White Pass Railway in Skagway -- question.

[snoopy_leogirl]

I read somewhere that some cruisers were able to do the White Pass Railway tour, but not on the train, but via a bus or something like that, through the same route like the train. I was wondering if anyone had more info on this. We're not sure if 3 hours on the train is a good idea for us, plus we are almost certain that by the time we book, it will probably be sold out already. Thanks for any info.

[radioalbany]

LeoGirl -

 

We just returned from a wonderful cruise on the Star. See my (very) long

review under the thread "Norwegian Star: The Novel."

 

As for the WP&R, we enjoyed it very much. There is no way one could

follow the path by bus or other vehicle -- there's no road there.

 

As noted in my review, I managed the Dyea Bicycle Adventure and the

WP&R during our stay, and even had time to poke around Skagway a bit.

 

You might think about which time to take the train. We took the 4:30 PM

departure, which meant earlier stuff didn't conflict.

 

Hope you have agreat time whatever you decide.

 

Regards,

 

Andy Ellis

RadioAlbany

[john2003]

It is true that the rail and the road are not on the same alignment but they do go basically up the same valley, albeit on different sides of the valley. The rail also goes way, way back into some side valleys to gain elevation!

 

I am not sure if train/coach combos are available still. We did the trip last year on HAL but as there were a group of us and we wanted to drive into the Yukon we rented a car and picked up the rest of the group from the train. The logistics were complicated ( love trains so had to do the early trip up and back so I would not miss out!) so I am not recommending it but lots of things are possible if you did enough!! Also if you are Canadian you could not rent in the US and drive into Canada!

[radioalbany]

John is right about the road and railroad. They're in the same valley

but on opposite sides.

 

There was certainly no opportunity to "one-way" the train last week.

While the line runs all the way to White Horse, the excursion runs

only go to the summit (I forget the summit's name). When it arrives,

the train stops, they uncouple the engine, shuttle it around the coaches,

re-attach it to the other end and head back to Skagway.

 

Not only is there no station where this happens, but the narrator had

a stern warning about not getting off the train even for a moment at

the summit. That's because the summit is in Canada. They said that they

would have to report anyone they saw alighting from the train to the

Canadian authorities. The authorities would then meet the train back in

Skagway, having driven 25 miles to do so, and would likely be in a bad mood.

 

In the past, the narrator concluded, they have generally held people in

custody briefly for doing this. Usually, he said, they hold them just long

enough to make them miss their ship.

 

We stayed on the train.

 

Don't let all this overshadow the train trip as a whole. I only mention it

in context of John's note. We still enjoyed the trip greatly, and we

recommend it.

 

I'd be surprised if the train were already booked. It wasn't full the day

we took it, and there were three cruise ships in port that day. The

WP&YR has lots of rolling stock, and my guess is that they couple up

more cars if it starts to look crowded.

 

Regards,

 

Andy Ellis

Radioalbany

[zimmerjulie]

We took the White Pass Railroad/Bus/Gold Rush trail camp tour offered by NCL. It was perfect for us. We had an 11:45 am tour, which was the bus ride outbound, train return. Our first stop was the "Liarsville Gold Rush Trail Camp", which was a hoot. Gold panning, music, costumed re-creators, mini-poetry drama, humor, hot cider (on our 83 degree day ;) ) & cookies.

 

Our bus then took us on up the valley for some spectacular views. We stopped 3 times so that everyone could file out and get some fantastic pictures, unhampered by glass. The bus driver also gave some great narration (actually preferred his content and delivery to that of the WPRR speaker, but this would obviously vary with your driver). The highway and the train do follow the same valley, but the views are quite different. You see many things on the bus that you will not see on the train, and vice versa.

 

At White Pass summit, we exited the bus and boarded the train for the third excellent part of our excursion. The train was great, but one way suited us quite well. We are very glad that we took the combo and got the best of both worlds (or all three, if you count Liarsville:) ). (P.S. I have read that fumes can be bad on the train. We had a car that was quite a distance from the engine, and did not have any unpleasant smells.)

