Booking/pricing and Denali w/kids questions for those who've cruised Princess

[cmph]

We're looking at Alaska for summer 2018. My kiddos will have a heart attack that it might not be on DCL, but extended family has expressed interest in Denali add-ons. With 5 kids total (from toddler to 13yo) and a less than stellar (pre-kids) HAL cruise for all the adults involved - looking at Princess. I have actually cruised Alaska on Princess, but this was as a teenager when people didn't book far out; I feel like I know a ton about DCL booking/pricing, but nothing about other lines. So - I'm getting a lot of pushback from the others about booking soon. I was looking at historic pricing increases from opening day, and it seems like prices dropped slightly in Sept - I guess a sale? Is that typical for Princess? Otherwise, is pricing fairly stable whether you book 1.5yrs out or, say 9 months out? At what point do the cruises either experience a price upswing or start to sell out categories? fwiw, I'm not pleased with the waiting-for-months part, but I'm stuck.

Re: the Denali add-ons - has anyone done this with kids? I've looked back through old threads, and everyone loves the land portion, but the amount of time spent traveling makes me wonder how well that goes with kids in the mix.

 

[Shea&Van]

Following...we are in the exact same "boat." Wanting to do Alaska next summer but considering other lines for extended family and their desire to see Glacier Bay and other spots not utilized by DCL. GREAT questions.

 

[NancyIL]

I have sailed to Alaska on Princess twice. I tend to book early, and then watch for price drops - which almost always happen.

We have done land tours after 2 northbound Alaska cruises, but they were with a rental car - and not "cruisetours." It takes more work to plan your own land trip, but you can tailor it to what YOU want to see. One big negative with Princess cruisetours is that most of them include the Natural History Tour at Denali - which goes to only Mile 17 of the Park Road. If you are there 2 days, you could upgrade to the Tundra Wilderness Tour for an additional charge. However, if you plan an independent land trip to Denali - you can also book the shuttle bus that costs much less: https://www.nps.gov/dena/planyourvisit/shuttles.htm; https://www.nps.gov/dena/planyourvisit/bus-tours.htm

 

[kendall]

DH and I did a northbound Vancouver-Whittier (Anchorage) cruisetour with Princess this past September. My understanding re booking Alaska is, if you want to go during June, July or August book sooner than later because really the capacity is limited as the season is short. If you are going with extended family, wanting to book several cabins, I would book sooner and watch for any deals to rebook. Princess does move people quite well on the land portion. We enjoyed the 2 nights at McKinley Mountain lodge - there were interesting presentations (mountain climbing, birds of prey rehab), fire pits with camp fires nightly, and a few short walking trails on property. We then moved to 2 nights at Princess Denali Lodge, which is more touristy and less isolated in comparison. There are several little shops right on site at the hotel. We preferred the McKinley Lodge to the Denali Princess lodge, but enjoyed the easy access to Denali from the Denali Princess Lodge. Excursion wise, we did an ATV excursion at the Denali Lodge, and had a fun time - it included a back country dinner that was really quite good! The same company does the covered wagon excursion. We liked the 2 nights at each lodge, because as you noted, you will spend a day traveling to the first lodge, and then a couple hours to get to the second lodge. Only 1 night at each lodge would feel quite rushed as you would have little time to enjoy the area and explore.

I agree with the above poster to upgrade to the Tundra Wilderness Tour or simply take the shuttle where you can hop on/hop off in the park. There are also many trails to hike right from the visitor center in Denali. If we were to go back, we would rent a car and do the land portion ourselves, but on our first trip we wanted worry-free and opted for Princess, which did work well for us and would recommend it to others.

I think verandahs are worth it on an Alaska cruise - the open decks can be quite windy and the verandahs make for more comfortable viewing. September is generally less expensive because (1) schools are back in session and (2) businesses start shutting down after Labor Day - we noted that we were one of the last groups at the Denali Princess Lodge, and many of the outfitters and stores across the street were closed for the winter already. Weather can be a bit dicier in September too - we had a beautiful week, but understand the previous week had colder and windier weather. Historically if prices dropped for booking in September, if may have simply been a reaction to % of capacity booked at that point in time. So I would book now and watch.

I think going all the way up to Denali is worth it, compared to the round trip of DCL. If you are going to go to Alaska, then definitely go to Denali! And Denali National Park has a Junior Ranger program for the kids - so you might want to check that out!

