TxEx2x

While it is possible to take the train the day of embarkation according to the schedules (scheduled arrival at 11:45am), I do not recommend it. On Sat. June 16, 2017 the train didn't arrive until after 3pm. On Sun June 17, 2017 it arrived after 2pm. If you cannot take the train the day before, I'd recommend the bus or renting a car one way.

I think the evening train would be fine. If you are late, you will still arrive before the cruise departs.

I do not advise taking the train the morning of the cruise. On Saturday, June 17, 2017 there was an engine problem on the Northbound train in the morning. The train did not arrive in Vancouver until after 3pm. Amtrak was not able to find busses- they tried but all of the busses were already booked. There were people on that train bound for the Princess cruise that left that afternoon at 4. Nobody I talked to seemed to know if they made it or not.

We took the morning Cascades on Sunday, June 18, 2017. According to the conductors, half the people on that train were catching cruises that afternoon (I think this may have been an exaggeration, but who knows?) While our train was fine, the Southbound that was supposed to leave Vancouver had engine problems and was stuck on our platform. We ended up sitting on the tracks waiting for over 2 hours for it to leave so we could pull in. When it finally passed us, it was empty. (I'm assuming they found busses for the passengers going South, because they would have been REALLY late.) Our train didn't arrive in the station until after 2pm and we really had to hustle to make our 4pm departure. We made it, but the amount of stress was not worth it. We would have been better off to rent a car, since coming in the night before was not an option for us.

According to fellow train passengers... If you miss boarding the boat in Vancouver, you cannot catch up to the cruise at another port, because you will have missed your international stop. Also, when you are on the train and it gets stuck, there is no option to get off and get a rental car. Once you cross the boarder, you have to stay on the train until you get to immigration.

Sadly Project Playground burned down in the spring due to arson. My boys were upset when we stopped by in June.

Thanks for all the info! We'll be boarding the Noordam when it returns to Vancouver on Sunday.

Do you know if there was a Catholic priest on board? If so, was Mass offered on embarkation day? And what time?

Thanks everyone. I was hoping someone who had been on one of these cruisetours last season would chime in. The agents I asked at Holland America and my travel agent were both very vague, and I got tired of waiting for 20 minutes each time I asked a question for him to go try to find the answer.

We're travelling with kids and by this time in the trip, I don't envision a big sit down meal at the Karstens Public House. I was hoping that the pizza place took them, or we could use them to get an ice cream or something. Or maybe I can send my husband down to Karstens for a few beers after the kids go to bed! I guess we'll just be surprised when we get there.

Are you also stopping in Ketchikan? I've always found the shopping there better than Skagway. As mentioned above, Alaska T-Shirt co is good for souvenirs and is close to the docks.

We have a land tour after our cruise that stops at Denali. Our package included a specified amount of 'Denali Dollars.' Does anyone know what these can be used on? Can I expect to get anything more than a bottle of water for 25 Denali Dollars? Are they accepted by all (or any of) the restaurants in the area? I've tried searching and asking the travel agent, but have come up empty handed so far...

One of our kids favorite things to do in Juneau is to visit the Project Playground: https://www.facebook.com/Project-Playground-at-Twin-Lakes-60654337275/ It's got some very unique features and rivals any we've seen in the lower 48. You would need to rent a car or take a taxi- it's not walkable from downtown. While we have the car, we also like to visit Mendenhall and the Alaskan Brewery. This year, we are also planning to add a visit to Walmart to stock up on snacks for when we get to the land part of our tour. I don't want to be stuck on a bus with whiny, hungry kids and no way to satisfy them.

In Skagway, we like to do the National Park tour on the Klondike. It's right downtown and easily walkable. We also like to hike out to Yakutania Point. We like to sit on the point and spot wildlife. You have to walk down, around the airport to get to the trail head, but the trail is well established and maintained. My boys love to watch the helicopters taking off and the planes landing. The airport also has a restroom! Lastly, there is a good ice cream shop on main street that is always a nice treat!

We cruised to Alaska on the Rhapsody last August, and my 3 yr old LOVED the kids club. We were there the last week in August, and there were not many kids on the ship. The counselors in the kids club were WONDERFUL with him, and they had a lot of activities to keep him busy. They had 3 sessions a day and different themes with different activities each session. They did tons of crafts- it seemed like every time he left, he came back with a craft.

We especially enjoyed having the kids club available at night. We opted for anytime dining, and would put him in the kids club before going to the big sit down dinner every night. We tried taking him a couple of times, but he just didn't have the patience for it.

Also on the ship, he enjoyed swimming in the pool. It was cold, but he loved it. We had a couple of really sunny days that made it tolerable for the adults. The other thing he loved on the ship was just finding some empty deck space and running his toy car all around.

Not sure what size room you are getting, but a surprise for us was just how small the interior stateroom was. (We've cruised Princess before and felt that the room was better configuration and a little bigger.) It was TIGHT! And there was no way he was going to sleep on the top bunk, so we just made him a pallet on the floor each day. The balcony rooms were MUCH bigger and would have worked better for us had we not been worried about him opening the door himself and climbing up on the chairs.

As for shore excursions, the best thing we found was the Project Playground in Juneau. It is a couple of miles from the port, so we rented a car for the day and drove there. It was awesome! It was built by the community of Juneau and it had so many things to play on. It was great to just hang out on a bench and watch him run and play. It was definitely a highlight of the trip for him! You can also go to Mendenhall Glacier. If you have a car, then you don't have to worry about the shuttles or timing your visit to miss crowds. There are several easy walking trails at Mendenhall, and some folks even saw a bear while we were there.

In Skagway, he loved playing on the caboose and train cars behind the train depot. We also did a hike out to Yakania Point just beyond the airport. We had a stroller with us for that one, and just parked the stroller when the trail got too rough. He LOVED climbing on the huge rocks and exploring. We even saw a whale swimming in the distance and had a sea lion frolicking on the shore nearby.

Enjoy your trip! I'm dreaming about doing it again this summer!