NCL CruiseTour for Alaska - Unexpected change

[chakram420]

I have booked NCL Alaska CruiseTour as wanted to visit Denali Park. We will be on Denali Valdez Explorer (tour starts on 25th June) and Denali Tundra WIlderness Tour was prominently listed in itinerary.  

Just checked-in and received eDocs with tour details. What I find - Denali on day 3 has Natural History Tour listed. 

I am talking with NCL cruise consultant and seems like they have limited say in how Premier Alaska Tours run land portion. 

Wanted to check if anyone else experienced similar issue!  

I find it unbelievable that NCL will change such an important itinerary for tour touted as their most picturesque tour of Denali and Alaska wilderness. 

 

From all the reviews I have seen for TWT and NHT, this switchover is definitely a loss of wildlife viewing opportunity. (With such a close start date, TWT is not available to book on our own).   

 

While we are so close to our tour and don't have much option left. If anyone looking into book CruiseTour, be aware. If anything changes with our tour, I will post update here. 

[1025cruise]

I could be mistaken, but I believe the Denali Tundra Wilderness tour is not currently being offered due to the road construction in the park;

[www3traveler]

Why would you expect a Cruise Consultant to have a say on how a tour is run?  Cruise Consultants are sub-contractors with the responsibility of selling as many cruises as they can. 

[chakram420]

25 minutes ago, 1025cruise said:

I could be mistaken, but I believe the Denali Tundra Wilderness tour is not currently being offered due to the road construction in the park;

that is the misdirected answer given. Yes, Tundra Wilderness is shorter now, due to landslide in park. But that's not new. Shorter Tundra tour is still offered, and it goes until mile 43, v/s mile 15 for Natural History tour. 

[The Traveling Man]

7 minutes ago, chakram420 said:

that is the misdirected answer given. Yes, Tundra Wilderness is shorter now, due to landslide in park. But that's not new. Shorter Tundra tour is still offered, and it goes until mile 43, v/s mile 15 for Natural History tour. 

We booked our tour of Denali independently when we were there following a cruise a few years ago.  We were able to spend a bit more time in the park than we would have if we had booked the tour through NCL.  Even so, parts of the park were closed because of road issues, herds of moose, or who knows what.  We still had a fabulous time there.

[mjkacmom]

NCL contracts with private tour companies, I don’t think they have much say, except yo maybe cancel?

[jamminlion]

Is the change a disappointment? For sure. Does it take away from Denali? Maybe. You will still be there, and believe me there are opportunities for wildlife viewing, even a few miles into the park. There was a significant landslide that wiped out the road. That limits how far anyone can go into the park. 

 

Try to make the best of it. Worst case, it's not what you expected, so plan another trip and this time do it on your own. 

 

Have a great trip!

[mapleleaves]

Do you have one night or two, at Denali? are you arriving by train?

It's possible that your landtour doesn't provide enough time for you to take the TWT due to your arrival and departure times at Denali. 

I know in the past there were some landtours that arrived by train mid afternoon and left at noon the next day which only allowed enough time for the NHT.  

 

Wildlife is never guaranteed and yes, if you could get further into the park the odds are better.  But moose sightings are common along the first 10 miles of the park road. I once saw a lynx with kitts there.   And bears are often seen starting around Milepost 40. 

 

If taking the TWT is a priority and your landtour provides the time,  book it yourself thru the Denali NPS website.  I would also suggest comparing the TWT to the East Fork Transit.  Both buses go to milepost 43 but the TWT is $144 while the Transit is only $34.

Transits | Denali National Park & Preserve AK | ReserveDenali.com

 

The 2nd map in this link shows the Park Road and stops.

 Maps - Denali National Park & Preserve (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)

 

 

[chakram420]

On 6/15/2024 at 1:52 PM, mapleleaves said:

Do you have one night or two, at Denali? are you arriving by train?

It's possible that your landtour doesn't provide enough time for you to take the TWT due to your arrival and departure times at Denali. 

I know in the past there were some landtours that arrived by train mid afternoon and left at noon the next day which only allowed enough time for the NHT.  

 

Some more info will explain why I am feeling disappointed. I selected this specific NCL CruiseTour for Denali & TWT. Now their land tour partner decided to downgrade it to NHT. We do have full day in Denali (arriving previous day by train, leaving next day by motorcoach), so time is not the constraint.

Yes, I looked into EFT and seriously considering booking it, while trying to get answer from NCL. It doesn't look like they have any clue on bus tour options and their land-tour vendor is not forthcoming on why downgrade. (Limited tickets are available for TWT, but it's not cheap for family)

 

I don't have issue with the change, if they provide enough notice and don't give illogical reason for change.

[mapleleaves]

I've made multiple trips into Denali, but always on a Transit bus.( I'm a budget traveler and can't justify spending 3-4 times the cost to book a Tour)

You're definitely in a bad spot. The NHT only goes to Mile 17 so not really far enough into the Park to experience the views and wildlife. The EFT goes so much further, so it seems like the best option.  HOWEVER when you take a Transit bus you have to find your own way to the Park Bus Depot plus pay the park entrance fee. (Tours pick up pax at hotels and BRING them to the depot).   So that's another wrinkle to resolve if you choose the EFT over the NHT. Perhaps your hotel is close enough to the park that you can walk, OR, there used to be a private shuttle bus that picked up for a reasonable fee. 

 

p.s.  push hard on NCL to refund the NHT value.

 

 

[chakram420]

5 hours ago, mapleleaves said:

I've made multiple trips into Denali, but always on a Transit bus.( I'm a budget traveler and can't justify spending 3-4 times the cost to book a Tour)

You're definitely in a bad spot. The NHT only goes to Mile 17 so not really far enough into

 

 

 

Yes, that's the direction I am leaning. Thanks for the details. 

Plan is to book EFT, while trying to sort out with NCL. If they gives refund, fine, otherwise EFT cost will me extra for me - not that bad.

I will be in Bluffs so they do have shuttle and in case we miss timings, they are only 1.5 miles away.

Perhaps this will give us chance to explore park, in our own terms. Now I can look into some trails from bus.