johnintx

If you have the time and are willing to spend the money, take the 8.25 hour Yukon Expedition. We did the coach tour part of it last year. It will take you by bus up the Klondike Highway to Carcross, Yukon, where you'll have lunch at the trading post. The bus will stop for pictures at various stops along the way. You'll then go to the town of Carcross before heading back to Fraser, BC, where you'll get on the train to go back to Skagway. Incredible scenery. We didn't do the train last year, but we plan to do it when we go back in four weeks. This time, we're just doing the train to White Pass and back to Skagway. Both are good, but take the big one if you can.

We took a tour bus last year...I concur. The trip to the Yukon was incredible. We've booked the train this year. My wife wants to take it. Hopefully, the strike will be over by mid-September, if it happens at all. If the strike happens, the tour bus companies in Skagway will be very busy.

We went on our first cruise last year and stopped in Skagway. We took a bus trip to Carcross. Incredible scenery both ways. The tour guide was excellent. We're going back in September. My wife wants to ride the train, and we've already booked it through the cruise line. Hopefully, this will be settled by then. In the event of a railway strike, I don't expect the cruise lines to skip Skagway. There are still plenty of other excursions. I would expect the bus trips to become more full, though.

We went last year. The Canadian authorities didn't check for a passport, but we had our information entered in the ArriveCAN app (not sure if that's required now since vaccinations are no longer required). However, the US authorities checked passports upon arrival in Seattle.

Thank you for the helpful guide to the Klondike Highway. We took a tour bus from Skagway to Carcross, but I find the guide useful in tracing our steps. It is an incredible drive. I wish you nothing but the best.

Update on Skagway: https://khns.org/skagways-short-term-alternative-mooring-plan-for-2023-gets-scrapped The local council has voted against the short-term alternative plan for the Ore Dock. This would have allowed large ships to dock at the Ore Dock in 2023. After simulations and testing, the short-term plan was unsatisfactory to the cruise lines, and the city decided against it. However, at the end of this article, the local officials are optimistic about the mitigation of the rockslide. They hope to be able to dock two ships on the Railroad Dock in 2023. So, as a result, the locals are hoping to be able to dock up to four ships at once in 2023 (one each at the Broadway and Ore docks, and two on the Railroad Dock).

Our experience in Sitka was not that great. However, we did not book an excursion. It's probably better with an excursion. I know people that loved it. The cruise port is about 5 miles from downtown. There are shuttle buses that will take you into town. The day we were there, it was cold and rainy (early September). We walked around downtown, went inside the Russian Orthodox church (very cool), then went back to the pickup point where several hundred other people were also in line to ride the bus back to the port. They were not loading buses quickly, and it was a miserable experience waiting in line. My wife was not impressed. FWIW, we were on Ovation of the Seas. Big ship. Now that I've read the replies upthread, I see that Sitka still isn't ready to handle large amounts of passengers. Our next Alaska cruise does not stop there. It's going through Dawes Glacier instead.

We did this tour earlier this year with Southeast Tours. The bus tours are pretty much the same across all the providers. I highly recommend it. The scenery on the US side is great, but the scenery in BC and the Yukon is even better. We took the Skagway city shuttle into town to the tour's meeting place, Yukon Heath's Popcorn Emporium (yes, the tour company and the popcorn store are under the same umbrella). We were the first ship in town, and the town looked DEAD at 8:00 am. We got out of town around 8:30 or so, made several stops, and had lunch at Caribou Crossing trading post. Our group had both people that paid for the dogsled rides and people that didn't. We made some more stops on the way back, and made it back to town around 3:30 pm. Our driver was supposed to take us back to the popcorn place, but he took us to the dock instead, since most of us were leaving at the same time and we were running a little behind their schedule. We didn't walk around downtown Skagway. The driver did show us things in town on the way in and out. Our driver lives there year-round, and was very knowledgeable. As long as you get back around 3:30, you should be fine.

Yes. We went to Caribou Crossing as part of a tour group. However, if you're renting a car, you can go on your own schedule and miss the tour groups. Our tour ate lunch there. It was E-M-P-T-Y before our bus got there. You have the option to visit the dogs with or without the sled pull. The scenery between Skagway and Carcross is incredible. The best views are in Canada. I highly recommend it.

I'm not sure. I hope it is. If the new version of the Ore Dock is able to host passengers without tendering, that's a start. We were there in early September on Royal Caribbean Ovation of the Seas. We docked in the aft of the Railroad Dock. We tendered to shore. The tendering process was much easier than I expected. If they can get four ships in port at a time, that's a win for Skagway. They missed out on a lot of cruise traffic this year due to the rockslide. In the meantime, the rockslide on the Railroad Dock is only getting worse. It'll take time to solve that issue. This is an active link to a story regarding plans: https://khns.org/skagway-and-dot-agree-to-explore-moving-state-ferry-terminal-emergency-ore-dock-redesign-moves-forward

The voters of Skagway yesterday approved a bond that would provide funding for a plan to expand the Ore Dock to handle large ships. This would allow Skagway to host four cruise ships in port at the same time in 2023. https://khns.org/skagway-election-results https://khns.org/skagway-to-get-full-ownership-of-state-ferry-peninsula-moves-forward-with-plan-to-expand-ore-dock https://khns.org/skagways-proposition-one-a-65-million-revenue-bond-to-be-decided-in-october-election

We were just there two weeks ago. We've already booked to go back next year at the end of September. Hopefully, they can get something worked out for next cruise season. Skagway was our favorite port.

I was there last week. The one code for Victoria was all we needed. You do not need to enter an extra stop for Fraser.

We were on a Alaska cruise last week. 1) We filled out ArriveCAN, got the QR code, but the Canadian authorities did not check it. As mentioned above, our arrival information was tied to our passport and to the ship. 2) We took an excursion to BC and Yukon from Skagway. They did not ask for ArriveCAN, nor did we add the Fraser crossing to ArriveCAN. The Canadian border guard simply came onto the bus and checked our passports, as was the case prior to the pandemic.

Thanks for the responses! I called both my tour operator and RC, and we should be ok. The Key is a priority service available for a fee on a limited basis. Among the benefits are priority boarding at tender ports. Again, thanks!