tj_shopper

I totally agree with you about whether or not it will be worth it to leave the ship. I have no idea why Royal Caribbean would give us such short time at Haines. We would have been in Skagway the same day from 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. I wished they would have just stayed the extra time in Skagway. As it is, we have dog sledding in Skagway from 10:15 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. It doesn't give us much time to do anything else in Skagway before or after the dog sledding. When we're done at 2:00, we're going to find someplace to eat lunch and when we're done, we'll have about an hour maybe an hour and a half to walk around. We have dinner reservations at 7:45 p.m. We might just go to the buffet to grab a quick bite and then head on out to Haines to walk around. The Hammer Museum seems interesting. Thanks.

Good idea on the reservation. We don't all need to sit together but if we could, that would be nice too. Thanks!

Our cruise ship, Radiance of the Seas, will be docking at Haines on Monday, May 27, 2024 at 7:00 p.m. and leaving at 11:00 p.m. We're only there for a short time. Can anyone recommend what we can do for that short period? Thanks.

There will be 14 of us coming into Skagway on Monday, May 27, 2024. We have booked the Dog Sled Adventure at 10:30 a.m. It is a 3.25 hour tour. Our ship, Radiance of the Seas, will be docking at 7:00 a.m. and leaving at 5:00 p.m. Our tour is smack in the middle. Can anyone recommend a place for some coffee/snacks before our 10:30 a.m. tour and a place for lunch after our tour around 2:00 p.m.? We'd like to do a little bit of hiking either before our tour or after lunch, but I realize we might not have time. Thoughts? Thank you.

Is there any difference in booking this tour through our cruise ship or booking directly besides the price and the "guarantee" that the ship will wait for you if you're delayed? Is there any difference in the tour experience, i.e. ship tour stays together in large group versus your own booking where you're in a smaller group? Thanks.

Ok that is good to know. I just googled this and some of the videos are quite scary!!!

I'm leaning towards Harv n Marv's as they have boats a little bit bigger to accommodate our group. Also, I am just a little bit afraid of being in a small boat. Do they get close enough to possibly be in the way if a whale breaches? Might be a stupid question, but I don't swim and this would be quite terrifying.

@AKStafford @KruisinKath - Thank you both for your replies. That's what I was afraid of. I was hoping that I could skip the whale watch and save some money for a different tour. Now, to decide which one to do. I heard that Icy Straight Point and Juneau are both great places to see whales.

We will be doing the 6 hour Major Marine Kenai Fjords National Park Tour in Seward on Thursday, May 23, 2024. We will be coming right off of the Alaskan Railroad train from Anchorage and going directly to the tour. We are also spending the night at the Harbor 360 Hotel that evening. Couple of questions: 1. Where would be a good place to have dinner that night in Seward that is close to the hotel? 2. We are going to be going on Royal Caribbean's Radiance of the Seas on Friday, May 24, 2024. Do you think we will be seeing any whales on the 6 hour Major Marine Kenai Fjords tour? Should I book us on a whale tour in Juneau or Icy Straight Point - two of the stops on our cruise? I don't want to be redundant but if anyone has done this tour before, would you suggest that we need to do another whale watching tour elsewhere? Thank you.

We are doing Option 1 and staying at Harbor 360 Hotel. We did the tour and hotel package where they give you a discount on the tour. We will get off the train and go directly to Harbor 360 Hotel to get on the tour. We were told that we didn't have to worry about our luggage as long as we tag our luggage with the Harbor 360 Hotel tags before we get on the train. They will bring our luggage to the hotel. I'd like to make dinner reservations when we are done. Anyone have any suggestions? Thank you!

Thank you for the advice on "traveling with others". They are all looking at me to "direct" them. I don't mind because I get to do what I want to do lol! I tell them that they can do what they want on their own, but they want me to research and just do what I am doing. That is okay with me, but don't complain if you don't like it.

Thank you!

