Chilkhoot or through NCL?

[twentyatheart]

Trying to make a deicion...should we Chilkhoot Yukon Rail and bus trip or book White Pass Railway and Yukon expediton through NCL? They seem to be about the same other than the Chilkhoot tour is 7 1/2 hrs and NCL is 8 hrs. I cant seem to find what the difference in the two are. Chilkhoot is also less expensive. Does the Chilkhoot go to the musher camp as well? I am assuming since it mentions petting husky puppies.

[Ashland]

Trying to make a deicion...should we Chilkhoot Yukon Rail and bus trip or book White Pass Railway and Yukon expediton through NCL? They seem to be about the same other than the Chilkhoot tour is 7 1/2 hrs and NCL is 8 hrs. I cant seem to find what the difference in the two are. Chilkhoot is also less expensive. Does the Chilkhoot go to the musher camp as well? I am assuming since it mentions petting husky puppies.

Go with Chilkoot..you'll be in a much smaller group than using the cruiseline excursion.;)

[bonvoyagie]

The biggest difference between the two tours is the size of the group and the size of the bus. Chilkoot will have a smaller bus and will give you a much more personal experience than the larger bus based NCL tour.

 

The train portion of the trip is the same - maybe - Chilkoot has a different coach than the cruise lines and at least on my tour with them was far less crowded. We had 5 people in our tour and there were 12 total in the car :D

The others were either with other tour groups or bought tickets through the RR.

 

The place with the puppies is called Caribou Crossing http://www.cariboucrossing.ca/

 

All of the tours stop here - the dog sled rides add some $$ and time to either vendor's tour.

 

BTW the extra 1/2 hour is probably due to the extra time spent at the photo stops getting everybody on and off the bus :)

 

Chilkoot will meet you at a parking lot just outside the fenced area where the NCL buses line up - If you are on either the Pearl or Jewel they dock side by side at the Broadway and Ore docks so the pickup place will be the same. From there they go over to the RR Dock area and meet up with the other Chilkoot vans - then you will board your bus for the rest of the day - they will either drop you off at the depot for the train ride and meet you at Fraser for the trip to Carcross and back to Skagway. Others will take the van ride all the way to Carcross and then back to Fraser for a train ride back to Skagway.

 

I would also highly recommend the Bennett Scenic Tour - while there is no stop at Caribou Crossings you take the train all the way to Carcross via the town of Bennett (where you are served lunch fit for a gold miner) You also get to see where the White Pass and Chilkoot trails came together. The area has been preserved and is a provincial historic site. It also became a ghost town overnight - quite a story. This ride is a bit longer - about 9 hrs. I did this when I cruised on the Pearl in 12.

Edited May 13, 2015 by bonvoyagie

[plumie]

go with Chilkoot! We went with them last year and had a blast. What sold me was the small tour group - because Chilkoot gets their own train car, so less people = more seats and room to move around. I went with NCL the first time we did White Pass. That was no bueno; large bus packed with people and the train car was crazy full - if you happened to be sitting on the good side for the view (left side if going up and right side going down) the NCL train car had people who got seats on the other side literally hanging over you to look out your window and to take pictures over your head. That was a little uncomfortable to have strangers literally hanging over me. Our Chilkoot car was only half filled, so everyone had a seat on the good side and we all just used the other side of the train to store our jackets and bags. And we got the caboose! So we got to take turns standing on the platform on the back and take some awesome photos.

[palmbaytish]

I just wanted to say thanks to all of you in helping me decide whether to book with NCL or Chilkoot on the Yukon Rail Expedition. The cost is lower and I HATE, HATE, HATE ship tours where you feel like cattle.

 

Are the buses/vans comfortable for the drive to the Yukon? It will be my 12 year old daughter, my husband and I and do they make stops for photos or is it a straight drive there with no stops?

[jtba]

Are the buses/vans comfortable for the drive to the Yukon? It will be my 12 year old daughter, my husband and I and do they make stops for photos or is it a straight drive there with no stops?

 

we just did this in skagway recently (two thursdays ago to be exact!). we booked thru chilkoot and did the bus up / train down route. the shuttle comfortably seated ~20 people, and they made several stops along the way for photo ops (plus one bathroom stop, or more like an outhouse as there was no plumbing), with a lady driver narrating the whole trip. she did an excellent job too. highly recommended.

[teachatthebeach]

Another vote for Chilkoot! We only went as far as Fraser due to time, but the van was very comfortable--easy on and off for photo ops. Kevin was our guide. He was a hoot and had us laughing all the way. Our train car was only half full, so everyone got to sit on the good side.

Edited July 23, 2015 by teachatthebeach

[Missymo]

Agree with the above posters. We just returned and used Chikoot , bus up, train back from Frazier. For us, the bus up was a blast with our driver, she was knowledgable, funny and took us to many places the train doesn't go. We even caught up to the "cruise buses" so we shortened a non essential stop and got ahead of the 3-4 bus loads and had a great time with no crowds , getting in the sights and snapshots. Glad we did bus first as we were not impressed with the train ride back.

[cathyce2]

I am another happy customer of Chilkoot. We had Kevin as our guide just last week and really enjoyed the trip (bus up and train back). Van was comfortable, stops were frequent and just the right length for photos, plenty of seats in the train car. Some people from our van did the dog sled ride and said it wasn't worth the money, but we really enjoyed what we did. I was travelling with my 16 year old and 11 year old