Alaska Cruise Tour & Cruise on the Radiance of the Seas Review 7/25/15 – 8/7/15

[Bmorecruiser021]

Good morning all, and thanks for all the positive feedback!

 

Monday ~ July 26 2015 ~ Denali

 

Today was an overcast rainy day. We had breakfast at the lodge with my FIL and BIL before meeting with our tour group to board the bus for the Denali Natural History Tour.

 

 

 

So a little information about the Denali tours. The Natural History Tour is part of your land tour package, and as you can see from the descriptions below, very different from the Tundra Tour. The Tundra Tour is an "upgrade" and costs money (exact price was on the earlier optional excursion picture) As you can also see the Tundra tour is longer, leaving at 5 in the morning and returning around 2pm. The History Tour we went on left around 9 in the morning and returned about the same time, 2pm. You are allowed to bring food and water on both tours and I highly recommend doing so. I don't remember what others in our group said they were given to eat on the Tundra Tour, but on the History Tour we got a bottle of water and a power bar.

 

This was the only regret I had from the whole vacation. We saw no wildlife on our tour. Those in our group that did the Tundra Tour saw Moose, and Grizzlies, sheep and more. If I went again this would be the only thing I changed (even though it meant getting up really early in the morning, which is why our family decided not to go)

 

 

 

The bus pick us up at the hotel and took us to the Wilderness Access Center. This was one of the parks buses, what appeared to be a converted old school bus. NOT one of the nice coach buses we had been riding around in for the cruise tour. This was fine by us, but some of the other participants were a little upset with the travel arrangements, so I wanted to make this clear in my review.

 

At the Access Center we watched a movie about Denali and the building of the one and only road into the park. Then we bought some food from the little gift shop they had and headed back onto the bus for our drive into Denali.

 

 

[Bmorecruiser021]

As we entered the park, the bus driver talked to us about the history of the park and the area in general.

 

 

The driver told us his story, and how he ended up working in Denali.

 

We made a stop about an hour and a half in, for a bathroom break and a living history presentation.

 

 

These are the bathroom that are available along the way, there are no bathrooms on the bus.

 

 

 

 

The living history presentation was really interesting. The presenter pretended to be the first superintendent of the park, and talked to how the park came into existence. The presentation was given at one of the winter cabins that the rangers use to patrol the park in the winter.

 

We then walked back to the bus and continued further into the park.

 

[Arizona Cruz Chic]

Love your review and awesome pictures!!!

 

***

[Bmorecruiser021]

We crossed the Savage River and stopped at the Ranger station. One of the park rangers got on the bus and talked to us for a few minutes.

 

 

We traveled some more, up to the turnaround overlooking the river. An Athabascan Indian came onboard and told us about her culture and sang us a song. It was breathtaking.

 

 

Ali and I took a walk and took some pictures up on the ridge. Even with the whether being raining, the scenery was still beautiful.

 

 

 

 

We got on the bus and headed back to the hotel. Even with the rain and not seeing any animals, it was still a wonderful adventure.

[Bmorecruiser021]

When we got back to the hotel we rested for a while, then my in-laws wanted to go to the "CabinNite" dinner theatre (an optional excursion). The theatre was located on the hotel grounds in their "Miners Camp".

 

 

The miners plaza had gift shops, a sifting station for bags of gems you could buy at the gift shops, and a few other little shops in the area along with the dinner theatre.

 

 

 

 

The dinner theatre was all you can eat salmon, ribs, and sides. Man was that food good. It was also a show with singing, dancing, and living history with the actors pretending to be the first pioneers and travelers to Denali.

 

 

[Bmorecruiser021]

The food was delicious! And the show was very entertaining. I got picked to play a moose, it was easy, I just had to die when i got shot. Ali told me I did wonderful, but I think ill keep my day job.

 

 

 

 

We took our time walking back to our hotel room, taking pictures along the way. Turned out to be a gorgeous night!

 

 

 

[bluebeard39]

I will be following along as we are doing Cruisetour 3B in July 2016. Thank You for the wonderful review.

