When can I book Alaska rail for 2023?

[vacation44]

16 hours ago, GTJ said:

I cannot give that confirmation, but others have reported that such is the case. The morning train is operated by, and marketed by, the Alaska Railroad, independently of the cruise lines. The railroad itself handles checked baggage on the train between the railroad stations in downtown Anchorage and Seward, but does not handle checked baggage to or from cruise vessels. It is my understanding that at least some cruise lines will dispatch a luggage truck to the downtown Anchorage railroad station, will take custody of passenger baggage there, drive the baggage to the cruise vessel in Seward, using the parallel highway, and deliver that baggage to the vessel for further delivery to passenger staterooms. Again, all of that baggage handling would be by, or on behalf of, the cruise line, not the railroad, though the taking of custody of baggage would be at the railroad station. If others can confirm my understanding, or expand upon it, then all the better.

Thank you, again, for your information.   

[disneyochem]

19 minutes ago, vacation44 said:

Did you take the first morning train or the later train that NCL promotes?

We took the Alaska Railroad morning train—not the NCL one.  Left at 6:30 am.

[vacation44]

13 minutes ago, disneyochem said:

We took the Alaska Railroad morning train—not the NCL one.  Left at 6:30 am.

Great!   Thank you.   I am going to book it today.   

[Eldaph]

I booked my train yesterday for next July. Leaving Seward 6pm traveling to Anchorage. We are going Adventure Class & prices went up $3pp from this year, however I was given a 5% discount for booking early. 

Good luck with whatever you choose!

[Jeeden]

On 9/23/2022 at 10:55 AM, Eldaph said:

I booked my train yesterday for next July. Leaving Seward 6pm traveling to Anchorage. We are going Adventure Class & prices went up $3pp from this year, however I was given a 5% discount for booking early. 

Good luck with whatever you choose!

 

You booked this through the Alaska Railroad site (alaskarailroad.com)? I don't see tickets available for next summer yet. 

[Jeeden]

Just an update for anyone waiting. The official Alaska Railroad site (https://www.alaskarailroad.com/) opened up their bookings for next Summer (2023) yesterday. 

[GTJ]

31 minutes ago, Jeeden said:

The official Alaska Railroad site (https://www.alaskarailroad.com/) opened up their bookings for next Summer (2023) yesterday.

Right on schedule . . . shortly after the end of the summer 2022 season!

[cruisin'mama]

Has anyone been on a cruise that ended in Whittier and was successful in joining the Glacier Discovery train in the morning, along with your luggage? I know we can catch it in the evening on the way back to Anchorage, but I’d like to be able to spend the day on the train.

I plan to call ARR tomorrow but thought someone might have some first hand experience doing this.

[GTJ]

5 hours ago, cruisin'mama said:

Has anyone been on a cruise that ended in Whittier and was successful in joining the Glacier Discovery train in the morning, along with your luggage? I know we can catch it in the evening on the way back to Anchorage, but I’d like to be able to spend the day on the train.

I am not quite certain if I understand the concern. The southbound Glacier Discovery train comes into Whittier at about 12:05 p.m., discharges passengers from Anchorage and other points to the north, boards passengers to Grandview and other points to the south, and departs from Whittier at about 12:45 p.m. It arrives at the last stop, Grandview, at about 3:20 p.m., reverses, and begins its northward trek back towards Anchorage at about 3:30 p.m. On its northbound trip the train stops, again, in Whittier, from about 6:05 p.m. to 6:45 p.m., and arrives at the last stop, downtown Anchorage, at about 9:00 p.m. It sounds as though you're looking to purchase both a one-way ticket from Whittier to Grandview, and a one-way ticket from Grandview to downtown Anchorage. The train uses car no. 751, named the Chugach Explorer, a unique and distinctive double deck DMU built by Colorado Railcar (plenty of pictures and videos of the car can be found online), in which you might take your baggage with you, and it also carries a baggage car should your baggage be large. Is there some particular concern about traveling on this train?

[cruisin'mama]

When I tried to book it online, maybe I wasn’t doing it correctly but it looked like it was only allowing me to purchase the 6:45pm leg back to Anchorage. 
As far as luggage, we will have all of our luggage with us from the cruise as we start our independent land portion.

[GTJ]

5 hours ago, cruisin'mama said:

When I tried to book it online, maybe I wasn’t doing it correctly but it looked like it was only allowing me to purchase the 6:45pm leg back to Anchorage.

It looks like the railroad has a bug in their system that precludes purchasing tickets originating at the Grandview station. This may be because Grandview is "only" accessible by railroad, and therefore the Alaska Railroad might be trying to prevent someone from getting stuck at Grandview with no way out by limiting one-way ticket sales. (Not literally true, though, as one can always hike to or from Grandview, as rugged as the hike might be.) There is an online work-around by purchasing a round-trip ticket from Whittier to Grandview and return, plus a one-way ticket from Whittier to Anchorage. That would cost $103 plus $98, or $201 total, for the two tickets. However, the price for a single round-trip ticket from Anchorage to Grandview and return is only $158, which could be used for the same journey (but simply not traveling the outbound segment from Anchorage to Whittier). The full fare table for the route south of Anchorage is provided below, the source data for the table coming from the railroad's online ticket sales utility.

