Denali after cruise
 

Hi All-
No answers so far on the cruise forum so thought I would give it a shot here...


We have reservations on the Millennium from Vancouver to Seward for the end of July. We are celebrating my parents' 50th anniversary. There are 7 adults and 3 kids (ages 13,11 and 2).
We (likely 5 adults and the 2 yr old) would like to travel to Denali after the cruise (we dock on Fri at 4am) and be on the way home Sun or maybe Mon.
My initial thought is to rent a car/van and drive. Stay Fri PM and Sat PM then leave Sun. So here are my questions:

1. Is it easier to arrange this through the cruise line? I don't see the option on the website (actually no excursions come up!).

2. My mom is status post knee replacement and has limited mobility. Any recommendations for how to see the park? Shuttle bus? Tour bus? Train? I am leaning towards a shuttle bus that we could get on and off. Maybe my mom would hang out with my daughter for an hour or so while we explore.

3. Recommendations on lodging at Denali?

Thanks for your thoughts!

Rent a car as you would do anywhere else. Beautiful drive north towards Anchorage., mountains to the sea. Stop in Girdwood, seven glacietrs resort.We didn't stay in Denali but in Talkeetna so can't help with a lodge or hotel. The roads all were good with pulloffs for the RVs and campers so we could pass them.

Excellent HappyTrvlr, thank you. How did you explore Denali?

I would rent a vehicle and drive up there myself. We did the post trip last year with the cruise ship (also Celebrity) and I felt that the money would have been better spent on our own. This would be doubly true for a group of your size. You could drive from Seward to Anchorage or depending on how early you arrive you could drive all the way to Denali or you could take the train to Denali from Seward. There are several motels/hotels very near Denali with shuttles that run to the VC and also into the park and from the train.

There are tours on busses into the park, both park service an contract ones. You cannot drive yourself very far into the park. They all take the same road, the park service ones you can hop off and hike and then get back on, If there is room on the next one. Your mom would be hanging out on the side of the road, unless she hopped on a bus going back. The trips are various lengths, I think the shortest one is 2 - 4 hours. We went on an 8 hour one, but I would have liked the 11-12 hour one. We did see lots of animals and the park is awesome.

Go to www.nps.gov and put Denali in the search box, you can access the site for the park where you can link to lodging, . There are also several TR's here If you put Alaska in the search box here you will have lots of information.

I did the Millennium cruise and land package last sumer- the land portion was all arranged through the cruise line. We took the train to Denali, stayed at the Grande Denali. The hotel was fine, great views, perched on the top of the hill. There was shuttle into town- however, I believe I would have preferred to stay in town . We took tour of Denali through a tour operator arranged by the cruise company- tour was great- they did stop for a couple of potty stops. We had a grizzly right beside the bus so you might not want to "hang out by the side of the road" much.

The train trip was very comfortable- I have to say the scenery was not fabulous- mostly a lot of trees- I think we saw 1 moose and that was it for wildlife. We stopped 1 night in Talkeetna which was fun and I enjoyed- cute town with several restaurants. Apparently the TV show Northern Exposure was patterned after this town. If you decide to drive it is definitely worth a stop. Check out the ranger station in town- they have a lot of interesting information and keep tabs on the people climbing Denali. Last year they were getting ready to do a helicopter rescue on the mountain when we were there.



We visited the Husky Homestead- a training center for sled dogs- very fun and interesting and we got to hold the puppies which was fun.

I appreciated having everything arranged for us as was our first time to Alaska- but there were only 3 of us- so you might do better driving with so many- assuming you can find a van to hold you all.

I loved Alaska. When you are in Juneau make sure you go whale watching. We saw the whales doing "bubble net feeding" and it was the highlight of the trip- amazing to watch.
You tube it and you will see what its all about.

In Skagway we did the train trip which I thought was interesting and beautiful scenery.
In Fairbanks we did the river boat which I thought sounded a little too touristy but we did it anyway and enjoyed.
Ketchican we did a float plane trip- the Misty Fjords.
We also went to Homer on our own for a couple of days and really enjoyed that experience

We booked all of our excursions through the cruise company and with so many of you, that may be the easiest thing to do.

