Difference between Denali Explorer and On Your Own

[MudderBear]

Doesn't seem to be much difference between the two, except On Your Own does one night at McKinley Lodge and then two nights at Denali Princess, while Denali Explorer does the three nights just at the Denali Princess.

 

The one exception seems to be that the Denali Explorer includes the Natural History Tour.  There is quite a few hundred dollars difference between DE and On your Own.

 

Am I missing something?  

 

Also, on a different note, it seems as though Princess Only does the Natural History Tour now, while Holland America does the full Tundra Tour.  Right?

[maggiev]

My Travel Agent said, just upgrade to the Tundra Tour!!!

I say just book with Holland & not have to spend extra after already spending too much

[dickinson]

In general, On Your Own has no excursions whereas Denali Explorer does.  You can upgrade to the Tundra Wilderness Tour by telling your TA or calling Princess.  Right now that tour is shorter than usual because of a landslide.  I think I read that sometime next year it should be all cleared up.

 

When googling I saw that someone said Denali Explorer includes train travel as opposed to all buses on On Your Own.

Edited July 25, 2023 by dickinson

[MudderBear]

Oh, the bus might be a difference, yes.  Didn't see that.  Thanks.  Also didn't know I could upgrade to the Tundra Tour.  In all honesty, we did one of the tours in 2022 and we didn't see much.  Not sure if that's because it was Mid-May....vs. summer

[dickinson]

4 minutes ago, MudderBear said:

Oh, the bus might be a difference, yes.  Didn't see that.  Thanks.  Also didn't know I could upgrade to the Tundra Tour.  In all honesty, we did one of the tours in 2022 and we didn't see much.  Not sure if that's because it was Mid-May....vs. summer

Not sure which tour you didn't see much.  The landslide took place, I think, in 2021.  We were there in 2019 and did Tundra Wilderness.  We did see animals although not as many as I had hoped.  The animals come and go as they please!  If you do the On Your Own you can still get tours.  I believe the National Park Service has a bus that goes into Denali too although don't know how it compares.  

[smithop]

Hello,

 

I just booked with Princess for next May, 2024.  There is another cruise tour called Off the Beaten Path that includes Kenai lodge, so it's 6 days and visits all 3 lodges.  It starts with the train from Whittier, ends in Anchorage.

 

I looked at Holland also, some of their tours included some dinners it seemed.

 

I ended up with this OTBP because of the variety of lodges, and got a deal with my TA for OBC.

 

Thanks for the tip on upgrading to Tundra, will definitely do that!

 

Dave

[donaldsc]

15 hours ago, dickinson said:

In general, On Your Own has no excursions whereas Denali Explorer does.  You can upgrade to the Tundra Wilderness Tour by telling your TA or calling Princess.  Right now that tour is shorter than usual because of a landslide.  I think I read that sometime next year it should be all cleared up.

 

When googling I saw that someone said Denali Explorer includes train travel as opposed to all buses on On Your Own.

 

 

Whomever wrote what you read was very optimistic.  This is the latest and probably optimistic update on the job completion -

 

"The expected completion of a bridge on the Denali Park Road has been pushed back from 2025 to 2026. The 90-mile road into Denali National Park remains closed at about the halfway point, where it crosses a melt-driven landslide that has obliterated the road.".

 

https://www.ktoo.org/2023/05/31/completion-of-denali-park-road-bridge-pushed-back-to-2026/#:~:text=The expected completion of a,that has obliterated the road.

 

DON

Edited July 25, 2023 by donaldsc

[dickinson]

@donaldsc Wow!  I read it a few months ago and don't even remember a bridge being mentioned.  Glad you cleared it up so anyone reading this has correct info.