 

[cmph]

Thank you, both, for your thoughtful replies! It's definitely a source of frustration that I don't know how long the others want to wait to book... I'm of the "book now, change later if necessary" camp and get the price adjusted if it drops. One family doesn't want to put the money down for a deposit at all right now, it seems, but if they mean this week, or this month, or a few months or more - I can't get that info out of them! and the others just do not like booking early, period, b/c they don't like to think that far in advance about trips and yes they are totally stuck in a previous day and age of trip planning, pre-internet, and not getting a party of 10 into Cinderella's castle at WDW a few years ago b/c we only booked 4 months out did not teach that lesson! Anyway, I thought perhaps with more info about booking trends, I might either relieve my anxious mind, or convince them that booking now is wise. They won't listen if it's just my TA telling them this, but with more info I can supplement the argument! We are stuck with June/July b/c 4 of the kids will be school-age, too... but at least can do mid-June and avoid July pricing.

Honestly, other than not wanting to wait and deal with reduced stateroom options or potential price increases (which I guess won't happen with Princess?), I would be fine with whatever we end up doing.

I have sailed to Alaska on Princess twice. I tend to book early, and then watch for price drops - which almost always happen.

We have done land tours after 2 northbound Alaska cruises, but they were with a rental car - and not "cruisetours." It takes more work to plan your own land trip, but you can tailor it to what YOU want to see. One big negative with Princess cruisetours is that most of them include the Natural History Tour at Denali - which goes to only Mile 17 of the Park Road. If you are there 2 days, you could upgrade to the Tundra Wilderness Tour for an additional charge. However, if you plan an independent land trip to Denali - you can also book the shuttle bus that costs much less: https://www.nps.gov/dena/planyourvisit/shuttles.htm; https://www.nps.gov/dena/planyourvisit/bus-tours.htm

I worry more that the ones who specifically wanted Denali would end up hugely stressed b/c they're the ones who'll have the toddler stuck in lengthy transportation. If it were just my 4, we'd be good with a build-your-own-adventure and renting a car, but the worry-free aspect would probably be better for the oldest in the group plus the toddler... esp with car seat stuff to deal with if we rented cars. I like that we at least have the NPS bus options, though! Free for the kids! We'd have to rent at least 2 larger vehicles (11 of us, plus all our luggage), or 3 regular cars, and at some point that may not be cheaper than the buses if the kids are all free there. I need to do some more specific pricing research, I think.

DH and I did a northbound Vancouver-Whittier (Anchorage) cruisetour with Princess this past September. My understanding re booking Alaska is, if you want to go during June, July or August book sooner than later because really the capacity is limited as the season is short. If you are going with extended family, wanting to book several cabins, I would book sooner and watch for any deals to rebook. Princess does move people quite well on the land portion. We enjoyed the 2 nights at McKinley Mountain lodge - there were interesting presentations (mountain climbing, birds of prey rehab), fire pits with camp fires nightly, and a few short walking trails on property. We then moved to 2 nights at Princess Denali Lodge, which is more touristy and less isolated in comparison. There are several little shops right on site at the hotel. We preferred the McKinley Lodge to the Denali Princess lodge, but enjoyed the easy access to Denali from the Denali Princess Lodge. Excursion wise, we did an ATV excursion at the Denali Lodge, and had a fun time - it included a back country dinner that was really quite good! The same company does the covered wagon excursion. We liked the 2 nights at each lodge, because as you noted, you will spend a day traveling to the first lodge, and then a couple hours to get to the second lodge. Only 1 night at each lodge would feel quite rushed as you would have little time to enjoy the area and explore.

I agree with the above poster to upgrade to the Tundra Wilderness Tour or simply take the shuttle where you can hop on/hop off in the park. There are also many trails to hike right from the visitor center in Denali. If we were to go back, we would rent a car and do the land portion ourselves, but on our first trip we wanted worry-free and opted for Princess, which did work well for us and would recommend it to others.

I think verandahs are worth it on an Alaska cruise - the open decks can be quite windy and the verandahs make for more comfortable viewing. September is generally less expensive because (1) schools are back in session and (2) businesses start shutting down after Labor Day - we noted that we were one of the last groups at the Denali Princess Lodge, and many of the outfitters and stores across the street were closed for the winter already. Weather can be a bit dicier in September too - we had a beautiful week, but understand the previous week had colder and windier weather. Historically if prices dropped for booking in September, if may have simply been a reaction to % of capacity booked at that point in time. So I would book now and watch.

