Skagway has so many different variations of air and rail tours, I remember spending hours last year trying to figure out all the options.
I'll share our experience. Hope it helps.
We finally settled on two excursions for this port:
1. a private rail tour thru Chilkoot Charters
2. a helicopter dogsled ride thru
DCL
I Highly recommend both!!!
We started our day pre-booked with Chilkoot Charters on the White Pass Summit Rail & Bus Tour.
https://chilkootcharters.com/package/white-pass-summit-rail-and-bus/
this is their 3.5 hr excursion you can reserve and pay in advance. We chose the
7:30AM & 12:00PM – “TRAIN FIRST, BUS RETURN” without lunch or a stop at the musher's camp. I've read a lot of Dis'ers choose Chilkoot with the dog camp, which uses wheeled carts on dirt roads, but we really wanted to dogsled in the snow.
Skagway is such a small town the cruise ships dock right at the end of the street making it easy to come and go from the ship. Perfect for anyone considering dual excursions.
Here are some photos to get you in the mood. It's Day 4 - Thurs. 5/28/15:
We were among the first to walk off the ship at 7:10am. the line was practically non-existent leaving that early.
7:30AM was the earliest time I could find for a chartered 1/2 day rail excursion which was the main reason for booking with Chilkoot. Everything else either took longer or began later.
In Skagway, even though trains are sitting at the pier, this charter will board a different rail waiting at the end of town. Their driver will pick you up via shuttle right at the dock and collect you again at the train depot in Fraser, BC for a scenic tour with a few stops on the way back to town.
Note: You will need a passport on this 1-way journey since you depart the train in Canada.
More photos from our day:
That's our white shuttle bus on the far right ready and waiting as we walked off the ship.
Leaving town, Skagway was a bit overcast and quiet with temps in the 40's.
But by the time we returned at noon, it was beautiful and sunny in the mid 80's.
So plan to wear layers.
Another bonus was that Chilkoot provided the last car of the train for their guests with a larger viewing platform off the back.
We arrived first, and watched a dozen tour busses roll in.
Sit on the left facing front (right side in this photo) for optimal sights if you take the train up and ride the bus back.
The seats flip the opposite way for the train ride back.
We shared our ride with guests who booked some of the other chilkoot tours.
There's a heater and bathroom in every car.
Facilities are also available at the depot in Fraser.
Pack your own snacks since no food is sold, and bring cash to buy souvenirs when they walk by. This set was $20.00 and they only came thru once.
You will LOVE the last car. great viewing platform off the back compared to the mid section cars.
the back was much larger vs viewing from the front of our rail car or mid section of the other cars.
this really is a spectacular train ride to the Summit
note: make sure you locate your bus/driver in Fraser. It's a little confusing to see these shuttle busses all lined up that look alike.
we weren't allowed photos at the Fraser train depot because we had officially entered British Columbia and had to clear customs
In Fraser, we were instructed to have our passports ready, put away all cameras ,and remain in our train car until it was cleared by a Canadian customs officer. One by one, an officer walked through the cars, finally getting to us and gave the all clear. (It was more like a spot check - he didn't collect anything from us.
here we are back in town by noon which was perfect.
This gave us over 3 hrs. to enjoy a fresh delicious lunch at a local spot and really take our time shopping. This was our first port, and our first time in AK, so we wanted to experience as much of Skagway as we could and take in all the sites while seeking out authentic Made in Alaska items.
(
note: we even made the post office to ship our Ulu knife to the states. We knew they would confiscate it on the ship and return it at the end of the cruise but we didn't want to deal with shipping it from Vancouver or risk theft in our checked bags during the flight home. Skagway is an easy AK port to do this from since you can conveniently walk to it right in town)
at 3:30pm we returned to the ship for our 2nd excursion:
the helicopter/dog sled adventure thru Disney.
We had 5 in our chopper plus the driver. Me, DS, DH and a mother with her 9 yr old son in the front.
It was a trip of a lifetime for all of us. we were all communicating as a group thru our headsets. Loved all the questions the 9 yr old asked! His mother said she really saved to make this happen for them.
It's by far the most expensive excursion we've had but worth every penny.
It was fantastic. I answered questions and posted pictures about it in these two links.
Hope it helps
Part I: http://www.disboards.com/threads/anyone-back-from-alaska-yet.3414870/page-3#post-53820112
Part II: http://www.disboards.com/threads/anyone-back-from-alaska-yet.3414870/page-5#post-53829461
DH really wanted to ride the train, myself and DDs wanted a dog sled ride so this excursion made everyone happy and we all had a great time. So glad we did this because on our cruise last year we booked a real sled ride by helicopter which was cancelled due to bad weather, next day at Juneau same thing happened. At least we've done our dog cart ride and I'll just have to go back to Alaska again to do the real thing on snow!
