Elevation - The maximum elevation on this tour is 3,900 ft (1,189 m).

Health - This itinerary is one of the more rigorous domestic itineraries Tauck offers. The adventurous journey includes several early morning starts, full-day excursions and many different modes of transportation, including airplane, railroad, cruise ship, boat tender, ferry, paddle wheel boat, river raft and tram car.

You should be in good health and able to walk reasonable distances. There is a significant amount of walking through the gold mining attraction on day 3. On day 5, for the 6 plus hour Denali wilderness tour, you travel on a specially geared converted school bus over unpaved roads – and the ride is bumpy! There is no air conditioning or lavatory on the bus; however, we do provide prearranged stops along the way at certain comfort stations. The Denali tour is not recommended for anyone with back problems. On day 6, the floatplane used on the 3-hour adventure over the glaciers of College Fjord also does not have a lavatory.

The Denali Princess Wilderness Lodge does two floors and no elevator. If you have difficulty walking, be sure to advise your Tauck Director at the beginning of the tour so that a room close to the public areas may be requested when possible.

As this itinerary is designed for those who are interested in a faster-paced, adventure-filled experience, if you have a medical condition which might limit your participation in such activities, please consult your physician for pre-departure health advice and notify Tauck as soon as possible, if you have not already done so. We will advise your Tauck Director accordingly.
We are not able to accommodate wheelchairs on this tour. We regret that we cannot provide individual assistance to guests for walking, dining or other personal needs. If you require such assistance, you must be accompanied by an able companion who will help you.

On board the ship, all dining venues have been designated as non-smoking areas. In addition, smoking is not permitted in staterooms and suites, or on balconies. Smoking is only permitted in designated public venues, including the outside deck of the Horizon Lounge, the Stars Nightclub and the Pool Bar

The Mariner has a licensed and registered doctor and nurse for professional and emergency services. Their services are available at customary charges, which, if needed, are billed to your shipboard account. The ship’s medical center is designed to provide medical care for certain temporary illnesses and accidents, and is not intended or capable of providing on-going treatment of preexisting medical conditions. For guests requiring oxygen equipment, an oxygen concentrator is the only form of oxygen equipment allowed aboard ship, and must be provided by the guest. The ship's wheelchairs are for emergency purposes only.

The Mariner is registered in the French territory of Wallis and Futuna. Please check with your insurer to learn if your coverage applies outside the United States, and purchase appropriate travel insurance if necessary. If you need to bring and use syringes or other medical equipment on board, we request that you bring a sharps box and that you contact the shipboard medical infirmary for disposal instructions.

No vaccinations are currently required for travel to Alaska. For complete vaccination information, contact your physician, the public health service in your area, or the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta, , The Travelers' Health Section of the CDC operates a 24-hour, pre-recorded "Travelers' Health Hotline" at 877-394-8747 (toll-free in the ). You may also log on to the CDC Internet website at www.cdc.gov.

ATM and Credit Cards ― We recommend that you contact your bank in advance of departing for this tour to determine whether you will be able to use your ATM and credit cards while traveling. When contacting your bank, notify them of your travel dates so that they will anticipate charges being made outside of your hometown and do not suspend your cards for what may appear to them to be “suspicious” charges. We also recommend that you make a photocopy of the front and back sides of your ATM and credit cards to leave behind with someone at home who will assist you in the event your cards are misplaced, lost or stolen.

Luggage Restrictions —

Checked Luggage – General

While it is common for airlines to allow passengers to check more than one piece of luggage per person, space constraints during your Tauck journey make it difficult to accommodate extra luggage. We ask that you limit your checked luggage to one average size suitcase per person.

In addition, airlines have adopted more strict policies in enforcing size and weight limits. Luggage exceeding maximum restrictions may require expensive overage fees, frustrating and hurried re-packing at the ticket counter, or even risk being left behind.

Many carriers require checked luggage not exceed a weight of 50 lbs (22.7 kg) per piece. Airlines revise luggage policies frequently and often without notice; therefore, Tauck cannot be held liable to the weight limit listed above. We urge you to check with your airline before traveling to determine current weight and size restrictions. It is also important to note that restrictions for luggage size and weight may vary with the same airline based on the class of service you select. First and Business Class ticket holders may have different restrictions than Coach Class travelers.

