Mary Beth introduces our Princess driver/guide as we board our motor coach for the narrated journey along the George Parks Highway, an attraction in itself. You may catch your first views of incredible Denali along the way. Once you arrive at the Mt. McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge, the mountain is visible from nearly anywhere on the property. Take in those sensational views with a glass of wine in the Great Room or on the expansive deck. The 20,320 Alaskan Bar & Grill (the number being the height of this North America’s tallest mountain) is the perfect place for a relaxed dinner to end your day. (B, D)

You have a full day to spend however you choose. Visit the tour desk for ideas about excursions from fishing to flightseeing. Or you might prefer to explore the nature trails at the lodge and take in the sweeping vistas all around you. (B, D)

Enjoy a scenic motor coach drive to the Denali Princess Wilderness Lodge, located just outside the national park entrance. Why not get to know the splendor of the park with one of a variety of optional activities including a husky homestead tour, fly fishing or a glacier landing via helicopter? (B, D)

You have a full day to get out into one of America’s best national parks. And indeed, this is the longest day of the year: 20 hours and 21 minutes because the sun sets at 16 minutes after midnight and rises again at 3:55 a.m.! “Night” will be more like dusk.

This morning, a Natural History Tour serves as a wonderful introduction to the animals, plants and geological features found there. (B, D)

Mary Beth makes sure we all get aboard okay and enjoy the scenic rail journey through some of the best wilderness in the Great Land on our exclusive Direct-to-the-Wilderness rail service. We include a nice lunch aboard the train. Once in Whittier, you’ll step from the train onto your ship for the beginning of your unforgettable cruise. Sail 8:30 p.m. (B, L, D)

After a relaxing morning aboard your floating resort where you can explore all of the amenities and fabulous public areas, this afternoon, we enjoy scenic cruising along Hubbard Glacier from 3:00-8:00 p.m. Hubbard Glacier is the largest valley glacier in North America. Over six miles wide and nearly 500 feet high, Hubbard Glacier fills the head of Yakutat Bay. In 1986 it was called the “Galloping Glacier” when it surged nearly 47 feet in one day. (B, L, D)

Today is a big day! Not all ships have the National Park permit to sail in Glacier Bay; but we do and it’s a highlight. While the ship is in Glacier Bay, a National Park Ranger will be onboard to point out wildlife such as humpback whales, harbor seals, gulls and Arctic terns.

Massive glaciers stretch from the ice-draped St. Elias and Fairweather mountain ranges to sit at the end of majestic fjords. The Muir, Johns Hopkins and Margerie glaciers are the most “active”.

When Captain George Vancouver sailed past this area in 1794, Glacier Bay was no more than a dent in the shoreline. But over the next 100 years, the icy rivers melted and retreated up the inlets, forming this spectacular bay. Then Mother Nature covered the shores with lush rain forests and made a home for a wide variety of flora, fauna and sea life.

Passengers can listen for the sound of huge ice chunks “calving” dropping into the cold waters, which earned this area the Indian name “Thunder Bay”. We have scenic cruising from 9:15 a.m.-7:30 p.m. (B, L, D)

Skagway was the gateway to the gold fields for the thousands who flocked to Alaska and the Yukon with the hope of striking it rich. Skagway may have boasted the shortest route to the Klondike, but it wasn’t the easiest.

Over 100 years ago, the White Pass route through the Coast Mountains and the shorter but steeper Chilkoot Trail were used by countless stampeders. Many a would-be miner perished on the treacherous Chilkoot Trail. Eventually the White Pass & Yukon Route Railroad made the trip much easier and you book a ride on this scenic narrow-gauge railroad. Tours are available that combine the rail trip and a motor coach ride back down the pass so you take a photo of the little train.

The gold rush was a boon and by 1898, Skagway was Alaska’s largest town with a population of about 20,000. Hotels, saloons, dance halls and gambling houses prospered. But when the gold yield dwindled in 1900, so did the population as miners quickly shifted to new finds in Nome. Today, Skagway has less than 1,000 residents. It still retains the flavor of the gold rush era. Docked 7:00 a.m.-8:30 p.m. (B, L, D)

Perched on a thin strip of land at the mouth of Gold Creek, Juneau is arguably one of America’s most beautiful state capitals, with the looming summits of Mt. Juneau and Mt. Roberts providing a gorgeous backdrop. The city sprang up as a gold mining town in 1881 when Joe Juneau and Richard Harris discovered gold. By World War II, more than $150 million in gold had been mined.  Juneau’s total area makes it one of the biggest towns, in size, in the world.

There are numerous great optional excursions here like a boat cruise that guarantees you will see whales, a helicopter ride that takes you up for the opportunity to walk on the Mendenhall Glacier (which also can be seen from many coach tours). Docked 6:30 a.m.-5:00 p.m. (B, L, D)

Located on an island, Ketchikan began life as an Indian fishing camp. The name Ketchikan comes from a Tlingit phrase that means “eagle with spread-out wings,” a reference to a waterfall near town. One excursion will take you to the world’s oldest collection of totem poles at Totem Heritage Center. 

In the early 1900s, when gold was Alaska’s claim to fame, fishing and timber industries were established in Ketchikan. The growth of these industries helped make this Inside Passage port Alaska’s fourth-largest city. While many souvenir shops are close by where you get off the ship, we suggest you don’t miss Creek Street a bit further into town. Quaint shops are not all you will find there, just look down into the creek to see “bumper to bumper” traffic of salmon by the thousands! Docked 10:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m. (B, L, D)

Today is a relaxing free day as we sail between lush islands. From sun up to sundown, Princess offers a host of ways to make your vacation truly special. From the freshest cuisine to dazzling entertainment and enriching programs that offer a new perspective on the places we visit, when you sail with Princess, you’ll see the world in a whole new way and come back new. (B, L, D)

Our ship docks at 7:30 a.m. in Vancouver, we are taken in our private motor coach to the border of Canada and the USA. Continuing south we arrive in Seattle for some free time in this cosmopolitan city of Pike Place Market (where they throw the fish), coffee connoisseurs and steep streets. (B)

We are taken to the airport to board our flight back to Chicago. Claiming our luggage, Mary Beth gets us carts to continue on out to our waiting private motor coach back to Central Illinois with awe-inspiring memories of the natural wonders of Golden Alaska. (B)

Denali Princess Lodge shown