July 20th, Tuesday: We transferred at noon to the Ultra Dome train again to ride from Denali to Talkeetna 4.5 hrs. The dining car had all glass sides. It was lined with booths and tables covered with cloths and decorated with blue iris in silver bud vases. The wall sconces added an elegant touch. Up the spiral steps is the glassed topped dome of the railroad car complete with bar.
After winding through beautiful taiga forest, we arrived at Talkeetna, which is the starting point for all Mt. McKinley climbs (the local indigenous tribes call it Denali, the big one). This is a town that is little more than a widening in the road. If seeing wildlife in Denali Park was difficult, we were now about to learn just how difficult it is to see Mt. McKinley. We transferred by coach to Mt. McKinley Lodge and our bus driver, Joy Raby, answered our question about which direction to look by saying, "If it's out . . .". We now decided to rename Mt. McKinley "Peek-a-boo Mountain." Joy's mother Wilma told us about the rarity of photo opportunities, not only of the mountain, but also of wildlife (her collection of photographs are stunning, but the result of over thirteen years work!). It seems that the mountain is usually shrouded in clouds and many times it is difficult to discern what are snow covered mountain peaks from what are white clouds. We were told that during this period of the year the "Big Mountain" is only visible 30% of the time.
July 21st, Wednesday: This morning we all gathered on the deck of the Mt. McKinley Princess Lodge and stayed until we had to board our coach at 3:15pm. We saw one or two minor peaks, but never the majestic range depicted on our post cards. Dejected, we boarded the Midnight Sun Ultra Dome for the last time and a 3.5 hour trip to Anchorage. We saw truly beautiful mountain ranges and rainbows. We arrived at the Hilton Hotel at 8:30pm and once again check in was simple; room keys, luggage transfers and tags were provided.
July 22, Thursday: We shopped and walked near the visitors center in Anchorage. The main streets were lined with huge hanging baskets of midnight blue lobelia and golden giant marigolds. At noon we transferred to the airport. We were eager to go home but truly disappointed that Mt. Mckinley had eluded us. Then on our way to the boarding gate, we looked out the panoramic windows and low and behold there was a clear view of Mt. Mckinley and its range. We asked a local and the response we got was "Didn't anyone tell you that Anchorage usually has the best view of the mountain?"
We feel that we had some unrealistic expectations regarding wildlife etc., but we had a terrific trip through the interior of Alaska and enjoyed it immensely.
SUGGESTIONS FOR THE ISLAND PRINCESS
1. Many of the public areas on the ship are carpeted making it difficult for wheelchairs; Costa and Carnival lines have used marble and tile extensively and thus are more user friendly.
2. We suggest to passengers with limited mobility to view the deck plans when booking their cruise. In this ship, for example, the cabins closer to the midship elevators are the best to minimize the distance to places most frequently visited, such as the dining rooms, the theater, the various lounges and passenger service desks. Unfortunately for us there are no wheelchair accessible cabins in this area midship.
3. We had a beautiful and comfortable stateroom; however, there is a minor deficiency in the bathroom where the shelves for toiletries were too small to hold a few necessary items.
4. A young cruiser told us to be sure to remind cruisers to bring their bathing suits. Alaska does have a summer!
CONCLUSIONS
Overall this was another great cruise. A bit too much traveling for Vincent with his mobility problem, but it was worth the effort. This was our sixth cruise on Princess and it will not be our last, as matter of fact, we have booked two future cruises with destinations to be decided. Our next cruise, however, will be on the new RCI Jewel of the Seas, on her maiden transatlantic crossing in September. Until then, Happy Cruising!
