Transfer Seward to Anchorage.

[les37b]

On 12/21/2022 at 4:12 PM, GTJ said:

What a great video . . . it truly illustrates the engineering marvel that is the Canal de Panamá. With the same type of focus and attention to detail I am certain that you will be able to do the best video possible of the journey between Seward and Anchorage. Alas, the equipment used does not have the type of forward-looking experience that you so ably captured in Panamá (a Vista Dome car is ideal, but such cars are not used in the charter train).

Thank you.

 

Well it’s nearly 3 weeks now that I asked for train  charter confirmation. Someone on the roll call asked SIlversea and has posted they’ve been told we are travelling by coach.

 

Very disappointed.

[GTJ]

11 minutes ago, les37b said:

Someone on the roll call asked Silversea and has posted they’ve been told we are travelling by coach.Very disappointed.

Deservedly disappointed. If the advertisement from Silversea was they would contract with the Alaska Railroad for a chartered train transfer, and then the cruise line reneged on the promise, I would be rather upset. That said, the typical cruise line contract promises nothing.

[Coral]

25 minutes ago, les37b said:

Thank you.

 

Well it’s nearly 3 weeks now that I asked for train  charter confirmation. Someone on the roll call asked SIlversea and has posted they’ve been told we are travelling by coach.

 

Very disappointed.

If it helps - half the info I get from the cruise lines is inaccurate. Hopefully as time gets closer, there will be more information.

[les37b]

2 hours ago, Coral said:

If it helps - half the info I get from the cruise lines is inaccurate. Hopefully as time gets closer, there will be more information.

Amen to that. I agree they could just have taken an educated guess based on the info presented regarding Alaskan Railroad timetables.

[Northern Aurora]

2 hours ago, les37b said:

Amen to that. I agree they could just have taken an educated guess based on the info presented regarding Alaskan Railroad timetables.

 

The Alaska RR timetables are not relevant to a cruise line charter.  The cruise line charters are that -- a charter and are not available to the public (ie, someone not on that cruise).  The charters do not appear on the ARR timetables.

 

The travel time between Seward and the Anchorage Airport rail station is about four hours in duration.  If Silverseas uses a motor coach transport the duration will be two to two hours 15 minutes (assuming they do not include a stop at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center).  Opinions regarding scenery are subjective, but the scenery from the road is also lovely.

[diesel1973]

I have noticed that travel between anchorage and Seward is a popular concern on this site.Bear in mind that there is only ONE road between them. If this is chosen as your choice ,either by bus or car, you must allow for delays. In the past I have spent many hours waiting for the road to open as a result of an accident. Depending on the severity of the accident determines the length of delay, which sometimes can be quite lengthy. Also there usually is construction occuring which also can be a delay. Another is the salmon runs.When these occur on the Kenai peninsula the traffic can be quite heavy, particularly on the weekends.Not trying to scare anyone but these factors must be considered, especially if you are on a tight schedule. Allow plenty of time to travel and enjoy the scenery as this truly is the most beautiful road in the US.

[GTJ]

22 hours ago, Coral said:

[H]alf the info I get from the cruise lines is inaccurate.

I, too, am typically wary of details provided by those persons from the cruise lines whose job it is to sell tickets. I generally give more credit to the operating people who actually know what is going on, but too often the cruise lines will block access to operations and direct all consumer inquiries to sales.

 

20 hours ago, les37b said:

I agree they [cruise line representatives] could just have taken an educated guess based on the info presented regarding Alaskan Railroad timetables.

Charter train service is not limited to the times when regularly scheduled train service is operated. Nonetheless, the provider of charter service needs to be sufficiently staffed at the time the charter is arranged. The Alaska Railroad timetables might provide some insight as to when the railroad is sufficiently staffed so that it could provide charter train. By looking at those timetables one can see that the Alaska Railroad operates year-round, and so a reasonable person could conclude that the railroad would have staff available to operate a chartered train. The winter schedule ordinarily has only one train per week operating in each direction (between Anchorage and Fairbanks) . . . though in the peak winter season there can be as many as three trains per week in each direction. Presumably the once-weekly crew has other duties on other days, so operating a charter train would likely require calling staff on their days off (probably at time and one-half). In short, there are several reasons for the railroad being able to, and not being able to, operate a charter train prior to the start of the regular season. So I would not fault the cruise line representatives on their assessment in making an "educated guess." But my suspicion is that the cruise line representatives did not actually make an education guess, but instead read off of a script, and with the script writer either not being on the ball or just not being certain if a charter contract was signed. It is this lack of certainty--and of too many cruise line people being indifferent to such uncertainty and only wanting to sell their own tickets--that gets me worked up.