Question about White Pass Railroad

[maestra]

Can you book the White Pass rail trip when you get to Skagway? I'm looking for options in case my excursion would be cancelled. How far is the staton from where the ships dock?

[Coral]

Yes you can.

The station is just a few blocks from where the ship docks and it is one of those buildings "that you can't miss".

[Budget Queen]

They sometimes do sell out. The station is on First in Skagway.

[Host Caroline]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by maestra:
Can you book the White Pass rail trip when you get to Skagway? I'm looking for options in case my excursion would be cancelled. How far is the staton from where the ships dock?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Esp. if a lot of ships are in port the early trains are sometimes sold out and there is only space on later ones. If you have a departure before or at 6:00 or so you couldn't take the late train. There is a lot to do in town if something else gets cancelled due to weather.. the rangers give excellent walking tours, Goldrush Cemetery, hiking.. but we will keep our fingers crossed for good weather for you! What tour is already booked???

Host Caroline
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[LoneStar72]

There are three docks in Skagway, and the Railroad dock will hold two cruise ships. The good news is that your train will probably be sitting just a few yards from the ship if you're on that dock. The bad news is that it's a 15-minute walk into town and the depot if you don't book through the cruise lines. Plus the wait in the ticket line was substantial when I looked in last week.

Of course, I had to do it just backwards -- walked into town in the morning, then back to the Summit at the Railroad dock to take an afternoon train trip [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_rolleyes.gif[/img] But, then again, how else are you going to be able to eat salmon 5 times a day and still make it through the cabin door?

FYI, there's no food or bar available on the train -- my recommendation is to stop into a small restaurant in town (something with "sweet" in the name) and get some halibut-burgers to go (really tasty!). There's bottles of water available for free on board, and they're shaped like the passenger cars. In fact, they sell a set of bottles in the gift shop, with the names of all the older cars on them.

John

[Budget Queen]

For clairfication- the Railroad Dock will hold 3 cruiseships

[Lovinglife]

If you can't do the train, there is an excursion company selling their trips right by the White Pass railway station as you come into the town. We took the van ride up to the Yukon and Emerald Lake, had a tasty BBQ chicken lunch and visited with a team of sled dogs in Caribou Crossing all for $80.00 pp. I liked this option better than the train because we saw so much more. The road is on the opposite side of the mountain as the train, so you see the same sights, just a different vantage point. I loved being able to stop and take pictures by doing this trip. Our driver was also very informative and we even got to see bears!

[Yukon]

>>The road is on the opposite side of the mountain as the train, so you see the same sights, just a different vantage point.<<

You actually don't, except in the broad view. The railway route shows you engineering and history that the road can't come close to equalling. What the road trip does offer in abundance is variety as you head into the interior, and wildlife viewing opportunities are much higher.

Murray

[aharris]

Which would you suggest? The railroad or the road trip?
I'll be there in about 3 weeks an am struggling with which to book. The train looks really cool, but i like the idea of photo ops. If i went with a road tour, can you suggest the best tour company to go with?

[Gopherville Gal]

We just returned yesterday (Carnival Spirit) and took the railway. There are nice outdoor platforms between each car for great photo ops (altho the train does not stop specifically for them). The train folks have each side of the train do a switcheroo at the summit so that passengers on the "good" side (left, going up) trade off with those on the other side. That way, everyone gets good views, one way or the other. We 6 LOVED the train...pretty "home-grown" in presentation and not at all "canned". It was hot, hot, hot last week..in the mid to upper 80s at all ports of call.

[alinnj]

Pre booked my tickets. The train was pretty full! A great trip and what a view!

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[New Cruiser1]

They sell deep discounted tickets for the train in the middle of downtown.

[Krazy Kruizers]

:) Skagway

Last summer when we were in Alaska, there were 3 large ships in Skagway, our ship (Ryndam) along with another small ship were in Haines.

We had to take a ferry to Skagway to do the White Horse Railroad. That was the second time we did that excursion. Loved it both times.

There were a couple of people on our ship who took a different ferry over to Skagway thinking that they could save money by booking that excursion on their own in town. They didn't have any luck. Everything was sold out. That doesn't happen everyday but it can happen.

:)

[Giantfan13]

Can some one post the times the train runs, or the link to the train site.

[lhall85917]

'They sell deep discounted tickets for the train in the middle of downtown."

Can you tell us more about this? How much? Where? Would it be very risky to take the chance that it could sell out?

[pieshops]

here is the link, good luck

[url]http://www.whitepassrailroad.com/brochures/english.html[/url]