Tauck World Discovery cannot be held liable for additional fees or inconveniences imposed by the airline due to luggage size, piece or weight policies.

Please be sure to attach your Tauck luggage tag to your suitcase before leaving home!

Carry-on Luggage - General:
Although oversize bags and wheeled, carry-on luggage are popular for airline travel, they are often not convenient or appropriate for motor coach travel or for many intra-tour flights. Most modern sightseeing motor coaches offer limited space for numerous or larger items. Space under seats or in the overhead rack is typically small, and designed to accommodate items like coats, hats, purses, and small camera bags, etc.

For your day-to-day travel while on tour, we recommend that you limit your hand luggage to a small, soft-sided carry-on piece, and only those items you need handy during the day such as purses, make-up, medications, cameras, film, etc. Items too large to fit under the motor coach seat or in the overhead rack must be stored in the luggage bays beneath the motor coach, and may not allow for access during daytime travel.

Travel Document Requirements – Grand Alaska aboard the Regent Seven Seas Marine begins in Anchorage, Alaska, U.S., and ends in Vancouver, Canada.

Currently, all U.S. citizens, including children, and citizens of Canada, Mexico and Bermuda traveling by air, land or sea between the U.S. and Canada, Mexico, Central and South America, the Caribbean, and Bermuda are required to present a valid passport or other Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI)-compliant document to enter or depart the U.S. Click here for more information on the U.S. Department of Customs and Border Patrol website.

The White Pass & Yukon train excursion on Day 12 begins with a motor coach ride into British Columbia, Canada followed by a one-way railroad trip back to Skagway, Alaska. For this excursion, if you are not a citizen of the U.S., you will need a multiple-entry visa to re-enter the U.S.

If you are a U.S. citizen, you do not require a visa for the short duration of this tour. Please note that longer stays abroad for any purpose may require additional travel documentation. If you are a frequent traveler to Canada from the U.S., you may benefit from the NEXUS program which is joint initiative between the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency and the Canada Border Services Agency that allows pre-screened and approved travelers faster processing at designated highway lanes in high-volume border crossing locations, at a NEXUS kiosk at Vancouver International Airport, and at certain marine reporting locations in the Great Lakes and Seattle regions. For further information, you may log on to the Nexus Internet site by clicking here.

If you are a citizen of another country, please contact an embassy or consulate of Canada and of the U.S. to determine what travel documentation will be required.

Anyone with a criminal record (including some misdemeanors such as Driving While Impaired (DWI) charges) may be excluded or removed from Canada, and should contact a Canadian embassy or consulate well in advance of any planned travel to ensure proper travel documentation.

We strongly recommend that your passport be valid for six months beyond the completion of your tour. In addition, we recommend that you make at least two photocopies of all the travel documents that you bring with you. Include copies of the photo page of your passport that contains the date of issuance, the date of expiration and your citizenship, as well as both sides of your driver’s license. Secure one set of copies in the safe in your room while traveling and leave one set behind with someone at home who will assist you in the event your documents are misplaced, lost or stolen. 

Travel with Children —

Age Recommendations – Children 5 years of age or older at the time of travel are welcome on this Tauck journey. Based upon our experience with family travelers, for each itinerary we have a minimum recommended age to encourage comfort and enjoyment for all of our guests. All children must be accompanied on activities by a parent or guardian. At least one guest in the traveling party must be 21 years of age or older in order to make a reservation.

Babysitting – Tauck journeys are designed for adults and children to share the wonder of discovery together. However, our guests have occasionally inquired about babysitting services. If you are interested, your Tauck Director will put you in contact with the appropriate hotel staff with whom you may make babysitting arrangements, to ensure your precise needs are met. There is usually an additional fee for these services. Many hotels do offer babysitting services that may be arranged on site; however, babysitting services are not guaranteed at all of our hotels. Please note that our Tauck Directors are not responsible for providing babysitting services.

Safety and Welfare Responsibility – We welcome the participation of child travelers on our exciting excursions. For safety and security purposes, children under 18 years of age must be booked into a room with at least one accompanying adult. If you are traveling with a child on a Tauck journey, you have the sole responsibility for ensuring that that the child with whom you are traveling follows all rules of safety throughout the tour. By traveling with Tauck, you release Tauck, Inc. and our partners of all liability for any risks and/or injuries to the child with whom you are traveling.

