8.5 hrs Denali to Whittier?

[Mrs.Gosse]

When I booked our land and sea vacation package from Anchorage to Vancouver following a five-day connoisseur package I asked how long we would be on a bus. The woman said about 3 to 4 hours each time. I got on today and noticed they had added some information to each day's details. The day we leave Denali it says we are on a motor coach for eight and a half hours with A2 hour lunch break in Anchorage. Will someone please explain how that time line works? I am having a lot of trouble with the idea of being on a bus for eight and a half hours. I'm hoping that they meant 8 & a half hours including the lunch and no more than 4 hours on the first leg. Things like that. My husband will lose it on a bus for that long. Not to mention his bad knee will have a lot of trouble. I was really hoping to have some enjoyable time in Anchorage. Plus we will be meeting our daughter there who can not do the land segment. Sounds like that might not work out.

[mapleleaves]

the mileage is available on most map sources:

- Denali to Anchorage is around 240 miles. Usually takes 5 hrs but with construction delays can go longer. It's only a 2 lane hwy.

- Anchorage to Whittier is only 60 miles but requires going thru a tunnel which is only open on the half hour and additional time for staging. Plan on about 1 1/2 - 2 hrs.

 

So 8 hrs sounds pretty reasonable.

 

If you have an early departure from Denali you will probably stop in Anchorage for lunch for an hour or so. Ask about that. Or maybe you stop in Talkeetna which is halfway between Denali and Anchorage and would be about 3 hrs ..... maybe that's why she referred to sections of the drive being 3 hrs.

Edited May 19, 2016 by mapleleaves

[Budget Queen]

This is a grueling bus transfer. You do get the hour in Anchorage for lunch, usually. There are some included lunches with some cruise tours, that stop up in MatSu.

 

It's about 5 hours no stops Denali/Anchorage, and 1 1/2 PLUS tunnel time Anchorage/Whittier. You can also add in at least another 1/2 hour for construction. It's pretty much a given you will run into it.

 

By rail, it's 10 hours. Both these times catch a LOT of people. Wrong assumptions are made very frequently.

[oaktreerb]

It sounds like you are on a Princess tour. They work closely with HAL in Alaska and every bus tour I have taken with a HAL cruisetour stops somewhere appx every two hours for a short comfort (bathroom) stop. THe train is a much more comfortable way to travel.

[rslinky]

We did a land/sea tour last year and that 8 hours to the ship seemed daunting. On Holland, we stopped in Wasilla and had lunch and then went to the headquarters for the Idid. We also stopped for a couple bathroom breaks. The ride between Anchorage and Whittier is beautiful. I will tell you that the trip was closer to 10 hours for us. Leaving Denali at 7:30 and getting to the ship just before 5:30. No way around it, the trip is long. It was made bearable by the stops, the day was perfectly clear so we enjoyed the mountain in its full glory. We had a great bus driver who played trivia games and gave us lots of history/information. Knowing the ship was waiting at the end of the long day helped too.

[Mrs.Gosse]

It sounds like you are on a Princess tour. They work closely with HAL in Alaska and every bus tour I have taken with a HAL cruisetour stops somewhere appx every two hours for a short comfort (bathroom) stop. THe train is a much more comfortable way to travel.

 

This is included in my package. Train is not an option.

[Mrs.Gosse]

This is rather saddening. I hope that it makes bathroom breaks. I have to use the bathroom alot. One of the things that made me unsure about taking this tour was that I did not want to spend most of my time on a bus. It shows our Tundra tour that they booked for us having what sounds like a 4 hour bus ride during an 8-hour day the day before before. I would not mind if we could take the train both ways instead of just one. This really bums me out. And for everyone who keeps talking about the lunch break, I said in my original post that we are stopping in Anchorage for lunch. It just surprises me how long of a travel day this is, the day we get on the ship. That is definitely going to be the only thing that gets me through. Especially with no signal to watch Netflix lol

Edited May 19, 2016 by Mrs.Gosse

[Mrs.Gosse]

Okay I just talked to DH. We will be on princess. Can anyone tell me if we will be on a motor coach with a bathroom? Can anyone confirm that it will make stops like HAL? He is not liking the sound of this and even considering changing our itinerary.

[Budget Queen]

Okay I just talked to DH. We will be on princess. Can anyone tell me if we will be on a motor coach with a bathroom? Can anyone confirm that it will make stops like HAL? He is not liking the sound of this and even considering changing our itinerary.

