Days 8-10 Alaska Cruise/Land Adventure With Holland America. Train from Anchorage to Denali

[@eddiehardin33]

Fellow n Carolinian here from near Boone - just returned Wednesday fro our 10 day tour and wanted to let you know it went great. Worst 2 parts was the flights back and that was one long train ride. I did watch your videos before we left and give you a couple of our Highlights- we went in September because a greater chance to see the N lights which we saw from the lodge and Fairbanks! 2 we hit the park on a bright clear day too saw the mountain but more spectacular was the fall color the ground was covered with red and the huge amount of birch trees were bright yellow and the green pines! 3 on our day in Skagway we rented a car and drove about 100 miles into the Yukon on a sunny day and the multiple lakes we saw were crystal blue- if I knew how to post a couple of pics on here I would and looks like we are the same age and stepped back from work the same time! I enjoy your videos! And going to try to put a couple my pics on here

[@OurRetirementAntics]

Thanks for connecting with me in FB and sharing some your photos. Happy you enjoyed our videos.

[@maryvi1597]

Doing the 14 day Holland America trip in July. Really enjoyed your videos. I think they will help us with our vacation plans.

[@OurRetirementAntics]

Thanks for watching. We also plan to do a few videos of our May Norway cruise.

[@sallysugg9589]

Love this video! Thank you for sharing your trip.

[@OurRetirementAntics]

You are welcome. Thanks for watching

[@glenamoore5422]

Will be doing a 10 day cruise from Vancouver June 2025, S Excited!

[@SwingItRightMP]

Thank you for sharing your Alaskan adventure. The information from your video is very informative and your video was well done. If possible, can you provide the month and year for your visit?

[@OurRetirementAntics]

May 2020. I think it was the 2nd trip of the season and 2nd trip after COVID. Thanks for watching.

[@joebrowningj]

We're from Wilmington and headed to Alaska with Holland America in July, 2024. Did the bus in Denali stop often so passengers could take photos?

[@OurRetirementAntics]

Yes it did.

[@edschultz851]

We are also planning this trip. Is it really 8 hours to the park from Whittaker? By my calculations it a total of 18 hours on a train?

[@OurRetirementAntics]

It took most of a day to get from Anchorage to the park. We traveled from Whittaker to Anchorage and stayed one night there. Thanks for watching.

[@jessd5092]

Was your food at the hotels included or a seperate charge like the train?

[@OurRetirementAntics]

Once we left the ship, we had to pay for all the meals except for the river cruise on the last day. Thanks for watching.

[@Mooney-5280]

What was the typical tipping protocol on the train? Trying to determine how much cash to have on hand? Thanks!

[@OurRetirementAntics]

I think we paid by credit card and did the usual 15-20% for our one meal on the train. You can also tip the guide that talks during the trip. Don't remember if we did that. Thanks for watching.

[@justinlee2382]

Hey! I really enjoyed watching the video-thanks a lot for the information provided. My girlfriend and I are planning to go on the same cruise tour this coming May. I have a question about the transportation on the last three days: it mentions a train to Denali National Park on the third to the last day, and bus to Fairbanks on the second to the last and the last day. Does accommodation included on the third to the last day night? Besides, for the second to the last and the last day, do they offer multiple buses at different times throughout the day, or is there a specific boarding time, with the next available option not until the following day? Also, did you discover any must-visit places or activities in Fairbanks? And around how many days did you stay there? Thank you very much!

[@OurRetirementAntics]

I don't think you have options for the train or bus portions. You go as scheduled. Your itinerary will list all your accommodations. For our trip we had two nights in Denali and one night in Fairbanks. Both were included in the fare. On our final day in Fairbanks, I think we were transported to the airport in early evening. We picked up a flyer in the hotel lobby for a van service that would take a group of people anyplace they wanted to go for a reasonable fee. We went north of town to see the pipeline. We were pretty tired by then. Thanks for watching.

[@justinlee2382]

@@OurRetirementAntics thanks a lot for the reply

[@kathyb1011]

So the train trip is included with the Holland America cruise but the food isn't?

[@OurRetirementAntics]

That is correct. And of course they have lots of variations. Not every cruse includes the land portion. And, I think they had some kind of food plan we could have purchased at the Denali Resort but we did not do that.

[@SusanBrown-u9h]

thank you for the video! We are scheduled for July, 2024 on the Noordam and I am wondering if we need to book a hotel room in Fairbanks or does the cruise line do that for us? I called Holland but talked to someone with a very thick accent and couldn't understand 100%. Also, do we book our airplane ride back home, out of Fairbanks? Thank you in advance!!