 

The tour lasted about 4 3/4 hours. We had 6 hours or so before the excursion to explore Skagway, take the free ranger-guided walking tour (lots of history!!), shop, sample some local food, etc. We also had plenty of time after the tour to go back in for more of whatever we might have missed, or whatever we might have wanted to do a second time:) . I suppose this will vary with your ship's scedule in this port, but the combo tour will likely not take up your whole day.

[snoopy_leogirl]

Thanks for the tips. :D

[john2003]

If you do the one way on the train, it is a different excursion from the round trip tour. You get off (or on) at Fraser BC which is just past the summit and is where the Canadian customs post is located. Definitely need to be organized ahead of time as there is virtually nothing at Fraser!! Again, I am not recommending you try, just sharing info.

[Richmond]

Zimmer - that was totally different than the trip we did last week on the NCL Spirit? It sounds much better. I dont remember that option.

 

We were on the WP and we went up to Canada, then they switched directions and we came back down. No stopping, no getting out, all train. And it was 3 hours of torture. Yours sounds much more fun.

[zimmerjulie]

Richmond, 3 hours of the train would have been too much for us, too. The last 10 minutes I was ready for it to be over, but overall it was GREAT!

[cruise pup]

I took the bus tour through Chilkoot Charters. Booked this on my own. I was picked up by the cruise ship pier. The tour was excellent. We first went to the gold rush cemetary. Then we proceeded along the highway which is on the opposite side of the gorge from the train, so we got to watch the train. We made several stops. One at a scenic lookout. One at the US/Canada Border for "Welcome to Alaska" photos. One at bridal veil falls. Plus a rest room stop at the border crossing. The grand finale was a stop at place where we panned for gold. Okay, there never was any gold in Skagway, but Skagway is all about the gold rush, so some hands on experience was welcome. It was fun and I managed to find a few nuggets. The price was $39. vs $99. for the train. Our guide was excellent. She has led quite an interesting life. She and her husband lived in the Canadian wildnerness trapping fur.

 

Here is the link to their website (there seems to be a connectivity issue at the moment):

 

http://www.skagwaysbesttour.com

[snoopy_leogirl]

Thanks again for more advice on how to plan this thing everyone.

[RandyD]

Leogirl, We did last of season Alaska on HAL in September and rented a car in Skagway which we found to be great, as I read that the train ride back got somewhat boring. We planned it such that we did some stops on the way to White Horse and different stops on the way back. Shops in Skagway are the same as in the other ports so getting out of town on your own was enjoyable to us. We especially liked shopping at Matthew Watson General Store in Carcross, Yukon as there was not a single other person from ANY cruise ship there, and I shop for thimbles for a friend that collects them, and the one I got there was truly the most distinctive that I have ever gotten for her, and actually pretty neat.

 

I've greatly enjoyed, benefitted from reading your recommendations for our upcoming visit to St. Maarten. In return, if you have not been to Vancouver before and have time, eat a meal at The Fish House (make a reservation) which in on the English Bay side of Stanley Park; also go to Granville Island to shop the Farmers' Market and other shops, preferably in the morning, and don't miss trying a Nanaimo Bar purchased from one of the bakeries. No, we don't live in Vancouver, just have visited there many times and we love it, in spite of the fact that it does rain often, but Vancouver and the people are beautiful even when they are wet. Enjoy your cruise. Rd

[arkstfan]

We went into Skagway with no plans (hit the Outlet to get all the stuff you thought about buying in Ketchikan and Juneau and didn't buy). We bought a bus tour(actually like one of those mini busses that senior citizen centers use). It was $35 and we loved it. Our driver took photos for us in front of the Welcome to Alaska sign after we came back from Canada and also in front of a waterfall.

 

It made for a nice relaxing tour and the price was very reasonable.

[taxatty]

I highly recommend renting a car in Skagway from Avis instead of taking the train. The road is easy, you can't get lost, you go at your own pace and will see much more, and finally, it's much cheaper.

 

Les

[arkstfan]

Book your car EARLY. When there are four ships in port they go FAST.