 

My suspicion is that the Alaska Railroad does not have its entire tariff programmed into its online ticket sales utility. It may be that Alaska Railroad ticket clerks have the entire tariff available to themselves, and can also work around the above-noted bug. In other words, Alaska Railroad ticket clerks may be able to sell to you a one-way ticket from Whittier to Grandview for $62, plus a one-way ticket from Grandview to Anchorage for $85, for a total of $147 . . . which is only slightly less than a round-trip between Anchorage and Grandview. (Yes, there do appear to be fare anomalies for one-way travel between Anchorage, Girdwood, and Whittier. A passenger intending to travel one-way from Anchorage to Whittier would be best served by buying a one-way ticket from Anchorage to Spencer, and then simply alight from the train when it stops in Whittier. A one-way ticket between Anchorage and Whittier ought to be about $60-70, to be proportionate to other fares.)

 

It may be best giving a call to a Alaska Railroad ticket clerk, and knowing from the fare table below that the fare should be no higher than $158 total, and that the actual fare should be $147, see if the clerk has access to all fares and can provide a better deal. Maybe not, but at least you would be talking to the clerk with some knowledge.

 

I would not be overly concern with baggage. Most people travel with baggage, and whether you carry it with you in the passenger car or have it transported in the baggage car is a relatively minor detail.

 

[cruisin'mama]

I just got off the phone with ARR. I was able to book Whittier -Grandview-Anchorage for $130.50pp They will take our luggage and put it in the baggage car so now issue there.

Pick up is a little after noon and arrive in Anchorage around 9:15pm. We’ll just try to get off the ship as late as possible.

Thanks for your knowledge…,

[GTJ]

35 minutes ago, cruisin'mama said:

I just got off the phone with ARR. I was able to book Whittier -Grandview-Anchorage for $130.50pp They will take our luggage and put it in the baggage car so now issue there. Pick up is a little after noon and arrive in Anchorage around 9:15pm. We’ll just try to get off the ship as late as possible.

Sounds perfect! The railroad clerks do have more access than is made available to passengers online, so it sounds as if that is what was done . . . and at a proper fare. There's no real station facilities at Whittier, so it is likely that you'll just bring your baggage to the trainman at the baggage car, and hand it up to him or her. On the way back, when the train arrives in Portage prior to its return into Whittier, passengers will be afforded the opportunity to alight from the train and continue onward by motorcoach . . . which takes a quicker route and gets into Anchorage at 6:45 p.m. If time is an issue, then it is an option you might consider. Otherwise, I image you would prefer the comfort and convenience of remaining on the train for the full trip into Anchorage (notwithstanding the additional 2-1/2 hours travel time).

 

There's not a lot to do in Whittier, so remaining on the vessel until 11:30 a.m., or as late as possible, is a good plan. This is not say Whittier is uninteresting; to the contrary it is both very scenic generally and unusual in that virtually all the residents of the city live in a single apartment building.

[cruisin'mama]

I think I’m in the minority of people who actually enjoy Whittier! We’ve stayed at the Inn at Whittier twice and have gone out with Lazy Otter  (5* rating from me!) and have taken the ferry from Whittier to Valdez also. But with limited time from disembarkation to getting on the train, staying on the ship I think is our best option then maybe grabbing lunch in Whittier before the train.

This will be my 5th or 6th trip on ARR, mostly on the Coastal Classic. We are big fans! I’m looking forward to being back onboard!

[GTJ]

3 hours ago, cruisin'mama said:

We’ve * * * taken the ferry from Whittier to Valdez also. This will be my 5th or 6th trip on ARR, mostly on the Coastal Classic. We are big fans! I’m looking forward to being back onboard!

I have also done the ferry between Whittier and Valdez, but in the opposite direction and many years ago when the route was being serviced by the vessel Bartlett (which by now is almost certainly no more: see http://www.newscenter.seattlecentral.edu/2019/01/30/longtime-ferry-vessel-leaves-seattle-maritime-academy). Upon arrival in Whittier from the ferry I also had a while to pass before my train would depart. At the time motor vehicles were not allowed in the tunnel, so the Alaska Railroad operated several shuttle trains throughout the day, between Whittier and Portage, comprised primarily of flatcars (for transporting motor vehicles and their passengers), with an ex-SP gallery car on the end for passengers without motor vehicles. Only the last trip of the day had a bus connection at Portage into Anchorage, and so I had the day to occupy myself in Whittier. I don't remember where I left my baggage, but during the day I did a little bit of hiking in the surrounding area. At departure time, I noted that the gallery car was separated from the locomotive by all the flatcars, and so there was no HEP available. Yes, the entire trip was made in the dark, though that was not so bad because it improve visibility out the widows (no reflections). That was also the first season in which the Alaska Railroad had resumed passenger service to and from Seward, and in doing so the railroad operated the service using a pair of nicely-refurbished Budd RDCs. I think I prefer the informality of the RDCs over the now-longer locomotive-hauled Coastal Classic. What's nice about the Glacier Discovery train that you will be riding is its truly unique double deck DMU, the Chugach Explorer. At one time the railroad would decouple the DMU from the other cars at Spencer, and run the single car by itself between Spencer and Grandview, but I do not know if that is being done today or it the entire train is sent to Grandview. I think that the railroad once had greater plans for the DMU, but it is being underused right now. There's a nice explanatory video here: http://youtu.be/e2eAkoH8SdM.