Paul

[Bmorecruiser021]

Tuesday ~ July 27 2015 ~ Denali to Talkeetna

 

We woke up in the morning and put our bags outside our door then walked to the lodge for breakfast. It was another rainy morning.

 

 

We learned a few thing that morning, talking to some of the locals, that I would like to share. Turns out that only 50%, or 1 in 2 people, that visit Denali actually see wildlife. Furthermore only 30% or 3 in 10 actually get to see Mt. McKinley. Talkeetna is actually closer to Mt. Mckinley (about 30 miles) then Denali is (which is about 60 to 90 miles away). Last interesting fact we learned was that it rains or is bad whether a majority of the time. The locals told us that if we have good whether at all on our vacation to consider ourselves very lucky, since most tourists come up to Alaska and never have good whether or see much of anything, due to the whether.

 

After breakfast the group loaded up on Ogilvie and headed to "Glitter Gulch", the tourist trap located across the street for the princess cruise compound which was about 10 minutes away.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another things the locals talked to us about was all the infrastructure that Princess Cruise Line (and by default Holland America) had within the interior of Alaska. Elizabeth joked that the locals call it "Princessesland" (a spin on Disneyland). And its true. The Princess passengers had their own hotels, tour specialists, buses, and even trains (ill show you a picture later). This definitely allows each cruise lines guests a very different experience when enjoying the Alaskan interior through a Cruise Tour.

 

Ali and I shopped around for a while buying souvenirs and trinkets, before meeting up with the rest of the group at the bus. The bus then took us back to the National Park.

[Alayne]

I am really enjoying this review. The first time I went to Alaska we did a cruise tour and loved it. It was with Princess and our group consisted of 14 people. That was sure a lot smaller than the groups now. That was back in 2000. When we went into the park we were lucky and saw every animal possible. All our excursions were included in the price of the trip. The only extra we had to pay was for the helicopter tour to the glacier. All meals were included too. The second time we went to Alaska was in 2009 and it was on the repo tour of the Radiance and loved it just as much as the first trip.

 

Looking forward to the rest of your review.

Edited August 13, 2015 by Alayne

[Bmorecruiser021]

Elizabeth dropped us off at the Denali train station and David told us we had about an hour if we wanted to walk up to the visitors center and look around, which was only a 5 minute walk from the train station. So thats exactly what we did.

 

 

 

The center had an aerial map of all of the park, along with interactive exhibits and life size replicas of the animals that can be found in Denali, along with more information on the people native to Alaska.

 

 

 

 

After looking around we made our way back down to the train station where we learned that there had been a mud/rock slide that covered the railroad tracks (very common we found out) and that our train had been delayed for half an hour. That was ok, gave us time to talk to Elizabeth and hear about all her travels and adventures growing up. Her dad was in the Coast Guard, so she had lived all over the state of Alaska and had plenty of stories to share and kept us entertained while waiting.

[Bmorecruiser021]

While waiting for our train, the Princess train pulled in and picked up passengers.

 

 

A few minutes later our train pulled up. We had 2 train cars attached to the back of the train. We sat with our bus and another bus from our cruise tour.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The train car was really neat, with the dinning room on the first level and all the seats and the bar on the second. There was an elevator for those who needed it and a small spiral staircase for everyone else. There was also a small outdoor observation platform on the first floor. Very cool idea!

[Bmorecruiser021]

On this leg of the trip we were getting lunch, but here is the entire menu for those who are interested: (sorry picture quality isn't the best)

 

 

 

 

 

We were so hungry! We ordered the Reindeer Chili to share for a starter and then I had the Seafood Pasta and Ali had the Chicken Wrap. We shared a Brownie for dessert. Everything was delicious and we were so hungry I only remember to get a picture of the chili (sorry). You got to remember the train was late so we were eating lunch around 3:30ish.

 

 

But the view while eating was spectacular!

