White Pass Rail and Klondike Highway Excursions (HAL)

[PlanetMoolah]

Can someone help me understand the various White Pass Rail and Klondike Highway Excursions (HAL). We are sailing on HAL, but I assume all cruise lines offer similar excursions. 

 

I've listed the tours separately, but I have some general questions. 

 

What would your general advice be for these excursions, e.g., rail, bus, both, which stops do you prefer, extras do you recommend?
 

I've narrowed it down to wanting to do both the highway and the rail, but there are still so many different versions. I've read the descriptions, but am still confused. I might need a spreadsheet to keep it all straight. 😀
 

What is the White Pass Summit vs the Klondike summit? Highest point of the bus tour? rail tour? Klondike tour? 

Does it matter whether you do the rail up/bus down or bus up/rail down?

White Pass Rail & Yukon (White Pass Rail & Yukon Expedition 8.25 hours)- what do you get to see taking the Yukon tour vs. a 'Summit' tour? 

Yukon & Suspension Bridge ( Experience the Yukon & Suspension Bridge 8.25 hrs) Is this any different than the other Yukon Expedition?

 

Multilingual (White Pass Rail & Klondike Highway: Multilingual 3.75 hrs) - I assume this is an auto-recording vs live narration, but is the route the same as the White Pass Rail & Yukon?

 

White Pass Rail Bennett Lake & Yukon Adventure 8.0 hrs - Is Bennett Lake worth seeing over other options? 

 

White Pass Rail, Klondike Hwy & Liarsville Gold 5 hours - I think this one is the rail up, bus down? 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[wolfie11]

I’ve done all of these and my preference is definitely Bennett Lake, preferably with Chilkoot Charters.

[Crew News]

I have been on all of your listed excursions except the suspension bridge.  Definitely the Lake Bennett excursion through HAL.  There is a private dining car that is usually only half filled with passengers.  With much fewer passengers than a normal White Pass train car, there are fewer passengers competing for photo space on the platforms between the train cars.

 

The included box lunch was always good . The photo opportunities from the platforms between train cars were excellent even in different seasons.  Note that photos taken through the bus and train windows will be filled with glare.

 

Enroute in the summer

 

Enroute in early May

 

HAL special Lake Bennett train car

 

Lake Bennett

 

[rwethereyet1969]

So happy the OP asked this question as I have been contemplating the same thing.  Great info!

[PlanetMoolah]

Thanks for the replies. Great photos Crew News!

[Crew News]

14 minutes ago, PlanetMoolah said:

Thanks for the replies. Great photos Crew News!

My second choice would be the Yukon Summit.  The bus up makes several stops for photos and may make an extra stop if bears are noted on the side of the road eating dandelions (favorite treat) or mountain goats on the cliffs.  Photos through the bus and train windows will not be the best of quality (glare and distortion).

 

The Wild Adventure Yukon stop includes an excellent barbecue chicken lunch.  The sled dogs are nice to see but the sled (looks like a VW chassis) on a dirt track does not appeal to me.  The museum with the huge stuffed grizzly bear is very interesting.  Note that the mountain goats on hillside are fake.  FWIW the chains on the dogs keep them apart to avoid fights.

 

When boarding the train to return to Skagway, sit on the right side as the left side will be passing a solid rock wall most of the journey.  As soon as allowed, head for the platform between the cars to take photos.  The train will drop you off in downtown Skagway (Alaska Fudge Company store is a must stop!!).  There will be a bus back to the ship or just a 15 minute walk if you choose to spend time shopping.

 

White Pass Summit is a round trip on the train with the same scenery.  When leaving Skagway, all of the scenery will be on the left side and on the right side on the return trip. As I have stated earlier, I spend a lot of time on the outside platforms taking photos.  The platforms are very jerky and small enough that there will be other passengers competing for good photos.  You will not see any wildlife

 

Liarsville includes a very campy show but is an interesting view of the gold rush camps. If gold panning is include, a tiny fleck of gold is pre-positioned in each pan. I was thrilled until I sneezed and it disappeared.

 

Bus made a photo stop on the way to Wild Adventure

 

Lunch stop

 

Sled dogs

 

Liarsville

 

Liarsville

[dopey1200]

I've got the same dilemma. I see that you can book the basic 2.75 hour train ride directly thru the railroad and they have a few more time options, plus it's cheaper. If booking w/HAL, we can only choose 8am (too early for me) or 12pm, which then conflicts with other tours we want to do. Has anybody booked directly thru the railroad? They do have this on their website:

For passengers arriving via cruise ship, this tour is available from your ship’s Shore Excursion Department. By booking through the cruise line, you will be able to take advantage of the dockside service and board the train on the pier alongside your ship. Contact your cruise line’s Shore Excursion Department for more details.

 

Is it really easier to get to the station if you book thru HAL?

[Crew News]

1 hour ago, dopey1200 said:

I've got the same dilemma. I see that you can book the basic 2.75 hour train ride directly thru the railroad and they have a few more time options, plus it's cheaper. If booking w/HAL, we can only choose 8am (too early for me) or 12pm, which then conflicts with other tours we want to do. Has anybody booked directly thru the railroad? They do have this on their website:

For passengers arriving via cruise ship, this tour is available from your ship’s Shore Excursion Department. By booking through the cruise line, you will be able to take advantage of the dockside service and board the train on the pier alongside your ship. Contact your cruise line’s Shore Excursion Department for more details.

 

Is it really easier to get to the station if you book thru HAL?

FWIW Carnival Cruise LInes, LLC, owns the railroad.

 

The walk to the train station takes about 15 - 20 minutes with passengers leaving the pier area funneled into narrow lanes which will increase the time to get to the station.

 

OTOH as quoted, cruise ship passengers booking the train board the train while it is parked parallel to the ship at the pier.

 

 

 

[wolfie11]

It depends on which dock you’re at.  From Broadway docks it’s about a 10 minute walk.  You can also take the Smart bus that stops at each of the docks. $5 for an all day pass around town. $15 out to the cemetery.