Tundra Wilderness Tour Questions?

[Doughball]

First I want to say that you guys on Cruise Critic are a great help to each other!:) :)

Now, During the first week of Jun 08, we will be doing the Alaska thing with Princess. We will be taking the rail south and then the cruise. My question is: When we go on the evening Tundra Wilderness Tour, what are the travel conditions? What is the vehicle like? Is there food and water? Bathroom stops? etc. Any information would be helpful. There will be six of us, and we are all 60 yrs old and in good shape. Thanks.

Doughball

[agabbymama]

We did a HAL cruisetour in Aug '07 and arrived in Denali about 1:00 pm. We were scheduled for the TWT at 2:30, but it was closer to 3:00 pm when we actually left the lodge. We were 53, 61, 64 & 67. The 53 & 67 year olds had had enough by the second rest stop. They asked the bus driver if there was a way to go back to the lodge. He told them to wait at the rest stop for the green shuttle bus. Then as we were continuing on, about 10 minutes down the dirt road, we met the shuttle, our driver leaned out and told the driver of the shuttle there were two folks at the rest stop, could he give them a ride back to the lodge. But they didn't get back real early (approx 9:00 pm).

 

The bus looks like an old school bus, the seats aren't that great (or big). Two people fill the bench seat. There was a box lunch on each seat and a single bottle of water. We had a slight problem as there was a single passenger that would not give up the bench seat (for two) and move to the bench at the back of the bus that holds 5. Therefore a husband and wife had to sit separate, and they weren't happy campers. The bus is equipped with monitors (like you would have on an airline) and a video camera, that the driver can zero in if the wildlife is too far away. Some were really close to the road, so were off in the distance. The video camera makes sure you see the animal if there is one.

 

The windows on the bus do open, but you get the dust from the dirt road, and after dark, the air (even in August) did cool down. So we had some on the bus complaining everytime a window was opened, that it was too cold in the bus. So I'd bring a sweater of some sort.

 

There are sandwiches at the snack shop at the lodge, a Subway across the road, or you could order a sandwich from the restaurant. At the turn around point at Toklat, the driver pulled out some packets of hot chocolate and had hot water, but the box lunch is really more of a snack. We had lunch before we boarded the bus, ate the snack, but was still hungry by about 8:00 pm. But it was too late at 11:00 pm to think of eating anything when we returned from the tour. There is no additional food or water once on the tour.

 

The bus stops for rest room breaks (or just rest stops) about every 1 1/2 hours when everyone can get off the bus. There are no restrooms on the bus itself. The bus makes lots of stops for wildlife sighting (where you gon't get off the bus).

 

Our tour lasted the full 8 hours. We returned to the lodge at 11:00 pm, then it was about another 20 minutes for the shuttle to take us to our cabin in the woods.

 

The animal sightings vary, we saw about 10 bears, 1 moose, 1 caribou by himself, then about 3 hours later, we saw a heard of about 20 caribou, 5 Dall sheep on the mountain side (very high up), 1 lone prairie dog, 1 Golden Eagle, 1 wolf and about 1000 rabbits after it got dark. I was hoping for a fox, but that didn't happen.

 

Not sure of your schedule, but be prepared for a long tiring day. We were up in Fairbanks at 6:00 for the train to Denali, after the 3-4 hour train ride, then the afternoon/evening TWT, we were beat by 11:30 when we returned to the cabin. I wouldn't have missed it, but it is a long day.

[Doughball]

Thanks for the great information GABBYMAMMA. That is some of the best I've seen on this site.

Doughball

[agabbymama]

Thanks for the great information GABBYMAMMA. That is some of the best I've seen on this site.

Doughball

 

You're very welcome. Have a great trip!