cljohnst

Thanks everyone! We are doing the bus up, train down at 8:30 a.m.

Would love to do the helicopter ride to the glacier, but we're out of cash for big excursions at this point.

As early as midnight? Yippee. We're on the Jewel the last week of September and thought we might need to keep setting alarms to go up to check but our roll call is going to try to get a wake up call if it happens.

 

 

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That's so cool! How'd you arrange for your roll call to get a wake up call if it happens?

Update.... I talked with Kenny at Brown Bear Lodge and he was very nice over the telephone. They didn't require a down payment and we can pay the day of the tour. He takes cash, check or credit card. He were up front and said they couldn't guarantee seeing bears but there is a good possibility. He did guarantee showing us a good time and see parts of Alaska we have never seen before. All I am looking for is a great tour and I realize wildlife spotting in Alaska is just like in Texas. You have to be at the right spot at the right time. Looking forward to this tour. Thanks for all of the advise and information. We will depart Vancouver on Aug 11 and will be on a B2B cruise.

It looks like you're on your cruise now, so you probably won't see this. But how much is the Brown Bear Lodge tour? If you've already done it, how did it go? We leave next week.

Thanks, Yosef! We've put Olivia's on our list.

We booked the train/bus combo for the morning and plan on spending the rest of the afternoon exploring. We have a decent amount of time. Any recommendations outside of Olivia's and Skagway Brewing for how to spend the afternoon in Skagway would be great!

Hi, all!

My boyfriend and I leave for our Alaska cruise in just a few days; we couldn't be more excited! We've booked most of our excursions. For ISP, we're whale watching with Glacier Wind from noon to 3:30 p.m. Booked them after hearing rave reviews here.

However, we're trying to find out how to spend our morning, from 9 a.m. to noon. We've already spent most of our budget for big excursions, so we're looking for something more simple/cost effective to fill the time. I'd love the chance to see some bears and other wildlife. Are there areas we can hike to on our own where this might happen?

Also, what's our chance of bear sightings this time of year? If I understand correctly, the salmon are pretty active right now, making our chances pretty good.

Also, also: if there's no way to hike to see salmon/bears on our own without shelling out money for an excursion, any other recommendations for spending the morning in ISP?

Thanks in advance!

Thanks Popoki and gingersvp. Both of those posts were very helpful for us :)

The bus (very comfortable) portion was absolutely great...small group (14 people) local driver with lots of information and the small bus could stop at lookout points for views and pictures...certainly a different perspective. I don't think just the train up and down would have been as appealing....and many on here agree. You do what you prefer I was just giving you something to consider. Google Chilkoot to get more info on their bus/train combo...You can easily book online with them and they will email you a ticket with all the details you need. Enjoy

We're so glad you suggested this! The extra look out points and stops is a definite bonus. Thank you!

What's the benefit to the bus? Seems like a less comfortable way to travel than train. Do we go further inland or see different views? Seems like it could be cool.

Thanks for the tip!

My boyfriend and I are looking to take the 3.5 hour White Pass train ride when we're in Skagway. It looks like we can buy tickets directly through the rail site for $122. The excursion through the cruise is $149 each. Is there any benefit to booking through the cruise line? We can't tell exactly where the train leaves from -- on one map, it doesn't look far at all.

Has anyone booked the train on their own? Can we walk to the station easily enough? Besides transport to the station, is there any other benefit to booking through NCL?

Thanks so much!

**Also, if anyone has tips for what to do in Skagway after the train, that would be great. Looks like there are a couple short walks in the area along with a brewery.

**Also, also: Everyone talks about the White Pass railway, so I'm assuming that's the best one? Anyone ever done Bennett or Fraser? Any preference among the three?

Awesome. Thanks!

My friends and I are leaving for a cruise on Brilliance Thursday, Nov. 13. I wanted to prepay my gratuities, but can't find where to do that online. I guess I'll have to do it on ship...

I know it's an automatic $12 a day. Curious, for a Thursday-Monday morning sailing, are you charged for four days or five? That is, do you pay gratuity for Monday, when you're only on board for a couple hours before disembarking? Trying to budget how much extra spending I can do on board. :)

TIA!

I would also like to know the answer to this. Do we just need to print the guest ticket booklet once for each room? Both of our names are on it.