ALASKA — We’re not exactly lodge people, and we’ve never spent much time in the wilderness (one of us doesn’t like to stay anywhere that doesn’t have a lobby, which eliminates a tent). So the thought of spending a week in “wilderness lodges” was somewhat less than exhilarating.
Had we only known.
The way Princess does “wilderness lodges” puts us at the front of the line. The great outdoors is our oyster. Well, in a way. These lodges have lobbies and their connection to the wild is geographic more than literal. Moose don’t wander through the lobby, or even share the same road…except for one who found herself across the street from her two mooslings…okay, calves.
After spending five nights in three Princess wilderness lodges, it’s clear to us how a cruise line can become the largest tour operator in Alaska. That’s right, a CRUISE line. Nobody does Alaska better than Princess, for the simple reason that nobody can, and it starts with the lodges…and the Cruisetours that take you to them.
The three on our travel agenda were Kenai (two nights), McKinley (one) and Denali (two). 
It turns out each was bigger, though not necessarily better, than the one before and each of them was popular for different reasons.
At Kenai, on a large southern peninsula the locals know as the “playground of Alaska,” the lodge is one of the two smallest — just 86 rooms. People loved its intimacy and coziness, and the fact that all the rooms had fireplaces that you didn’t plug in, instead put logs in. There’s a shuttle to take you to your cabin but it’s really not necessary unless you have difficulty with stairs.
At McKinley, that spectacular first look at the mountain of the same name is the centerpiece. However, there is much more. The cleverly named restaurant 20320 — Mount 
McKinley’s peak is that many feet from sea level — matches its siblings in dining offerings and there are plans to take greater advantage of the view from its tables. There’s a horned owl that stops by for a visit from Bird TLC, at least he did while we were there, and he’s become so attached to his handler that he objects when her husband enters the room. And in our short stay, we squeezed in a free lecture and film by Mark Austin, about Alaska’s role in the Second World War — yes, who knew?
At Denali is the signature lodge because at 656 rooms it’s the largest. The shuttle here is a good idea. In fact, the Denali Princess Wilderness Lodge (below) is a village unto itself with more than just restaurants and gift shops. Like the other two, it’s on the banks of a river (the 
Nenana), and just a short distance from the gate of Denali National Park. The classy King Salmon restaurant is exquisite, and Princess has perfected its service…it’s possible in this restaurant to have breakfast in 10 minutes! Unique here is a dinner theater, something of a phoenix as it rose from the ashes of a fire that destroyed the dining room in the ’80s and became a fixture when a new one was built. Today, it sprinkles its food with a little comedy.
Other cruise lines can house passengers at nice hotels in Alaska’s interior, and deliver meals that are comparable. What Princess has done, at a cost in the tens of millions of dollars, is develop brand consistency in its all-inclusive package that is difficult to match. The cruise line will pick you up, show you Alaska and deliver you to the cruise ship (at a price, of course) as part of Princess Cruisetours.
More about that on Monday.
Click here to read our final blog for Phil Reimer’s Ports and Bows.