banditoo

Going up by road, it is best to sit on the right side, coming down by road, the left is best. Going up by train the left is best and coming down by train the right is best.

We recently did the Chilkoot Charters road and rail; small bus up as far as Emerald Lake, Yukon then caught train down from Fraser to Skagway. Both directions were great and scenic. The bus had a few stops enroute to look at scenery, wildlife and for the Welcome to the Yukon photo. Very well run and informative tour. I previously did the same with another tour operator who is no longer in business and it was equally great which is why we did it again.

Couple weeks back there were black bears at Mendenhall Glacier late afternoon. One crossed the Nugget Falls trail behind us (we were told by the people behind us) and another popped out on the Visitor Centre Walkway above the parking lot. Living in the suburbs of Metro Vancouver, bears are regularly present in our various parks, trails and often in people's yards too. Making lots of noise through conversation generally alerts them to move on though often they will just go about their business. Best to give them a wide berth and keep your eye on them. 20240517_202742.mp4

When we were at Mendenhall a couple weeks back, A large black bear had been spotted by people behind us crossing the trail to Nugget Falls. When we got back to the parking lot a large black bear strolled down the visitor center walkway between groups of human visitors and then stopped on the grass area directly above the washrooms to munch on flowers.

When I look at the cruise maps, Edge goes west of Vancouver Island from Vancouver.

7.5 hour. I don't think you could get there and back in 2.5 hours? Is that just one way?

We are booked on the Chilkoot Yukon Rail & Bus which is 7.5 hours and does both. One way by rail and the other way by mini bus. 1 tour.

Sometimes if the tour operators have contracted with the ship to provide the tour, part of that contract is that they cannot book independently and reservations can only be made through the ship. This may be the case for this tour?

There was no assigned seating when we went previously. The best view on the train is on left when going up and right if going down. There are outside viewing platforms on each rail car that you can use. Opposite sides when travelling by road.

Previously we did this in August with Celebrity. I expect May will be cooler though with the significant climate changes here in Greater Vancouver the last few years, who knows what the weather will be like in May?!

I second Coral's recommendation. Have done the White Pass & Yukon Rail/Road combo before and are booked again with Chilkoot Charters for May 18 (the same day you will be there)! Are you on Zaandam? I booked the 0930 which is minivan first and rail down as this gives us a little extra time to disembark and wander Skagway if we wish before the tour.

When we previously did the combo tour, we did rail up and then mini van back. The van stopped at the Welcome to Yukon sign and the Welcome to Alaska sign along with Emerald Lake, Carcross etc. The guide also gave us a driving tour and history of Skagway. Skagway is very small (only a few blocks long). This time we have booked the 0930 which is van up and train down. The van portion will also include stops and commentary.

Did the Alaska cruise including those ports a number of years ago on Celebrity. In each city (except Ketchikan) we booked tours independent of the ship excursions for significantly less than ship excursion doing the very same thing. This May we are doing the Alaska cruise on HAL and will be in all 3 ports again and have again booked independent of ship. The tour operators are largely geared towards cruise ship passengers, they track the schedules and most offer full refund if the ship does not make port or is significantly delayed. They will also adjust start time dependent on arrival of ship. Juneau is well known for whale watching but as we were in Icy Straight Point last cruise that is where we did our whale watching the first time. This time we will do Mendenhall Glacier and Whale Watching combo in Juneau with a local operator. Skagway is very small so it is good to do a tour here. We previously did the White Pass and Yukon Rail combo with mini van tour to Emerald Lake and back to Skagway. This was a great trip and so we are doing it again. Last time we did a bear watching trip out of Ketchikan to Traitor's Cove by seaplane (booked through Celebrity). It was a great experience. This time we will wander town and some of the trails, probably the funicular etc. This forum has a number of private tour operators listed and they have websites. The ones that I have contacted have been very quick to respond to email and are very invested in making sure passengers are picked up when the ship arrives, have a great tour and are back at the ship well in time for embarking. This is their livelihood so they do not want to get a bad rep.

A number of years ago we did the combo with train up and then mini van onward to the Yukon and Emerald Lake and then back to Skagway. The train was very scenic. The mini van part was also scenic (follows a different route than the train) and allowed for lunch, stops for photo ops, a little exploration and great commentary from the tour guide. We booked privately, not through the cruise line. This time we will be doing the same through Chilkoot Charters.

Has anyone been on Viking's Vienna Sights Up Close included excursion? It is listed as demanding though description sounds far from demanding.

Glad I booked our cruise a few days ago as the new discount still shows cruise at same price we booked but now instead of free air, air starts at $999!