Skagway full day excursion – too risky?

[~*Lou*~]

We will be in Skagway from 7am to 4.30pm in June, and I would like to book the Chilkoot day tour which departs at 7.30am and takes 7.5 hrs (Yukon Bus & Rail Excursion With 15-Minute Dogcart Ride), which would get us back at 3pm if it ran to time.

I’m travelling with my parents who don’t want to take this tour because it’s not run by the cruise line and they are concerned it could run late and we could miss our ship. The Chilkoot website says they have never missed a ship yet, and they guarantee our passage to our next port of call (although I would imagine that would be at our own cost).

I have looked on the cruise line’s own website for shore excursions and the longest one they offer is 8 hours, but of course that isn’t the tour itinerary we want, and it is run by the company so the ship would wait for them if they did run late.

Is the timing of the Chilkoot tour too risky?

Many thanks for any suggestions

Lou :)

[travgurl]

Check out Trails of 98 (TNTours). We have booked with them the 7 hour tour in July for the tour up the Klondike highway. It you dock at 7, they will pick you up at that time. They come highly recommended and easy to work with. This company offers shorter trips that may be of interest to you. Whatever company you choose, if you begin at 7:30 you should be back by 2:30-3:00.

We have booked privately before and not had any problems. Good luck with your decision and enjoy your trip.

[Northern Aurora]

We rarely do ship excursions. Just as long as the private tour returns to the dock about 60 to 90 minutes before departure you should be fine.

 

Also remember that in Skagway the private tours are using the same railway that the ship tours are on -- the White Pass and Yukon. If the WP&YRR would have any problems (i.e. a rock slide) then the folks on the ship sponsored tour are also on that same train (albeit in different cars). Also, there is one road into and out of Skagway, and if there were any problems on that road then the folks in buses on the ship sponsored excursions are on the same road as the private shore excursions.

[teachatthebeach]

I had the same time concerns as you did. I called Chilkoot Charters and shared my cruise times and details with them. The woman I spoke to wouldn't book me on the longer tour as she couldn't guarantee enough time to return to the ship. Anyone else have this experience with Chilkoot? I decided to take their advice and book the shorter train/bus tour.

[bonvoyagie]

Since Chilkoot and most of the other operators will pay to get you to the ships next port if they are late and you miss the ship because of that. I would heed their advice.

 

Ships say that they leave at a certain time - in actuality the back on board time is 1/2 hr earlier than the posted time. The ships do keep track of who is back onboard and in the case of our cruise in 2012 we were out of the port as soon as the last person swiped their key card - at most ports that was at or before the 1/2 hr mark. Also in Skagway we were docked and cleared before 7:00. There are usually 4 ships in port there and they all show up about the same time so the tug only has to come out once.

 

As for the OPs time frame - the 7:30 tour start and 7.5 hr tour would have them back around 3:00 - ample time to get back to the ship. As others have said there is only one train and one hy and if there is a problem on them the ship excursions would also be affected. The only thing that would be different is if your tour operator had bus trouble. Chilkoot does have more than one bus and they have radio contact with each other and dispatch.

 

I used Chilkoot for their Bennett Scenic Tour, had a blast, and was back before my ship left the dock - by several hours as we did not leave until 8:00 PM

[5waldos]

The majority of business these tour groups do is with cruise ship passengers. In fact, many provide the ship tours. They would not remain in business if they had people missing their ships. Talk to them about which trip they would recommend for you- and take their advice. Then relax and enjoy your day.

[Budget Queen]

We will be in Skagway from 7am to 4.30pm in June, and I would like to book the Chilkoot day tour which departs at 7.30am and takes 7.5 hrs (Yukon Bus & Rail Excursion With 15-Minute Dogcart Ride), which would get us back at 3pm if it ran to time.

I’m travelling with my parents who don’t want to take this tour because it’s not run by the cruise line and they are concerned it could run late and we could miss our ship. The Chilkoot website says they have never missed a ship yet, and they guarantee our passage to our next port of call (although I would imagine that would be at our own cost).

I have looked on the cruise line’s own website for shore excursions and the longest one they offer is 8 hours, but of course that isn’t the tour itinerary we want, and it is run by the company so the ship would wait for them if they did run late.

Is the timing of the Chilkoot tour too risky?

Many thanks for any suggestions

Lou :)

 

No guarantees in life, but you don't have anything to be concerned with- 99.9% success rate.

 

This is a long standing well run, reputable company that knows what they are doing, and how to schedule.

 

Absolutely necessary- however- be CERTAIN to fully disclose what ship you are on and your port time when you book.

[Budget Queen]

I had the same time concerns as you did. I called Chilkoot Charters and shared my cruise times and details with them. The woman I spoke to wouldn't book me on the longer tour as she couldn't guarantee enough time to return to the ship. Anyone else have this experience with Chilkoot? I decided to take their advice and book the shorter train/bus tour.

 

This is standard. They know what they are doing with schedules.