White Pass Tours

[dwillis43]

First time cruiser to Alaska in September. We will be cruising RCCl "Vision". On the shore and land excursion in Skagway they have several "White Pass Rail" trips, which is the best. Which of these excursion do you prefer?

[kellywhitehills]

We did the Best of Skagway and it was nice..I could have done without the Red Onion part of the tour...You might want to include Liarsville..I thought it was fun and interesting..

[NancyIL]

You aren't limited to what RCI offers in Skagway. Depending on when you're traveling in September will determine which trains are running. We booked the Carcross rail/bus excursion with Chilkoot Charters: http://www.skagwaysbesttour.com/ Unfortunately, some of the tracks washed out 2 days before we arrived, so instead we did Chilkoot's Yukon bus and rail excursion - which was great.

 

Many people do the roundtrip train to the summit and back, and some people find the return by train boring. I'm glad we did a train/bus combo excursion, because we got to see the scenery from the road and the train.

[Toyz711]

the return on the round-trip is very quiet, they have all this commentary on the way up and very little on the way down. plus the rocking of the train, puts some to sleep. my hubby was bored, but he doesn't take the photos of the family, i do. i stayed busy with the photos i missed on the way up.

if you don't want to spend all day seated... train, bus or otherwise....

i would do the round-trip. nice history lesson with beautiful views.

many want to visit the dog sledding, pet the puppies or see emerald lake, the smallest desert...for all of those you need the longer trip combos.

it would just depend on what works for you.

[dwillis43]

Thanks for your quick reponse. We are cruising the September 7th sailing of the Vision.

[MercedMike]

Of course if you are a RR buff, you will want to do the train. But if it is mainly the scenery you are interested in, a very good (and less expensive) option is to book a car from Avis and drive in to Caribou Crossing yourself.

 

Here is our report and pictures of that:

http://www.elite.net/~thehalls/alaskaZ.html

 

There are many threads on this board about the drive. Check it out as an option.

 

Have a GREAT cruise!

[dwillis43]

Thanks Mike, sounds like a great idea. Is it easy to get around with a car?

[clarencebyer]

We rented a car from Avis in Skagway. There were 4 of us and we saved over $700 from what a train/bus trip would have cost on a comparable excursion. There is only one highway heading north, so it would be next to impossible to get lost or make a wrong turn. I'm not knocking the train, as I know many people loved their train trips and I'm sure it would be fun. But we found many advantages to having the day at our leisure and our preferences. Not to mention, it was rather nice to have a break from the large groups of people.

[MercedMike]

Thanks Mike, sounds like a great idea. Is it easy to get around with a car?

 

Yes, very. The roads are good (except you should not go past the viewpoint on the Dyea road). Basically there is only the one highway and you just follow it to Caribou Crossing and Emerald lake.

 

There are lots of threads on this board about following Murray's guide

http://www.explorenorth.com/library/roads/sklondike-photos1.html

 

Murray posts often on this board under the name Yukon.

 

Have a GREAT cruise!

[GreenValleyDogWalker]

You aren't limited to what RCI offers in Skagway. Depending on when you're traveling in September will determine which trains are running. We booked the Carcross rail/bus excursion with Chilkoot Charters: http://www.skagwaysbesttour.com/ Unfortunately, some of the tracks washed out 2 days before we arrived, so instead we did Chilkoot's Yukon bus and rail excursion - which was great.

 

Many people do the roundtrip train to the summit and back, and some people find the return by train boring. I'm glad we did a train/bus combo excursion, because we got to see the scenery from the road and the train.

 

Hi - I believe it was because of what I read from a previous post of yours (thank you !) that convinced us to book with Chilkoot Charters - bus one-way - train the other - now I am worried - we booked the bus/van for the trip up to the summit - with the train ride for the return down -

 

Now I hear that the return narration is limited - our ship (Celebrity Summit) does not arrive until 9:00 AM - so we weren't able to book the 8:30 train

 

Should I try to change ??

[NancyIL]

Hi - I believe it was because of what I read from a previous post of yours (thank you !) that convinced us to book with Chilkoot Charters - bus one-way - train the other - now I am worried - we booked the bus/van for the trip up to the summit - with the train ride for the return down -

 

Now I hear that the return narration is limited - our ship (Celebrity Summit) does not arrive until 9:00 AM - so we weren't able to book the 8:30 train

 

Should I try to change ??

 

 

The narration is on the way up on the roundtrip train. According to Kathy at Chilkoot Charters, there should be narration going both ways because you have different passengers going each direction.

[GreenValleyDogWalker]

The narration is on the way up on the roundtrip train. According to Kathy at Chilkoot Charters, there should be narration going both ways because you have different passengers going each direction.

 

Thanks ! - I sent a note to Kathy at Chilkoot - she replied the same as you !- Guess I am just so anxious to go I'm asking questions that don't need to be asked !:p