huskyguy

My question: how smooth are the floatplane rides to Misty Fjords? And yes, I know, this could be like asking how smooth are the seas when you cruise...

It is unfortunately exactly like asking how smooth are the seas when you cruise - it depends on the day.

thanks for the beautiful pictures. How long was the drive from skagway to whitehorse?

It's 112 miles, so 2.5 hours each way plus whatever stops you make. Figure 8 hours minimum total, and much more is much better.

In the Yukon, all community libraries have free wi-fi (the Skagway library does as well).

We did our first Alaska cruise (our first cruise anywhere) in 2006, at least partly to prove to ourselves that cruising wasn't our style. Well, that didn't quite work out, and we've now sailed 15 times, with 9 of them being in Alaska, but I was working as naturalist or Destination Speaker on 8 of those.

We're probably done with cruising for many years now, though, as we've just bought a big motorhome to tour the Yukon, Alaska and other northern areas in more detail with. Our final cruise is next month, on the Solstice from Vancouver to Honolulu.

They do have formal on Celebrity , where except people to dress up. On those nights you could go to a extra cost restaurant or the buffet.

While you can go to the buffet in casual clothes on formal nights, proper attire is expected in the optional restaurants on Celebrity.

Has anyone heard what was the cause of the derailment?

It was a broken switch - http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/train-derailment-caused-by-switch-problem-white-pass-and-yukon-route-1.2722963

So if we are going up and back in the 3 hour round trip it is right side up and left side down?

That comment by the OP is incorrect - to get the view side you want the left side going up, the right side going down.

The Skagway and Poker Creek border crossings will stamp your passport with these unofficial stamps, so it obviously doesn't invalidate them - http://www.explorenorth.com/articles/images/alaska-passport_stamps.jpg

I am thinking I read somewhere that because these are not official passport stamps, the US State Department frowns on folks stamping their actual passports with these stamps. Is that correct?

That's correct - that's why the Carcross Post Office quit doing it. The Matthew Watson Store, where the stamps are now, started doing it because it was so popular - the post office ones were better, though, especially since they were applied beside a postage stamp.

The WP&YR is shut down until they figure out what happened :(

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 23, 2014

The White Pass & Yukon Route Railway, headquartered in Skagway, Alaska, confirms that one of its scheduled scenic excursion trains partially derailed this afternoon near Milepost 20 northeast of Skagway. The location of the derailment is on a section of track that routinely handles thousands of passenger excursion trips across the scenic and historic White Pass & Yukon Route, constructed at the turn of the century. The derailment involved two vintage locomotives and four passenger rail cars.

Early reports indicate that there were multiple injuries, although none of them appear to have been life-threatening. “Any injury connected to our rail operations, whether to our passengers or our employees, is always considered serious” said John Finlayson, President of White Pass & Yukon Route Railway. “Although we have not yet identified the specific cause or causes of this incident, a thorough investigation has been undertaken, and all reasonable efforts will be made to ensure that safe operations remain the overriding focus of our workforce and management team.”

White Pass & Yukon Route rail operations have been temporarily suspended to allow its investigation to proceed and expert analysis of the cause to be completed. It is anticipated that rail operations will resume as soon as the company can assure the safety of its passengers and employees. “Safety is, and always will be, our number one priority” Mr. Finlayson said.

I did a fairly elaborate "Alaska" door twice. I forget what all was on them, but the feature thing was Nanook the Beanie Baby husky. Both times, my pooch was stolen, so I don't do it anymore. They're only worth $2, but some people just have no class :(

Interesting, this bridge isn't even in the Yukon. :)

The water that flows under it eventually ends up in the Yukon, though. In world of tourism promotion, that's close enough :) Have you seen the new Alaska Tourism ad showing "What it looks like at Midnight?" It most certainly does not!

it's at mile 46 coming out of Skagway. it's on Murray's guide, and I am positive there must be signage for it too.

It's actually just past Kilometer 47, which is about 29 miles from Skagway. It's the only building for many miles and is on a corner that really does make it impossible to miss. I have an annual pass because I stop there so often - they make changes pretty much every year, and last year's new deck was a great addition.

Great little bakery in Carcross - can't recall the name at the moment, but you turn off the main highway into town and it is easy to spot. Excellent sourdough cinnamon rolls, and free coffee with every bakery purchase.

We stopped there yesterday - the Chilkoot Bakery ( http://chilkootbakery.com/ ) - it's just plain free coffee now, no purchase required. We got cinnamon buns and scones to go with the coffee, and some sandwiches to take up Montana Mountain with us (serious 4x4ing - not for rental vehicles). It was Winter up the mountain (got stopped by deep snow very low on the road), and 35 degrees in Whitehorse this morning - come on, Summer!!

Book ahead, either Avis or independent Sourdough. There's only 1 road to Emerald Lake, a good 2-lane paved highway.

If you spend many hours looking, you may see whales (I do spend many hours looking, and occasionally get lucky), but sightings on the excursions at Juneau are guaranteed, and they get you close.

That's one of the best itineraries, IMO, and those are great excursion choices. Our Alaska cruise on the Amsterdam was perfect - HAL does it right (we only cruise HAL and Celebrity now, after trying most lines except the very high-end ones).

It also depends on your age, whether you're travelling alone or with a family/group, what your interests are, etc., etc... Many people want simple answers, but the simple answers are very often the wrong ones, especially in Alaska - a lot goes into the "right" decision (right for you, not people on CC).

The local Visitors Bureau Web sites are the place to look - in the case of Skagway, that's http://skagway.com/ If they're not listed on a site like that, you need to question their legitimacy. Chilkoot is certainly one of the biggest of the independents in Skagway - I was very pleased with my rail/bus tour with them a few years ago.

A fancy new trail to the falls was built 2-3 years ago - it used to be a rather tough cross-country route. It's not on the Mendenhall trail map yet, but just go along the path below the Visitor Center and you'll come to the junction where the Nugget Falls Trail goes off to the right. It's about 15-20 minutes to the falls.

Can anyone confirm that it takes this long right now?

http://511.alaska.gov/ says 5-15 minute delays, not 2 1/2 hours.

There is never a charge to use WiFi, there is however a charge to access internet via WiFi or via a pc in the internet cafe.

What would you use the ship's wifi for except to access the Internet?? Okay, you can use it to access the ship's printer, which also has a charge.

We've only done it once, on a special Alaska cruise with a group of friends. We got our money's worth that time, but normally wouldn't, even on a warm-water cruise. In Alaska, we're more likely to go to a local bar/saloon, and in fact did that in Hoonah even when we had the drink package back at the ship.

Yes, very expensive and very slow, and it varies dramatically by ship as to where you can get it. Sitting at the dock in Victoria last year (on the Norwegian Sun), I was trying to get some small photos to load for my blog about the trip - after spending over $20 in ship charges with no success, I went down to the dockside visitor center and within 5-6 minutes had them loaded for free.

For anyone going into the Yukon an interesting read is Pierre Berton's "Klondike" and his mother's "I Married the Klondike".

A dozen or so years ago the staff at the Yukon Archives had a discussion about whether "Klondike" should be in fiction or non-fiction. Nobody was able to find a single story that wasn't true.

If Michener's shipwreck story caught your interest, you'll enjoy the real story as told by real historians in "Sinking of the Princess Sophia: Taking the North Down with Her" and "The Final Voyage of the Princess Sophia".