PlanetMoolah

If we book Pinnacle Grill for our HIA dinner, is the tip included or should we tip in cash? It's my understanding that if we weren't using the HIA dinner, there would be an 18% tip added automatically. How does the tipping work with the HIA dinner? 

Do other dinner reservation times ever open up after you board the ship? Right now there are only 5:00pm or 8:30 or later reservation spots open. If other people cancel or change their reservations, do the times show up on the app as available to book during the cruise? 

Hello, 

We are on the 9-day Denali Cruise Tour starting in Fairbanks in June. We take a bus to Denali, getting to our hotel about 1:00pm. We leave early the next day on the train to anchorage. I know this is a very short time in Denali. Has anyone taken this Cruise Tour? If so, what did you do in the afternoon? I understand I can take the shuttle bus that follows the same route as the Wildlife Tour and the History Tour. It says that is a 4 hour ride if you don't get off. I feel like the 3+ hour bus ride to the park, and the 8+ hour train ride the next day, it would be too much to add another 4 hour bus ride. There is a free shuttle that goes to Mile 13 (Savage River), which is the paved part of the road, and there are trails from the visitors center. If you've taken this cruise tour, where you only had an afternoon in Denali, what did you do with your afternoon?

Thanks for the replies. Great photos Crew News!

Can someone help me understand the various White Pass Rail and Klondike Highway Excursions (HAL). We are sailing on HAL, but I assume all cruise lines offer similar excursions. 

I've listed the tours separately, but I have some general questions. 

What would your general advice be for these excursions, e.g., rail, bus, both, which stops do you prefer, extras do you recommend?
 

I've narrowed it down to wanting to do both the highway and the rail, but there are still so many different versions. I've read the descriptions, but am still confused. I might need a spreadsheet to keep it all straight. 😀
 

What is the White Pass Summit vs the Klondike summit? Highest point of the bus tour? rail tour? Klondike tour? 

Does it matter whether you do the rail up/bus down or bus up/rail down?

White Pass Rail & Yukon (White Pass Rail & Yukon Expedition 8.25 hours)- what do you get to see taking the Yukon tour vs. a 'Summit' tour? 

Yukon & Suspension Bridge ( Experience the Yukon & Suspension Bridge 8.25 hrs) Is this any different than the other Yukon Expedition?

Multilingual (White Pass Rail & Klondike Highway: Multilingual 3.75 hrs) - I assume this is an auto-recording vs live narration, but is the route the same as the White Pass Rail & Yukon?

White Pass Rail Bennett Lake & Yukon Adventure 8.0 hrs - Is Bennett Lake worth seeing over other options? 

White Pass Rail, Klondike Hwy & Liarsville Gold 5 hours - I think this one is the rail up, bus down? 

 

Thank you - this is exactly what I wanted to know. I thought that 6117 looked a bit bigger, but wasn't sure if that was just how it looked on the map. 

The HAL website is showing these available rooms (SS) on Deck 6 - 6059, 6115, and 6117 - does anyone have any information on these rooms or why one is better than the others? 

Do all ships/ports disembark by 9:30, or is this specific to Seattle? We will be disembarking in Vancouver.