Anchorage to Seward train - Departure times ?

[julmops]

Good morning all,

We will be on the Muse in June next year and will be landing in Anchorage and spent the night before heading to the station to catch the train to Seward. This is all organised by Silversea.

I was wondering if anyone would know when the train is leaving ?

We will land in Anchorage quite late so it's very likely it will be a very short night.

Many thanks in advance for your returns.

[Nachosdelux]

Alaska Railroad Coastal Classic, departs Anchorage Depot at 6:45am, arrived Seward 11:20am

 

https://www.alaskarailroad.com

 

definitely splurge for first class (GoldStar Service)

Edited December 13, 2023 by Nachosdelux

[alithecat]

Silversea charters a train. This is not the Alaska Railroad train mentioned above. They bus you from the Silversea hotel, if you are staying in one, to the train station at the airport. They collect your luggage in advance.

If you are not staying at a Silversea hotel you need to go to the train station at the airport with your luggage on your own.

The train usually leaves around 1pm. The train takes disembarking passengers from Seward to Anchorage in the morning, then embarking passengers back to Seward in the afternoon.

You should get full details from Silversea.

[julmops]

Thanks a lot ! We are indeed staying in a Silversea hotel (Captain Cook) so it's good to know that we don't have to wake up super early to catch the train 😉

[Robroy]

Thanks for this question and the replies. We are doing this itinerary in May with a late arrival into ANC and stay at Captain Cook the night before. Will be nice to start the cruise well-rested!

 

Cheers,

 

Rob

[Will Work for Tiramisu]

We are flying to ANC June 4th, staying at Marriot Downtown (not as part of SS), and taking train to Seward on 6th to board S Muse.  (Our first Alaska trip!)  Marriot hotel, I believe, is also used by SS, so hoping maybe can get pick up by SS for trip to airport to catch the train.  (Seems odd, no? - train leaves from airport?)  Otherwise, guess we'll take cab.  We're doing a 14 day B2B, returning to Seward, and also taking train back to ANC on our return.  Am glad to hear train gets in by 1pm, as we fly out at 5pm.  (We pay SS for the choo choo transfers, both ways; the alternate is a bus, which is included in base cruise price.  No thanks!)

 

While this is not the Alaska RR Coastal Classic per se, it travels the same route.  My understanding is that SS pax are all in a car or cars provided by SS, other cruise lines are in other cars.  It appears on both June 6th (our embark) and June 20th (our disembark), from What's in Port? website, Silver Muse is only cruise ship in Seward those days, so maybe have whole train to ourselves.  Pop that champagne!!  

[tvl4life]

On 12/15/2023 at 7:47 PM, Will Work for Tiramisu said:

We are flying to ANC June 4th, staying at Marriot Downtown (not as part of SS), and taking train to Seward on 6th to board S Muse.  (Our first Alaska trip!)  Marriot hotel, I believe, is also used by SS, so hoping maybe can get pick up by SS for trip to airport to catch the train.  (Seems odd, no? - train leaves from airport?)  Otherwise, guess we'll take cab.  We're doing a 14 day B2B, returning to Seward, and also taking train back to ANC on our return.  Am glad to hear train gets in by 1pm, as we fly out at 5pm.  (We pay SS for the choo choo transfers, both ways; the alternate is a bus, which is included in base cruise price.  No thanks!)

 

While this is not the Alaska RR Coastal Classic per se, it travels the same route.  My understanding is that SS pax are all in a car or cars provided by SS, other cruise lines are in other cars.  It appears on both June 6th (our embark) and June 20th (our disembark), from What's in Port? website, Silver Muse is only cruise ship in Seward those days, so maybe have whole train to ourselves.  Pop that champagne!!  

We have D2D booked.  If that only includes the bus, how does one go about booking the train?  I haven't seen any details about this, we sail in July, so maybe it is too soon.  Thanks much for the input!

[Will Work for Tiramisu]

Tvl4life - Some years ago, when researching doing an Alaska trip, I'd heard about this train, and after reading about it, definitely wanted to do it.  (It had a bit to do with swaying us to take the plunge for this cruise.)  I also had the impression that a transfer by train from Anchorage might be included (just the one way).  I made my reservations for the cruise directly with SS (no TA) and asked that it be included, for which we paid additional $210/person each way, as I recall.  We are doing P2P, ie not D2D - it may be that has some bearing on whether included in base package.  I suggest you talk with who you're working with, and ask for clarity.  I'm sure the view out the windows on bus is still nice, but we didn't want to bracket our cruise both ways with long bus trip.  

[alithecat]

@tvl4life the train or bus transfer should show up under Details on MySilversea. Unless they changed it, all D2D passengers are sent on the train which is included in the fare. P2P on the bus, unless the P2P passengers pay to upgrade to the train. The train follows the highway, so the scenery is just as good from the bus, and the bus takes about 3 hrs. vs 4-1/2 on the train. If you start your cruise in Seward and take the train you won't get to the ship until close to dinner time.

[les37b]

There is clearly different marketing and inclusions going on depending from which country your booking is made. 
 

Certainly from the UK the post above is accurate in that if you have D2D you will be booked on the train. If you have booked P2P interestingly, you are still given the transfer but on the bus. We did a Seward arrival 6 months ago but we had Americans in the roll call who were D2D and had to pay extra to get on the charter.

