Excursions in Skagway

[cruisinconfusion]

This is my first ever cruise - I am so excited! DH and I are debating which excursions to take in Skagway. I am interested in the Yukon Expedition and White Pass Scenic Railway. I believe you take a motorcoach to Carcross, and then on to Fraser to board the White Pass Railway for our return to Skagway. There are many different White Pass Railway options. For those who have done this tour, do you think it was a good choice? Or would you have preferred a different choice?

 

DH has been looking at the Chilkoot Lake Kayak Experience excursion to Haines. My concern is it could very likely be cold (oh, we will be there July 22, 2018) and if raining, not a fun excursion at all. Has anyone done this excursion, and what are your thoughts?

 

We are both abut 85% agreed on the White Pass Railway, since we have heard so many people rave about their experience.

[diane.in.ny]

Yes, on the White Pass Railway in Skagway

 

As for Haines, can't help you there other than to ask when will you be back again? In which case, does the weather really matter?

 

We did a walking tour of Seville in the pouring rain. We were there just the one day, had pre-booked the tour, and just made the best of it.

[Astro Flyer]

Welcome to Cruise Critic and all of us have experienced “cruisinconfusion” like in your CC name. [emoji6]

 

For our first visit to Skagway we greatly enjoyed the bus to the Yukon & returning by train.

 

On another cruise we took the train both ways to the Canadian border...nice but repeating the same route it wasn’t nearly as good as our first experience by two different modes of transportation & going to the Yukon.

Edited April 21, 2018 by Astro Flyer

[moki'smommy]

The problem is that you are unlikely to find anyone who has done both of the options.

[wheezedr]

I have done the RT train ride and I have done the bus trip. I have friends going for the first time next month and my suggestion was to do the combination as you can get the best of both worlds. Same idea for you.

[paul929207]

We thought the railroad was great.

[Coral]

I have done the RT train ride and I have done the bus trip. I have friends going for the first time next month and my suggestion was to do the combination as you can get the best of both worlds. Same idea for you.

 

I agree. You can book through Chilkoot for a smaller bus (large van).

[TheRabbit]

I always recommend the railway first. There are a few other things to do in town also, but if you do the Rail/Bus combo, you won't have as much time. Please read about the trail of 98 before going there. It will help you understand where, what, why of Skagway and its history. Might also look at the trial of 98 show in town, go to the graveyard, visit the Nation Park visitor center ETC.

[eclue]

The white Pass railway and Yukon experience is awesome - must do that....as for going to Haines, we took the ferry there and went salmon fishing there - It was in August...the weather was beautiful, no rain and quite warm, but that is unpredictable...Haines is pretty but a decent ferry ride both ways....

We have been to Alaska several times and the all time favorite is the White Pass with Yukon experience - it is the best!!!

eclue:cool:

[HomelessBear]

We did the coach up and the train back. Agree it was a fabulous trip. Even got to stop off and see / hug some husky dogs (although their personal hygiene could have been a bit sweeter. Haha). Good photo stops on the coach too and awesome scenery all round.

 

 

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[geoherb]

We kayaked in Chilkoot Lake on our first cruise to Alaska. It was spectacular. I booked it independently. It was just the two of us with a guide. The cruise line excursions had 8 to 10 kayaks per guide and they were triple kayaks. We each got to paddle our own kayaks--which is great for me since DH tends to be lazy when we're in a tandem.

 

The ride on the ferry to Haines was also spectacular. A humpback whale surfaced right beside the ferry on the way over. The captain had to stop the boat, but we did not mind.

 

We haven't taken the train, but we did rent a car and drive to Emerald Lake on another cruise. That's also worth doing. It's great because you can stop when and where you want to see the scenery. One of my favorite cruise memories is of picking wild blueberries on that trip when we stopped to view a waterfall alongside the highway.

[TheRabbit]

We kayaked in Chilkoot Lake on our first cruise to Alaska. It was spectacular. I booked it independently. It was just the two of us with a guide. The cruise line excursions had 8 to 10 kayaks per guide and they were triple kayaks. We each got to paddle our own kayaks--which is great for me since DH tends to be lazy when we're in a tandem.

