I have to say, first, that I planned everything for months until I was tired of thinking about it! Before the cruise, we had 4 extra nights for land excursions. It was during that time that I actually wouldn't have minded just packing it up and going home! The first part of the trip was through a travel agent, not Royal Caribbean. We arrived in Fairbanks and no one was there to meet us. Then a dirty old van came to pick up the group but there was not enough room so we had to wait 45 minutes for the van to return. We were taken to a hotel, exhausted and hungry. We were to spend two nights here. The room had two twin beds and no other rooms were available. Because it was so late there was no place to eat other than a coffee house!

Finally, on the second morning, we were taken to the location for the vista view rail train trip to Denali. The train was beautiful. It offered breakfast but we decided against that since we wanted to listen to the narrator and watch the scenery during the 4 hour trip. The microphone wasn't working and there was only one drink attendant. So we spent 4 hours with beautiful scenery and no drinks including just coffee.

On to Denali. The first hotel we went to did not have a reservation for us, so we went to the second. They also did not have a reservation, but they found a room. It was comfortable enough, but it was right across from the elevator, the laundry room and the gathering area for guests. We were awakened by anyone returning from a late show, washing clothes, or waiting for friends for the early morning excursions. I will say that seeing Denali and the excursions were top notch and the hotel was most courteous. They went out of their way to make things right even if the mistakes were not their fault. Read more