I tend to try to squeeze everything in also but we are traveling with two other couples and my adult daughter so not sure what they want to do. I'm thinking of the 2 hour trolley ride in Anchorage. It would be easy and relaxing. We could have an early dinner and then get up early for our train ride the next day. I'm thinking the hotels near the train station also so that we don't have to get up any earlier to get an Uber to the train station in the morning. Thanks for all your suggestions!

There seems to be two Kenai Fjord cruises - one from Major Marine and the other one from another company? I'll look into Harbor 360 as it would be really convenient to drop off luggage and go directly on the tour. Thank you for all your suggestions. I will take a good look at all.

Hi Steve, Sure, I'll give you a call. I've recommended your company and IMG to all our friends and so disappointed that IMG has been giving me a hard time on my claim. I'm still waiting on this most recent trip. I sent them info about a few weeks ago again and hopefully they will approve my claim as my girlfriend has already received her claim months ago. Our trip was in May 2023 - we were on a Mediterranean cruise from Rome to Athens. Thanks.

I feel your pain. I have had the same problem with IMG. I too purchased IMG insurance through the Trip Insurance Store. The first time I had to make a claim was for trip interruption for a flight home from Texas. I had all my documents and uploaded to their site, but was asked again to submit. Finally, the adjuster approved it but shorted me the cost of the one night hotel stay. The way they did the math didn't make any sense at all and I did reach out to the Trip Insurance Store, which they agreed the amount was incorrect. I had to send in a complaint before they revisited the claim again. The second time I submitted was for trip interruption again for a flight home from Athens over the summer. They denied my claim but my girlfriend who had the same exact claim was approved - there were 30 of us who traveled together and we all had our flight bumped. It's so frustrating. I have a couple of more trips that I purchased insurance for through IMG but am seriously thinking of going elsewhere next time. Good luck!

That is indeed great service to have your baggage sent directly to the ship. I sort of wished we had planned better but we wanted to spend a day in Seward before cruising. Now to figure out how to get my luggage to hotel and also take the Fjords tour. Thanks for all your detailed explanation!

Thank you. We will probably check all except our backpacks which holds passports, medicine, etc. Nice that we can check in like airlines. I thought we had to haul all our luggage onto the train in the car that we sit in. I'm glad we don't have to do that.

Thank you!

It's been awhile since I've been on the forum and now doing research again. There will be 7 of us taking the Coastal Classic train through Alaska Railroad from Anchorage to Seward at 6:45 a.m. on Thursday, May 23rd. We are spending the night in Seward and our cruise is on Friday, May 24th. We will have lots of luggage with us and I haven't booked our hotel in Seward yet. What do we do with our luggage on the train? Do we keep it with us on the train? It doesn't sound like we could.

We are a group of 7 adults who will be flying in from Chicago to Anchorage on Wednesday, May 22, 2023. Our flight gets into Anchorage at 1:40 p.m. Any suggestions on an easy tour or things to do on this day? Any restaurant recommendations? We are spending the night as we have an early morning train ride to Seward. We will be taking the Alaska Railroad’s Coastal Classic train from Anchorage to Seward on Thursday, May 23rd at 6:45 a.m. Is there a hotel that you can recommend in Anchorage that would be close to the train station – preferably within walking distance but we will have luggage. The train will arrive in Seward on Thursday, May 23rd at 11:20 a.m. Any recommendations for tours, restaurants and things to do in Seward on this day? We would be spending the night and hotel recommendation for Seward would be greatly appreciated. On Friday, May 24th, we will be boarding Royal Caribbean’s Radiance of the Seas. So, hotel close to the port would work too. Thank you in advance for any suggestions.

Thank you so much. This is excellent information!

What if we're going in a day early and not going to the ship until the next day? Will we be able to locate our luggage when the train ride ends or do we just need to keep our luggage with us in Gold Star class which means on the floor next to us?

Wow! Thanks for the info. I don't know what to do. I was going to purchase the Gold Star class through Alaska Railroad. I understand we can also purchase through the cruise line but not sure which train that goes on. Funny about your Amtrak adventure. It really makes you wonder about common sense, doesn't it?

If we are going to be in first class (Gold Star), where will we be able to put our luggage. We are heading to Seward for our cruise. Thanks.