I think going all the way up to Denali is worth it, compared to the round trip of DCL. If you are going to go to Alaska, then definitely go to Denali! And Denali National Park has a Junior Ranger program for the kids - so you might want to check that out!

Definitely noting that one night in each lodge seems like a terrible idea with the kids!! It sounds like 2 nights at each would certainly be worth doing.

 

[chik1987]

I have sailed to Alaska on Princess twice. I tend to book early, and then watch for price drops - which almost always happen.

We have done land tours after 2 northbound Alaska cruises, but they were with a rental car - and not "cruisetours." It takes more work to plan your own land trip, but you can tailor it to what YOU want to see. One big negative with Princess cruisetours is that most of them include the Natural History Tour at Denali - which goes to only Mile 17 of the Park Road. If you are there 2 days, you could upgrade to the Tundra Wilderness Tour for an additional charge. However, if you plan an independent land trip to Denali - you can also book the shuttle bus that costs much less: https://www.nps.gov/dena/planyourvisit/shuttles.htm; https://www.nps.gov/dena/planyourvisit/bus-tours.htm

Thank you so much for posting this. Its exactly what we were looking at. We want to do Princess Alaska in 2019 and wanted to add on the land portion but didn't want to spend the $ princess was wanting for a couple extra days. I think this will be exactly what we were looking for.

 

[owensamo]

We cruised Celebrity northbound this past summer, then spent 5 additional nights in Alaska - 3 in Anchorage and 2 at the Princess McKinley Lodge (a couple hours from Denali). We did a bus tour from Seward to Anchorage (which stopped at the Wildlife Conservation Center) and then rented a car. We did things slightly weird, though - we went south to Girdwood and had dinner at the 7 Glaciers restaurant at the top of the mountain at Alyeska before heading up to our hotel near Talkeetna - but had a great time at the Girdwood Forest Faire, and probably one of the best dinners ever! We spent the 4th of July in Talkeetna, then the 5th drove up to Denali early for a shuttle to Wonder Lake. The final day we drove back to Anchorage, went to the zoo, then headed to the airport.

Yes, we did a lot of driving, but it wasn't bad, and in a lot of places, the scenery made up for the long driving. We certainly saved money over booking a cruise tour - but we didn't get to take a train (our Anchorage hotel was within view of the train station, and it looked like fun). The shuttle bus in Denali was awesome, but it was long - I don't think there was anyone under 10 on our bus, and plenty of people were sleeping on the way back. I really liked the Princess lodge - it was quiet, but very much had a cruise ship feel. We ate in their bar restaurant both nights we were there, and really enjoyed our meals.

 

[MunFam]

We have not done Alaska yet, but I have researched this extensively and I am a travel agent (corporate clients only) and when we do Alaska, we will do it on our own. Many people do not realize that the trains from Whittier/Seward to Anchorage and on to Denali are operated by the Alaska Railroad. So HAL, Princess, etc have train cars being pulled by the Alaska railway, but a regular person can also ride the same route on the train for a reallllly low price, so do check that out.

https://www.alaskarailroad.com/ride-a-train

 

[cmph]

The shuttle bus in Denali was awesome, but it was long - I don't think there was anyone under 10 on our bus, and plenty of people were sleeping on the way back.

Thank you for your response!! Just to clarify this part about the shuttle - are you referring to the NPS one, or a private one? The no one under 10 part caught my attention! DD will be 13, the rest are under 10 (DS just barely), but their cousins are all younger.

 

[cmph]

We have not done Alaska yet, but I have researched this extensively and I am a travel agent (corporate clients only) and when we do Alaska, we will do it on our own. Many people do not realize that the trains from Whittier/Seward to Anchorage and on to Denali are operated by the Alaska Railroad. So HAL, Princess, etc have train cars being pulled by the Alaska railway, but a regular person can also ride the same route on the train for a reallllly low price, so do check that out.

https://www.alaskarailroad.com/ride-a-train

Thank you, I will! If you were planning for a family of 11 that included a toddler up to (young-ish) seniors - would you still recommend the do-it-yourself method? I'm having a hard time weighing ease vs cost-savings for this group.

 

[MunFam]

Thank you, I will! If you were planning for a family of 11 that included a toddler up to (young-ish) seniors - would you still recommend the do-it-yourself method? I'm having a hard time weighing ease vs cost-savings for this group.

