Alaska Train from Anchorage to Seward

[sunsetsquirrel]

Looking for anyone who took the train in Alaska from Anchorage to Seward.

Silversea stated I could take the free bus or pay to upgrade to the train. They did not have the price or any information yet for the 2025 season.

 

Does anyone know if this is the Alaska Railroad Train or a different train?

What was the upgrade price?

Did you have a change to upgrade to the Gold Star Class and for how much?

Any input on the ride?

 

Thank you!

[alithecat]

If you do a search you will find a lot of posts on this topic. The train is a charter.  One class, bench seats for 2 on either side of a table. No Goldstar service. 

The train leaves later and takes longer. You won't get to the ship until around 6PM. The highway that the buses travel follow the train tracks, so they also have nice scenery. The buses leave from the convention center starting at around 11am and take 3 hours. 

I don't remember the price. 

[sunsetsquirrel]

Thank you. I did a search and most of the posts were old. So I wanted to see if anyone had recent experience.

[Will Work for Tiramisu]

Squirrel,

We took the Anchorage to Seward train on our June 6 14 day cruise this year, and again at end (back to Anchorage).  Cost was $210 each person, each way.  It is a separate train that departs from across from the Anchorage airport (train station there), and ends literally a few hundred feet from the ship.  I posted more extensively earlier.  We enjoyed the trip a lot, saw lots of wildlife.  They have beer & wine (mixed drinks also, I think), plus food, all of which you pay for. I think we got little glass of champagne gratis, on initial departure.  Carry on bags go under your seat.  There are bathrooms.  There is a person on each car giving some running commentary on where you are and assorted factoids.  The train slows down if there is a moose or a bear to be seen, or a cetacean.  Talk to your travel person to make arrangements. 

[anniedreamer]

I booked the Alaska Railroad Coastal Classic Adventure Class in 2 weeks. It departs Anchorage at about 6:30 am and arrives in Seward before noon. The Goldstar class sells out so book early. Adventure Class is about $120 and Gold star is  over  $200.

[royallondon]

From someone considering this itinerary next September (but finishing in Seward), is the train transfer “a must do” over the bus transfer put on by SS?

 

Many thanks

[Texas Tillie]

1 hour ago, royallondon said:

From someone considering this itinerary next September (but finishing in Seward), is the train transfer “a must do” over the bus transfer put on by SS?

 

Many thanks

 

My answer is no. I've done the transfer from Anchorage to Seward 4 times over the years. For a lot of the way the road and the train tracks run parallel. 

[dawntrdr]

Based on the recommendations on this board, we took the bus in June.  It was comfortable and the driver gave commentary on the wildlife and history.  Always keep in mind that it rains a lot in southern Alaska and you may well have misty, cloudy, rainy and/or windy weather on your trip anyway.

[alexandria]

DW and I leave next week for the Anchorage-Tokyo sailing of the Muse.  Attached is a copy of the pre-cruise transfer information from Silversea.  We considered whether to do the train transfer, the Alaska Railroad Coastal Classic or the bus transfer so I did some research on the various options.  I've also linked a trip video of both train options below.  Here's what I learned:

 

The ARR Coastal Classic departs the ARR depot in downtown Anchorage (not the airport station) at 6:45 am and arrives at the ARR depot in Seward (about 1/2 mile from the cruise ship terminal) around 11:15 am. You will likely have a couple hours to wait in Seward before you can board, embarkation time generally begins no earlier than 1pm (for our sailing it is 2pm).  There is no lounge or comfortable seating in Seward in the cruise terminal.  However, you may be able to drop your bags there and explore Seward for a few hours.  If you take the Coastal Classic, you also have to get your luggage to the ARR depot in Anchorage and then from the ARR depot in Seward to the ship.  The fare this season is $220 per person one-way for Gold Star Service.  They use two level dome cars; the lower level is the dining area, the upper level has forward facing seats and an outdoor viewing area.  There is also an observation car.  That fare includes breakfast, soft drinks and two adult beverages per person.  Adventure Class is $108 pp and just provides a standard train coach seat, you can purchase snacks and meals onboard.

