White Pass

[farmgirl65]

I am the "planner" in our family of 7 siblings and spouses cruising to Alaska in July. Wondering if I should book with Chilkoot or the cruiseline (Princess)?

[SuperCrewBear]

Book directly with the tour operator to save money - with that many people the total savings will be significant. Book with the cruise line if you wish to pay more for the same exact thing. Many people will say booking with the cruise line will help in case you miss the boat somehow. Something I would not worry about whatsoever: the tour operator's livelihood depends on everyone having a good time and arriving back to the ship on time - one or two bad reviews and lots of talk on places like this forum will quickly ruin their business if they had a snafu.

[Ashland]

Without a doubt when given the choice....Chilkoot and you'll be so glad you did...We had a great experience with them when we did the bus up and train down option they offered....worked out wonderful for what we had time for and wanted to do.

[xlxo]

I recommend White Pass combo's with a motorcoach. Yukon? Liarsville? There are several.

[wheezedr]

Go private if you can. More options and less costly. If you do a land based tour which crosses into Canada be aware that you will need appropriate ID as you are border crossing. Passport if all the adults have them is best. The train gets around that by not letting people off on its round trip.

[Budget Queen]

I also highly recommend Dyea Dave.

 

But, be certain, ALL have the same interest and WANT to do this tour. In Alaska, I think it's a big mistake to "group" travel, dragging along uninterested people. Tours are too excellent to miss, you want to take, and too costly to just "go", because everyone else is.