Who has taken the fast ferry from Skagway to Haines?

[CowPrincess]

I'm trying to get an Alaska cruise organized :) I'd like to take the fast ferry from Skagway to Haines and back to Skagway. My big concern is that I'll get "bumped" from the return trip by HAL shorex people :eek:

 

Have you done the fast ferry, and were you able to get a seat back to Skagway at the time you wanted?

 

Thanks in advance!

[RailTraveler]

About seven years ago I was in Skagway for a week. Did a one day round trip from Skagway to Haines and was back before any of the cruise ships departed. I was not on a cruise at the time and purchased tickets for that day with no problems. I spent maybe two hours in Haines before the return trip.

[jtl513]

I'm trying to get an Alaska cruise organized :) I'd like to take the fast ferry from Skagway to Haines and back to Skagway. My big concern is that I'll get "bumped" from the return trip by HAL shorex people :eek:

 

Have you done the fast ferry, and were you able to get a seat back to Skagway at the time you wanted?

 

Thanks in advance!

When we tried to book an independent Haines-Skagway-Haines round trip they would not do it because we were on a cruise ship. We had to take a ship excursion. That was about 6 years ago, though, so maybe rules have changed.

...

Edited January 18, 2014 by jtl513

[Krazy Kruizers]

Several years ago we were docked in Haines and did an excursion in Skagway which required us to use the fast ferry -- price included in the excursion fare. For the return trip back to Skagway, we were assigned a time to take the ferry back to Haines -- it all depended on when the various tours ended.

A couple staying in the cabin next to us thought that they would just buy their own ferry tickets and go to Skagway on their own. Nope -- once on shore they were told that they had to buy a ship's excursion to use the fast ferry.

[igraf]

I thought that the cruise traffic would be in the opposite direction: Haines to Skagway returning to Haines.

 

What is the attraction of Haines over Skagway?

 

igraf

 

 

 

 

I'm trying to get an Alaska cruise organized :) I'd like to take the fast ferry from Skagway to Haines and back to Skagway. My big concern is that I'll get "bumped" from the return trip by HAL shorex people :eek:

 

Have you done the fast ferry, and were you able to get a seat back to Skagway at the time you wanted?

 

Thanks in advance!

[svalbard]

I assume you are not talking about the Alaska Marine Highway's fast ferry.

 

On some itineraries HAL alternates between Haines and Skagway, maybe to give BTB cruisers an additional port.

 

I have taken the HAL chartered boat (catamaran) between Haines - Skagway RT; I was on a tour in Skagway. I don't know if I would go to Haines from Skagway without a tour planned (if you could). There could be a lot of walking since Haines is pretty spread out.

 

There is a lot to see and do in Skagway: hiking, people watching, of course shopping, tours. I have rented a car and driven into the Yukon to Carcross, a nice drive.

[MermaidWatcher]

I'm trying to get an Alaska cruise organized :) I'd like to take the fast ferry from Skagway to Haines and back to Skagway. My big concern is that I'll get "bumped" from the return trip by HAL shorex people :eek:

 

Have you done the fast ferry, and were you able to get a seat back to Skagway at the time you wanted?

 

Thanks in advance!

 

We booked Skagway/Haines in September without any problem, $68 r/t, 10am Skgwy/Haines, 5pm return to Skgwy.

http://hainesskagwayfastferry.com/ferry.html or 1-888-766-2103.

Call to make reservations and check available trips on your particular day, as the schedule is flexible, and all of the trips are not always posted on the "generic" schedule that first comes up. Also Sunday, Monday, Friday and Saturdays have abbreviated schedules.

Edited January 18, 2014 by MermaidWatcher

[CowPrincess]

I thought that the cruise traffic would be in the opposite direction: Haines to Skagway returning to Haines.

 

What is the attraction of Haines over Skagway?

 

igraf

 

We dock in Skagway. The attraction of Haines is that I've not been there (have been to Skagway several times), there's a place I want to visit in Haines, and I like the idea of a less-touristy town.

Edited January 18, 2014 by CowPrincess

[CowPrincess]

I assume you are not talking about the Alaska Marine Highway's fast ferry.

 

On some itineraries HAL alternates between Haines and Skagway, maybe to give BTB cruisers an additional port.

 

I have taken the HAL chartered boat (catamaran) between Haines - Skagway RT; I was on a tour in Skagway. I don't know if I would go to Haines from Skagway without a tour planned (if you could). There could be a lot of walking since Haines is pretty spread out.

 

There is a lot to see and do in Skagway: hiking, people watching, of course shopping, tours. I have rented a car and driven into the Yukon to Carcross, a nice drive.

 

Heavens, no not the AMHS :D I'd have to stay overnight in Haines, and that really wouldn't work :eek: I'm looking at the Haines/Skagway Fast Ferry.

 

I've been to Skagway a few times, that's one of the reasons I want to try to get to Haines.

[jtl513]

We booked Skagway/Haines in August without any problem, $68 r/t,

And they knew you were on a cruise ship?

[CowPrincess]

MermaidWatcher and RailTraveler, thanks for sharing your experiences. As you can see from other posts, it may or may not work for me :) Certainly, the response I've had so far from the Fast Ferry people is making me a tiny bit concerned, despite the "reassurance" they've given me.

 

The Fast Ferry has space for 150 pax. I guess I need to see how many cruise ships are in Skagway that day, and then guess how many of the cruise pax will take a shorex to Haines, on the early sailing :D

[MermaidWatcher]

And they knew you were on a cruise ship?

 

I don't really understand what difference this makes to them, a paid ticket is a paid ticket. I know that they are going to look out for the ship tours that give them so much business, but they know how many seats are booked, and are not interested in having 20 unpaid seats on a trip, so it is not logical that they would not sell one to an individual, whether they are travelling on a cruise ship or on the back of a whale.

No one cared about whether I was on a cruise ship or not when I was inquiring about the schedule and booking, but to answer your question, yes, I referenced the fact of my docking and departure times a few times when verifying the ferry schedule, and no one said anything.

Edited January 18, 2014 by MermaidWatcher

[CowPrincess]

I don't really understand what difference this makes to them, a paid ticket is a paid ticket. I know that they are going to look out for the ship tours that give them so much business, but they know how many seats are booked, and are not interested in having 20 unpaid seats on a trip, so it is not logical that they would not sell on to me, whether I am travelling by cruise ship or on the back of a whale.

No one cared about whether I was on a cruise ship or not when I was inquiring about the schedule and booking, but to answer your question, yes, I referenced the fact of my docking and departure times a few times when verifying the ferry schedule, and no one said anything.

 

I made certain they knew I was coming in by cruise ship, too. I'm just not 100% certain about the reply. It sounded like a bit of a "tap dance" as the person who responded admitted it was not their decision but the manager said it was okay. If I get shut out at the dock in Skagway, not a huge deal, right? I'll go for a hike instead. But I'll be in trouble if I get shut out at the dock in Haines for the trip back to Skagway :eek:

[jtl513]

I don't really understand what difference this makes to them, ... so it is not logical that they would not sell one to an individual, whether they are travelling on a cruise ship or on the back of a whale.

No one cared about whether I was on a cruise ship or not ...

Logical or not, when they asked if I was on a cruise ship and I said yes, they told me that I had to book through the ship. There was no "ferry only" option, so we chose the cheapest excursion. That was 6 years ago, so apparently the rules have changed. Edited January 19, 2014 by jtl513