Experience the Yukon and Suspension Bridge

[RoyalVisit]

Just off the Nieuw Amsterdam this morning and I wanted to recommend a HAL offered excursion called "Experience the Yukon and Suspension Bridge" out of Skagway. The tour was $129US pp for 8.25 hrs and we had a fantastic tour guide/driver named Candace.  The weather was absolutely beautiful and warm.  Summit, scenery stops and visits to the Yukon Suspension Bridge, Caribou Crossing (lunch) and Carcross.  I'd recommend this tour to anyone who loves scenery and sightseeing by coach. Animal lovers like we are may find the stop at Caribou Crossing a bit difficult but the sled dogs and other animals in the petting zoo area seemed well cared for. 

[RoyalVisit]

More pics

[Coral]

My friend is doing this with Princess. I tried to convince her to go with Chilkoot (combo) but she choose this instead.

 

I am glad they got you up to Emerald Lake!

Edited May 18, 2019 by Coral

[RoyalVisit]

Vegetarian lunch at Caribou Crossing (BBQ chicken for the carnivores) and Suspension Bridge

[RoyalVisit]

4 minutes ago, Coral said:

My friend is doing this with Princess. I tried to convince her to go with Chilkoot (combo) but she choose this instead.

 

I am glad they got you up to Emerald Lake!

I'm not sure that Emerald Lake is normally included but we were ahead of schedule so Candace included the stop for us. We also saw a young Grizzly bear!

[Coral]

1 minute ago, RoyalVisit said:

I'm not sure that Emerald Lake is normally included but we were ahead of schedule so Candace included the stop for us. We also saw a young Grizzly bear!

That is great about the bear! Always a bonus.

 

I have done several tours up there and sometimes they include it and other times they do not. The last few times, I have driven a car there. I think they should always include it as it is so beautiful.

 

What kind of soup did they serve you? The BBQ chicken is good for those who eat meat.

Edited May 18, 2019 by Coral

[RoyalVisit]

5 minutes ago, Coral said:

That is great about the bear! Always a bonus.

 

I have done several tours up there and sometimes they include it and other times they do not. The last few times, I have driven a car there. I think they should always include it as it is so beautiful.

 

What kind of soup did they serve you? The BBQ chicken is good for those who eat meat.

I think it was Dahl...rice/mild curry combo in a small bowl. I enjoyed it and it was filling. 

[Coral]

1 minute ago, RoyalVisit said:

I think it was Dahl...rice/mild curry combo in a small bowl. I enjoyed it and it was filling. 

Interesting choice. Glad it was good.

[RoyalVisit]

[Katwoman007]

How was the drive up and back? I was worried I would find it boring, but then looking again at the choices, this got us more sights vs just being in town or on the ship. Were you on a huge bus? I could not figure out how big our group was going to be. haha 

Thank you for sharing! We go next week! 😄 I am hesitant about the BBQ chicken (crazy but I do not like meat on the bone) but I am also not a fan of curry. Food was the least of my worry though. 😉 

[Coral]

7 minutes ago, Katwoman007 said:

How was the drive up and back? I was worried I would find it boring, but then looking again at the choices, this got us more sights vs just being in town or on the ship. Were you on a huge bus? I could not figure out how big our group was going to be. haha 
 

Chilkoot uses smaller buses and will do train one way and bus the other way.

 

It is beautiful up there.

 

https://chilkootcharters.com 

Edited May 21, 2019 by Coral

[Katwoman007]

19 minutes ago, Coral said:

Chilkoot uses smaller buses and will do train one way and bus the other way.

 

It is beautiful up there.

 

https://chilkootcharters.com 

Gotcha. We are doing ours through Princess so not sure who it is through, but no train for ours. Everything else seems to sound the same, even the food option. 🙂 

[Coral]

10 minutes ago, Katwoman007 said:

Gotcha. We are doing ours through Princess so not sure who it is through, but no train for ours. Everything else seems to sound the same, even the food option. 🙂 

Princess uses large buses. When I did Experience the Yukon with out the suspension bridge, they did their own tour (did not subcontract out).

 

There are not that many places in the Yukon to feed a large group of people.

Edited May 21, 2019 by Coral

[ccndfw]

On 5/18/2019 at 2:10 PM, RoyalVisit said:

I'm not sure that Emerald Lake is normally included but we were ahead of schedule so Candace included the stop for us. We also saw a young Grizzly bear!

 

You booked this directly thru the cruise line?  Was there a name for the tour company used?  We were there last summer and had an awesome guide for a tour and her name was Candace as well... wondering if it was the same person.  We will be there again in July and would love to go on another tour with Candace as she made it really fun... very informative and told a lot of great stories.  Also, what type of bus was it?  How many passengers?

