white pass railway

[molsonschooner]

We will be in Skagway in July. Has anyone booked a tour on the White pass railway through a private company or can you only book through the cruise line.

[sherryf]

We are booked through Chilkoot Charters. I have used them in the past. They have much smaller buses, so more personalized tours.

[bonvoyagie]

Depending on what you want to do (there are several options) you can purchase tours similar to what you get on the ship through companies like Viatour or deal with Skagway companies like Chilkoot. It is possible that your tour booked through Viatour could end up with Chilkoot as the provider - or not. You can also buy tickets directly through the RR on the day you arrive. They usually keep a few cars at the head of the trains for walk-ons. However the priority is with the cruise ship pax.

[Ashland]

We also made this recent decision booking private vs ship for our May cruise visit. We ended up going with Chilkoot, bus up and train back as we wanted the combination that left at 8:30am which will take approx 3 hours giving us the afternoon in town. The price wasn't much different but the ship would have only been train up and back. We booked very easily directly online and I think we made the best decision for us after reading many reviews.

[Budget Queen]

The biggest benefit of using an independent vendor, is the bus size. The cruiselines many times use regular big touring buses, and their stops are fixed. A big amount of time is used loading and unloading. Viewing also is way more restrictive, IF you want to view both sides.

 

I never recommend using ANY booking agents in Alaska. In my opinion the vendor is just as important as the tour, and deals with them direct FAR superior then just getting pot luck.

 

The above information pertains to COMBO tours, meaning ONE way train.

 

IF your reference is about the round trip train, there is a small cost difference, BUT biggest difference is the loading. Ship tours load right outside the cruiseship. IF you book direct with the White Pass RR, you load at the rail depot.

[redhead621]

I am also traveling in May. We chose to book through the cruse line. We are booked on the round trip train at 12:45. Because we are doing the later train we decided to book with Royal so that if the train was delayed they would wait for us and also as Budget Queen said, they pick up and drop off at the pier.

The last time we did this trip, we booked through an independent operator and did the small bus into Car Cross. The scenery was so beautiful.

[Putterdude]

We have always waited and booked our WP&YR tickets at the station, the cost is pretty much the same but you have opportunity to assess the weather and decide if you want to go or not.

[GiGi]

We booked through Dyea Dave. We still are undecided about whether we will ride the train up and Dyea Dave tour back down or just save money and skip the train. Dyea Dave does not charge extra to tour round trip, plus you can book the train ahead or wait until that day and see what the weather looks like.

 

I like the flexibility of a small tour company. It's much easier getting a small amount of passengers off and on the bus, plus the flexibility of stopping for wildlife/scenery.

[molsonschooner]

thanks everyone for the replies

[lindseesmom]

Royal Caribbean is charging $150 per person for this excurison and on the railroad's website, it is $115 per person which is quite a bit since we have 3 in our group. What does Royal do differently than booking with the White Pass' website? I know Royal's involves transportation. Can we walk from where the ship docks to the train station??

Thanks!

[DougH]

When I did the Lake Bennett train trip with Chillkoot we had our own train car with only the dozen or so people in it. The Princess cars were full where we had space to move around freely. On the ride back same thing, we were in a small bus with the ability to stop if we saw something interesting and they had a large one on a scheduie that didn't permit this.

[Ashland]

Royal Caribbean is charging $150 per person for this excurison and on the railroad's website, it is $115 per person which is quite a bit since we have 3 in our group. What does Royal do differently than booking with the White Pass' website? I know Royal's involves transportation. Can we walk from where the ship docks to the train station??

Thanks!

Yes you can walk to the train station if you book directly with WP ..however our Chilkoot tour provides transportation from the ship also.We have paid $123.00pp the combo of bus/train.

[Glaciers]

I found this on the WPYR site that is a milepost guide along the rails. Does anyone know if there are any others? This one turned out being 12 pages when printed.

 

http://www.wpyrmediakit.com/mediakit/milepostguide.html

[Budget Queen]

Royal Caribbean is charging $150 per person for this excurison and on the railroad's website, it is $115 per person which is quite a bit since we have 3 in our group. What does Royal do differently than booking with the White Pass' website? I know Royal's involves transportation. Can we walk from where the ship docks to the train station??

Thanks!

 

Are you certain, this is for the EXACT same thing? Usually all the difference is, is about $10.

 

As already mentioned, IF you have no mobility limitations, yes you can walk to the depot. The farthest walks will be from the second RR dock and Ore Dock. Broadway dock and the first stall of RR Dock are the closest.

 

There is also the SMART bus, who will drop you off.

[bonvoyagie]

I found the White Pass Summit RT (sk01) on RCCLs excursion list at 120.00 and the WPRR site lists it at 115.00. There is also a White Pass and City Highlights tour (sk49) that is 150.00 It involves taking the train to Fraser and a bus back to town. There is also some sort of multi media presentation prior to the train ride.

