Cruisetour transportation to ship

[dagcruisers]

We will be taking a Royal Caribbean cruisetour this summer. It will be our first time to Alaska.

Our last stop on the land portion will be the Alyeska resort in Girdwood. The itinerary states that we will take a motor coach from Alyeska to Seward to embark the ship. Since we are part of the cruisetour, is it possible to pass on taking the motor coach and take the train instead? (I realize there would be an additional fee). If so, is this an upgrade Royal Caribbean will offer, can we just make train arrangements on our own, or is the pre-assigned motor coach our only option as part of a cruisetour?

[CruiserBruce]

Have you done any research on the RCI board? That might be the better place.

[biker1972]

You just ran into the main reason people decide on DIY touring; something about the itinerary does not suit them. Check with RCI to see what you need to do, but all additonal costs and reservations will be your responsibility. Luggage handling may be an issue that will become your job. There will be no security blanket once you leave the tour, and hopefully it will not create a problem boarding the ship. Do your homework! The train leaves Girdwood at 8:00 AM arriving at Seward 11:05. Cost is either $79 or $134 (for Gold Star service) pp. Only one train per day that is run by Alaska RR. There will be a later train coming from the Airport that will be pulling various cars from the cruiselines that are in port that day, including RCI rolling stock, but this train may not stop at Girdwood, so it might not be an option.

[Budget Queen]

To answer your question, yes you can easily dump the cruisetour and book YOURSELF on the Alaska RR. The BIG benefit to this is getting into Seward in time for some great touring opportunities. IF you are aren't interested in that, there is little reason to loose your money with just taking the ship transfer.

[mapleleaves]

The morning train out of Anchorage stops in Girdwood at 8am. If you can get a ride from the resort to the train depot, it would be a nice upgrade. But I agree with the others ... go DIY so you can do and see what YOU want to do on your schedule. DIY can still be train and/or bus if you're not comfortable driving, but driving is soooo easy in Alaska - very few roads and the hwys are all 2 lane.

http://www.alaskarailroad.com/travel/Transit/Schedules/tabid/98/Default.aspx

[ERTHDOG]

Have you done any research on the RCI board? That might be the better place.

 

pardon me for hijacking , but...

 

hello bruce , just wanted to say hi from another petaluman ,cant say i've "met" any others here on cc:D

 

dave

[dagcruisers]

Thank you, everyone, for your replies. I appreciate all the information.

Now I have to make some decisions...