilderness Tour you will also get a "box lunch" because you are going to be driving into Denali for 8 hr. The lunch is included in your tour price. However, I would really suggest that you bring your own lunch w/ you as what is provided in the "box" was not very interesting and IMO quite awful. If you do not bring your own food then you are forced to eat this lunch.

You can buy your own take out sandwich, bring some water, snacks, etc. on the bus with you. I always take one of those soft-sided lunch bags you can purchase in a dollar store when we travel. Comes in handy for bringing food w/ you. You could put some ice in a zippie bag to keep the food cold. The bus driver had large plastic bags on the bus and collected everyone's trash before we got off the bus. They are very strict about disposing of trash anywhere in Denali because of the wildlife.

Husky Homestead Tour should be a nice one too. We only had 2 days to do things in Denali so opted for the 3 hr. Jeff King tour.

Mary

Eschew's recommendations for Juneau: Juneau is easy, Mendenhall Galcier and the Mt. Roberts tram would be the choices if you have not been there. You can do both if you time it right. Bus ride to Mendenhall is much cheaper than the excursion from the ship and you can spend as much or as little time there. There is a nice system of foot trail there and if you take the ship's excursion, you will only have a couple hours. There is an interpret center there and 2 hours is just not enough to admire everything there (The Glacier and the surroundings, not the center). Mount Roberts is the highest point and it over look the city. View is spectacular. On the album link posted earlier, there are pictures of Mednenhall Glacier (and lake) and view from Mt. Roberts. The city itself is only so so, but stop by the Red Dog Salon for a beer. I don't want to giveaway what you will see there. It is unique in Juenau.

Totally agree w/ his comments! Just get off the ship and you will see booths where you can purchase the tickets to Mt. Roberts. You should allow about an hour to 1.5 hr. there, depending upon the weather.

I would suggest taking the "Blue Bus" out to Mendenhall, 14 mi. ride.

Mendenhall Glacier Transport (tel. 907/789-5460;

www.mightygreattrips.com

You can ride its "Blue Glacier Express" bus for $16. Generally, it runs every half-hour both directions, from the waterfront visitor center to the glacier and back, daily 9am to 6pm in summer.

We did not have enough time to explore Mendenhall because we had booked the combo tour at the cruise pier. You will save money by riding the blue bus. We loved Mendenhall and wished we had more time to explore there.

There are tons of shops right across from the cruise pier if you want to do some souvenir shopping. Restaurants galore, we stopped at Red Dog Saloon for the "experience". A great place but so crowded and so hot inside in July, we didn't stay there. If other ships are docked then you probably won't get near it. Do try tho, it's fun to see.

That's about it. Good luck planning. Let us know if you need any other suggestions.

We are researching similar trip for the end of July 13 now. The following trip report, if you didn’t see it yet, offers great ideas and practical information:
http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...-in-alaska.cfm

If you are active group consider Denali Shuttle over Tundra Wilderness Tour. There is wealth of information on Trip Advisor Forum (read Manitoba_Maple post from Jul 28, 2011, 1:52 PM and many more)
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic...ve_Alaska.html
http://www.nps.gov/dena/planyourvisi...CP_JUMP_228596

we did the northbound cruise on Coral Princess, and a week on land. If you are interested in more pictures, and ideas, here is my blog : http://north2alaska-chinacat.blogspot.com/ (like most blogs, it runs backwards in time, so click on the earlier links for the cruise...the one labelled "Departure Day" is the first day of the cruise)

We had a port-side balcony on the northbound cruise, and thought it was perfectly fine. there are times when there is scenery on both sides.

I think if whale watching is an interest, you should do that form Juneau. I don't think whale watches out of Ketchikan see as many whales (though admittedly, I could be wrong about that).

Our biggest excursion splurge was the helicopter glacier landing in Juneau. That was really cool, and highly recommended.

misha2, just curious. What are the dates of the cruise and which ship?

I’ve scanned the posts above, so please excuse me if someone has mentioned this before.

Skagway, Alaska covers the Klondike Gold Rush in a National Historical Park tour through town. http://www.nps.gov/klgo/index.htm If you have kids in your group, they can become “Junior Rangers” which can be fun as well as educational for the whole family and I believe the tour is free.

I suppose another option for touring before/after your cruise is to rent a large RV and rent some additional camping equipment. You can all tour in the RV to your locations, stock up with food before you leave to cut costs, not have to worry about hotels, and since it’s only a few days, take turns sleeping outdoors in the tent. (The younger generation might enjoy that portion.)

Thank you all. It's Southbound June 8 on the Sapphire Princess

My sister and her hubby will be northbound last week in July. I am considering joining them instead of going off on our own in mid August.

Have a nice trip and post a trip report when you are back!

Misha, Princess is running spring sale now. We just adjusted prices for our cabins. If you booked directly with Princess you can do it yourself, otherwise agent has to do it for you.

Thank you all for all your help! What a terrific trip! I'll post a report in the next few days.