Grand Princess NB cruise tour 7/18-8/1/15

[mimmy52]

I see I copied one picture twice instead of showing our building. So here it is.

 

 

The toilet and shower were separate from the wash basin.

 

 

 

We walked over to the main lodge and made a reservation for dinner in the Mountain View Room. We were told reservations were needed. We also went to the registration desk and requested a wake up call in case Mt. McKinley or the Northern lights made an appearance.

 

 

Inside the main lodge

 

[mimmy52]

We needed lunch, so we each got a sandwich at the Espresso Bar. They had pre-packaged wraps, snacks, some desserts and sweets, and various drinks. I had the vegetarian wrap and we ate outside in the lovely sunshine.

 

 

The Espresso Bar

 

 

There is seating by the Espresso Bar if you prefer.

 

 

There is also an NPS ranger station on the other part of the room from the Espresso Bar, but I accidentally deleted my photo of it.

 

Sitting outside was lovely. It would have been more lovely if we could have seen Mt. McKinley, but that wasn't to be.

 

No Mt. McKinley here

 

 

More seating outside the main lodge. I presume the view could have been spectacular.

 

[mimmy52]

A ranger came by and told us there would be a presentation about owls in the lodge in a few minutes, so we went in to see it. Two owls that were injured too much to be allowed back in the wild were shown, we were told about their injuries, and other information in general about owls.

 

This poor owl was blind in one eye but still a beautiful bird.

 

 

More lodge pictures

 

Outside the entrance to the main lodge

 

 

The start of a trail

 

 

Back of the main lodge

 

[mimmy52]

Jo went to the gift shop and I took a walk on the Lodge Trail, a very easy trail.

 

Along the trail

 

 

 

The end of the trail was near the fire pit.

 

 

More pictures of the lodge starting with the internet area

 

 

More seating behind the internet area

 

[mimmy52]

In the main room

 

 

 

 

Some of the tables in this area are used by the Grizzly Bar

 

[mimmy52]

After my trail walk, I found Jo on the patio reading a book she'd purchased.

 

 

A magpie was very interested in a speck of food that was under one of the deck chairs.

 

 

Our dinner reservation was for 6:30. The food is expensive. I paid $26 for a salmon dinner and decided I could forego desserts for the rest of the trip.

 

The Mountain View dining room

 

 

After dinner we sat outside again for a while before heading to our rooms. We had to prepare our luggage for another trip tomorrow.

[mimmy52]

A word about the Talkeetna shuttle. If we had stayed in Talkeetna today, we would not have been charged to take the shuttle to the lodge. If we had gone to the lodge, then decided we wanted to go into town, the charge would have been $10 for a round trip. If you are booked on an optional tour through Princess, no charge for the shuttle. If you are scheduled to leave on the train and want to go to Talkeetna early, no charge for the shuttle.

 

July 26

McKinley to Denali Princess Lodge

 

Apparently two sunny days in a row is enough. We had a rainy morning.

 

 

We had breakfast in the Mountain View Dining Room, although with the rain there was no view of any mountain. I should have paid more attention to prices on the menu. I'd ordered tea with my breakfast, and I guess I was used to the free tea on the ship because I was surprised that I was charged $3.25 for it. Had it been soda or juice, it wouldn't have surprised me.

 

Although our bags had to be outside our room by 7:00, our departure wasn't until 9:30, so I had some time to walk around and take a few more pictures.

 

The 20230 Restaurant

 

 

Not as busy on the deck as yesterday in the sun

 

 

I only saw Mt. McKinley in a photo of where it should be

 

\

 

And what I saw was

 

[mimmy52]

There was a building with hot tubs.

 

 

 

Also exercise equipment, although not much.

 

 

About ten minutes before our departure time, we walked over to the main lodge where people had gathered for the busses to Denali.

 

 

Yesterday on the train when we had been given our McKinley information packet, we had been told to hold on to the page with our room number on it since it had other information (such as any tours and the departure time). Since we had our room and knew departure was 9:30, I'd thrown the paper into my checked suitcase. That meant when people started lining up to get on a bus, we didn't know which bus we were on. It was embarrassing. We had to ask each driver to look at his manifest. Our coach's departure was somewhat delayed, waiting on one couple. They had to call their room. Even with the bus waiting, they were very slow movers.

