Is princess the only line that does cruise tours to Denali in Alaska?

[oskidunker]

Just curious. Have booked a cruise tour for next year but thinking maybe I might like to try a different Cruise line

[ERTHDOG]

certainly other lines do it, royal caribbean for example does;)

 

but , if you are into it , i suggest doing some research on doing the denali land portion on your own

 

june 2013 we did northbound route with royal , then did 5 days inland with a rental car.stayed at neat private cabins in glacier view and denali area.we were able to do things at our own pace and it was outstanding:)

 

alot of planning is involved , but if thats your thing you will love it

 

enjoy whatever you decide

 

dave

Edited June 27, 2015 by ERTHDOG

[cruiser64093]

Holland America and Norwegian both have very nice land based tours that stop at Denali. I've done both, and don't have anything bad to report. I especially loved the domed railroad cars that Holland provided on the Alaskan railroad trip from Denali to Anchorage. They provided breathtaking panoramas.

[NavyVeteran]

It's been several years since I've done the cruise tour, so things may have changed.

 

Unlike most places in the world, Princess operates its own pre- and post- excursions in Alaska instead of booking them with local tour companies. This gives them more control over the excursions. Some other cruise lines would also, but many lines use third parties like they do elsewhere in the world.

 

When I was on the train from Fairbanks to Denali and from Denali to Anchorage, it was an Alaska Railways train. The engine and the first cars on the train were Alaska Railways, and they were standard railway cars. Behind the Alaska Railways cares were several domed cars owned by Holland America and behind them were several domed cars owned by Princess. Since a Princess car was at the back of the train, the conductor spent much of his time on the Princess car.

 

You would see exactly the same scenery from any car on the train - Princess, Holland America, or Alaska Railways. However Princess and Holland America had domed cars designed for sightseeing. The Alaska Railways cars had standard windows.

 

At that time, no other cruise line owned railway cars from Fairbanks to Denali to Anchorage. I'm sure other cruise lines operated bus tours.

 

Princess owns its own lodges in Alaska. If you are traveling on a tour with a cruise line that does not own its own lodges, then you will be staying in rented hotels or lodges.

[sparky-elpaso]

Royal Caribbean also has the domed cars for a fantastic view. I think what really made our land portion on RCI great were our guide and bus driver - both were incredible.

[hpeabody]

The worst day in Alaska ever for me was riding for 9 hours in the Princess over stuffed dining car backwards on the old red naugahyde seats. An old Alaska RR car, not even Princess. Absolutely horible! I think I was excess baggage.

 

I had previously done HAL's train which is a glass domed car with kinda of a luxury bus or airplane set up and was fabulous.

 

My expectations were set too high I guess.

 

Give HAL a try in Alaska.

[piper28]

I've got to admit, we were hiking while in the Denali area and had to wait for the train to pass at one point. Watching the cars go by, I did think the HAL cars looked more comfortable than I found the Princess ones. Haven't actually been on one, but that's the impression I got from the outside.

[caribill]

The HAL land tours and the Princess land tours are both run by the same company (Holland America Alaska Tours) which is a subsidiary of CCL Corp.

[donaldsc]

I would guess that off the lines do this tour. You can easily find out by going on the line WEB sites. When you read the tour details, carefully analyze every sentence in the tour description. I will not say that the cruise lines lie but they do a very good job of obfuscating the truth.

 

DON

[Illyria]

Holland America and Norwegian both have very nice land based tours that stop at Denali. I've done both, and don't have anything bad to report. I especially loved the domed railroad cars that Holland provided on the Alaskan railroad trip from Denali to Anchorage. They provided breathtaking panoramas.

We were in an exact same car on a Princess cruisetour.

[piper28]

We were in an exact same car on a Princess cruisetour.

 

Princess has the domed cars, but they have the bench seats that face each other across a table, so you're sharing the table with someone else if you have a party of 2. From what I could see from the outside, the HAL cars seemed to have seating that looked more like what you'd see on a bus (or on other trains), and at least from the outside, looked more comfortable. Personally I found the bench seats to be uncomfortable by the end of the long run from Whittier to Denali.

[Aquahound]

I had previously done HAL's train which is a glass domed car with kinda of a luxury bus or airplane set up and was fabulous.

 

NCL's, RCI's and Celebrity's are exactly the same...with the comfortable, forward facing bus/airplane seating in domed cars. I'm actually surprised to hear Princess' cars aren't as nice, considering their foothold in Alaska.

Edited June 29, 2015 by Aquahound

[kitkat343]

The Denali Star cars also have first class seating, with the dome windows. They are quite a bit more expensive than the regular seating, but this is an option. Please note that when I booked my Alaska cruise, the cruise lines were selling extra tickets on their railway cars, and if there was space available you could get that cheaper than the Denali Star car space. However, when I sailed in 2010 it wasn't possible to board the Denali train unless you were on a Princess tour (at that time it was just a special stop for the Princess passengers, and you disembarked in Anchorage too late to catch the regular train) In order to take an independent tour and not stay in Anchorage, we needed to take the bus from Anchorage to Denali, and took the train back from Denali to Anchorage. The timing many have changed in the last few years, so you'd need to research it. But without a car, it was pretty easy for us logistically.

[Illyria]

Princess has the domed cars, but they have the bench seats that face each other across a table, so you're sharing the table with someone else if you have a party of 2. From what I could see from the outside, the HAL cars seemed to have seating that looked more like what you'd see on a bus (or on other trains), and at least from the outside, looked more comfortable. Personally I found the bench seats to be uncomfortable by the end of the long run from Whittier to Denali.

Uh...NO. When I say I was in the exact same car, I mean it was an exact same car. Two seats, no table and no benches.

 

Edit: found a picture.

 

Edited June 29, 2015 by Illyria

[caribill]

Princess has the domed cars, but they have the bench seats that face each other across a table, so you're sharing the table with someone else if you have a party of 2. From what I could see from the outside, the HAL cars seemed to have seating that looked more like what you'd see on a bus (or on other trains), and at least from the outside, looked more comfortable.

 

To me having the table makes the trip more enjoyable than being in seats close to the seats in front of you. It is a long train ride and the table can be useful during that time.

 

For pictuires of the inside of a Princess train car, see post #10 at http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1727858