Special Travel Documentation for Children

Authorization for Travel

If you travel into or out of the U.S. with children under the age of 18, you should be aware of the following: because of increasing incidents of child abductions in disputed custody cases and because children are at risk as possible victims of child pornography, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) strongly recommends that unless the child is accompanied by both parents, you should have a note from the child's other parent (or, in the case of a child traveling with grandparents, uncles or aunts, sisters or brothers, or friends, a note signed by both parents) stating that the parent(s) not traveling acknowledge that the parent(s), family members, etc. who are traveling into or out of the U.S. with the child have permission to do so.

CBP also suggests that this note be notarized. While CBP may not ask to see this documentation, if they do ask, and you do not have it, you may be detained until the circumstances of the child traveling without both parents can be fully assessed.

If there is no second parent with legal claims to the child (deceased, sole custody, etc.) any other relevant paperwork, such as a court decision, birth certificate naming only one parent, death certificate, etc., would be useful.

All children who are citizens should also have a certified copy of their birth certificate or baptism record for ID. Children over the age of 14 are also required to have a photo ID.

Many other countries also share this concern for children who travel without both parents. To ensure smooth travel, Tauck requires all guests to comply with the travel regulations of each country visited. This information is available from each country’s consulate.

Authorization for Emergency Medical Treatment

In the unlikely event of a medical emergency, a medical facility will require permission from the child’s parents to provide treatment. Therefore, we strongly suggest that you bring along a letter from both parents authorizing emergency medical treatment for their child.

Tauck is not responsible for the disruption of travel caused by improper documentation for any travelers, including children traveling without both parents. While there is no definitive format or standard for these letters, click here to view a sample letter for guardians or one parent traveling with a child. 

Destination Information 

Cell Phones - We understand and appreciate the value of instant communication when we travel; it keeps us in touch with friends and family, and it's a reassurance in the event of an emergency. However, the use of cell phones can be disruptive to a tour and to other guests who are enjoying their vacation. As a courtesy to others, we ask that guests refrain from cell phone usage while on the motor coach, during group functions, when sightseeing and when the Tauck Director is addressing the group as a whole. There are usually many opportunities to make or receive calls at times when it does not affect others.

Please contact your cell phone carrier to determine whether your cell phone will operate in Alaska and Canada.

Currency and Exchange Rates - The U.S. Dollar (USD) is the unit of currency and is divided into 100 cents. Only major banks exchange foreign currency. ATMs are widespread and credit cards and travelers’ checks are widely accepted. Travelers’ checks should be taken in U.S. dollars to avoid hassles.

To obtain up-to-date currency exchange rates, you may want to check your local newspaper or log on to the Internet website, oanda.com, by clicking here.

Customs and Tax-Free Shopping – If you are not a U.S resident, you should contact an embassy or consulate of the U.S. to determine what customs regulations apply to your travel to the U.S. U.S. Customs and Border Protection maintains a website which may assist you in determining which laws apply. To access that website, click here.

The individual states within the U.S. levy sales taxes on consumer goods and services. There is no federal tax system similar to the Value Added Tax system used abroad whereby travelers who are not U.S. residents to would be permitted to obtain refunds of the sales taxes levied by each state.

Electrical Current – The electrical current in Alaska and on board the Mariner is 110V, 60Hz, AC, which accommodates standard U.S. plugs that have two flat pins or two flat pins and a round grounding pin. If you bring electric devices that are not compatible, you may wish to bring the appropriate adapters and converters.

Internet Access is available as indicated below:

If You Have to Cancel

Cancellation Fees – Regardless of reason, cancellations of confirmed bookings result in Tauck incurring costly penalties and cancellation fees from our travel and hotel providers. Therefore, if you have to cancel a confirmed booking, Tauck will charge you a cancellation fee according to when your cancellation notice is received in our Norwalk, CT office. To help limit your liability, Tauck offers Tauck Travel Protection.

If you choose to purchase Tauck’s Guest Protection or Cancellation Fee Waiver, you will have your cancellation penalties reduced. Click here for more details.

If you choose not to purchase Tauck’s Guest Protection or Cancellation Fee Waiver, you will incur cancellation penalties per person as follows:

60 days or more before departure
$950 per person (the cost of the deposit)

9-30 days before departure
50% of the cost of the tour per person

29-1 days before departure
100% of the cost of the tour per person