I was pretty overwhelmed when we first started planning as there are so many options in each port and of course, everyone wants to see something different. I just printed out the list and started narrowing down what I wanted to see and what I could afford. I wanted to go on a bear viewing trip but it's $600/day so too spendy for me. However, I did learn, that if you call the day before you want to go, you can for 1/2 price if there are available seats - so something to keep in mind. My cousin did it and she thought it was a great trip -

So enjoy- lots to see and do. We went the end of June last year and had great weather - hope you do too

So helpful you guys thank you! The "hanging out on the side of the road" comments made me laugh. In my mind I was picturing a rest area/visitor's station. Certainly not my poor mom with a bum knee trying to outrun a bear while holding my 2 year old over her head!
Sunburn I wonder why I can't see any excursions on the Celebrity website?

shaya- I don't know where to tell you to look for the excursions - but I know I printed them off the website and there must have been a dozen or more for each port-

If you booked through a travel agent, maybe they could direct you to the right place to look.
We booked all the excursions before we left and so convenient to arrive in our room and all the tickets were waiting for us- not the cheapest way to go but certainly the easiest.

The only excursion we did on our own was a trip to the Mendenhall Glacier which we booked just as we got off the ship- maybe saved us enough to buy an extra beer somewhere.

shaya- check it out - think I have a link to downloading shore excursions

http://www.celebritycruises.com/plan...rsions/home.do

We arranged something similar on our own a few years ago, and it worked out well.

First, we did NOT take the bus from Seward to Anchorage. We spent a half-day taking a fantastic small boat cruise to the Aialak Bay Glacier, using Kenai Fjords cruises. That was a major highlight. Then we took the Alaskan Railroad from Seward to Anchorage, which was actually a lot of fun and far more comfortable than the cruise-arranged bus. Obviously, we had to pay for the train fare rather than the pre-paid bus, but it was well worth it for us.

We spent a day in Anchorage, then rented a car and headed to Denali. Stayed in a nondescript, but clean and perfectly reasonable, motel in Healy, about 10 miles north of the Denali entrance. The big Denali hotels are certainly more convenient, but they're also enormously more expensive.

In general, you've got much more flexibility if you arrange things for yourself rather than take the ships' excursions.

We explored Alaska on land for four days after our cruise. We disembarked in Whittier and rented a car. We drove through the tunnel to the Alyeska Resort where we spent the day. We ate Alaskan salmon and halibut in their restaurant and road up the mountain on the tram.We watched several paragliders take off and then hiked up to the top (through snow) to see the bowl glacier and a great mountain view. The next day we drove to Denali National Park and got a great shot of Mt. McKinley at milepost 118. (There are also formal viewpoints along the Parks Highway: Denali Viewpoint South, milepost 135 and Denali Viewpoint North, milepost 162.) We rode the shuttle bus to the Eielson Visitor Center the following day and saw caribou, grizzlies, Dall sheep, and a wolf carrying what I think was a caribou leg in its mouth. (Did no one think to mention how terrifying riding 2,500 ft. up on the edge of a gravel mountain road without guardrails was?? And I thought the train ride in Skagway was scary!) We really liked the Touch of Wilderness Bed & Breakfast in Healy and the Black Diamond Grill was a winner for dinner. We had a great lunch at the 49th State Brewery in Healy--good beer selection on tap.

Geeez...I said "we" 10 times in the above message. I forgot to say: Have a great trip....you'll LOVE it!!

I was on the Celebrity Millennium's June 1st northbound sailing and went to Denali for 2 nights after. I can show you with many photos and lots of commentary on my blog starting at http://explorenorth.com/wordpress/sa...lennium-day-1/ but the summary is that the newly-Solsticized Millennium is gorgeous, and the specialty restaurants all extremely good. We took the morning train from Seward to Anchorage where we rented a 12-passenger van for our 6-person group. Stayed one night in Anchorage at the Springhill Suites Anchorage University Lake (great in every regard), 2 nights at the Denali Lakeview Inn (great location, poor service), and took the Eielson shuttle into the park (good wildlife, driver was a poor guide). Drove back to Anchorage on the 4th day on land and flew home that night.