Diamond Princess Review
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We are a couple in our mid-60's who decided it was a great time to see Alaska. We were concerned that the weather would be cold and rainy in June. We waterproofed our shoes and bought weatherproof jackets. The weather was excellent which was a very pleasant surprise. We returned the unworn jackets when we got home. We took Princess' "4S" cruisetour which included one night at the Mt. McKinley Princess Lodge and 2 nights in Denali plus transportation on the rail between the parks and to the dock in Whittier. Having 19-21 hours of daylight really helped to provide us with a long day to enjoy and see a lot.
The land portion was everything that we envisioned. At McKinley we spent hours just looking at the snow-capped mountains from the lodge's outside deck and indoor viewing areas. Mt. McKinley is often fogged in, so you can request to be called if the mountain should come into view. They phoned us at 2:30 in the morning and we rushed out in our pj's and coats and saw a magnificent sight. By 6:00 a.m. Mt. McKinley was no longer visible. Compared to other national park areas, there are only a few walking trails in this park and the main one was closed because a moose had calved there. We saw 3 ranger presentations. The one on moose/caribou was so, so. The one on dog mushing was excellent as the ranger was a musher and very passionate about it. The third show was a slide presentation on the many facets of the aurora borealis set to music. There was a charge for this slide show but it was excellent.
The lodge at Denali was truly lovely with a wonderful view of the mountains and whitewater river below. Our cruisetour included the Tundra Wilderness Tour which took us into Denali for the greater part of a day. We had a wonderful guide, Jason, who was extremely well versed in the all aspects of the history and sights in the park. We saw moose, golden eagles, owls, caribou and Dalle sheep. But the highlight was the two grizzly bears that wandered right alongside our vehicle. The male woke up, turned over on his back and scratched his belly.