WJB

Day 6. Mt McKinley Lodge No viewings of the majestic mountain today cloudy until about 2 and steady rain the rest of the afternoon and evening. But we had an awesome dinner at North Fork. Crab fritters, shrimp cocktail, cheesy flat breads was our appetizers. All appetizers were very good. Then chicken two ways (that is what it is called on menu) halibut stuffed with crab. The halibut was over cooked IMHO and very little crab on it. The chicken was a boneless fried chicken breast and backed leg/thigh. All dishes served with mashed potatoes and green beans. For dessert we had cheese cake and chocolate mousse. Total bill 180.00. Very good service. BTW the salads looked great! Chilled in the room and once again got our luggage ready for the 6:30 am requirement...place it in the hall. I’m not wild about this Lodge.....no rooms attached to the main area.... spread out building after building. We are lucky we are in #17 and it is fairly close to everything except the hot tubs. The property has inclines everywhere so if mobility is an issue jump on the shuttles that have various stops...none marked just where ever you are just go out of the building by the street and they come through every 10 minutes. The deck attached to the main building is delightful....in the right weather. You can place your name to be called or receive a text that the mountain is out but depending on your room location you would have to go to main lodge.....the vast majority of the rooms do not have a view of the mountain. Don’t forget your clamps or binder clip things...we have slept very well I think because we extend the bottom of the curtain with towels so daylight is blocked. Clothespin have been too flimsy to hold the weight and the material the drapes are made of is a bit slippery. Going to have breakfast at North Fork this morning then Board the bus for the hour long bus ride to Talkeenta to board the train. Will be on the ship this evening.

Food prices are difficult to report because I’m not sure what everyone’s eating habits are. There are 3 in our group. We have ordered whatever we want regardless of price our average breakfast is running $40. Dinner varies greatly but anywhere from 60 to the top bill last night which was $180. That includes all 3 of us having appetizers main course and desert. No alcohol

Day 4 Friday morning. We were on the bus at 6:45 for the Tundra Tour....was a very good day. Saw several moose, herds of caribou and fall sheep...two very large grizzly bears...one with two cubs...very cute! A Golden Eagle, lots of Artic Ground Squirrels and Mt McKinley was shining proudly....while we were taking photos you could see the clouds starting to hinder our view. On return to the hotel we did laundry ...$2.50 a load and the washer and dryer were decent. We then went to The Lynx it’s .on the property and serves pizza, calzones basic salads. Was edible but not over the top pizza We then got our luggage ready to place in the hall at 7 am for pickup. Will transfer to Mt McKinley Lodge tomorrow. Saturday will Board the train to Whittier to board the cruise ship. So far four dry days...a bit chilly with the winds but have experienced sunshine every afternoon....tomorrow’s forecast is 100% rain! Glad we saw the magestic mountain today

Day 3: today we went on the Riverboat Discovery Only a 5 minute bus ride to the boat. Try to sit on the left side....will see the floatplane demo and dog sled demo better than if on the right side I felt the presentation was a little more touristy than I remember from 9 yrs ago but was still a nice day. After the riverboat we were transported by motor coach to Denali Princess Lodge. Be sure to request first floor if steps are an issue. Tonight we ate at Canton Steakhouse. We had Brick Oven Chicken, skirt steak salad, and the beef ribs. All were very good

We went to The Cookie Jar on a weekday about 9:30 am. Seated immediately

Well we are here!! After a total of 17 hrs travel (including to airport etc) we areived Monday night at Princess Lodge. Flight went well however turbulence (mild) almost the entire flight. Fairbanks airport is very small just two baggeage claims and direction from Princess reps was good Only a five min bus ride to the Lodge. Rooms are standard hotel rooms. For those that need extra bed they do supply roll away beds We were exhausted but needed something to eat. We went to the sit down restaurant on the grounds. We had clam chowder, onion rings, house salad ( was small) and the BLT with avocado and one of us added grilled chicken to the sandwich...All was good and bill was $60 for three of us Our spring clamps and clothespins came in handy to hang a blanket on the drapes to keep the light out. Slept fair. Up at 7 rented a Ford Taurus from artic Circle rental for the day. $ 60 for the day. They pick you up to get the car.... you leave the car with full tank at the Lodge..key at front desk and they pick it up in the morning. We went to The Cookie Jar for breakfast....excellent! We had sausage gravy biscuits, omlette, and a breakfast sandwich made of garlic bread and an omelette in between. All were excellent!! $40 for three of us. Then to Walmart for pop/soda to take on ship and two bottles of wine The Brown Jug is an alcohol store across the street from Walmart. Then we went to Alaskan Pipeline and after that drove around Fairbanks...up in the hills we found a house with a full size jet in the yard. Looked like they are restoring it. I’m talking a very large jet! Haha Back in the room getting ready for tomorrow’s land tour day # 1.

The letter is to be sure you are covered....you must be in a state of health in which you can travel the day you purchase the insurance per physician opinion I have the letter in the event I need to use the insurance....did not forward the certified copy with application I purchased insurance from Trip Insurance Store Steve Dasseos I work as an RN/Legal Nurse Consultant and a few of the attorneys I work with read the various policy language from several insurance policies and Trip Insurance Store is who we decided to go with. Hopefully I'll have no use for the policy...if so I'll report back

Insurance info is not totally correct You must have a letter from physician stating nothing holds you from traveling and make sure you buy the correct policy and timing of doing so is very important One never knows what may happen to a healthy person....life has no guarantee..... I am hopeful it will be a trip of a lifetime for them

I have experienced both the Duck Tour and Lumbar Jack show I agree ....both are cheesy This year we are going on a three hr tour with Tim White's Ketchikan Taxi Company ...adapts it to your interest Web go in June and will post a review

I called AT&T today My plan offers 50 mins of calling and unlimited text while on ship for $50. the rep said the next plan is unlimited calls and texts with 200 megabytes and $6.14 per megabyte after using the 200 She said most economical is buy the $50 plan and the ships data plan....if you want both She doubled checked to make sure Princess Star has AT&T reception

Our favorite part of our land tour/cruise was Glacier Bay...Going again in June and can't imagine missing Glacier Bay

I suggest you cross out any trips you will not be taking...then stick with either Northbound or Southbound and are you going to include a land tour or do land on your own....once you do that the list of cruises available will be MUCH smaller and you can work from there.....I love the planning phase....have fun !

My last trip to Alaska we rented a car in Fairbanks. They picked us up at the Princess hotel and shuttled us to the rental office....very reasonable rates, nice husband and wife team. It was called Arctic Circle. Their website appears to have last entry as closed for the winter.. reopening April 1, 2016....does anyone know if they are still in business....no answer at the phone number I have

Have you tried Transderm Scop? a patch you place on side of neck

we had a 10:56 flight and made it without a problem we were in a mini suite so that included one of the first groups for embarkation and debarkation ship arrived early and we were off by 7:30 we rented a car and the drive was very easy.....and boring!

research the cabins before you book Balcony is well worth the cost....make sure it is one without an obstructed view and one with a roof Also research excursions we are going back ...cruise tour ....we went in 2006 and preparation made it a wonderful trip can rent a car in Skagway and drive to Emerald Lake.....Murray's Guide to the South Klondike Highway (Yukon and even further North is $5.00 and so much info !! Mile marker by mile marker guide best trip ever...even better than Hawaii !!

we will soon be on the Carnival Liberty and will be doing the swim with the dolphin excursion......are there lockers or somewhere to store our room key, shoes, (wearing water shoes on excursion) etc while in the water?