White Pass Rail Excurson In Alaska - Book Thru Princess?

[LastUsernameEver]

I know it's possible to walk into the rail station in town and buy a ticket (since I did so years ago), but I'm not sure if there's any cost savings or if there's some other advantage to booking thru Princess.

 

I feel as though it's worth a few extra dollars to book thru Princess in, say Ketchikan, where my voyage only has a few short hours docked. So, the assurance of the "Ship Won't Leave Without You" policy is well worth any premium paid.

 

But, since I'd be buying a ticket on the same train as people who are "Guaranteed" to be back in time for the ships debarkation I feel like maybe I could just buy the ticket at the station.

 

Does anyone have any info about whether this is unwise for some reason I haven't considered?

 

The time I took this rail trip it just so happened it was a beautiful clear day. Yet, if it had been a foggy day, I probably wouldn't have bought the ticket.

 

I'd hate to spend over a hundred bucks per ticket and be committed even if the weather is awful. I'm not sure what the cancelation policy is, but...if buying a ticket the "day of" is possible...I'd love to know.

 

Thanks.

[IECalCruiser]

I know it's possible to walk into the rail station in town and buy a ticket (since I did so years ago), but I'm not sure if there's any cost savings or if there's some other advantage to booking thru Princess.

 

I feel as though it's worth a few extra dollars to book thru Princess in, say Ketchikan, where my voyage only has a few short hours docked. So, the assurance of the "Ship Won't Leave Without You" policy is well worth any premium paid.

 

But, since I'd be buying a ticket on the same train as people who are "Guaranteed" to be back in time for the ships debarkation I feel like maybe I could just buy the ticket at the station.

 

Does anyone have any info about whether this is unwise for some reason I haven't considered?

 

The time I took this rail trip it just so happened it was a beautiful clear day. Yet, if it had been a foggy day, I probably wouldn't have bought the ticket.

 

I'd hate to spend over a hundred bucks per ticket and be committed even if the weather is awful. I'm not sure what the cancelation policy is, but...if buying a ticket the "day of" is possible...I'd love to know.

 

Thanks.

Princess ships dock at the Railroad Dock in Skagway and the train picks you up and drops you off there rather than walking the half mile into town or paying a couple of bucks for the shuttle. If you buy tickets at the station you usually ride a different train from the station. I think the cost was a couple of bucks more with Princess. The weather does change during the day. It was foggy in the morning and people on those trains had limited visibility. In the afternoon the skies cleared and it was a great excursion for us :)

[Coral]

Book with Princess. The cost is almost the same.

 

You can cancel usually 2 days before with out penalty on Princess. You can check out the weather beforehand and decide. Out of my 10 days in Skagway, only 1 was bad and it was really bad. The others were all pretty good.

[boomerone]

I know it's possible to walk into the rail station in town and buy a ticket (since I did so years ago), but I'm not sure if there's any cost savings or if there's some other advantage to booking thru Princess.

 

I feel as though it's worth a few extra dollars to book thru Princess in, say Ketchikan, where my voyage only has a few short hours docked. So, the assurance of the "Ship Won't Leave Without You" policy is well worth any premium paid.

 

But, since I'd be buying a ticket on the same train as people who are "Guaranteed" to be back in time for the ships debarkation I feel like maybe I could just buy the ticket at the station.

 

Does anyone have any info about whether this is unwise for some reason I haven't considered?

 

The time I took this rail trip it just so happened it was a beautiful clear day. Yet, if it had been a foggy day, I probably wouldn't have bought the ticket.

 

I'd hate to spend over a hundred bucks per ticket and be committed even if the weather is awful. I'm not sure what the cancelation policy is, but...if buying a ticket the "day of" is possible...I'd love to know.

 

Thanks.

