Skagway Shore Excursions Questions

[WeatherFun]

Our Holland American Cruise will be at Skagway on 7/9 from 7am to 9pm. We are interested in the following shore excursions, but could not decide which ones to take and best time of the day. 

1) Dog Sledding & Glacier Helicopter - 2 hours

2) Glacier Walk & Helicopter  - 2 hours

3) White Pass Rail & Bus Tour - 3.75 hours

 

Here are my questions.

1) This may be our only trip to Alaska. We could only choose one between Dog Sledding and Glacier Walk. Which one is more memorable?

2) I read that the helicopter tour sometimes get cancelled due to the weather. So I plan to take White Pass Rail & Bus Tour first thing in the morning and then the helicopter tour later. In case the helicopter tour gets cancelled, we could spend the time wondering around Klondike Gold Rush National Park. Does this make sense or it is better to take the helicopter first thing in the morning? Since we plan to take White Pass tour, so even if the helicopter getting cancelled in the morning, we will not be able to take it later. 

 

Thanks.

[Willwils]

Just got officially  notified yesterday from my TA of cancellation of our Princess combo White Pass rail(north only) & bus return w/ BBQ lunch etc for July '22. We really don't want the train round trip(will have the very long Alaska rail on our land part of cruisetour). As we are seniors we don't want anything strenuous. We are considering the motorcoach  Easy Skagway: City, Summit & The Days of '98 Show or the Gold Panning & Alaska Sled Dogs then  on our own.. get lunch in Skagway + Days of '98.  Anyone have recommendations on either of these or others. 

[JT1962]

Check Chilkoot Charters for their Yukon Klondike Bus Adventure. I just did this last week after the bus / train combo tours were canceled. Small bus, lots of stops for pictures, nice lunch and amazing scenery. You do need a Passport for this trip.
 

https://chilkootcharters.com/

 

 

 

 

Edited May 13, 2022 by JT1962

[ImGoingFirst]

5 hours ago, JT1962 said:

Check Chilkoot Charters for their Yukon Klondike Bus Adventure. I just did this last week after the bus / train combo tours were canceled. Small bus, lots of stops for pictures, nice lunch and amazing scenery. You do need a Passport for this trip.
 

https://chilkootcharters.com/

 

 

I'm doing this next Thursday. How was Emerald Lake? Is it still covered in ice or can you see the color? 

 

 

 

[5waldos]

20 hours ago, JT1962 said:

Check Chilkoot Charters for their Yukon Klondike Bus Adventure. I just did this last week after the bus / train combo tours were canceled. Small bus, lots of stops for pictures, nice lunch and amazing scenery. You do need a Passport for this trip.
 

https://chilkootcharters.com/

 

 

 

 

Wow! Still a LOT of snow- we did something similar a few years back and the snow was completely gone and the rivers open.

[atexsix]

We're still a go for short portion that stays in Alaska.

 

How does the train boarding work?  Do each cruise line have their own cars?  I'm hoping it's not a free for all.  

[JT1962]

3 hours ago, 5waldos said:

Wow! Still a LOT of snow- we did something similar a few years back and the snow was completely gone and the rivers open.

Yes. I was surprised.  I was there 5 years ago during the 3rd week of May and there was nothing like the snow last week and the lakes were not still frozen. They said they had had a later Spring than usual.

[miagirl]

On 2/23/2022 at 5:57 PM, WeatherFun said:

Our Holland American Cruise will be at Skagway on 7/9 from 7am to 9pm. We are interested in the following shore excursions, but could not decide which ones to take and best time of the day. 

1) Dog Sledding & Glacier Helicopter - 2 hours

2) Glacier Walk & Helicopter  - 2 hours

3) White Pass Rail & Bus Tour - 3.75 hours

 

Here are my questions.

1) This may be our only trip to Alaska. We could only choose one between Dog Sledding and Glacier Walk. Which one is more memorable?

 

By all means do the Dog Sledding and Glacier Helicopter.  Highlight of our trip.  I'm sorry I can't advise on the weather, we did ours in the afternoon and it was perfect!

[Willwils]

If we take the bus tour to the summit(need passport) Instead of the Skagway train, do we also need to use the ARRIVE Canada APP like required when getting off Majestic Princess in Vancouver? We are from USA.

[Tiggerontheseas]

9 hours ago, atexsix said:

We're still a go for short portion that stays in Alaska.

 

How does the train boarding work?  Do each cruise line have their own cars?  I'm hoping it's not a free for all.  

 

When I did the train through Princess there were separate lines for boarding according to ship and we loaded into designated cars.  Of course, the Princess section was the furthest away along the pier.  Lol.

[Dancing Shoes]

2 hours ago, Willwils said:

If we take the bus tour to the summit(need passport) Instead of the Skagway train, do we also need to use the ARRIVE Canada APP like required when getting off Majestic Princess in Vancouver? We are from USA.

Yes, because you are entering Canada.

[atexsix]

13 minutes ago, Tiggerontheseas said:

 

When I did the train through Princess there were separate lines for boarding according to ship and we loaded into designated cars.  Of course, the Princess section was the furthest away along the pier.  Lol.

Yeah that figures!  We'll hit the shore x desk as soon as we're onboard to get more details, hopefully they will be able to help out on the matter.

[misguy]

Here is a playlist that has 10 videos about Skagway including interviews with WPR, and the visitors bureau.