We have always wanted to a Denali Cruisetour so we decided to do Alaska again. Love the convenience of getting on board so close to home and only having to fly back one way. The cruise itself was uneventful, the weather wasn't the greatest but at least it wasn't pouring. We had booked two excursions off the ship which were outstanding! In Ketchikan we booked the Wilderness Cruise and Silverking Lodge Seafood Feast. The bus took about 30 minutes through beautiful scenery to get us to the dock. There were 8 of us on this tour and after getting us into our weather proof gear we set off in the cruiser (more like a large jet-boat). On the way to the Lodge we stopped to watch eagles feed, seals and even whales in the distance. It was amazing! We were greeted by deer as we arrived at the Lodge for the feast around breakfast time... I was skeptical about seafood for breakfast but it was so, so delicious. They emptied a steamer full of crab, shrimp, clams, potatoes, corn cob and koulbasa on to the newspaper-covered table and let us have at 'er! It was delicious! Our other tour was in Juneau, a larger boat so more people but the whale watching was fabulous.... we were surrounded by Humpbacks, a lot of fin slapping, spouting and tail diving. Even saw a mighty breech!

Denali cruise tour was totally worth the dollars.. Train into Princess Wilderness Lodge was a long ride (10 hours)... take a good book or learn to knit and do an afgan. Food on the train was great... yummy pies! Alcohol is available. Seats are in the dome car, dining car is below. Fantastic views! Wilderness Lodge: The cabins at PWL are motel-like, not a lot of room in the bathroom but comfy beds, good TV reception, Wifi was excellent. Food in the dining room was fantastic. We purchased the Dining Package and it was worth every cent - it covered the 8 meals on the train, at Wilderness Lodge and McKinley. Be sure to try the Crab Legs! Service was OK however they were at the beginning of the season and a lot of the staff was new. The National Park Tour was good... saw lots of caribou, our guide was great! Moving on to Mc Kinley Lodge by bus... driver talked too much! McKinley was amazing as well. Food terrific! The staff here was more seasoned - a lot of kids coming back for a 2nd year so the service was outstanding! Rooms also cabin-like but very roomy... we did the Three Rivers tour and the Wagon Ride... both were good tours! Enjoyed the guides - very knowledgable and had some great tales to tell. We had clear weather while at McKinley which gave us a fantastic view of Denali, tallest mountain in the world. It was outstanding to be able to see that! And for two whole days even.... Bus took us into Anchorage to stay overnight at the Hotel Captain Cook. Good Food, clean rooms, nice lobby. We had some trouble with our room... in the morning we had brown water, slow draining tub and the water never got hot. The hotel took care of it quick enough (boiler trouble) - we were thankful our flight didn't leave until two so timing was not an issue.

I would totally recommend this cruise for anyone wanting to do Denali. My photo book for this cruise is going to be something I'm going to want to look at a lot.