[@OurRetirementAntics]

On our land portion, they provided the hotel and all transportation. They even moved our luggage from place to place. We had to buy our own food but I think there was a food package we could have purchased. We had to buy our own air transportion out of Fairbanks just like we did to get to Vancouver. We purchased the air portion through Holland America as they made it easy and the prices were comparable. We liked their guarantee they would handle things if we had trouble with the airlines. Glad we did this. Thanks for watching.

[@SusanBrown-u9h]

thank you! @@OurRetirementAntics

[@sanjana1able]

Hello.. just wanted to know when you arrive in Anchorage what time was it.. if you remember and anything specific to do that day?? We are thinking to go on an excursion on our own and hence was asking the same..

[@OurRetirementAntics]

We got there around noon. A river cruise was included in the package and we ate lunch before we did the cruise. The next day was a bummer because we had all day with nothing planned. Looking back, with the flight leaving late in the evening, we would have skipped the night in Fairbanks and just left a day early. Thanks for watching.

[@ryang3666]

Great video! I am going on a Holland America Alaskan cruise next year in May/June. It takes me from Vancouver to Ketchikan/Juneau/Skagway/ Glacier Bay/College Fjord/Whittier/ Denali for a few days by train/ then bus to anchorage. What was that excursion called in Denali that you took. It looks beautiful and I want to book a similar one. I'm curious what it will look like in May/June as opposed to the time of year ya'll went.

[@OurRetirementAntics]

The excursion into Denali was included as part of the land portion. The boat cruise in Fairbanks was also included. But note that you will have to pay for your own meals on the land portion. Things may have changed but that is how it was for us. Thanks for watching.

[@ryang3666]

@@OurRetirementAntics Thanks for the reply. Yeah I kind of figured once I got off the Cruise for the last time in Whittier, all the meals were no longer included. Did they shuttle your luggage for you to the denali resort?

[@OurRetirementAntics]

@@ryang3666 Yes

[@bobpaxton4882]

Quick question. I'm considering one of these Holland America cruisetours for next summer. I know that all your food is included in your ticket price when you're on the ship, but how about the land portion? If you have to pay tourist prices for every meal while traveling inland, that could get really expensive really fast. Thanks.

[@OurRetirementAntics]

Yes, on the land portion you pay for your food. There might have been a meal plan option for the land portion but I really don't remember. Everything is more expensive in Alaska. It is what it is. Thanks for watching.

[@wendysoulliere1305]

What time of year did you go??

[@OurRetirementAntics]

Early May. Thanks for watching

[@CadesCrafts]

It looks like you were in the ridge view suites part of the resort. Did you upgrade to that separate?

[@OurRetirementAntics]

We did nothing special. That was part of the tour. Thanks for watching.

[@donnagrancio5235]

I made plans but itinerary says Mckinley Explorer to Rail Depot Hotel. Wondering how this hotel is versus your chalet.

[@OurRetirementAntics]

We did not stay at the Rail Depot Hotel so I have no clue. Good luck! Thanks for watching

[@jasbirkaur5795]

Was the land tour in May? I see a lot of snow on the ground. Did you pay for the land tour separately from the cruise?

[@OurRetirementAntics]

Yes, I think our last day on the ship was May 14 and then we started the land portion. The land tour was part of the package. There were other packages where the trip ended when we got to Whitier. Thanks for watching

[@markblaze5174]

Im interested in doing this cruise to denali. I dont quite understand why it starts and ends at different cities. Do you have to fly in and out of different cities as well?

[@OurRetirementAntics]

You can do it either way. There are cruises that start I believe in Seattle, go to Alaska and return to Seattle. We wanted the one way cruise, so yes we flew to Vancouver to start the trip and flew out of Fairbanks at the end. Thanks for watching.

[@paulapratt9903]

Very curious how much it cost for food during your land portion?

[@OurRetirementAntics]

I really don't remember. It is a tourist place and it is Alaska so expect to pay more than you expect. None of the meals were covered on the land portion like they were on the ship. Thanks for watching.

[@stephaniegalan]

What date is this?

[@OurRetirementAntics]

May 2022. Thanks for watching.

[@susankara7520]

Just came back f rom same trip and it was the worst trip in our 30 years of cruising /traveling. If you fall for the hype, god bless you.

[@OurRetirementAntics]

Can you share what went wrong. This was our first cruise so maybe it stunk and we didn't even know.

[@susankara7520]

@@OurRetirementAntics if you had a wonderful time God bless you and I'm happy for you. We had done the lower part years ago and not impressed. This cruise/land tour was horrible due to smoke and getting up at 5 am to tour Denali and see no animals but dried up river beds and 6 hours of nothing. If you had a great time we are over the moon happy for you 🥰

[@johnhansen4550]

Did you have a coffee maker in your room?

[@OurRetirementAntics]

I don't remember but I don't think so. But coffee was easy to get from the Lido. Thanks for watching