Anyone familiar with Denali Alaska?

GomezAddams

GomezAddams

Wandering and wondering
Staff member
The wife and I are planning an Alaskan cruise, and I'm strongly considering a one-way from Vancouver or Seattle that ends in Anchorage. From Anchorage, we'd take the train (gold star with the glass top cars) to Denali where we'd spend a night or two, then back on the train to Fairbanks where we'd fly home.

Trying to plan a trip to Denali park seems daunting. So many options, and so much to do. Where do you stay? What do you use for ground transportation?

Note that we are 62 and 59. We are both in decent shape, but any sort of serious hiking or climbing type activities are out.

Suggestions? Must see things?
 
We did Alaska a few years ago. The wife and I were going to stay at an Air BnB right outside the gates of Denali. Ended up bringing the kid and needed to stay in Fairbanks for an extra room that wouldn’t break the bank. We were planning on doing stuff around there and just going to Denali a couple days. We ended up driving to Denali everyday except for 1. There are plenty of hikes for people of all shapes and sizes. I really enjoyed the drive to and from just being able to see all the scenery.
 
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Dog sledding is a real rush.
Don't forget the bear spray.

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Haven't been there, but everyone I know who has done an Alaskan cruise has raved about it. When my folks did it years ago they also did that train side trip and loved it.
 
We didn’t do a cruise. But we flew into Fairbanks, took the train to Denali, stayed in the Princess lodge, took the train to Anchorage, then rented a car and drove to Seward.
 
micwalt said:
We didn’t do a cruise. But we flew into Fairbanks, took the train to Denali, stayed in the Princess lodge, took the train to Anchorage, then rented a car and drove to Seward.
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What did you do while you were in Denali? How did you get around at Denali?
 
Couple years ago 3 friends and myself spent 2 weeks backpacking in the Denali back country. Absolute incredible experience. Saw 7 bears, and had one morning be woken up to 3 of them IN our camp. That was a bit hair raising lol.

This was obviously the hardcore experience. But you can take a bus tour into the park as well and there are easy day hike. Though I think the inner road (only one) got wiped out in a land slide. Not sure if it has been repaired yet.
 
In 2017 we flew up to Fairbanks. We were marketing our military mental health program to the bases there. We rented a car and drove down to Denali for the day. Unfortunately it was September and the season was ending so not much was open. We strolled through the shops in Denali, that's about it. We then drove down and stayed a night in Talkeetna on the way to Anchorage. Talkeetna is one of my favorite places on earth. Beautiful, tiny town. Good food. Dog sled rides and plane rides available.
I can't remember if it was between Fairbanks and Denali or Denali and Talkeetna but there's a place called Skinny Dick's Halfway Inn. It's a bar and gift shop with some hilarious t-shirts.
Along the drive though, there are multiple stopping points to see out over the mountains which was fun. Cool gift shop somewhere along the route that had a lot of native made crafts. We bought a mask that you hang on the wall that looks like a native eskimo and it is made entirely from animal skins and fur. Not cheap. Nothing was cheap.
Oh there's also a little restaurant in the middle of nowhere along the drive that I had the best hamburger I've ever eaten, bar none. Nice lady running the place. I'll find some pictures here shortly.
Anchorage was great. Icebergs are awesome. Their zoo was awesome.
 
Tip:
Get a room with a balcony on the righthand side if you are heading north. The views outside the room are worth it. If you wind up with a room on the left side I wouldn't bother with paying extra for a view, as most of the land will be off the right side of the ship.
Of course if you are heading in the opposite direction, the opposite is true.
 
GomezAddams said:
What did you do while you were in Denali? How did you get around at Denali?
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We did some short hikes around the lodge area, as well as a couple excursions (jet boat and gold rush tour IIRC). There were shuttles to those.
 
Pine Apple Slim said:
Tip:
Get a room with a balcony on the righthand side if you are heading north. The views outside the room are worth it. If you wind up with a room on the left side I wouldn't bother with paying extra for a view, as most of the land will be off the right side of the ship.
Of course if you are heading in the opposite direction, the opposite is true.
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Balcony rooms on Alaska cruises are WAY expensive, and often sold out a year in advance.
We've done balcony rooms a couple of times on other cruises, and while nice, we just don't spend enough time in the room to enjoy them. I realize that in Alaska, there will be days of bad weather, but still I'd just as soon sit in a public area.
 
GomezAddams said:
Balcony rooms on Alaska cruises are WAY expensive, and often sold out a year in advance.
We've done balcony rooms a couple of times on other cruises, and while nice, we just don't spend enough time in the room to enjoy them. I realize that in Alaska, there will be days of bad weather, but still I'd just as soon sit in a public area.
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Yeah, we had a balcony room on a Tahiti cruise, and spent about 3 minutes there. Public lounging areas on deck have views and easy access to beverages.
 
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