Personally, I would indeed! I prefer the flexibility of staying in a place that interests us longer and moving on to places that are not as interesting to us quicker. For example, we plan to spend 2-3 full days just in the Kenai Fjords National Park area. There is so much to see and do and many of the "good tours" are all day adventures. Then we will get on the train and head to Denali. We hope to spend 4-5 days in the Denali area in hopes of seeing Mt. McKinley in all her glory and not blocked by clouds. ...and fly out of Fairbanks. Additionally, we prefer the flexibility of not eating at the required meal stops. If the sunset is amazing, or there is wildlife, we want to go when we are ready. With a group of 11, the idea of flexibility is nice to me because you could potentially break up and do separate things if you wanted and won't be limited to the excursions offered by the tour company. You may not save a ton of money, but you will have the flexibility to create a custom adventure for your family instead of being forced in to one of the set itineraries being offered.

 

[wombat_5606]

We have not done Alaska yet, but I have researched this extensively and I am a travel agent (corporate clients only) and when we do Alaska, we will do it on our own. Many people do not realize that the trains from Whittier/Seward to Anchorage and on to Denali are operated by the Alaska Railroad. So HAL, Princess, etc have train cars being pulled by the Alaska railway, but a regular person can also ride the same route on the train for a reallllly low price, so do check that out.

https://www.alaskarailroad.com/ride-a-train

Yes, you can and it's such and interesting ride.

We spent 2 weeks in Alaska on our own. It was one of our most memorable vacations and it was what inspired us to actually do a cruise (not DCL) 4 years later to take in more of the scenery.

We flew into Anchorage. Took the train to Seward and stayed a few days. My husband and daughter did a helicopter tour to a glacier to dog mush on the snow. We did a day cruise in Resurrection Bay. Then we rented a car, saw Exit Glacier and Whittier and drove back to Anchorage. Stayed a few days there and started our drive to Valdez. The Princess lodges had a special to stay one day and get one free, so we stayed at Copper River on our way to Valdez. We did another day cruise in Prince William Sound. After that we started driving to Fairbanks. Stayed in a crazy hotel along the way and stopped in North Pole, Alaska. Fairbanks was our least favorite city with the attractions there, but we did enjoy the museum at the University of Alaska. We next went to stay in Healy, at the EarthSong Lodge. We really loved this place and there is a good story that goes along with it. This was our base for our Denali expeditions. After Denali and on our way back to Anchorage, we stopped at Talkeetna and our free second night from the deal from Princess Cruise Line at the Mt. McKinley Lodge.

I can't recommend Alaska enough and I'm so sad when people spend so much money to cruise with Disney and miss seeing more of Alaska.

 

[Pens Fan]

We too are heading to Alaska this summer and never even considered doing a cruise tour for the land portion. We spent two weeks in Alaska many years ago and it was simply amazing. We flew to Anchorage, rented a car and explored that area, including heading south to Portage Glacier before heading to Denali. We spent 4 days at a wilderness lodge inside of Denali National Park - simply incredible (Camp Denali and North Face Lodge - at that time it was the only lodging actually inside of the park, not sure if that is still true but I highly recommend this wonderful gem of a place). We then headed out on the Alaska highway to Fairbanks (agree with @wombat_5606 - we weren't all that impressed), through the Yukon and down to Haines. We fell in love with Haines, what a charming little town! We were supposed to fly to Glacier Bay National Park and spend 2 nights there but weather intervened and all fights were grounded. So we hopped on the Alaska State Ferry and headed to Juneau instead. We spent the day we were supposed to be in Glacier Bay on a whale watching / Tracy Arm Fjord small boat tour that was just spectacular and then flew home from Juneau. It was quite the adventure!

This was all before our son was born, but honestly with the exception of Camp Denali (they frown on small children), I would have done everything else with our son no matter what his age. I think the flexibility of having your own transportation is invaluable when it comes to traveling with kids. The last thing I would ever want is to be stuck on a bus full of strangers with a cranky, bored kid. Alaska is huge and it takes a long time to get anywhere - lots of time will be spent on the road. Fortunately the scenery is amazing and there are tons of fun, quirky things to stop and see along the way (unless you're stuck on a bus ).

This summer we are focussing on the Kenai peninsula as we didn't spend much time there last time other than Portage glacier. We are renting a car in Seward and spending the next week split between Homer and Girdwood before flying home from Anchorage. Our "child" will be 19 and I can promise you the last thing he wants to do is take any kind of bus tour. We like to do our own thing, stop when we want, and stay as long as we want. I'm sure having the large group the OP has will complicate things, but I'd still try to figure out how to do it your own. Having more than one car could actually be a bonus. That way you don't all have to do the same things all the time. Different groups can go there own way, meeting up at certain times along the way. Whatever you decide, enjoy! This will be our 3rd Alaska trip (took a Disney cruise a few years ago) and I'm sure it won't be our last.

