A couple of Princess cruisetour questions

[dogdoc2002]

Hi,

My partner and I are taking a Princess cruisetour in late June/early July. I didn't know that tours of Denali were included, I thought we did it on our own. After reading these boards, I've heard how dissappointing the Natural History tour is, and that we'd be better off to cancel and book the Polychrome tour bus (We don't get to Denali until 5 if we were doing the NHT). I asked our TA if we could cancel it for a refund, and she told us she couldn't, but we could skip it and do the other on our own. Is she just not wanting to do this, or is Princess giving her a hard time (we've booked with her before and got an awesome upgrade last year because of her). How can I go about canceling it to get the money refunded?

Second question- I would really like to do a flight tour of Denali/Mt. McKinley when we get to Talkeetna. Princess does offer some, but I was also interested in independent flights too. Does Princess offer multiple shuttles from Talkeetna to the McKinley lodge, or are we on our own to get to the lodge if we booked an independent tour. Again, the TA thought we'd be on our own, but I was lead to believe otherwise from reading these boards.

Thanks!

dogdoc2002

[LoveSanibel]

Not sure about some of your questions, but we switched our NHT to the Tundra Wilderness Tour. I called Princess land tours desk and they confirmed that I could switch but said TA had to make the change.

 

I emailed the TA and she made the switch. It did take a day or two to show up on the itinerary.

 

Hope this helps.

[#1survivorfan]

I called princess directly last year and cancelled the NHT in Denali and the Gold Panning tour in Fairbanks. Then I booked the shuttle bus to Fish Creek. Boy was I glad we did. The NHT saw a fraction of what we saw. BTW...Princess refunded me for the NHT and the Gold Panning. No problem for me.

[Budget Queen]

There are MANY reports of refunds for the Natural History tour, so definately you should be able to get it. Be persistant. Book the shuttle on your own, don't even bother to involve a TA who doesn't know enough about it.

 

 

As for flightseeing, YES Princess does offer a shuttle bus between McKinley Lodge and Talkeetna, I believe there is a fee?? I highly suggest you call them directly next week - when they should be fully open and get the information direct from THEM, not from your TA, and not from customer service.

 

There are many independent flightseeing operators, if you have any mobility impairments, be certain to ask about what pick up shuttles may be availble for you to the airport. It is very walkable, but a distance, if you can't handle it.

 

I never recommend booking the Tundra Wilderness tour on your own, the Toklat Shuttle goes to the SAME place, for change back from your NHT refund, otherwise you are going to be paying about $30 MORE pp. So potentially I will estimate the savings at least $75 for the same thing.

[dogdoc2002]

Unfortunately, due to the time we get in, the Wilderness tour isn't the option. The only option we have is the Polychrome at 6pm; I tried asking the TA about canceling the other (I've heard if I call Princess that they'll say the tA has to call). I assume getting a shuttle back to the Denali Princess Lodge at that time (11pm) won't be a problem.

I'll definitely call the McKinley lodge on Monday to ask about shuttle busses in the evening.

Thanks everyone!

dogdoc3003

[40yearcruiser]

My TA also told me it was not possible to cancel the NHT. I called Princess directly and asked for the land tour rep. They told me my TA had to do the cancellation, but when I advised them that I had already asked my TA to cancel it and she told me she couldn't the Princess rep did the cancellation for me and sent my TA the updated payment info. Needless to say, my TA was miffed with me and told me that the Princess rep got into trouble for talking directly to me about it. I think she was just embarassed about being wrong! The refund we received was $39 for adults and $16 for children.

[Budget Queen]

I assume getting a shuttle back to the Denali Princess Lodge at that time (11pm) won't be a problem.

 

dogdoc3003

 

 

 

Yes it will be a problem, they stop running by 9pm. A couple months ago there was a detailed option of using another lodge's shuttle bus and walking to the Princess Lodge.

 

It might have been the McKinley Chalet Resort??

[40yearcruiser]

I have been copying information from cruise critic and pasting it into a Word document for months and have this information from a previous poster--sorry don't have a record of who posted it. Anyway, we are hoping this will still apply this summer since our Toklat shuttle won't arrive back at the Visitor Center until 9 p.m. or later. Here is the infomation I copied:

 

: We were at the Denali Princess last August and had the same problem, ...How do we get back to the Princess Lodge if its too late for the Princess shuttle?

 

We were told by a Princess employee to get on the Red Line shuttle at the Visitors Center which picks up every hour at 25 minutes past the hour (ie 9:25PM, 10:25PM). That shuttle will take you to the McKinley Lodge which is essentially right next door to the Denali Princess. We were taking the 2PM Fish Creek shuttle so when we arrived at the the Wilderness Access Center I did verify with the employees there that the Red Line shuttle would be available because I didn't want to get stuck without a ride back.

 

The red line shuttle looks just like the park shuttle (tan school bus) except it has a red line going down the middle of it. The Wilderness Access Center is where the park shuttle starts and ends --BUT-- please note that the Red Line shuttle picks up at the Visitors Center, not the Wilderness Access Center. You'll have to ask the park shuttle driver to make a special stop and drop you off at the Visitor Center. My shuttle driver was great, even offered to radio ahead to the Red Line shuttle to ask that shuttle to wait for us if it looked like we were going to be late and miss it. (Our Fish Creek park shuttle was due back at 9:15PM, and if by chance we were running late and missed the 9:25PM Red Line then we would've had to wait till 10:25PM for the next one, which is something I really was hoping we didn't have to do, so our park shuttle driver offered to radio ahead in case we were late and ask the Red Line to wait for us. But as it turned out, we weren't late, so everything worked out perfectly). The Visitor Center was closed by the time we got dropped off, so please aware that you'll be waiting on the benches outside.

 

My trip was at the very end of last August so I don't if things are different in the high season, nor do I know if the times are still the same, but at least this should give you some ideas.