We arrived at Anchorage at about 6pm (from N. Carolina) so it was a long travel day. The Royal Caribbean Cruise Tour folks were there at the baggage claim and all we did was point to our bags and they took it from there. Being exhausted, that service was more than welcomed. :o) (Throughout the cruise tour, we did not have to drag our luggage around at any time. RCI picked them up at the room and they were delivered to the rooms at the next stop-over.)

Denali - We arrived at about 2:30 pm and explored the town before attending Cabin Nite Dinner Theater. The show was great but the food was mediocre at best. It was cloudy so we couldn't see the summit of Mount McKinley. We missed the Natural History Tour the next day because DW was feeling queasy (suspect something she ate at Cabin Nite Theater because she was fine by noon.) The lodging at the McKinley Village Lodge was pretty rustic. Don't expect a fine hotel here.

Talkeetna - We arrived at about 4:30pm and our Tour Director (Andy) told us that the town shuts down at around 7pm. We asked him if we could just take the next available shuttle to town and check-in at the hotel later (we had the Flyer Tour booked for 6pm). He said no problem ... he would get our room keys to us later. Andy was such a fabulous Tour Director. He handled everything and accommodated everyone all the time. The town was small and quaint but very beautiful. We did a quick walk around and walked over to the K2 airline to take an airplane ride around the McKinley summit. (Good thing we did this because it was another cloudy day.) This excursion was awesome. I never realized that McKinley is surrounded by glaciers. (Photos at the link below). When we returned to the hotel, we were pleasantly surprised at the high quality of the accommodations. The Talkeetna Alaska Lodge is outstanding! We left Talkeetna early the next morning for Anchorage to do pre-cruise check-in. This pre-cruise check-in was a total waste of time in my opinion. We all assumed that this "check-in" would be the same as pier check-in and our Seapass Cards would be given to us then ... didn't happen. We still had to do everything at the pier in Seward. Andy told us we could upgrade our transfer from Anchorage to Seward by going on a train vice a bus for $25pp. We took the upgrade and we weren't disappointed. It was a beautiful trip. Read more