Pre-Cruise - Denali

Pre-Cruise - Denali National Park
We planned our trip to the Princess Mt. McKinley Wilderness Lodge independently, but you can stay there as part of a cruise tour as well. We had 3 nights before the ship and we decided to spend our 3 nights at the lodge. First full day we went for a hike at Denali National Park, second day it mostly rained and we spent time in the hot tub and hanging out around the lodge. Third day, we headed to Whittier to meet the ship, first though, we went on a local boat for a glacier cruise and embarked the Sun Princess around 6pm. Trip Planning I spend a lot of time planning our vacations and doing research. The only way we can cruise once or twice a year is if I am able to find good pricing for our trips. We usually don't spend much on shore excursions, and plan independently. Princess is terrific for cruisetour programs, if you want to go to Alaska, see as much as you can in a short time and have Princess take care of you, its a good choice for a great trip and little planning. However we do find that we like to plan our own activities and have the freedom of what to chose to do each day, besides being more economical this way. Price and itinerary were our main attractions to this cruise. We have visited Alaska on two other cruise ships, Celebrity's Galaxy and Celebrity's Infinity. This was the first time we chose to do the one-way glacier cruise. Usually the airfare to Anchorage is very steep and makes the one-way trip not affordable for us, living in Seattle we have many choices for return cruises to Alaska that do not require air. I started watching pricing on this cruise at www.vacationstogo.com - they have a terrific site that includes a database and pricing that you can search and sort. The price on this cruise was very good, but I was afraid air would be stiff from Seattle. I decided to check www.alaskaair.com - Alaska Airlines just to check, and alas a $207 fare from Seattle. We were going to Alaska! :) We booked about 3 months ahead. I enjoy going in the spring, there seems to be less rain, less people and ships at the ports etc. Also because it was a Monday to Monday cruise we had the weekend in Denali and the second Monday was a holiday so one day less for Stephen to have to take off work. I booked the Princess Mt. McKinley Wilderness Lodge on the website www.princesslodges.com - they had a May special of $99 a night. It is of course available as a cruise tour if you book it with Princess, and includes train transportation and stays at several Princess lodges in Alaska before taking you to or from the ship. We booked independently and did our own thing. Basically we flew from Seattle to Anchorage, rented a car at the airport, drove to Princess McKinley, stayed 3 nights, returned the car to the Captain Cook Hotel area, picked up a shuttle there to go on a glacier cruise in Whittier, after the glacier cruise we walked a couple of blocks to the port to embark on the Sun Princess. Even though we weren't on a cruise tour, Princess was very gracious and took our luggage from the hallway our hotel room at the Princess Lodge, and the next time we saw them was onboard Sun Princess in our cabin. I was impressed :)
As we flew into Anchorage, we had a dramatic view of the mountains below.	Leaving the airport, I was most surprised how dramatically the mountains showed no foot hills, they were high and sudden. That's quite different from here in the Pacific Northwest, we have some rolling hills before you hit the mountains, but leaving Anchorage there is no gradual change of terrain.
We drove to Denali State Park, which is where the Princess Mt. McKinley Lodge is located. This was taken on the side of the road leading up to the lodge from the main highway. We stopped before we checked in to take the picture. I didn't realize it at the time but this is one of the better views we had of Mt. McKinley - it never really peeked out of the clouds for us but you can see the shoulder of it in this picture. Even when the day was sunny and clear, the mountain was shrouded by clouds. At the Princess Mt. McKinley Lodge you can be asked to be put on a list at the front desk and they will phone you if the mountain because visible, even in the middle of the night if you don't mind getting up for it.	The Lodge is located in Denali State Park, south of the National Park. The views were wonderful.
Me infront of The Princess Mt. McKinley Wilderness Lodge just before check in. The lodge is made up of several buildings, this is the main complex with registration, restaurants, great room, viewing deck, shops, excursion desk etc. There is a shuttle to pick you up at your building to bring you to and from the lodge, just need to phone the front desk. We didn't find anywhere was not in walking distance but its a bit spread out.	The Princess Logo on the weather vane behind Stephen. There is a great deck for having a drink, hanging out, watching for Denali to appear behind the clouds.
Even late at night, it didn't get much darker than this.	The antlers as door handles was a nice touch entering the registration area at the Princess Mt. McKinley Wilderness lodge.
On the outside deck there was a plaque with a photograph of the view when you could see the summit of Denali. It never cleared for us but this was a good guideline to identify what you were looking at.
Hiking the Savage River Trail - Denali National Park
This was a lovely easy hike. It has a clear path as you can see along the water on the right, its a bit bumpy and jagged but not difficult and a nice loop trail.
The Savage River Trail	There was a nice path to follow. We really enjoy our Lexi hiking sticks we picked up at REI for these little hikes.
We saw Dall sheep on our hike, grazing amongst the rocks.
	I take the pictures and Stephen does the video. He's a happy guy on the trail :)
	The drive back to the lodge was lovely, more blue sky we hoped we'd catch a glimpse of Denali when we got closer.
The Princess Mount McKinley Wilderness Lodge I put a few pictures of the view from the lodge and a couple of shots earlier on this page. Here are some more views of the lodge. Princess Cruises has several lodges in Alaska and whisk you between them via rail if you book a cruise tour. You can also book them independently on the website http://www.princesslodges.com - also you'll see more pictures and lists of excursions they offer at the activity desk at these hotels. Most people seem to go from Fairbanks, to Denali to Mt. McKinley lodges before heading to their ships. We stayed at the Princess Mount McKinley Lodge for our 3 nights.
Stephen and I at the dining room - we could keep an eye out for Mt. McKinley to peek through the clouds while we had breakfast.	Here is the Great Room, in the main building. We had a ranger from Denali State Park come and give a talk one afternoon here. I enjoyed the live piano music whenever I went by. The viewing deck is just outside.
There was a map posted that showed the upcoming route for the Sun Princess.	Princess Buses arrived and departed regualry with new people coming to stay, others heading to the Denali Princess or the Railway, and tours.
The lodge consists of several buidings a few of them have laundry facilities - a courtesy shuttle picks up and drops off on request to and from the main lodge. Nothing was very far from the main building and we would walk but nice to know the shuttle is available.	Out on the deck
I think this is about as clear as we saw Denali .. the summit was always shrouded by clouds... the white mass is the lower part of Denali (Mt. McKinley).
Here's a picture from the Denali National Park Site - you can see most of the summit here. Click the picture to learn more about Denali National Park.
Viewing Deck
Time to leave the Mt. McKinley Princess Lodge and to head toward the ship :) We have a glacier cruise in Whittier before meeting up with the Sun Princess. NEXT PAGE : " GLACIERS"
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