Skagway: Rental Car for 6?

[mcbrides]

A little background since I'm enjoying this planning so much!

 

My family will be on Carnival Spirit on the May 10 cruise (R/T Vancouver, with Glacier Bay). The cruise is in celebration of my parent's 40th anniversary, and we are all SO excited!

 

For our day in Ketchikan I have booked Orca's Cove kayak and Misty Fjords seaplane combo with Southeast Tours. I have also booked a glacier landing in Juneau with Temsco.

 

We are leaning toward doing the drive to Emerald Lake in Skagway (I have already printed and reviewed Murray's guide), but I have a few concerns. One, there are 6 of us. Are there vans or SUVs available for rent to accomodate all of us? And also, we are only in port from 7 am - 3 pm. I know Avis opens later on Sundays, so I'm concerned with our time available that day to drive without feeling rushed. Any thoughts?

[gail811]

I just set up a rental with Avis for my August trip. They open on Sundays at 0800. I got a full size car for the day for $59.75 following the advice of an earlier poster. I had originally reserved the same thing for $98!:

Here are the links from the earlier post; hope it works for you!

 

Go to http://www.avisalaska.com/

Choose the tab for Alaska Deals/Programs and read the offer before you book. Just saved us $29 on our rate by doing that.

 

Julie

Then:After you click on the tab for Alaska Deals/Programs - scroll to the bottom and click on "SIGN ME UP". You will be given the # for a discount plan AWD and a rate code. The Skagway office is not listed, but the AWD and rate code did result in a nice discount. I completed the sign up and submitted our name and address.

 

Sorry - I should have included that info in my original post.

 

Julie

[bluedevil72]

Even though the Avis website does not list any mini-vans in Skagway they do have two or three. We were there in June of last year and rented a Toyota Sienna. We originally rented a full-size car but later got in touch with the manager of the Skagway office and she made the change for us. It was kind of pricey; $119 with a discount of 10% for AARP. I'm sure there are other discounts that I was not aware of that would have made the price a little lower. For six adults it was worth the extra money for the extra room.

[Cruisechick82]

I believe Avis does have vans, but you have to call them to rent a van, they aren't available on the website. I think Yukon has more info on this.

[mcbrides]

Thanks everyone for the information so far. Despite my earnest attempts, I cannot get anything to book at the Skagway Avis office on line. I did call the 1800 number, but the lady said there is some kind of "computer glitch" and I should call back in a week or so. The glitch being that her records show the Skagway office doesn't open until May 9--I'm wanting to reserve for May 14 which should be possible--but the computer won't let her make the reservation. Weird. (?)

 

Just FYI, I have also been in touch with Dave from Southeast Tours, and the customer service has been absolutely wonderful. He is out of Alaska for a few weeks, but still make prompt contact with and answered all my questions in great detail.

[Joy2Day]

I was traveling with 6 people last year. We had reserved 2 cars, but were able to get a van when we got there. With the Skagway office closed, you'd probably have more luck working with the Anchorage office than through the general Avis website.

 

You can get in touch with the Anchorage office through http://www.avisalaska.com -> Customer Service. Also, sign up for the Alaska Preferred program (under Alaska Deals/Specials) for a discount rate.

 

More info on Skagway car rentals at http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=237726

[klh-or]

Great info! We'd reserved a full size car in Skagway for $91.67 (with tax). I canceled that and re-reserved for $59.75! Thanks!!

[Love Cruis'n]

I think that Sourdough rentals has vans.