 

In the event, the train got cancelled and we were forced to take the coach… which while pleasant, is no match for the train route, which I agree takes a similar path, is a fair bit different and of course you miss the ability to take photos as you are seated and the results would be poor and ability to video go out the window.

 

We also missed 3 ports on our voyage and then the train. Anyone who paid extra for the train excursion were “generously” offered a refund for the fare that was cancelled. Everyone else got zilch. Yet another reason I dislike D2D. We certainly didn’t get what we paid for.

 

On a side note. The charter pulls in right next to the ships berth and is a simple 100 yard walk from train to ship through the security building. The train does not appear on the AR timetable and the AR scheduled journey is from Seward station, not the port which the charter uses. It’s a very nice touch and resonates with the D2D concept.

 

 

i made 100% sure before our voyage that what was shown in my.silversea would happen and was on the train. I noticed the AR timetable didn’t start until 3 days after our arrival… but was reassured it’s a charter and nothing to worry about … we were definitely on the train. When out ticketing was issued 2 weeks before departure, it didn’t mention the train but said it was dealt with locally via Alaskan tours. I phoned them and they confirmed they only dealt with coaches. Armed with this, SS still insisted we were 100% on the train. On the day of boarding, an email was sent out (to TA) that the train had been cancelled due to “logistic” reasons.  So after all the assurances, I suspect this train wasn’t even booked because the lines didn’t reopen for 3 days after our schedule. It was meant to be a highlight, but ended being our biggest disappointment and despite pressing, we never did get the answer to what logistical reasons actually really meant which in itself was very telling.

Edited December 21, 2023 by les37b

[tvl4life]

6 hours ago, les37b said:

There is clearly different marketing and inclusions going on depending from which country your booking is made. 
 

Certainly from the UK the post above is accurate in that if you have D2D you will be booked on the train. If you have booked P2P interestingly, you are still given the transfer but on the bus. We did a Seward arrival 6 months ago but we had Americans in the roll call who were D2D and had to pay extra to get on the charter.

 

In the event, the train got cancelled and we were forced to take the coach… which while pleasant, is no match for the train route, which I agree takes a similar path, is a fair bit different and of course you miss the ability to take photos as you are seated and the results would be poor and ability to video go out the window.

 

We also missed 3 ports on our voyage and then the train. Anyone who paid extra for the train excursion were “generously” offered a refund for the fare that was cancelled. Everyone else got zilch. Yet another reason I dislike D2D. We certainly didn’t get what we paid for.

 

On a side note. The charter pulls in right next to the ships berth and is a simple 100 yard walk from train to ship through the security building. The train does not appear on the AR timetable and the AR scheduled journey is from Seward station, not the port which the charter uses. It’s a very nice touch and resonates with the D2D concept.

 

 

i made 100% sure before our voyage that what was shown in my.silversea would happen and was on the train. I noticed the AR timetable didn’t start until 3 days after our arrival… but was reassured it’s a charter and nothing to worry about … we were definitely on the train. When out ticketing was issued 2 weeks before departure, it didn’t mention the train but said it was dealt with locally via Alaskan tours. I phoned them and they confirmed they only dealt with coaches. Armed with this, SS still insisted we were 100% on the train. On the day of boarding, an email was sent out (to TA) that the train had been cancelled due to “logistic” reasons.  So after all the assurances, I suspect this train wasn’t even booked because the lines didn’t reopen for 3 days after our schedule. It was meant to be a highlight, but ended being our biggest disappointment and despite pressing, we never did get the answer to what logistical reasons actually really meant which in itself was very telling.

Thanks to both of you for the responses!  Well, I checked the booking details, and it does note "coach."  We are D2D and were hoping for the train.  I guess I'll check with our agent on alternatives.  Sorry to hear your train option was such a mess!

[Will Work for Tiramisu]

FWIW, I looked at the website for the train, it says the "Coastal Classic" starts running May 10, 2024.  The SS train isn't the same thing (SS is chartered), but at least the June 6 date appears to be "in season".  It may be that if they don't have enough pax to transfer back and forth they claim logistics and you get to take the old school bus with the squeaky brakes and near sighted driver.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we get the choo choo both ways, which we will have paid $840 for.  Harrumpf! 

[les37b]

5 hours ago, Will Work for Tiramisu said:

FWIW, I looked at the website for the train, it says the "Coastal Classic" starts running May 10, 2024.  The SS train isn't the same thing (SS is chartered), but at least the June 6 date appears to be "in season".  It may be that if they don't have enough pax to transfer back and forth they claim logistics and you get to take the old school bus with the squeaky brakes and near sighted driver.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we get the choo choo both ways, which we will have paid $840 for.  Harrumpf! 

 

Yes, in our instance, our charter was scheduled for 15 May 2023 and the timetable started on the 18th. Despite pointing this out, SS insisted our transfer was by train. They even kept with that line despite issuing a ticket 2 weeks before departure which appeared to dash my hopes, but they continued with the "you are definitely on the train." They waited until after we had literally just boarded before dropping the bombshell. GS on the Muse were embarrassed at what had happened but every effort to find out what these "logistic" problems were, was similarly ignored.

[alexandria]

What time does the motorcoach transfer from Anchorage to Seward generally depart?