 

[wombat_5606]

We like to do our own thing, stop when we want, and stay as long as we want.

This is the way we like to travel, too. In fact, when we were driving back from Seward we passed a street and I just happened to look to my right as we did. There in the middle of the road was a bear. We were able to turn around and from a distance watch the bear as it walked among the houses in the neighborhood, till it took off into the woods where we could no longer follow.

We also saw a Beluga whale in Cook Inlet. We were able to get to a stopping place and watch for a while. Very rare sighting, I hear.

These kinds of things may or may not happen on a land tour with a cruise line, but they are always a possibility with independent touring.

Alaska is a place that I initially had no desire to vacation, but after that land tour, I fell in love with the state. My daughter and I will be returning for our 3rd visit in 2018.

 

[tori.bh3]

My in-laws live about an hour from Denali - I've never cruised in AK but I have visited Denali multiple times. It really just depends on the interest level of your kids. I'm not a nature person - but my husband and his family are. Pretty hikes. The bus ride to see the mountain is LONG. Like an all day thing to get there and back. We lucked out and ended up getting to see the mountain but most aren't so lucky. It is covered by clouds most of the time. My SIL and BIL are both under 10 and they did it; however, I would say that they are mature for their ages (like mini adults) and were getting squirmy.

 

[cmph]

My in-laws live about an hour from Denali - I've never cruised in AK but I have visited Denali multiple times. It really just depends on the interest level of your kids. I'm not a nature person - but my husband and his family are. Pretty hikes. The bus ride to see the mountain is LONG. Like an all day thing to get there and back. We lucked out and ended up getting to see the mountain but most aren't so lucky. It is covered by clouds most of the time. My SIL and BIL are both under 10 and they did it; however, I would say that they are mature for their ages (like mini adults) and were getting squirmy.

Hmmm. I feel as though I need to forewarn my family about the reality of the Denali part of this! Like I said, mine are the oldest at 13 and a couple months shy of 10 next summer. Their cousins are going to be (barely) 2, (barely) 6, and almost 9... Or at the very least, they need to lower their expectations of how much they'll be able to see. I have already pointed out that we could cruise to anywhere they want and put off Alaska until the kids are a little older, but I've been told it's the only cruise that interests certain adults.

I'm starting to think that I should just do a land-only trip another time for my 4, LOL! You guys are offering so much Alaskan awesomeness up!! We're west coast, so it's not a crazy notion for my 4 to go back again another year and do it properly, without the extended family. It seems like we'd have to, to see everything. Splitting up our group sounds good in theory, but in reality isn't likely to happen without drama and hurt feelings (trust me).

 

[owensamo]

Thank you for your response!! Just to clarify this part about the shuttle - are you referring to the NPS one, or a private one? The no one under 10 part caught my attention! DD will be 13, the rest are under 10 (DS just barely), but their cousins are all younger.

I think our shuttle was a 12 hour trip, round-trip. There are 4-5 stops along the way - and only one has actual bathrooms and running water (the rest are outhouses). We didn't get to see the mountain - tons of fog. But we did see a lot of wildlife and scenery. However, I can't imagine most young children would be able to spend most of the day on a bus just to glimpse some animals outside the windows from time to time.

There are shorter shuttles/tours, but to be honest, most of the best animal sightings we saw were pretty far into the park - so at least a few hours on a bus of some sort.

 

[cmph]

I think our shuttle was a 12 hour trip, round-trip. There are 4-5 stops along the way - and only one has actual bathrooms and running water (the rest are outhouses). We didn't get to see the mountain - tons of fog. But we did see a lot of wildlife and scenery. However, I can't imagine most young children would be able to spend most of the day on a bus just to glimpse some animals outside the windows from time to time.

There are shorter shuttles/tours, but to be honest, most of the best animal sightings we saw were pretty far into the park - so at least a few hours on a bus of some sort.

I must admit that sounds pretty awful with a toddler and 6yo! And not particularly pleasant with the 8yo and 9yo, either. I think you're very right that this isn't at all what the kids would like, and frankly, neither would the adults dealing with those kids... nor the unrelated adults unfortunate enough to be on the shuttle!