We purchased tickets from the train company directly on their website and saved about $100 (4 adults, one youth) over what the cruise line was going to charge for a ride on June 20th. If you buy from the ship you can board the train on the pier. If you buy from the train company online you have to walk to the depot (perhaps 10-15 minutes depending on your fitness level) and pick up your tickets and board there. Not much to see/do in Skagway, the town is very tourist-driven. The train ride was lovely on a nice day. If you are in a car with space hogging photogs (between the cars on a little 2 person max platform) just ask them politely to step aside and they probably will. Don't know what happens if you pre-purchase tickets before you get to Skagway and then on the day you visit that town the weather gods are not smiling. Call them direct to inquire about refunds. Might be worth a call to your cruise line as well. Have fun!

[Coral]

We purchased tickets from the train company directly on their website and saved about $100 (4 adults, one youth) over what the cruise line was going to charge for a ride on June 20th. If you buy from the ship you can board the train on the pier. !

 

I am surprised! I haven't looked at prices the last year or two but when I did a few years ago, the price was within $5.

[Northender]

We used Chilkoot (sp?) last year for our trip. Very good trip. We did the 7 1/2 hour excursion but they do have shorter ones. If you are interested, I can post the info here for you.:)

[Jasperdo]

Here's a photo of the White Pass & Yukon Railway train out on Railroad Dock. As you can see, if you book through the ship you'll board the train dockside:

 

Golden Princess - Alaska by Jasperdo, on Flickr

[KruzPrincess]

duplicate post.

[KruzPrincess]

I just went on the Princess excursion a couple weeks ago. It was worth it to me to just buy the Princess excursion. We waited until the morning we were in Skagway to see what the weather was like and then purchased the tour for the afternoon. (This was on the Coral. I'm not sure if all the ships sell tickets to the last minute like this. Also, I don't know if there's a risk of having them sold out.) We got off the ship and the train was right there. It couldn't have been easier. The railway company has a few different routes and you can check them out on their website if you're interested. Also, there's a lengthy thread about this on the Alaska port board. In the end it was just easiest for us to go with Princess and the price difference was worth the convenience. We, by chance, chose the car that the tour guide was aboard. She and the conductor were there a lot and we learned a lot more by being in that car. It was a good tour.

 

Here's a picture of the guide in our car:

[loliola]

Just f.y.i....re: White Pass Rail, there are actually four trains....only one goes to the pier and that one can only be booked through the cruise line. We traveled with another couple and each purchased our own set of tickets direct online for the same time, walked the short 5 minute walk to the station, but ended up on different trains.

[1025cruise]

I did a combined excursion last year that was supposed to be a bus then train thing. It ended up being revered. We got on the bus at the pier, and drove the 5 minutes to the train station, and met the bus up in Bennett.

[mescat4]

if you are lucky and dock in Skagway on a Saturday and, it think on Thursday, WP and Y does the trip to the summit with Steam!!. You have to book with the railroad. We have done the excursion both with steam and diesel and the steam is by far the better experience- although diesel is great too if steam is not available.. Steam train also included a champagne cocktail.

 

Ev

[NavyVeteran]

Here's a photo of the White Pass & Yukon Railway train out on Railroad Dock. As you can see, if you book through the ship you'll board the train dockside:

 

Golden Princess - Alaska by Jasperdo, on Flickr

 

This depends on the ship and the itinerary. When I was in Skagway a few weeks ago on the Star Princess (round trip from Seattle), we were not at the railroad dock. I think another Princess ship was there that day. So we had to take a bus to the train station to pick up the train for the Princess excursion.

[CQG67]

Have done the train twice thru Princess and my mom and sisters took it thru the cruise line. I personally think that is the best way to go. We did the short one first time and extended one up into the Yukon on the second. It is a really nice experience.

[Jasperdo]

This depends on the ship and the itinerary. When I was in Skagway a few weeks ago on the Star Princess (round trip from Seattle), we were not at the railroad dock. I think another Princess ship was there that day. So we had to take a bus to the train station to pick up the train for the Princess excursion.

Interesting. There is room for two ships at the Railroad dock. In my photo the Diamond Princess was directly in front of us. Do you know which dock you were at? I thought the WP&Y ran spur track out to the Broadway and Ore docks.

[Coral]

Interesting. There is room for two ships at the Railroad dock. In my photo the Diamond Princess was directly in front of us. Do you know which dock you were at? I thought the WP&Y ran spur track out to the Broadway and Ore docks.