 

[cruisin'mama]

Wow you are just a fountain of knowledge!! How impressive!!! You must have such wonderful memories, thank you for sharing some of them!!
 

Our only time on the Glacier Discovery, we got off at Spencer Glacier and had a fabulous day with Ascending Path. We have never been all the way to Grandview so it is a new experience I’m looking forward to!!!

[Eldaph]

On 9/27/2022 at 4:14 PM, Jeeden said:

 

You booked this through the Alaska Railroad site (alaskarailroad.com)? I don't see tickets available for next summer yet. 

Sorry for the late reply but yes, directly on their site. 

[Jeeden]

16 hours ago, Eldaph said:

Sorry for the late reply but yes, directly on their site. 

 

 

Thanks for the reply. I'm sure you know what your talking about, but just trying to help out. I had been watching the official alaskarailroad.com site for a some time and they didn't open up tickets until last week. Are you sure you didn't book with Alaskatrain.com, alaskatravel.com or one of the other sites? There are many sites that have obviously replicated the look and feel of the official site to make it harder for people to tell the difference. It seems that they are legit, but often third party travel offices that are charging more.

 

No worries if you aren't worried, just thought I would try to help out. I'm all booked for my group as of last week.

Edited October 11, 2022 by Jeeden

[GTJ]

1 hour ago, Jeeden said:

Are you sure you didn't book with Alaskatrain.com, alaskatravel.com or one of the other sites? There are many sites that have obviously replicated the look and feel of the official site to make it harder for people to tell the difference. It seems that they are legit, but often third party travel offices that are charging more.

Both of the cited websites are controlled by Alaska Tour & Travel, a responsible travel agent. In fact, the travel agency is the broker that arranges for the scheduled bus service known as "Park Connection," and is otherwise fair and competent in its advertisement and sale of tickets for that bus service and the various rail services available to all. I generally maintain similar skepticism with respect to third party travel agencies, but of them I would rank Alaska Tour & Travel highly. (Many other third party sites are less comprehensive or less competent.) I would rely upon Alaska Tour & Travel for research. I would likely purchase Alaska Railroad tickets from the Alaska Railroad, but I would purchase Park Connection tickets from Alaska Tour & Travel. I would purchase Princess Rail tickets either from Princess or from Alaska Tour & Travel, and I would purchase Wilderness Express tickets from either Wilderness Express or Alaska Tour & Travel (Wilderness Express is the dba for Premier Alaska Tours, which is also the operator of the Park Connection that Alaska Tour & Travel brokers itself). I don't believe that Alaska Tour & Travel charges higher fees, but caveat emptor, and confirm that to be the case.

[2Long2NxtCrz]

@GTJ you are a fount of knowledge!

 

We're taking a northbound cruise Van->Whittier next August. I'd like to take a land tour afterwards. I was considering booking something with AlaskaRail which handles all the transfers and hotels and a couple of outings, plus we would take the train from Anchorage all the way to Fairbanks, stopping for a couple of nights in Denali.

 

Do you have any experience with AlaskaRail? They seem comprehensive and cover all the bases without being "busload" of tourists.

[GTJ]

On 11/10/2022 at 2:04 AM, 2Long2NxtCrz said:

Do you have any experience with AlaskaRail? They seem comprehensive and cover all the bases without being "busload" of tourists.

I do not have direct experience with AlaskaRail. This company, formally known as Discover Holidays, Inc., and located in Vancouver, British Columbia, offers a number of Alaska vacation land packages. I reviewed their website, and from that I have these impressions. It appears as though this travel agency will put together several discrete elements to form a complete package. Among the elements are tickets for Alaska Railroad passenger trains and scheduled motorcoach services. In other words, tickets that anyone could purchase themselves directly from carriers or brokers, without the use of a travel agency. It does not appear that the tours are escorted. I am not confident that all the transfers would be included, and there may instances where, for example, you would need to make your own way from, say, hotel to train station . . . check the specifics for any particular package to confirm. It would be worthwhile to compare the price of one of their packages with the combined price of its individual elements to get a good sense of the premium you may be paying for their packaging services. Their sales people are referred to as travel “designers,” which I find to be a bit kitschy (I would prefer the simpler term of travel “planner”). I think you may find among their packages a few that utilize smaller suppliers, which could alleviate that sensation of being dragged about in a larger group tour. But I don’t see any sort of specialized travel being arranged; most everything is fairly standard. In sum, this appears to be a competent travel agency. I would not use the agency myself because I prefer controlling planning details myself. However, for someone who does not want to bother with the details of making arrangements themselves, this could be a good travel agent.