 

If you are open to changing- do so. See if you can upgrade to the train, even though it takes 10 hours and will cost you more. The comfort is far superior. There is a bathroom on the bus, but it's not that pleasant and tiny. Be certain to have a good supply of sanitizing wipes. I'll assume you are 2 nights at Denali?

[Mrs.Gosse]

Yes we are two nights and Denali. It didn't offer us the train. Is that something that I can ask princess about? And noticed that the map shows a train link from Denali to Whittier but we were automatically placed on a Motorcoach transfer. I've spent a lot of time on a motor coach over my life and I can handle it, as long as I know there is a bathroom. If I have to wait for a stop my bladder will go into panic mode LOL. That is 50% of my concern the other 50% is my husband with his bad knee needing to stretch. The train would solve that. But also I hate that we are losing an entire day in Alaska on a bus. I completely understand that Alaska is a great mass of land and it takes that long but it is very disheartening. I tried to look tonight at other itineraries but I just did not have the time.

Edited May 20, 2016 by Mrs.Gosse

[eandj]

Did you book with an agent or direct? The Princess land packages book pretty far in advance, especially going south. I'm not sure what flexibility the escorted packages offer. But you need to work with whomever you booked.

[mapleleaves]

It would take quite a change in your itinerary to accommodate the train schedule. The train leaves Denali at 12:30pm arriving to Anc at 8pm. So you would need to leave your tour a day early, or choose another cruisetour.

 

By the way, the Tundra Wilderness Tour is 8 hrs RT, The good news is that the bus stops about every 90 minutes at a rest area so people can take a stroll or use the restrooms.

 

https://www.alaskarailroad.com/ride-a-train/schedules

[donaldsc]

Okay I just talked to DH. We will be on princess. Can anyone tell me if we will be on a motor coach with a bathroom? Can anyone confirm that it will make stops like HAL? He is not liking the sound of this and even considering changing our itinerary.

 

One of the problems w CruiseTours is that people book them w/o really understanding the details of exactly what they are booking. The cruise companies are very good at hiding details until it is too late. I am not sure what your options are at this point but if you have a really good TA, they may be able to help you. If you have booked with Princess, you can have them transfer the booking to the TA of your choice. If you have booked w a TA, they will probably not be willing to transfer the booking to another TA unless you pay a penalty.

 

 

DON

Edited May 20, 2016 by donaldsc

[Mrs.Gosse]

One of the problems w CruiseTours is that people book them w/o really understanding the details of exactly what they are booking. The cruise companies are very good at hiding details until it is too late. I am not sure what your options are at this point but if you have a really good TA, they may be able to help you. If you have booked with Princess, you can have them transfer the booking to the TA of your choice. If you have booked w a TA, they will probably not be willing to transfer the booking to another TA unless you pay a penalty.

 

 

DON

 

I book directly through princess. I did lots and lots of research. I even asked the princess representative when I booked this how many hours at a time we will be on a bus. She told me no more than 4. I also you had no way to find out that tundratour spent half the day on the bus. All of these details were just added to my cruise personalizer recently. I booked it 3 months ago and these details were just added now.

[alwaysfrantic]

My husband had initially booked the similar route on HAL for us. I called HAL with an unrelated question and the rep said "oh, do you know how long the bus ride is?" She recommended a different land portion that puts on a bus only about 3 hours from Fairbanks to Denali with the train from Denali to port.

[Mrs.Gosse]

My husband had initially booked the similar route on HAL for us. I called HAL with an unrelated question and the rep said "oh, do you know how long the bus ride is?" She recommended a different land portion that puts on a bus only about 3 hours from Fairbanks to Denali with the train from Denali to port.

 

Intersting! Thanks for your input. I'm worried about losing money by changing the itinerary now because now that princess is doing Club class dining, the Suites have gone up.

[oaktreerb]

If you are past final payment I wouldn't worry about it. If you haven't made final payment you have options to cancel and choose another itinerary.

 

I should expect the bus to stop for "comfort" breaks. Princess does these cruise tours every year, they are very experienced and know what the passenger needs. The bus will be comfortable and I'm pretty sure it will have a bathroom in the back (although most passengers would prefer that it go unused). Some of the comfort stops in Alaska may be more like a modern outhouse but it's part of the adventure.

 

I hope you have a wonderful time in Alaska and will enjoy it so much that you will want to go back in a few years to see what you missed the first time!