Avoid Princess Denali Lodge at all costs.

[Tina55]

Hello everyone, I'm so depressed right now. We just in the last month booked with Princess for a cruisetour and are staying at all the hotels mentioned above. It was my idea to take Princess because every T/A I talked to recommended them. To top it all off another couple are going with us on my recomendation. AHHHH, I feel sick. Is it all that bad????? Never been to Alaska before and I was soooo excited but now .......and all that money.........please tell me it's not that bad.

 

Tina

[stephenandrew]

Its not that bad (or atleast I didn't think so). Read my previous post.

[cowtec]

We booked our cruisetour several weeks ago for August 05 which includes the Princess lodges in Fairbanks, Denali, McKinley, and Kenai. I've been hearing the same mixed reviews of some of the lodges that you have. It seems that there are many different opinions, so I am going with the positives and looking forward to the experience. If the Denali doesn't work out, it is only one night out of our trip and we have 12 others to look forward to. When are you going?? Which tour?

 

Sue

[Tina55]

:) We are going July 1st, land first then southbound on the Dawn Princess. I agree with you, it is only one night. I won't be at work so that's a big plus in my book. :D

[ruvidu]

We were at the Denali Princess Lodge on 5/13 this year and we thought it was terrible as well. It pretty well helped make our mind up that we will never do a Princess tour again. We were not pleased with many of the staff of the hotels on our tour at all. We then found that the staff on board the Coral Princess went to the same school.

 

Next trip to Alaska will definatly be independent and on another cruise line.

 

Russ

[stephenandrew]

Sue & Tina--

I think you have the right attitude and honestly think you will find the place, at worst, mediocre. Have fun.

[ruvidu]

"I think you have the right attitude and honestly think you will find the place, at worst, mediocre. Have fun."

 

That's right. Where else can you go and pay $6 ,000 - $7.000 for mediocricty.

[Mezzaluna]

Was I on the same planet???? We had a wonderful stay at this property in early July this year. We stayed in building 700. I found none of the problems I read about here.

 

I do realize that with a property this large and with as many buildings as there are at Denali Princess that everyone's stay won't be the same. Therefore, it would be more fair to call this property uneven than a total disaster.

 

I thought the dinner theater show was not worth the money at all. The food was mediocre. The performers were talented but had silly material to work with. This does not mean everyone will dislike this experience; it means we did not like it.

[Budget Queen]

The McKinley Princess is the nicest property out of your list, but not somewhere I would personally be without a car. this is my experience only. :) Most important is the Denali park tour included with the Tundra Wilderness needed if you want to see anything- including wildlife, the Natural History tour is useless (and offered FREE by the Park Service shuttle buses). Bottom line- I never take recommendations from travel agents without some more homework. Most haven't even been to Alaska and there certainly can be a conflict of interest due to commisions on cruisetours. Go and have a great time. If needed learn from this experience- it may make you a better traveler for the future. :)

[argosy]

and if you were lucky enough to stay in that one, then I have no doubt your experience was different. From what I remember, Bldg 700 had entrances to the rooms from a central indoor hallway. It also had its own coin operated laundromat and was air-conditioned. You were fortunate.

 

However, if you are in one of the older buildings on this property, it is very rustic. As I have stated many times here, I LIKE rustic. I just don't think that 160 per night is a fair price for rustic! Not when there are gaps around the doorways, showers that don't work, toilets that are only functional if you know how to jiggle the handle, and the room is never cleaned (in a 3 day stay). Add to that a heating system that won't shut off and that you have very little control over (it's either LO or HI) even on the hottest days...and you have the equivalent of a Motel 6, which, by the way....does NOT cost 160 per night, plus tax.

 

We loved the cruise part of our vacation. We managed to enjoy the land portion of our vacation, in spite of all the problems with Princess Denali Lodge. If you are scheduled to stay there and are now worried...don't be. Just be prepared. I doubt that anyone would have ALL the problems we had, and that we were simply unlucky in some of my examples, and that in all likelihood you will have a decent visit. But I was not exaggerating, and I have two other couples, besides us, to back everything up. My recent post about this was not to complain all over again, but rather to comment on Princess Land Tours' lack of response to my letter. If they HAD, and had offered some type of apology (I was not looking for any $ credit) then MAYBE I would consider another, DIFFERENT Princess Lodge for a trip in the future.