Day 8 - Travel Whittier to Denali

You may notice the jump from day 5 to day 8. This is due to Adam joining Diana in illness and missing out on Glacier Bay National Park and College Fjord on days 6 and 7. 😕

Day 8 we departed the Sapphire Princess for Denali National Park! Our departure was delayed due the train engine that was to pull our glass-domed train car failing to start. This gave Adam time to visit the ship's doctor one more time for more medication.

We finally boarded the train, seats and bar on the second level, dining and restrooms on the lower level, and off we went from the port city of Whittier to Anchorage. There, we stopped. As the cooks were trying to cook our lunches the train engine was detached cutting all power to the cars. Several minutes later, the third engine was connected, power restored and we were on our way! Ours weren't the only problems that day - another engine failed and mated with a second train that pushed the first along.

All the delays meant a late arrival, so instead of the really nice three course dinner Denali Princess Wilderness Lodge, we ate on the train again from the same lunch menu. (One salmon filet in bread for lunch, the same on salad for dinner. 🤷‍) Princess did give us some nice gift certificates to spend at their shops at the lodges, so we appreciated that later on.