Train to Whittier

We are taking a train from Anchorage to Whittier on Saturday morning. How far ahead do we need to be at the train station? And how are seats assigned? First come, first served? Or something different?

I heard that if our bags are tagged for Princess that someone would take them when we get to the station. Is that correct?

Thanks for your help!

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Are you on Alaska Railroad cars or on you on Princess cars? If you booked through the cruiseline, You'll be on Princess cars.

On Alaska Railroad cars they tell you to check in an hour early. And there's assigned seats. The Alaska Railroad calls this train the Glacier Discovery train.

Are you on Alaska Railroad cars or on you on Princess cars? If you booked through the cruiseline, You'll be on Princess cars.

 

On Alaska Railroad cars they tell you to check in an hour early. And there's assigned seats. The Alaska Railroad calls this train the Glacier Discovery train.

I'm on Alaska Railroad--alaska discovery train.

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This is the Glacier Discovery train arriving into Whittier.

The station shown is across the road from the cruise ship.

I don't tka e this train due to having other preferences, but on the Anchorage Seward train, in my several time experiences in both directions, the seats are randomly assigned with no requests. Trains are usually very full anyway, with sometime sell outs, so seats are unavailable for much change anyway. If adventure class, I find the dome car not even found by a lot of passengers, with me able to accommodate my seating preferences every trip. I'm very proactive for my priorities have been successful for numerous years.

Thanks everyone. So here's how it works for future posts--there is a big white tent outside the train station. We gave them our bags tagged for Princess and the next time we saw them was in our cabin. Very smooth!

For our seats, we were able to get seats on the right side. They do randomly assign seats. I'm not sure how we got the luck of the draw.

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Thanks everyone. So here's how it works for future posts--there is a big white tent outside the train station. We gave them our bags tagged for Princess and the next time we saw them was in our cabin. Very smooth!

For our seats, we were able to get seats on the right side. They do randomly assign seats. I'm not sure how we got the luck of the draw.

 

 

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thanks for the update, this has been the same procedure for years. So, continues the same- working well. :)

We loved the train from anchorage to Whittier. Despite the fact we traveled in high season there was room in our car so we could move from side to side. All previous stated advice is true, they took our bags at the white tent at the train station and the next time we saw them was in our room, right side is best. The seats are extremely comfortable with tons of leg room. The scenery is outstanding. We also had enough time to take the fabulous 26 Glacier cruise before boarding the Coral Princess.

I just did this train ride a week ago and it was great. We got to the train station about an hour ahead of time and they did take our luggage with the Princess tags straight to the ship. On the train you can get up and walk around or stand between cars and get fresh air and great pictures.

We got to the ship at noon and even through boarding didn't start until 12:30 Princess let us board early and we were some of the first passengers on the ship.