[mimmy52]

There wasn't a lot of scenery on the way to Denali, and our driver said we were lucky with the construction delays. We pulled into the Denali Princess Wilderness Lodge a little after 11:30. A Princess rep boarded the bus and passed out our envelopes with room keys, the next day's luggage tags, tour info, and lodge info. Each day there was also a mini-Princess Patter that listed hotel services and dining options. We had a map that showed were everything on the property was located and there were people inside the main lodge directing us toward our various buildings. Those who were assigned to buildings A and B were told to stay on the coach and they would be driven to their buildings.

 

We found building J and room 110 with no problem.

 

 

Our room was smaller than at McKinley with a more rustic décor, and it smelled like it needed a good airing which I put down to dampness.

 

 

 

[mimmy52]

Our luggage hadn't arrived yet, so we went to lunch at Lynx Creek Pizza.

 

 

You order at the counter and they bring it to your table. Jo and I split a pizza. The service was prompt and the pizza was good.

 

 

By the time we had ordered and found a table, the line had grown substantially.

 

 

It's such a big place, I doubt if anyone had trouble finding a table. There were several rooms.

 

 

[mimmy52]

And a deck for the smokers.

 

 

The Glitter Gulch shops right across the street from the lodge.

 

 

The back of the main building

 

 

The River Run Espresso, on the lower level of the main building, was a lot busier than the one at McKinley.

 

 

Looking in the other direction from the Espresso bar

 

[mimmy52]

The registration desk was on the upper level.

 

 

Looking the other way from the registration desk. This is where everyone gathered waiting for tours since they all leave from the main lodge.

 

 

Looking down to the lower level.

 

 

The internet area (off to the left). I only saw two computers, so I don't know if there were others in some of the other buildings.

 

[mimmy52]

There were hot tubs here too. They were close to our Building J. There are three hot tubs but two were occupied.

 

 

The view from the deck of the hot tub area.

 

 

I had been able to upgrade from the Natural History Tour that was set up for tomorrow morning to the Tundra Wilderness Tour today. There wouldn't have been time for it tomorrow. I had to pay the extra fee above that of the Natural History Tour. My tour was set to leave from the main lodge at 2:10, so I was there by 2:00. The bus pulled up right at 2:10, so I guess they keep to a pretty strict schedule. Most of us were waiting outside, and we loaded up. As with all the tour busses in Denali, this was a converted school bus.

 

Sarah was our bus driver, and she was fantastic. Once inside Denali, we had to stop at the Wilderness Access Center to pick up more people.

 

 

We headed into the park and saw a little scenery but nothing sensational. At mile 15 we pulled up at the Savage River ranger station and a ranger got on board to welcome us. No vehicles except the school busses are allowed past this point.

 

The Savage River ranger station is tiny.

 

 

We were fortunate with wildlife sightings on this tour. There were a lot of people on the bus with binoculars and they were good at spotting. Seven grizzlies were spotted during the tour, although I was never able to see three of them. People were saying things like, "He's moving," or "Now he went behind the bushes." "Now he's back out." I was just glad I saw four of the bears.

 

Our first bear sighting

 

 

The TWT busses have small video screens above certain seats. If you're sitting by one, you're supposed to pull it down and turn it on when wildlife is spotted. Don't forget to push the screen back up or you might hit your head, which I managed to do twice. After a while, no one bothered with the video screens any more.

[Coolcruise02]

Great review and pics!

[mimmy52]

Thanks, Coolcruise02.

 

We stopped at the Teklanika rest area.

 

 

Our bus

 

 

A lookout point. This is where the third (I think) bear was spotted, below the lookout point. I never was able to see it.

 

 

I don't see a bear here.

 

[mimmy52]

When we got back on the bus, we were handed our snack packs and a bottle of water. There was more in the pack than I thought there would be.

 

 

 

Shortly after I opened one of my snacks, we saw Dall sheep.

