I planned and researched this trip for almost two years as I knew it would be the last one for awhile as we are moving next year. Here are my tips and opinions of the wonderful 10 day adventure.

First and foremost, if you do a land tour, DO IT PRIOR TO THE CRUISE. The land tours, no matter how many days, are VERY intense and you need time to decompress on the ship. The day after leaving Seward is the Hubbard Glacier so is a sea day and, believe me, you need it. That being said, the tour we were on - this year it's 1B who knows what they are calling it next year - was wonderful. We met in Anchorage at the Marriott and after a half hour orientation with our guide, were on our own to do whatever. The tour was very well organized as they met us at the airport and took us to the hotel. At orientation, we got a schedule and explanation as to how they do things. They gave us luggage Ttags so that we only would get the bags we needed for the land portion and our cruise luggage would stay on the bus and we wouldn't see it until the last night of the land portion. We packed two small bags for the land portion and we didn't have to schelpp our big ones. We put our bags outside our door at night (sound familiar) and they put them on the bus until the next stop and they delivered them to our rooms! I won't bore you with every detail, just highlights: we rode the Wilderness Express domed train from Anchorage to Talkeetna - 3 hours and saw the awesome scenery. Breakfast can be purchased on the train in the dining car, The train is very comfortable and you can see everything from both sides of the train. We had a narration the entire trip who explained a great deal to help get us into the trip. Talkeetna was just a teaser stop and we continued onto Denali by bus. Our tour guide, Sami and bus driver Ashley were fabulous the entire trip. We were very lucky as we were able to see Denail (Mt.McKinley) completed unclouded and clear. Sami told us it was only the second time this season that the mountain was so clear, that she made two extra stops so we could get a good look at her!

Denali was next and we stayed at the Grande Denali Lodge, It is up a steep "hill" with lots of switchbacks and very funny road signs on the way up (to keep your mind off the road I'm sure), but Ashley got us there in one piece, The hotel was OK - nothing exceptional, but we were able to relax and they have a good dining room. We opted to upgrade to the Tundra Wilderness Tour which is 7-8 hours and leaves at 5 AM. We ordered boxed breakfasts and lunches when we arrived at the hotel and they were ready for us before we left. This tour is WORTH THE EXTRA TIME. You go 62 miles into the park - no other vehicles are allowed unless you do this tour - and it was cool enough that we saw moose, caribou, dall sheep and bears. This is what we came for. We left Denali and headed back to Talkeetna for the night and stayed at the Talkeetna Alaskan Lodge. This place is spectacular and the views are magnificent. The food in the restaurant was good and the lodge has a huge fireplace with comfy couches to just sit and talk. This is where we got all our luggage and tagged everything for the ship. It all goes on a separate truck and is sent down to Seward and you don't see it until you are onboard!! They have extra luggage tags. We stopped in Anchorage again for lunch and shopping and was onto Seward and the Radiance. Read more