A Princess Cruisetour in Alaska: Denali by Land, the Glaciers by Sea

Cruising the last great frontier is an experience everyone should have on their bucket list, but when you combine it with a land tour to Denali National Park, a trip of a lifetime is truly in the making.

Huskies on the ice

Shelby is a cream-coloured Alaskan husky, and one of the cutest dogs I have ever seen. As she slipped her nose affectionately into the palm of my hand, this devoted cat person knew the effort of flying up onto Alaska's Mendenhall Glacier at dawn, and being towed around by sled dogs, was going to be memorable.

The flight from the Juneau heliport beforehand had been enough to get my heart racing. As our chopper wafted between glacier-carved peaks and lush rainforest, to describe the vast scenery as breathtaking sounds somewhat clichéd, but it was. Minutes later we swooped down to the dog-sled camp, a bizarre world of endless white and ice, echoing with the robust sound of overexcited barking. Then we were joined by our mushers and taken to meet the stars of this particular show: the huskies.

Once the dogs were hitched up to the sled, we climbed aboard and took off. It was fast and bumpy circumnavigating the camp, stopping occasionally to take turns standing on the back. Before long, sadly, the exhilarating ride was over, leaving us a bit of time to catch our breath and pet some of Shelby's puppies before climbing aboard the helicopter and returning to town.

The Cruisetour

We'd travelled to Alaska for the third year straight, seeking a different experience of the forty-ninth state: a seven-day Voyage of the Glaciers cruise from Whittier to Vancouver on Coral Princess, preceded by a land journey deep into Denali National Park. Welcome to the world of the Princess Cruisetour.

This combination of travel lets guests visit Alaska's top two attractions, Denali National Park and Glacier Bay National Park, in one seamless experience without any fuss. The starts were always early, but all we had to do was put our bags outside our hotel room door every night and turn up to board our bus each morning. The rest was taken care of.

By land: Kenai, Seward and Denali

Our top-of-the-range Connoisseur tour lasted five nights, hopping between three of Princess's five wilderness lodges, with benefits including the exclusivity of a private motor coach and tour director, and most of our meals. The first stop on our itinerary was Kenai, the smallest Princess lodge, tucked away in Cooper Landing, where we hiked to the Kenai River, abundant with spawning salmon, then around one of the 43-acre property's trails in the heart of bear country.

The land journey also took in a day cruise from Seward into Kenai Fjords National Park to see the tidewater Aialik Glacier. It's an idyllic region shaped by glaciers, earthquakes and ocean storms, famous for its curious limestone formations and wildlife including puffins and sea lions. It also included the McKinley Lodge, with activities including a trail ride and views towards Mt. McKinley.

Our last two nights on land were spent at the impressive 656-room Denali Lodge. Highlights here included an exhilarating flightseeing adventure to Mt. McKinley's famous snow-capped peak, the centrepiece of Alaska's Denali National Park and, at about 6,190 metres, North America's tallest mountain. We also took a bus tour deep into the park, a vast sub-arctic wilderness ablaze with intense autumn colours and home to more than 650 species of flowering plants, and to wildlife including moose, bears and wolverines.

Princess Rail to Whittier, and Coral Princess

Before long it was time to journey south again, from Denali to Whittier on Princess Rail, to join our ship. The first half of our tour had been filled with countless highs and many jaw-dropping moments; the second half would be on the high seas, heading south to Vancouver and taking in the best of Alaska's famed Inside Passage.

The journey took a leisurely nine hours, but it was yet another scenic ride, on a comfortable, spacious train blessed with a glass roof for ultimate sightseeing in one of the world's great holiday destinations.

By today's standards, Coral Princess is a mid-sized ship. Accommodating 1,970 guests, with 83 per cent of her spacious staterooms sporting private balconies, she's ideal for enjoying Alaska's scenic landscapes. There are plenty of facilities on board to keep you amused between ports of call, including three swimming pools, a kids' splash pool, a fitness centre and spa, six showrooms and lounges, and a golf putting green with a simulator. Culinary options also abound, with two dining rooms, two alternative restaurants, and ice cream and pizza bars. If you're travelling with kids, they're well catered for, with dedicated clubs for young children through to teens.

By sea: Hubbard Glacier and Glacier Bay

After the ship departed Whittier we had time to relax and catch up on some sleep. Two days of scenic cruising lay ahead, the first of which featured a visit to the longest tidewater glacier in Alaska, Hubbard Glacier. It stretches some 122 kilometres from the Yukon, spilling into Yakutat and Disenchantment bays, and has an impressive open calving face spanning around 10 kilometres.

Next was a scenic cruise through Glacier Bay, which for us started in grand style with a lavish Champagne Breakfast in our balcony stateroom: a feast of fruit, pastries, smoked salmon and Alaskan king crab quiche, washed down with a half bottle of French champagne.

Skagway, Juneau and Ketchikan

Before long it was time to get serious about exploring ashore again, and our first port of call was the small gold rush outpost of Skagway. Although there are plenty of touring choices, we opted for a scenic flight along the Sawtooth Mountains to Glacier Station, followed by an eight-kilometre guided hike through the stunning Tongass National Forest and a ride back to town on the White Pass train. It's a remote sub-alpine valley with an alluring combination of flora and fauna, and there were stunning views at almost every turn.

After our visit to Alaska's capital, Juneau, for that exhilarating dog-sledding excursion, our last two days on Coral Princess were quite diverse, revolving around a bear-watching expedition to Neets Bay from Ketchikan, a relaxing couples' massage in the Lotus Spa, and finally catching our breath to go over what we'd experienced on our Cruisetour.

Reviewing hundreds of photographs and taking stock of our two-week adventure on land and at sea, we had seen and experienced many of the unique and diverse elements that make Alaska a trip of a lifetime. Doing it on a Cruisetour was busy, but it made the process seamless. And when it comes to "wow" factors, from the impressive glaciers to those gorgeous Alaskan huskies, the forty-ninth state truly has it all.

More on UTM: 10 Things to Do on an Alaska Cruisetour · Port Review: Juneau, Alaska

Denali and the Kenai Peninsula deserve more than a few days, and Pack Ya Bags arranges tours and land itineraries in Alaska for travellers from Australia and New Zealand. Let us know what you'd like to see at info@packyabags.com

Editor's note. This article brings together UTM's original Princess Cruisetour Alaska despatches, first published as a series, into a single piece. Consolidated and fact-checked on 21 September 2026.