 

The Silversea train transfer uses a chartered ARR dome car train with booth seating and a provides a modest box lunch.  You check in for the Silversea train transfer as shown on the attached document.  It departs the ARR station at the airport at 1:30pm (may vary up to thirty minutes either way, depending on your sailing) and arrives at the cruise terminal at 6pm (or four and a half hours later).  You drop your luggage when you check-in for the Silversea transfer at the hotel or Egan Center and they will deliver it to your stateroom.  It is just a few hundred yards from the train to the cruise terminal.  Last time I checked, the cost to substitute the train transfer was $210pp.

 

Transfer on a charter bus is included for all passengers who did not book D2D.  Transfer time on the bus is about three (3) hours and they begin departing from the Egan Center at 9:30am and the Silversea hotels at 10:30am.   Absent a major highway incident, the train arrives at the Seward Cruise Terminal about two to three hours after the arrival of the last of the transfer buses.  The highway and the train tracks run parallel along much of the route so the scenery is the same on those portions of the trip. 

 

Hope this helps.

 

Silversea charter train transfer Anchorage to Seward: 

 

Alaska Railroad Coastal Classic Gold Star Anchorage to Seward:

 

Silversea Seward Pre-Cruise Information.pdf

Edited September 5 by alexandria
Spelling and grammar.

[sunsetsquirrel]

On 9/5/2024 at 8:36 AM, alexandria said:

DW and I leave next week for the Anchorage-Tokyo sailing of the Muse.  Attached is a copy of the pre-cruise transfer information from Silversea.  We considered whether to do the train transfer, the Alaska Railroad Coastal Classic or the bus transfer so I did some research on the various options.  I've also linked a trip video of both train options below.  Here's what I learned:

 

The ARR Coastal Classic departs the ARR depot in downtown Anchorage (not the airport station) at 6:45 am and arrives at the ARR depot in Seward (about 1/2 mile from the cruise ship terminal) around 11:15 am. You will likely have a couple hours to wait in Seward before you can board, embarkation time generally begins no earlier than 1pm (for our sailing it is 2pm).  There is no lounge or comfortable seating in Seward in the cruise terminal.  However, you may be able to drop your bags there and explore Seward for a few hours.  If you take the Coastal Classic, you also have to get your luggage to the ARR depot in Anchorage and then from the ARR depot in Seward to the ship.  The fare this season is $220 per person one-way for Gold Star Service.  They use two level dome cars; the lower level is the dining area, the upper level has forward facing seats and an outdoor viewing area.  There is also an observation car.  That fare includes breakfast, soft drinks and two adult beverages per person.  Adventure Class is $108 pp and just provides a standard train coach seat, you can purchase snacks and meals onboard.

 

The Silversea train transfer uses a chartered ARR dome car train with booth seating and a provides a modest box lunch.  You check in for the Silversea train transfer as shown on the attached document.  It departs the ARR station at the airport at 1:30pm (may vary up to thirty minutes either way, depending on your sailing) and arrives at the cruise terminal at 6pm (or four and a half hours later).  You drop your luggage when you check-in for the Silversea transfer at the hotel or Egan Center and they will deliver it to your stateroom.  It is just a few hundred yards from the train to the cruise terminal.  Last time I checked, the cost to substitute the train transfer was $210pp.

 

Transfer on a charter bus is included for all passengers who did not book D2D.  Transfer time on the bus is about three (3) hours and they begin departing from the Egan Center at 9:30am and the Silversea hotels at 10:30am.   Absent a major highway incident, the train arrives at the Seward Cruise Terminal about two to three hours after the arrival of the last of the transfer buses.  The highway and the train tracks run parallel along much of the route so the scenery is the same on those portions of the trip. 

 

Hope this helps.

 

Silversea charter train transfer Anchorage to Seward: 

 

Alaska Railroad Coastal Classic Gold Star Anchorage to Seward:

 

Silversea Seward Pre-Cruise Information.pdf 215.78 kB · 6 downloads

Thank you! Very helpful!