sossler Posted July 14, 2021 Report Share Posted July 14, 2021 Hello, My family would like to do an Alaska cruise next summer, or summer 2023. My dad is really interested in seeing Denali, but it is hard to find information on how to see it from the cruise. It looks like there are land tours, but it also looks like they are multi day and would not be round trip? I am pretty confused about this! What is the best way to see Denali on a cruise? Additionally, which Alaska cruise would you recommend? Are there certain ports that are better than others? Any and all tips welcome! Sarah Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Psycho and Barb Posted July 14, 2021 Report Share Posted July 14, 2021 We enjoyed it in June 2017 while on the Radiance of the Seas but it was on the land portion of the cruisetour. The tour busses provide were excellent and our tour included tour deeper in to the park. As I remember there was several different tours available. Make sure to bring a camera with a telephoto lens...Lots of the bears were a good distance up the mountain. Sad note...With the remoteness of the park, we had a gentleman suffer a heart attack at one of the rest stops...No AED available. CPR performed for well over an hour till ambulance arrived and unfortunately, the gentleman did not make it. Couldn't understand why each rest stop does not have an AED. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AshleyDillo Posted July 14, 2021 Report Share Posted July 14, 2021 You would have to do a land tour in order to see Denali. We did cruise tour 8B which had a 7-night land tour and then the 7-night southbound cruise from Seward. The 8B tour included a 8-hour Denali trip which is basically 4 hours there and 4 hours back. It was absolutely amazing. We also were fortunate enough to be able to see Denali on the horizon for most of our land trip as we had fantastic weather. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarvinS Posted July 14, 2021 Report Share Posted July 14, 2021 As I've lived in Alaska for the last 40 years, I've been to Denali several times. When trying to get there in conjunction with a cruise, you will usually need to plan to add a land tour of some sort to get there. Denali is a several hour car/train/bus ride one way to get there. Once at the Denali park entrance (at at the main visitor's center), they base several different park tour buses from that facility that travel varying distances into the park. There is a road that goes 98 miles into the park and ends at "Wonder Lake" which is where most of the scenic pictures of Denali with a pretty lake in the foreground are taken from. This is as close as you can get on a bus tour. Getting to "Wonder Lake" involves a 12-hour round-trip bus ride (about 5+ hours in; a lunch/break time; 5+ hours back to the main entrance). You make several stops along the road both ways (in/out) as the various smaller visitor centers, so it is not one 5 hour ride only. They also stop the bus when there is wildlife easily seen along the side of the road (such as bears, moose, etc.) There are shorter trips that only go part way into the park (to other small visitor centers along the 98 mile road; there are 3 or 4 of them) and then back out. Being able to see the top of Denali is absolutely NOT guaranteed. I've seen it a few times clearly from within the park, but the majority of the time (75%+), its usually got a layer of clouds hanging around it. Irregardless, seeing the wildlife is phenomenal. Seeing the top of the mountain is just bonus! My profile picture is actually of Denali on a clear day from a plane as I was flying past from Anchorage to Fairbanks. My recommendation: Do a land-tour that includes Denali, and take the bus tour that goes all the way in! You won't regret it. WAAAYTOOO, Bob_KY, KristiZ and 2 others 2 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baked Alaska Posted July 15, 2021 Report Share Posted July 15, 2021 I am someone that dislikes bus tours and being rushed along with the others. I'd rather do my own thing (no time constraints, less people in/on my transportation if I choose). You can head to Alaska.org to research (which is half the fun)! A big CAVEAT is that you would receive C&A points with the Royal land tours. Obviously, if you created your own experience, you would not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jill Posted July 17, 2021 Report Share Posted July 17, 2021 We are booked next May on Radiance Southbound with a 3 day land tour beforehand. Ours is tour 1B Wilderness Express. Tour leaves from Anchorage. https://secure.viewer.zmags.com/publication/810de138#/810de138/37 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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