 

 

The train employees had a great way to conduct service. Since the dinning room could only accommodate about half the guests on the second level, they started seating from one end of the train car, and bar service from the other end. That way everyone was helped. The bar service was easy enough, they had a menu (I forgot to get a picture sorry) and you opened a tab corresponding to your seat. You were allowed to get up and walk around, move seats and talk with people, but you had to remember your original seat number if you wanted bar service. The train was cashless so be sure to bring a card.

 

David told us that if we did not want to buy food on the train we did not have to, but unlike the bus, it was frowned upon to bring your own food or drink onto the train since they provide that service. Again not something we budgeted for due to lack of experience and information, hope some of you can learn from our oversight.

[EmpressofPurple]

More, more! So clear and helpful!! Thank you!! Can't wait to hear about the cruise portion and port stops, too. Excellent!!!

[js4rq]

Gorgeous photos... more please! :)

[cjdixon4]

DH and I hope to do an Alaska Cruisetour in 2017, and your photos are simply AWESOME! Thank you for a wonderful review. More! More!

[Bmorecruiser021]

As we headed out we passed over the Denali Park Village Hotel. The hotel we stayed at the last 2 nights. It put everything into perspective as to how the layout of the hotel was geographically.

 

 

The red roofs are the buildings in the Miners Plaza, and the grey roofs are the hotel rooms. It really is amazing how it is nestled right into the tree line beside the river.

 

The railroad has only one track with designated pull off spots where one train will have to stop and give the right away to another train. I just happened to be on the outside observation platform when one of these right aways happened (and it happen 4 or 5 times on our 3 and a half hour ride to Talkeetna).

 

 

We learned that the Alaskan Rail Road operates passenger service along the tracks from 8am to 8pm and then they operate freight from 8pm to 8am. The cruise lines don't have their own trains (with the exception of princess) instead the cruise tours rent out a "Wilderness Express" car and attach it to the end of the Alaskan Rail Road passenger trains.

 

The views while traveling to Talkeetna were magnificent.

 

 

 

 

[Bmorecruiser021]

Elizabeth picked us up and drove us the minute drive to the hotel.

 

We checked into our room, got another parking lot facing room.

 

 

One thing we did not realize is that this hotel (and the Seward hotel) did not have AC units in their rooms (and Alaska was in a heat wave when we were there - mid to upper 70's). Im a bigger guy and really enjoys my AC units or a fan, the front desk was more then happy to give me a fan (at both hotels)

 

 

 

Although our room faced the parking lot, my in-laws room faced Mt. McKinley and the windows in the lobby also faced the mountain. This is what we would have seen if it was a clear day and what my mother, father, and brother; ended up seeing when they were there the next night on their cruise tour. David also told us that you can call the front desk and ask for a mountain wake up call, and if McKinley becomes visible they will call your room day or night.

 

 

 

The family was going to go flight seeing and take a small plane to McKinley and land on the Ruth glacier which is on McKinley's south slope. While waiting I was able to catch a picture of one of the planes we could be taking coming in for a landing.

 

 

More on the flight tomorrow all, have a great night everyone!

Edited August 14, 2015 by Bmorecruiser021

[edjny]

 

So a little information about the Denali tours. The Natural History Tour is part of your land tour package, and as you can see from the descriptions below, very different from the Tundra Tour. The Tundra Tour is an "upgrade" and costs money (exact price was on the earlier optional excursion picture) As you can also see the Tundra tour is longer, leaving at 5 in the morning and returning around 2pm. The History Tour we went on left around 9 in the morning and returned about the same time, 2pm. You are allowed to bring food and water on both tours and I highly recommend doing so. I don't remember what others in our group said they were given to eat on the Tundra Tour, but on the History Tour we got a bottle of water and a power bar.

 

This was the only regret I had from the whole vacation. We saw no wildlife on our tour. Those in our group that did the Tundra Tour saw Moose, and Grizzlies, sheep and more. If I went again this would be the only thing I changed (even though it meant getting up really early in the morning, which is why our family decided not to go)

 

We took the 8B tour a few weeks ago. The Tundra Tour is included in this tour. We left at about 9:00am for the Tundra Tour. Our group filled the Park Service bus, so they make the time more convenient. The early hour one is if you walk up and pay to go.... We had rain for the entire length of the tour, but we did see four of the big five (grizzly, sheep, caribou and moose). The one we missed was wolves...

