Skagway - White Pass Railroad

[kenmii]

Hi All-

I tried to book the White Pass Railroad 3 months in advance and was told that it is full! I was told that that rarely happens by a well known tour vendor, so I am a bit annoyed.

 

In any case, I was told by the White Pass people that I may be able to try to get a ride with Princess Cruises, if they have space. Has anyone heard of this or done this? I only need a ride from Fraser to Skagway at 2:30pm.

 

It isn't the end of the world for us as we still have a ride back, but was looking forward to the train.

 

Any suggestions would be appreciated!

[InternetAgeTraveler]

It doesn't seem like an easy proposition, since I can't tell from your comments if you are sailing on Princess?

 

You should probably contact somelike like Chilcoot or the other independent operators. There are various bus/train combos that should match up with your time. If you call them direct and work out the details, it would probably be the smoothest.

 

If you have to go through Princes, then you would have to book one of their excursions that goes to Frasier, the summit trains don't and you would probably need to find someone on the roll call that was also planning to do it so they could check you in at the port so that they didn't think you were a no show. They would also need to collect your ticket. Although, I have no direct experience with this and it seems like it has lots of potential issues since you weren't there personally to check in (show passport, etc).

 

And of course, expect to pay the list price versus a one way journey since you are occupying a seat they could have otherwise sold.

[Guernseycruiser]

We have just come back from Alaska, and took an independent tour from M&M tours, which was the bus up to Frasier, and the White Pass train back. I consider that we had the best of both worlds. They have an internet site where you can contact them for times.

[newbie8]

We have just come back from Alaska, and took an independent tour from M&M tours, which was the bus up to Frasier, and the White Pass train back. I consider that we had the best of both worlds. They have an internet site where you can contact them for times.

We are considering taking this tour. Were there any stops during this tour (especially for the bus ride) for photo's ? The duration is only 3 hours which seems a bit short. TIA

[Budget Queen]

We are considering taking this tour. Were there any stops during this tour (especially for the bus ride) for photo's ? The duration is only 3 hours which seems a bit short. TIA

 

The train is 1 1/2 hours, it's only 20 ++ miles of highway, so plenty of time to stop. Likely at least 3 times at the "usual" stops.

[Lisa8192]

I have the roundtrip RR booked through Celebrity. Since it's so pricey, we are now thinking of just doing one way. Question...I get terribly car sick in buses..can we take a taxi back? Or is a bus the only real option? We've also thought about renting a car...but the train sounds really fun and a neat experience!

[1025cruise]

There are no taxis in Skagway (at least that I saw). You would need to pay them to drive to Fraser to wait for you. Seriously, the busses drive up, go through Customs, then U-Turn into the lot next to Customs to wait for the train. At that point, the bus either heads back to the US, or onwards to Carcross.

[Sea Hag]

I have the roundtrip RR booked through Celebrity. Since it's so pricey, we are now thinking of just doing one way. Question...I get terribly car sick in buses..can we take a taxi back? Or is a bus the only real option? We've also thought about renting a car...but the train sounds really fun and a neat experience!

 

I have problems with carsickness too. Never seasick, but get carsick. What works for me in busses is to the in the front row, either behind the driver or across the aisle. You get a lot better view there as well, so it's usually hard to get in that front row. But farther forward the better.

[sarboo1120]

Hi. I'm having the same problem booking a one way trip, from Skagway to Frasier. I was also told it was full and to check my cruise line to see if they had any extra tickets that could be used for a one way trip. So, I called them and they said that no one way trips are offered. I had wanted to do an excursion with Dyea Dave that was part train and part bus. So, unfortunately I will be skipping the train part and doing the whole thing by bus. I heard this is a good excursion but I'm sad to miss the train.

[sherryf]

Hi. I'm having the same problem booking a one way trip, from Skagway to Frasier. I was also told it was full and to check my cruise line to see if they had any extra tickets that could be used for a one way trip. So, I called them and they said that no one way trips are offered. I had wanted to do an excursion with Dyea Dave that was part train and part bus. So, unfortunately I will be skipping the train part and doing the whole thing by bus. I heard this is a good excursion but I'm sad to miss the train.

 

I would guess that part of the reason that the train is fully booked is that the ships and independent vendors buy up the tickets for their tours. I guess Dyea Dave doesn't do this, but expects people to book the train themselves if they wish to do it one way. Perhaps you should consider choosing another vendor, such as Chilkoot Charters, who offers a combination tour.

[kenmii]

I was pretty upset as Dave told me it never gets fully booked:(

[rocklinmom]

Speaking of the WPR, is it good for kids? Specifically a teen, preteen, and 8 year-old? It seems like a long ride and the same scenery both ways.

Has anyone taken kids on this recently?

[CanonCruise23]

we just got back from Alaska. We booked our tour thru Chilkoot Tours and we had a train car full of people from our tour. I would be surprised to hear that the train is sold out. There are trains leaving all the time and I would suggest checking with other tour companies

[CMcG]

Speaking of the WPR, is it good for kids? Specifically a teen, preteen, and 8 year-old? It seems like a long ride and the same scenery both ways.

Has anyone taken kids on this recently?

 

We did the WP&Y train to Fraser & bus back to Skagway with Chilkoot - only 6 of us on the small bus that holds maybe 20 or so. Our train car was all Chilkoot people so it wasn't full - there was probably another 20 or so that were on the excursion that headed farther into Canada. The trip to Fraser is 26 rail miles and about the same coming back on the road - about 3 or 3.5 hours total.

 

It would probably depend on your kids and their interests and activity level. They can get up an walk about the car & onto the platform and there is a restroom in the car. The scenery is not exactly the same. There is narration broadcast through the railcars (no speaker out on the platforms). The windows were amazingly clean so pictures were nice even if you didn't go out on the platform. On the way back to Skagway the driver will stop for wildlife and made several "scheduled" stops - the Welcome to Alaska sign, the waterfall right along the road, etc. Once back in Skagway he made a stop at the town overlook - great view of town & cruise ship.

[Budget Queen]

Speaking of the WPR, is it good for kids? Specifically a teen, preteen, and 8 year-old? It seems like a long ride and the same scenery both ways.

Has anyone taken kids on this recently?

 

It depends on your kids??? Ask them. :)

 

 

On my first trip, being my kids were train nuts, it was a must do. Very enjoyable.

[InternetAgeTraveler]

Speaking of the WPR, is it good for kids? Specifically a teen, preteen, and 8 year-old? It seems like a long ride and the same scenery both ways.

Has anyone taken kids on this recently?

We did it with our teens in 2007 and elected to do the train up/bus back. They enjoyed it and I think the combination was just right. The round trip I think would have been less fun for them since we stopped a lot on the way back and they got to explore. And we saw some mountain goats (at a distance).

See photos here.

 

Since Skagway is typically a long day for most cruises, we then did a rock climbing excursion in the afternoon that was on their list.