Edited May 21, 2019 by ccndfw

[RoyalVisit]

5 hours ago, Katwoman007 said:

How was the drive up and back? I was worried I would find it boring, but then looking again at the choices, this got us more sights vs just being in town or on the ship. Were you on a huge bus? I could not figure out how big our group was going to be. haha 

Thank you for sharing! We go next week! 😄 I am hesitant about the BBQ chicken (crazy but I do not like meat on the bone) but I am also not a fan of curry. Food was the least of my worry though. 😉 

Drive up was great but the best view is from the right side and on the way back the left side. We were on a large coach.

[RoyalVisit]

4 hours ago, ccndfw said:

 

You booked this directly thru the cruise line?  Was there a name for the tour company used?  We were there last summer and had an awesome guide for a tour and her name was Candace as well... wondering if it was the same person.  We will be there again in July and would love to go on another tour with Candace as she made it really fun... very informative and told a lot of great stories.  Also, what type of bus was it?  How many passengers?

Directly through Holland America. Unfortunately I don't know the actual tour company name but the excursion was titled "Experience the Yukon and Suspension Bridge". Candace was great...best way to describe her is referencing her long wavy red hair... and among her many talents she also plays the guitar. Her husband's name is Tom in case that flags any memories! Large coach, not sure exactly how many but 45-50 would be my estimate.

Edited May 22, 2019 by RoyalVisit

[Katwoman007]

25 minutes ago, RoyalVisit said:

Drive up was great but the best view is from the right side and on the way back the left side. We were on a large coach.

ooh making my notes now 😉 Got it. Thanks hehe

[Coral]

Princess and Holland America (both part of HA Group) do these tours with their own buses. At least in the past they have. They also own Gray Line tours in Alaska. They also own the White Pass Railway in Skagway.

[RoyalVisit]

I've started to upload some clips I took throughout the cruise which includes the Experience the Yukon and Suspension Bridge excursion. I still have many clips to add including Caribou Crossing and Carcross. Click on my YouTube channel name under the video to see the others posted so far.

 

 

Edited May 22, 2019 by RoyalVisit

[Bella Traveler]

On 5/18/2019 at 12:10 PM, RoyalVisit said:

I'm not sure that Emerald Lake is normally included but we were ahead of schedule so Candace included the stop for us. We also saw a young Grizzly bear!

I'm debating whether to get the half-day vs the full day tour with the difference being the long tour going up to Emerald Lake.  We are docked for 10 hours in Skagway.  I was initially planning on taking the half-day tour because I also wanted to do a little hike.  But I am willing to cancel my hike to Dewey Lake or Reid Falls if Emerald is a sight.  In your opinion, do you think Lake Emerald is a MUST considering our time is limited and I want to do a hike as well.

[Coral]

I would definitely do a whole day tour in the Yukon. The other trips just don't go far enough in.

[RoyalVisit]

8 hours ago, Bella Traveler said:

I'm debating whether to get the half-day vs the full day tour with the difference being the long tour going up to Emerald Lake.  We are docked for 10 hours in Skagway.  I was initially planning on taking the half-day tour because I also wanted to do a little hike.  But I am willing to cancel my hike to Dewey Lake or Reid Falls if Emerald is a sight.  In your opinion, do you think Lake Emerald is a MUST considering our time is limited and I want to do a hike as well.

Emerald Lake is beautiful but it depends on how important it is for you to see it and how long you would have at that specific stop (we had about 10 minutes). We really enjoyed the full day as the scenery is marvelous but we're not hikers. I posted lots of videos of our trip on YouTube and here is the Emerald stop:

 

FxKHNOk

 

[katrina915]

How did you like the suspension bridge? I am driving to the Yukon next month and debating about stopping here on my way back to skagway. 

[RoyalVisit]

4 hours ago, katrina915 said:

How did you like the suspension bridge? I am driving to the Yukon next month and debating about stopping here on my way back to skagway. 

We thought it was fun and it offered a good stopping point as they had a small cafe and a separate shop. Washrooms were decent too. There aren't many places to stop on the highway store or attraction wise, the best stops are scenic.

[Bella Traveler]

15 hours ago, RoyalVisit said:

Emerald Lake is beautiful but it depends on how important it is for you to see it and how long you would have at that specific stop (we had about 10 minutes). We really enjoyed the full day as the scenery is marvelous but we're not hikers. I posted lots of videos of our trip on YouTube and here is the Emerald stop:

 

FxKHNOk

 

Thank you for posting the picture...gives me an idea of its beauty.  I wish I had more time to venture out.