We did a combination land/sea package. We flew from DFW to Seattle, changed planes (a very interesting boarding process with Alaska Air requiring us to go outside, down a long flight of stairs, across the tarmac, and back up the stairs at the rear of the plane. It was dark and we had to lug our carry on items with us. Not favorably impressed with Alaska Air) and flew into Fairbanks. Even though it was the middle of the night, Princess staff was there to meet us, take charge of our luggage, give us our room keys, and speedily get us to the hotel. We stayed at Fairbanks Princess where we had a lovely view of the parking lot. The hotel was okay. The room was small and plain. Our biggest complaint was the lack of dining options. The menu was the same in both restaurants and very pricey. We did a tour of the gold rush area, and even though it was very touristy, we enjoyed it very much. Panning for gold was harder than it looked! That afternoon we did the riverboat cruise and really enjoyed it. Again, it is very touristy, but we learned a lot and liked the experience.

Then we went by bus to Denali Princess. The grounds are beautiful, the dining choices were varied (even pizza delivery to our room!) The room was small but tastefully decorated. We did have a frustrating experience in the main dining room. Since we didn't make reservations we were told it was a minimum 30 minute wait. After the obligatory wait, we were shown to a table that had been open the entire time we were there. Not impressive. The food at the facility was very good, however. We did the nature tour through Denali and found it to be very well done. Our driver was excellent and the length of the tour was perfect. It was very rainy and cold so there were no views of Denali itself. We saw a couple of moose, but the blueberry bushes were in their fall colors as were the aspens and birches so the drive was beautiful.

The next day we went by train to the Princess lodge in Talkeetna. The train ride was pleasant, and we absolutely loved this facility. It is so remote and quiet. We loved the huge fireplace in the main lodge which burned day and night. Still no view of Denali due to clouds although the other mountains are magnificent. The food here was very good. We took a nature hike with one of the rangers which was fun. We didn't ever cook s'mores at the outside firepit but would if we stayed again. My birthday fell during this portion of the trip. They gave us a view of the mountains and a special dessert. Very nice. We went into Talkeetna and walked around a bit. That is a very unique little place, to say the least. We did an afternoon jetboat tour on the river and saw lots of eagles. Again an excellent guide although I've never done a hike through the woods before with a guide who carried a shotgun Read more