 

I am surprised also as I have only seen Princess dock there.

 

I have seen Holland and other ships dock at the opposite dock.

 

------

 

Did some research: Dock map: http://www.chilkootcharters.com/dockmap.htm and dock schedule

http://skagway.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/SKG_2013.pdf and the Star Princess has been docking at the Ore dock. Never seen a ship dock there before.

[Jasperdo]

I am surprised also as I have only seen Princess dock there.

 

I have seen Holland and other ships dock at the opposite dock.

 

------

 

Did some research: Dock map: http://www.chilkootcharters.com/dockmap.htm and dock schedule

http://skagway.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/SKG_2013.pdf and the Star Princess has been docking at the Ore dock. Never seen a ship dock there before.

Thanks for those links. The dock map shows what I mentioned in my other post. The WP&Y has spur tracks that go to both Broadway and Ore docks. So I wonder why Princess had to bus passengers to the train depot when they were docked at the Ore dock?

[caribill]

Thanks for those links. The dock map shows what I mentioned in my other post. The WP&Y has spur tracks that go to both Broadway and Ore docks. So I wonder why Princess had to bus passengers to the train depot when they were docked at the Ore dock?

 

Maybe it was a single train that had passengers from both dock areas. So it picked up one set of passengers at one dock and the rest downtown.

[lois1112]

We used Chilkoot (sp?) last year for our trip. Very good trip. We did the 7 1/2 hour excursion but they do have shorter ones. If you are interested, I can post the info here for you.:)

 

I used this company also........and loved the trip....we saw much more then the Princess people I compared notes with (and there were only 6 of us)

[sashas_mom]

I suggest you sit on the left side so you can see what is being described. The ride back has no narration. I got this tip from CC and really appreciated it.

[zonacruiser25]

Both times we took the train round trip we walked over to the station, bought tickets and were quite happy. The price difference is less that $10.

If you go from Princess, it is true they board at the pier. I am not sure of the train car capacity, but from princess every car will be filled to capacity.

When we went in May, they just hooked our car to the end of one of the cruise ship trains and we had about 15 or 20 on our car. No crowd, easy to move around and see whatever we wanted in both directions. From Princess, you will all stand up when the train reaches the pass, flip the seat backs over to face forward for the return trip, and everyone will switch sides of the car so as to allow everyone the same viewing opportunity.

Unless someone in your party has mobility issues, I would suggest going from the station. Your odds of having more room on the car are greatly improved.

[Cortesefam]

This thread has been extremely helpful. We had planned to buy the excursion through Princess mainly for the convenience of boarding the train at the dock. We would much prefer to walk to the station and board there versus dealing with buses and the crowds getting off the ship. As always, thank you for sharing your experiences and the posts with the docking schedule and pier locations!

 

Thanks

[San Diego Ellie]

We just got off Coral Princess July 17 and did the White Pass Railway trip. If you have been to Tahoe or places like that, this trip is nothing special or very different. We thought it was very boring and a huge waste of $258 for the two of us. I love Alaska and love nature and scenery (our third Alaska cruise) so I am not knocking it for that reason. It was the only disappointing excursion we, or our friends, took during the 14 day cruise. I just want to pass my opinion on to others to consider whether they really want to do this excursion.

 

Ellie

[SailinC2C]

When we did this trip the train was 45 minutes late! I don't know how that happens when it's only an out and back and we had beautiful weather! We stood at the railing at the back of the car the whole trip except for a bit at the top where it was cool in the snow.

Since there were 300 passengers on the train, obviously they held the ship!

[san diego sue]

I agree with Ellie, really boring trip. Did it through Princess a few years ago. Was seated on wrong side of train, couldn't see a thing going up. People blocked the view between the cars, so even standing, saw nothing. Fell asleep and wasted our money. Next time took the bus on the Yukon tour. The bus is higher up and you are looking down at the train. Beautiful views

and a whole day of fantastic scenery and a good lunch as well.

In August doing the Alaska trip again. In Skagway this time going on a rafting trip.