Holland America Line Enhances Alaska Cruisetours with McKinley Chalet Resort Room Upgrades and New Gold Rush Experience

Posted onAuthorChris Owen

Holland America Line is elevating its award-winning Alaska Cruisetours in time for the 2024 season with room upgrades at McKinley Chalet Resort and a new, included tour in Dawson City, Yukon. Alaska Cruisetours combine an Alaska cruise with an overland tour to Denali, and Holland America Line is the only cruise line that extends those tours into the Yukon.

Balconies will be added to 28 river-view rooms at McKinley Chalet Resort — Holland America Line’s hotel property at Denali National Park — upgrading them to the Denali Suite category. In addition, a new Deluxe category of non-balcony rooms with suite amenities is being introduced. For the excursions, guests on select Denali and Yukon Cruisetours will have a new “Klondike Gold Tour” that expands on the region’s famed gold rush experience. The tour visits the original discovery claim site that launched the gold rush and Gold Dredge 4.

“We are consistently evolving our Alaska Cruisetour product by adding new amenities that will enhance the overall experience and opportunities to learn more about the destination,” said Dan Rough, Holland America Line’s vice president of revenue management. “Increasing the balcony rooms at McKinley Chalet Resort offers even more visitors the opportunity to take in the incredible views, and adding the Deluxe category allows additional guests to have an elevated stay at the property.”

New Balcony Suites and Deluxe Rooms Added at McKinley Chalet Resort

Holland America Line’s McKinley Chalet Resort, nestled at the entrance of Denali National Park, is adding balconies to 28 existing river-view rooms. The property will now offer 84 Denali Suites — giving more guests stunning balcony views of Denali National Park or the Nenana River. Holland America Line also will upgrade 45 non-balcony rooms to feature all the suite amenities, creating a new Deluxe room category. 

Special Deluxe and Suite amenities include a s’more kit to enjoy at Denali Square, Pendleton blankets, premium bathrobes and a Keurig coffee machine. Standard rooms are included in the Alaska Cruisetour fare, and Deluxe and Suite room upgrades are available to book for an additional fee.

New ‘Klondike Gold Tour’ Included at Dawson City

The new Klondike Gold Tour is complimentary for all guests on select Alaska Denali and Yukon Cruisetours that include Dawson City. Guests will visit the Discovery Claim National Historic Site that started the Klondike Gold Rush and enjoy time at Gold Dredge 4, a preserved wooden-hulled dredge once used to mine gold in the Klondike River Valley. A Parks Canada guide shares the history of gold dredging in the area and about the first discovery of gold in the Yukon.

“The Yukon Territory is where the Klondike Gold Rush began, and we’re excited to include this new tour to Gold Dredge 4 that will give our guests a first-hand encounter with an important part of North American history and in-depth insight into this era,” added Rough. “Holland America Line is the only cruise line that shows the beginning and end of the Klondike trail, from Skagway all the way to the Yukon.”

Guests can delve deeper into the Klondike Gold Rush on an Alaska cruise or Cruisetour on additional shore excursions in Skagway, including visiting the Gold Rush Training Camp and panning for gold, taking the White Pass & Yukon Route Railroad to Liarsville Gold Camp, and visiting the Gold Rush Cemetery and Historic Skagway Inn (the largest brothel in Skagway during the gold rush era).

Highlights of 2024 Yukon and Denali Cruisetours:

  • Holland America Line is the only cruise line to offer an Alaska cruise combined with an overland tour to Denali and the Yukon.
  • Yukon and Denali Cruisetours range from nine to 18 days and include either a three- or four-day Inside Passage cruise on Koningsdam or Zaandam, or a seven-day Glacier Discovery cruise on Nieuw Amsterdam or Noordam; a two-or three-night stay at Denali; a journey into the Yukon and additional city visits.
  • Yukon and Denali Cruisetours feature one or two nights in Dawson City, affording guests more time to relive gold rush history.

Highlights of 2024 Alaska Cruisetours

  • Nieuw Amsterdam and Noordam offer Denali Cruisetours from nine to 14 days.
  • All Denali Cruisetours include a seven-day Glacier Discovery cruise featuring Glacier Bay, plus either College Fjord or Hubbard Glacier (depending on the direction), Inside Passage, up to three nights at McKinley Chalet Resort, and additional city visits.

McKinley Chalet Resort and Denali Square

Every Cruisetour includes a stay at the McKinley Chalet Resort at the entrance to Denali National Park. The property is Holland America Line’s 68-acre hotel on the Nenana River. The resort features a reception hall, dining facilities and guest rooms.

Centrally located between the McKinley Chalet Resort and riverfront guest rooms, Denali Square is a gathering area with restaurants, an amphitheater, fire pits for keeping warm or making s’mores, outdoor seating, retail shops offering local goods and more. Walking paths in and around Denali Square show off the property’s mountainous landscapes and beautiful setting.