 

So I think that BQ is right they are not comparing apples to apples.

[DaveOKC]

We used Chillkoot two years ago and had a great experience. My Mom was in a wheelchair at the time and they did a great job with her. Here are the pros and cons as I see them:

 

Pickup/dropoff - CHillkoot picks up/drops off at the end of the pier (on the way back we got off in downtown to tour the shops) and takes you to the station. The cruise tour picks you up right at the ship.

 

Train car - we (3 of us) had the entire car to ourself (except for the train's tour guide). On the cruise tour the the cars had alot more people in them.

 

Bus back to town - On Chillkoot we had a mini-bus (like the shuttles you see at airports) all to ourselfs - NICE! That way we could stop whenever we wanted to for pictures.

 

Timing - we wanted the train up and bus back in the morning, and only Chillkoot offered this (main reason we ended up going with them).

 

Cost - about the same, Chillkoot a couple of bucks cheaper, but not enough to really worry about. However, on Holland the cruise tour cost goes toward earning Mariner days (plus for cruise tour).

 

DaveOKC

[lindseesmom]

*****What we are looking for is the train ride and we can walk in Skagway ourselves and save the difference of Royal's cost. Fromn what I hear Downtown Skagway is not big and I can read about the history online myself.

Even if we do the Chilkoot tours, we are still saving money that can be spent on something else. It is quite a bit of money to me anyway.

 

 

Are you certain, this is for the EXACT same thing? Usually all the difference is, is about $10.

 

As already mentioned, IF you have no mobility limitations, yes you can walk to the depot. The farthest walks will be from the second RR dock and Ore Dock. Broadway dock and the first stall of RR Dock are the closest.

 

There is also the SMART bus, who will drop you off.

[lindseesmom]

****Dave, I was quoted $123 per person which is a savings from $150 per person on Royal. Since there is 3 of us, that is almost $100 difference to be spent somewhere else.

 

We used Chillkoot two years ago and had a great experience. My Mom was in a wheelchair at the time and they did a great job with her. Here are the pros and cons as I see them:

 

Pickup/dropoff - CHillkoot picks up/drops off at the end of the pier (on the way back we got off in downtown to tour the shops) and takes you to the station. The cruise tour picks you up right at the ship.

 

Train car - we (3 of us) had the entire car to ourself (except for the train's tour guide). On the cruise tour the the cars had alot more people in them.

 

Bus back to town - On Chillkoot we had a mini-bus (like the shuttles you see at airports) all to ourselfs - NICE! That way we could stop whenever we wanted to for pictures.

 

Timing - we wanted the train up and bus back in the morning, and only Chillkoot offered this (main reason we ended up going with them).

 

Cost - about the same, Chillkoot a couple of bucks cheaper, but not enough to really worry about. However, on Holland the cruise tour cost goes toward earning Mariner days (plus for cruise tour).

 

DaveOKC

[STLATL]

I know I've seen this somewhere before on CC but thought this community could give me a quicker answer than trying to find it in all of the other threads.

 

We are planning on taking the bus up and train back. Which sides of the bus and train are best to sit on, giving that combination?

[sherryf]

I know I've seen this somewhere before on CC but thought this community could give me a quicker answer than trying to find it in all of the other threads.

 

We are planning on taking the bus up and train back. Which sides of the bus and train are best to sit on, giving that combination?

 

Right on both.

[lindseesmom]

I am sorry and I looked back on Royal's page and there are a few White Pass excursions. The basic is $120 and the one with the city tour is $150. Does this still involve a bus? How long is the actual train ride???

[Budget Queen]

I am sorry and I looked back on Royal's page and there are a few White Pass excursions. The basic is $120 and the one with the city tour is $150. Does this still involve a bus? How long is the actual train ride???

 

A round trip train trip is about 3.5 hours.

 

You need to read or post the actual tour. It will say, if the train is one way or not.

[KruzPrincess]

I did this trip about 20 years ago and loved it, but I can't remember all the details. Which side of the train car has the better views? I remember that we

could go on platform at the back of the train car to take pictures. Do all cars have that platform? Thanks.

[Budget Queen]

I did this trip about 20 years ago and loved it, but I can't remember all the details. Which side of the train car has the better views? I remember that we

could go on platform at the back of the train car to take pictures. Do all cars have that platform? Thanks.

 

FROM Skagway sit on the left. Right if going TO Skagway.

 

Yes the rail cars have the outside platforms.

[Steamboatin]

Below is based upon our personal experience.

SKAGWAY’S BEST VIEWS BY TRAIN AND BUS

For the best view sit by a window as follows:

 

By train:

Leaving Skagway sit on the left side of the train.

 

Leaving Fraser sit on the right side of the train.

 

By bus:

 

Leaving Skagway sit on the right (passenger) side of the bus.

 

Leaving Fraser sit on the left (driver) side of the bus.