Skagway excursions

[winterstar]

Hello :)

I am torn between a couple of options for shore excursions in Skagway. I would really appreciate feedback from anyone who has done these particular tours to help me decide what to do.

I will be on the Vision of the Seas in late May, and can not decide between the "Whitepass Scenic Railway" , adding on the Mount Roberts tramway, or the full day "Glacier Point Wilderness Safari".

Please help :)

[MichTraveler]

I thought Mount Roberts Tramway was in Juneau?

[Suzanne123]

We did the Glacier Point Wilderness Safari and thought it was one of the best excursions ever. It wasn't a full day, however -- maybe 5 hours.

[winterstar]

You could be right on the tramway part, Mitch...uh...that's what I get for dreaming about my vacation at work :D (disregard the tramway part)

 

Suzanne: 5 hours is the majority of our time in port. We wouldn't have time to do anything else if we choose to go this route. Was there any part of it you didn't enjoy? How long did you have to paddle the canoe for? Any regrets?

 

Thanks for taking the time to reply!

[Mike2131]

Hello :)

I am torn between a couple of options for shore excursions in Skagway. I would really appreciate feedback from anyone who has done these particular tours to help me decide what to do.

I will be on the Vision of the Seas in late May, and can not decide between the "Whitepass Scenic Railway" , adding on the Mount Roberts tramway, or the full day "Glacier Point Wilderness Safari".

Please help :)

 

Hi!

I have taken the White Pass RR twice (the second with an extension into the Yukon) and thoroughly enjoyed it both times. I have never taken the "Glacier Point Safari" so I cannot comment on it.

Skagway is compact and a nice town to walk. The WP RR will probably allow enough time for that. It sounds like the Safari will not.

Good Luck. If you have never been to Alaska, you will love it!

[Suzanne123]

We were in port from around 7 am to 7 pm so we had time to do Glacier Point, walk around town, and then do the "To the Summit" excursion. Take a look at these pictures I found on google -- they are very accurate:

 

http://www.preyerplanning.com/alaska/skagway.htm

 

You don't need to be in tip-top shape. The canoes have motors and the guides will take over if you get tired. (Wonderful group of guides who live near the glacier)

 

I loved every minute of this excursion and plan to do it again next year.

[winterstar]

Thank you so much for that link! Your pictures are awesome, (especially the bear ones). I think I will stick with the wilderness safari. Motors! I'm sold. It will take us until 4:00 pm. We are in port until 8:30, but the last train ride RCCL offers is at 4:30pm. We would only have half an hour between excursions. I know that they recommend that you give yourselves an hour. Question is, do I feel like gambling?? :D

[Suzanne123]

Not my pictures, but I'll take credit for the link (lol). If it helps, you get on and off the Glacier Point catamaran about 2 minutes from where they board the train where the ship docks. You'll get a very nice box lunch on the trip home so don't worry about going on your train ride hungry. If you can't make the train, check to see if you can get the shorter "to the Summit" ride in the van. I haven't taken the train, so I can't compare, but in the van we did get to stop along the way for pictures of the scenery -- not as nice as the scenery to and from the Davidson glacier though (IMO).

Honestly, you can't go wrong. Everywhere you look in Alaska is another photo op -- just too much to do in a short time. Have fun!

[winterstar]

Well, I think I am going to chance it. If you book both through the cruise line and you end up late for one are you S.O.L?

 

Ahhhhhh screw it. I'm going for it anyway.

*grin*

Thanks for the input!

[maxs mom]

Has anyone done the jeep excursion in Skagway with Royal Caribbean? I think it costs $134.00. It looked interesting to me and I wondered what some of the details were.

[winterstar]

My decision has been made for me. I am unable to book online with RCCL because they will not allow you to book excursions within 45 mins of each other. I e-mailed them and they said my only option was to contact the excursions desk when I arrive on ship. SO, that's the new plan.

 

Thanks everyone for your input :)

[Yukon]

Has anyone done the jeep excursion in Skagway with Royal Caribbean? I think it costs $134.00. It looked interesting to me and I wondered what some of the details were.

 

This is one of the two Skagway excursions that I don't recommend (the other is the White Pass bike trip). The reasons - the guides know virtually nothing about the area (I've talked to 3 of them), you don't go to the good parts of the destination mountain (which I wrote a book about), and I think it's grossly over-priced (4x$134 = $536 to rent a Jeep for 6 hours!). The company does similar tours all over Alaska, and most of the reviews of all the trips are similar.

 

Murray

[maxs mom]

Thanks, Murray!

 

Well, that makes me sad. I really wanted to do that. We went to Alaska 7 years ago and I am astounded at the increase in price of all the excursions. I guess that's inflation for you. What excursion would you recommend? We have already done the White Pass Railroad trip. I looked at your guide for driving to Emerald Lake and considered that. Not sure how we would be on our own. We are not good decsion makers.

[Yukon]

There are lots of options of course, but to suggest one that's similar to the jeep tour, Frontier Excursions does one that has knowledgeable guides driving, and they get into the high country far beyond where the jeeps go - Frontier goes to about this point: http://www.explorenorth.com/library/roads/images/montanamtn1.html

The Web site is http://www.frontierexcursions.com/Yukon4x4.htm (I just noticed that they now do a jeep tour too, but it looks very poor to me).

 

Murray

[maxs mom]

Murray,

 

Thanks again. Those look like some good options. I'll be sending that website on to family members.