 

BTW, we were in the same bus as you were and was driven by Elizabeth..... She is a real sweety..... We had a great time with her.

Edited August 14, 2015 by edjny

[Bmorecruiser021]

We took the 8B tour a few weeks ago. The Tundra Tour is included in this tour. We left at about 9:00am for the Tundra Tour. Our group filled the Park Service bus, so they make the time more convenient. The early hour one is if you walk up and pay to go.... We had rain for the entire length of the tour, but we did see four of the big five (grizzly, sheep, caribou and moose). The one we missed was wolves...

 

BTW, we were in the same bus as you were and was driven by Elizabeth..... She is a real sweety..... We had a great time with her.

 

Thank you, I did not know the Tundra Tour was included in any of the packages, very good information to know for next time! It seems that the Tundra Tour is the way to go either way:)

 

Yeah we LOVED Elizabeth, she has so much knowledge and insight into the area. She really made our vacation!

[Bmorecruiser021]

Afternoon all! So picking up from where I left off:

 

Yesterday I said that from the lobby windows you could see McKinley on a clear day/night. Well this is what we saw while we were at the hotel:

 

 

However this is what my parents and brother saw the next night:

 

 

Amazing! And now they can call themselves part of the 30% club.

 

After waiting for a short while, our family of 6 met up with 4 others from our tour group and we all boarded a van that took us to K 2 aviation. It was a short 5 minute drive. There the staff got our weight (only so much weight allowed in a small airplane), then we put on our snow shoes that they provided for us. It was really easy, slipped right on over our regular shoes.

 

 

 

The pilot grabbed us all up and walked us to his plane.

 

 

[Bmorecruiser021]

At the plane he gave us a short safety briefing, then asked who wanted to be his co-pilot. Well i jumped at the chance!

 

 

 

 

 

We taxied to the runway and took off, headed for the Ruth Glacier on Mt. McKinley!

 

 

[Bmorecruiser021]

As we were flying there we passed through one storm after another. The pilot warned us that if conditions were bad, we would not be able to land. He continued to tell us that he would also fly us up to McKinley, but again there was no grantee that we would be able to see the mountain, he cannot control the whether after all. We said that was fine by us. The pilot told us that if we could not land we would get some of our money back, but not a total refund. We didn't care, it was just so amazing being up there at all and seeing what we were seeing!

 

Luckily for us, as we crested the mountain ridge, the sun cam out. Letting us see all the beautiful features below us. So many glaciers, i forgot all their names.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A little further the pilot told us conditions were good and we were able to land on the glacier. We all go so excited! As we were coming in for a landing I could see pools of glacier water. SO BLUE!

 

[Bmorecruiser021]

The landing went fine and before I knew it we were standing, and running, and playing on the glacier!

 

 

 

I mean come on, who can pass up having a snow ball fight on a glacier, with glacier snow!

 

 

The pilot, didn't find it as funny as we did, and warned us that if he got hit with a snow ball we would be walking home :eek:

 

I took a few more pictures before it was time to load back up and head home. All in all we got a good half hour on the glacier, but boy did the time pass quickly!

 

 

[Bmorecruiser021]

On the way home the pilot took us around to the north side of McKinley, hoping the the whether was better there. But unfortunately the cloud ceiling was at 15 thousand feet and McKinley's summit is above 20. We did get to see most of it though. Its on the left side of the picture below, ascending up into the clouds.

 

 

We did get to see some of the other high mountain summits, in order of the pictures below there is Hunter, Healy, and Foraker.

 

 

 

 

The sun started to peak through again so the pilot turned us around.

 

 

But still no dice and we were unable to see all of McKinley.

 

 

O well, it was still an incredible adventure!

[cjdixon4]

Wow, Bmore, just WOW. Keep 'em coming, the photos are simply incredible.