Bubbins

On the land part of our trip, the first 2 nights at Pike's Waterfront Lodge in Fairbanks were wonderful.  Accommodations were nice and the dining room had a wonderful breakfast and dinner buffet.  We enjoyed our activities which included the Gold Dredge,  Riverboat Discovery Cruise and Alaska Salmon Bake.  My only complaint about the Gold Dredge tour was that we could not be reimbursed monetarily for what the gold we panned for was worth..  We had to purchase a piece of jewelry, etc to put it in or just take it home in a plastic container.  The Wilderness Express dome train to Denali was a very pleasant experience.  The tour guide was very informative and the bartender was excellent at serving drinks to everyone.  The next two two nights we stayed at McKinley Village Lodge aka Denali Park village and the accommodations were HORRIBLE.  Our rooms were not ready when we arrived because they were not quite finished getting them cleaned and ready for our stay since they had just been redecorated.  We spent two nights without a MIRROR.  We were told they were on their way from Anchorage and we would have one the first night.  We never saw a mirror.  The room lighting was extremely dim.  Lighting was never improved.  The restaurant food was good, but a little pricey.  We enjoyed the Tundra Wilderness Tour seeing all the beauty Alaska has to offer.  Our bus driver was extremely knowledgable about the park.  All activities aboard the ship were OK and the excursions we signed up for were very enjoyable.  My favorite was petting the puppies and learning about dog sledding in Alaska.  My husband's favorites were Halibut fishing in Juneau and the Bering Sea Crab Boat in Ketchikan.  As for the cruise ship, we had one big complaint.  Ours and several other rooms on the  8th deck smelled like SEWAGE the entire week.  A few of us complained, but nothing was resolved.