favorite Skagway fun? Doing the WhitePass railroad already

We've reached our $$ limit on shore excursions throughout our Cruisetour and are looking for free/inexpensive plans for Skagway, still, since we will be there all day and evening.

We're doing Capt. Larry's Whale watching, Island wings floatplane in Misty Fiords, and Helo/glacier/dog sledding along with of course the WhitePas RR in Skagway.

What did you do in Skagway?

Thanks!

Eileen

I guess none of the ususal suspects are coming on to help you because you are asking for advice about free things. I always suspect that most of the people have to have some vested interest to do all of these multiple posts that one sees on here. I do have some of that as well. I want you all to have as memorable a time as possible, here where I live, and then you will send friends or come back yourselves. Eventually all of us will benefit that way.

So be sure to go to the National Park Service while you are here in Skagway and all of you will find things of interest at that place. There are hikes to take[free maps], guided tours, videos about history and bears, etc., displays about the gold rush and even a Junior Ranger program for the young people! The best part of this is it is all free! Come spend some time and not a fortune! DD

Greetings again Dave. Hope you have a great season and an excellent garden. Try to keep those Green Haus folks in line, eh?

If you're free in the afternoon and there are a few ships in port, stop in at the Red Onion for their jazz jam. Many of the musicians from the ships show up and throw down the tasty tunes.

Take the short walk out to Yakutania Point and Smugglers Cove if you're into that type of thing.

Wander around town and check out the immpressive gardening and funky stuff in people's yards. Of course it should go without saying to be respectful of private property.

Hope these few ideas help.

Very helpful! thanks sooo much.

Actually, one more question: What's the best way (and least expensive!) to get to the National Park service?

Eileen

Actually, one more question: What's the best way (and least expensive!) to get to the National Park service?

It's an easy walk from all docking positions, or there are shuttles available.

Murray

We've reached our $$ limit on shore excursions throughout our Cruisetour and are looking for free/inexpensive plans for Skagway, still, since we will be there all day and evening.

 

We're doing Capt. Larry's Whale watching, Island wings floatplane in Misty Fiords, and Helo/glacier/dog sledding along with of course the WhitePas RR in Skagway.

 

What did you do in Skagway?

Thanks!

 

Eileen

What I would suggust is rent a car ($75.00 total the road follows the train tracks) instead of the railroad drive to Emarld lake (you only get halfway there on the train) have lunch at the bakery with Bobo in Carcross and take in the great scenery I have pictures posted on webshots take a look http://community.webshots.com/user/3dblouder this drive and whale watching where the highlights of our trip last year.

Hope this helps have a great time.

3dblouder

3dblouder, thank you so much for providing the link to your gorgeous Alaska photos. They are superb!!! I'm more excited than ever about my trip next month. Thanks again.

Very helpful! thanks sooo much.

 

Actually, one more question: What's the best way (and least expensive!) to get to the National Park service?

 

Eileen

http://www.nps.gov/klgo/schedule.htm

Located at Broadway and 2nd. Can't miss it!!

I enjoyed seeing your pics! I'm curious, did you have a big zoom lens on your camera during the Captain Larry whale tour? I'm trying to decide if I need to upgrade my Canon A95--it only has a 3X optical zoom. Thanks!

I enjoyed seeing your pics! I'm curious, did you have a big zoom lens on your camera during the Captain Larry whale tour? I'm trying to decide if I need to upgrade my Canon A95--it only has a 3X optical zoom. Thanks!

On my last Alaska cruise, I used Cathy's Canon Powershot S1 with 10x zoom a fair bit because my old Nikon with 3.5x just wouldn't do the job. On my next cruise in 2 weeks, most of the pics will be with my new Digital Rebel XT with a 300mm lens. So, it all depends on how interested you are in photography. If you're looking to upgrade, though, the Canon S2 (being cleared out cheap because the S3 is out) is tough to beat for value.

Murray

The Park Service is in the old train station. They run a great walking tour of Skagway - it's good to stop in there first to get on the list for the tour (free). Nancy

I enjoyed seeing your pics! I'm curious, did you have a big zoom lens on your camera during the Captain Larry whale tour? I'm trying to decide if I need to upgrade my Canon A95--it only has a 3X optical zoom. Thanks!

I used two different cameras an olympus c740 10x zoom and a olympus stylus 400 3x zoom. on our tour the whales came within 30 ft of the boat.

3dblouder

Loved your pictures and the information! We're doing Capt. Larry's whale watching trip June 1. When did you go? It looks COLD. Glad to see a 12 X zoom will be plenty for good shots.

Linda, I bought a Canon S2 IS two weeks ago(after talking to Canon and being told the S3 wouldn't be shipped until late May/early June:mad: .). So far I'm very happy with it, and it was enough cheaper I got a high speed 2 G card and camera bag, and still saved money. Should be even bigger bargains now the S3 is out. Maybe Canon did me a favor!

>>Maybe Canon did me a favor!<<

They did - the S3 is a pretty minor upgrade for a lot of extra money when you figure list price on the S3 vs heavily-discounted prices on the S2.

Murray

Loved your pictures and the information! We're doing Capt. Larry's whale watching trip June 1. When did you go? It looks COLD. Glad to see a 12 X zoom will be plenty for good shots.

 

Linda, I bought a Canon S2 IS two weeks ago(after talking to Canon and being told the S3 wouldn't be shipped until late May/early June:mad: .). So far I'm very happy with it, and it was enough cheaper I got a high speed 2 G card and camera bag, and still saved money. Should be even bigger bargains now the S3 is out. Maybe Canon did me a favor!

2nd week in sept 2005

Norwegian Star AFT cabin

3dblouder

Linda, I bought a Canon S2 IS two weeks ago(after talking to Canon and being told the S3 wouldn't be shipped until late May/early June:mad: .). So far I'm very happy with it, and it was enough cheaper I got a high speed 2 G card and camera bag, and still saved money. Should be even bigger bargains now the S3 is out. Maybe Canon did me a favor!

If you don't mind my asking, where did you find your good deal on the Canon S2? Thanks!! :)

If you don't mind my asking, where did you find your good deal on the Canon S2? Thanks!! :)

I really loved the pictures too and feel much better about our decision to rent a car instead of taking the railway. I'm also waiting to hear a reply about the camera. I found it at Circuit City (via internet) for $380 and the original price was $500. This sounds like a pretty good deal, but am waiting to hear if there are better deals out there. I already have a Nikon Coolpix, which takes pretty good pictures, but would love to have a nice (not too expensive) camera for hubby to use. My son has the Canon S1 IS and loves it!

De :)