By Jen Kleinberg, Director of Strategic Accounts | August 13, 2019 ( Comments)
This is a review of Holland America's Alaska Cruisetour #Y4C, 11 Night Yukon & Double Denali.
Today began with a visit to Gold Dredge No. 8, where we learned about the history of the dredge and got to pan for gold. You pan it, and then they weight it and value it - we made out with $54 worth of gold! They have shopping opportunities here too, and this was the first place we actually bought some souvenirs. They have a really nice selection.
We had time in downtown Fairbanks to get lunch, and we chose The Crepery. The wait was long, about a half hour, but we were glad we waited. The brie, honey and walnut crepe was delicious!
We then boarded the bus for the two and a half hour ride to Denali National Park. We’re staying at the McKinley Chalet Resort, which is inside the park limits, and is a beautiful property. The upgrade to the Jr. Suite is well worth the $99 per person, per night. This room is absolutely gorgeous! It’s done in a modern cabin style, and we have a private balcony.
In the evening we walked down to Denali Square, a new addition to the property, only a few years old. It has a bar and restaurant, shops, live music, seating areas with fires going... You can even buy a s’mores kit for roasting over the fires! This is also where the Music of Denali dinner theater is located, which we attended. The food is served family-style, and is very good; all-you-can-eat salmon, BBQ brisket, fresh biscuits and even apple crisp for desert. The waiters and waitresses double as the stars of the show, and they were all talented singers. I would recommend the experience.
Day 2 began with an early wake-up for the Tundra Wilderness Tour into the park. It’s a 6-8 hour tour, so they start early. Our leave time was 7:00 am. The driver / narrator was great, and we saw some grizzly bears and caribou, but we did not get to see Mt. Denali due to low cloud cover. If I had come on a shorter Land & Sea Journey, I may have thought the Tundra Wilderness Tour was a must-do. However, we’ve been in motor coaches for a solid week, and given the fact we didn’t see Mt. Denali, if I did the Y4C tour again I would just spend the day hiking on my own.
We got back to the hotel by 3:00 pm and so we had time to go explore the riverbed near the property. The Nenana River runs right past the lodges, and we had a nice time watching rafters and taking pictures.
We dined at Karsten’s in Denali Square and the food was excellent. After dinner we picked up a s’mores kit and went outside to sit at one of the fire pits and roast marshmallows. It was a relaxing end to a busy day, and the weather was ideal for sitting outside by the fire.
Click here to read Day 11 - Anchorage