 

The ride on the ferry to Haines was also spectacular. A humpback whale surfaced right beside the ferry on the way over. The captain had to stop the boat, but we did not mind.

 

We haven't taken the train, but we did rent a car and drive to Emerald Lake on another cruise. That's also worth doing. It's great because you can stop when and where you want to see the scenery. One of my favorite cruise memories is of picking wild blueberries on that trip when we stopped to view a waterfall alongside the highway.

Picking blue berries is like being bear bait. We did that one time in the Yukon around dawson creek. The locals would pick a berry, look down the hill, pick a berry, look down the hill. This kept repeating so I had to ask. Turns out the blue berry patch belonged to a big brown bear and they were watching out for him. LOL

[stepmor99]

We rented a car, also and drove to Emerald Lake. It was the best day we had in Alaska. Like the previous poster said, the is something to be said for having the day to take your time and do as you please.

[phabric]

Check out - Cruise Critic - Port of Call - Alaska.

 

I have done the train return with Princess and Chilkoot private train/bus excursion.

 

I enjoyed both but found the private excursion much better with only 15 passengers on the bus.

[antmaril]

I have done the Princess excursion - coach up and train back. It was fantastic.

[aknursemom]

Don't let the worry of rain stop you. Pack some rain gear and enjoy! If I let the rain and snow stop me I'd rarely be outside!

[Blue and Green]

We rented a car and drove the route, a bit past Emerald Lake. A beautiful drive, not difficult, and we were able to get out of town before the buses. We enjoy stopping where we want to stop, on our own schedule. We had lunch at a little diner just off the road where we enjoyed talking to local people. And we still had time to explore town before returning to the ship.

 

Tom's Port Guides are helpful in planning.

[jsquared]

This is my first ever cruise - I am so excited! DH and I are debating which excursions to take in Skagway. I am interested in the Yukon Expedition and White Pass Scenic Railway. I believe you take a motorcoach to Carcross, and then on to Fraser to board the White Pass Railway for our return to Skagway. There are many different White Pass Railway options. For those who have done this tour, do you think it was a good choice? Or would you have preferred a different choice?

 

DH has been looking at the Chilkoot Lake Kayak Experience excursion to Haines. My concern is it could very likely be cold (oh, we will be there July 22, 2018) and if raining, not a fun excursion at all. Has anyone done this excursion, and what are your thoughts?

 

We are both abut 85% agreed on the White Pass Railway, since we have heard so many people rave about their experience.

We did the bus up and train back tour when we went in 2004 as it was the only tour where you got to actually walk on Yukon soil (a story in itself). We crossed the border at Fraser and the guide and driver agreed to a short picture stop when we saw the amazing Welcome sign.

 

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[Yosef42]

I agree with the general consensus that the train was an excellent choice. I do have some thoughts about Haines, though, since our cruise stopped there and we had to ferry back and forth to get to Skagway:

 

First, how long is your ship going to be in port? The ferry takes, if I recall correctly, about 45 minutes each way and you have to work around its schedule.

 

Second, Haines itself is cute enough, but much quieter and smaller than Skagway.

 

Third, I don't think it was a kayak tour, but some boat tour held our ship an hour or two late because it got grounded. Luckily for the attendees, it was a Princess tour, so they didn't get left behind. I'm honestly not sure what they'd have done if they missed the last ferry back to Skagway.

[eclue]

Defintely book through Chilkoot or other independent provider- too many people on the Princess excursions.....when we went we had about 10 in the van...it was great.

eclue:cool:

[Lucky TGO]

I have done the Princess excursion - coach up and train back. It was fantastic.

 

Ditto!!!

Tony

[cruisinconfusion]

Thank you all for the responses - very helpful in decision making. The Yukon train excursion it is.

[BigGuy25]

We also booked through Chilkoot. Not sure if it happens all the time but we had the last car on the train ... which was GREAT! We could walk out on the back deck and get wonderful photos anytime we wanted.

[eclue]

Thank you all for the responses - very helpful in decision making. The Yukon train excursion it is.

One more bit of info - sit on the left side of the train going up - the views are phenomenal!!

[Cruisen Elf]

Another vote for Chilkoot Tours! We took the van up and the train down. Why see the same scenery both ways? The smaller van allowed us to stop more often for scenic views and pictures.