 

 

 

Then another bear was spotted, and this one I could see (obviously, or I wouldn't have a picture of it).

 

[mimmy52]

And then Sarah announced there was a coyote on the road. She said coyotes don't live in Denali, so it must have wandered in.

 

 

Our next stop was at Polychrome Pass for photos. What a beautiful place!

 

 

 

 

Some folks climbed a steeper path for a different view.

 

[mimmy52]

 

When we started off again, we saw our first caribou. Whenever wildlife was spotted, we pulled down the top part of the window so photos could be taken. Everyone was willing to share space so people on both sides of the bus got their viewing and/or their pictures.

 

 

We had another rest stop. I think this was at Toklat. In addition to the restrooms, there was a small gift shop and ranger station in this tent.

 

 

There were moose and caribou horns. They were quite heavy.

 

 

Once we moved on, we saw another bear.

 

[mimmy52]

And another caribou

 

 

Then my favorite sighting of the day. A beautiful blond grizzly bear was close to the road. Sarah told us all to be quiet, that the animals aren't bothered by the busses, just by voices. We immediately became silent, just the clicking of cameras.

 

 

 

 

He was gradually working his way toward the road.

 

[mimmy52]

 

 

He came right to the road and crossed behind the bus.

 

 

And appeared again on the other side.

 

 

We moved on again and came across resting caribou.

 

[mimmy52]

Then another group of caribou, more active, at least they were actively eating.

 

 

This big guy was with them, but higher on the hill.

 

 

 

 

About this time, the bus turned around. The caribou were still there, and I got a couple more photos.

 

[mimmy52]

 

The blond grizzly was still there too.

 

 

A couple of scenes from our return trip. Some folks were holding their breath when we were on these drop-off areas and passed another bus.

 

 

[mimmy52]

We were about 25 miles from the entrance when Sarah saw that the bus in front of us was stopped. She pulled over. It was a moose sighting.

 

 

 

 

Sarah said there had been a calf with the moose when we first pulled up, but it was quickly out of sight and we weren't able to see it. When she moved the bus forward after the other bus left, we saw there were two moose, but still couldn't see the calf.

 

This was an incredible day. I was so glad I'd upgraded to the Tundra Wilderness Tour and also glad we had Sarah for our driver since it sounds as if a good driver can make a difference on the tour.

 

We were back at Denali Princess Lodge about 9:45, earlier than I'd expected. Even so, the lodge was very quiet and almost deserted when I walked through. With the early mornings we'd been having, Jo and I were content with early bed times too.

[mimmy52]

A few more comments about yesterday. When we got our paperwork for check-in at Denali, there was an additional flyer--an information sheet about norovirus and how it was prevalent on the land tours. Since it hadn't affected us on the ship, I crossed my fingers that we'd be good on the land tour also. (We were.)

 

Then on the bus into Denali, one of the first things our driver Sarah mentioned was that there was a respiratory illness going around. She said this only to encourage everyone to use the hand sanitizer she had, especially since the restrooms didn't have running water to wash with.

 

We were lucky to see so much wildlife on the tour. Sarah said that until about a week before that, sightings were slim because it was too hot. So I guess I should be grateful for the rain and chilliness.

 

Once the bus turned around and headed back to the Denali Park entrance, we made one more rest stop, probably at Teklanika. While we were there, Sarah cleaned the windows on the driver's side of the bus. She said for some reason, the windows on that side get dirtier on these busses.

 

The weather had changed on the way back. When we got to Polychrome Pass, it looked like this instead of the beauty that had been there earlier.

 

 

The last hour or more of the tour, it rained. So glad it held off because it would have been difficult to spot anything.

 

 

And in case you're wondering what Jo did while I was on the tour, she walked across to Glitter Gulch and shopped. She found a fabric store there, but she said the quilting material they had was disappointing. And she shopped in the many stores in the Denali Princess Lodge complex, then had a nice dinner at the restaurant called Base Camp also part of the Princess Lodge complex.

[Harleygirl06]

Thank you for your great review so far!! Can't wait to read about copper river! Glad you had such a great trip!