Chilkoot Charters vs. Ship excursion

[renee1222]

In Skagway I am interested in the White Pass Summit railroad. The ship excursion is $125. I am just curious if anyone has a recommendation of booking independently with Chilkoot. I have heard good reports about them and wonder if it is significantly cheaper or a better experience overall. I tried calling today to get quotes, but they were closed (Veteran's Day, I assume). We would probably just do the 3 1/2 hour train/bus tour.

[lmb6488bb]

Hi

 

In May my husband and I used Chilkoot tours to take the full excursion and we loved it. I can only assume the shorter tour is just as nice. Highly recommend booking with them instead of cruise line. Also we had out own separate train car with only 12 people on it.

I emailed for a quote and they got back to me in a timely manner. Because it is fall/winter email may be better since they may not be in office all the time

 

Enjoy your trip

 

Lynn

Edited November 12, 2013 by lmb6488bb

[bumperoo]

I used e-mail to initially contact them. They sent me their price list. I chose my excursion, and filled out the reservation form. A few hours later, I got my e-mail confirmation with all the instructions I need about the trip. So, apparently e-mail is the best option right now! Good luck with your booking -- you are probably as excited about your cruise as I am!

[Kirasha]

renee - The benefits of going with Chilkoot versus the ship's excursion are: Your tour group will be smaller. For the White pass rail portion, your tour is in its own train car, which can mean more seats and space available to move around. For the bus portion (if you do the bus part) - you are in a smaller shuttle bus rather than the full-on buses that the ship excursions use. Shuttle bus is smaller, more maneuverable and as such can stop for wildlife in places that are too small for buses.

 

You will find that instead of it being a lot cheaper, non-ship sponsored Alaska excursions are often better because the tour group is much smaller and the experience much more personalized.

[Loving My Life]

Oops, wrong thread.

Edited November 12, 2013 by Loving My Life

[Ashland]

We used Chilkoot this past May on our RCI Radiance cruise....We did the bus up and the train back (3 1/2 hour tour)...On our bus there were only approx 18 of us...We had an amazing guide/driver..much different than the big bus load of cruiseship excursion passengers we saw....Great choice..you won't regret booking it privately.

[Budget Queen]

Not sure from the reference, but it makes little difference if this is just the train. Otherwise, with the "bus" comment, it is only going to be a summit trip, one way on the train, other just a return road trip. On this section, there aren't many extra stops that an independent makes, so the ship tours are similar. Difference is the size bus and number of people. The cruise excursion will be in the large tour buses.

 

With ship excursions, the trains do load next to the ship.. Independent load at the depot.

 

There are several other tours, that get you farther- which means, more scenery. There are several different tours and lengths of time to choose from.

[Kleiner]

We used Chilkoot this past May on our RCI Radiance cruise....We did the bus up and the train back (3 1/2 hour tour)...On our bus there were only approx 18 of us...We had an amazing guide/driver..much different than the big bus load of cruiseship excursion passengers we saw....Great choice..you won't regret booking it privately.

 

 

I am going back and forth about the 3 1/2 hour tour or the longer 7 1/2 tour. I was wondering if you felt that you were able to see everything you wanted or did you feel like you should have done the longer tour? I'm just nervous about wanting to be sitting in a train/bus for that many hours no matter how beautiful the scenery is.

[Budget Queen]

I am going back and forth about the 3 1/2 hour tour or the longer 7 1/2 tour. I was wondering if you felt that you were able to see everything you wanted or did you feel like you should have done the longer tour? I'm just nervous about wanting to be sitting in a train/bus for that many hours no matter how beautiful the scenery is.

 

with your particular comments, it doesn't sound like any long tour is for you, no matter what other people "think". Your "nervous", "hours" and "no matter how beautiful", seem to point in that direction. I would suggest you NOT be swayed by what is "popular" etc or what others claim. IF your comments are what you feel/think, then go your own way. The round trip Summit trips are enjoyed by many people. I did a repeat of this myself this year.

[renee222]

We did the 7.5 hour Chilkoot tour this summer with our two daughters 18 and 20. Train up, bus down with dogcart ride. The time went very quickly. The bus stopped numerous time for photo ops and the driver was very talkative. I would highly recommend the tour. It was our favorite excursion.

[renee1222]

We did the 7.5 hour Chilkoot tour this summer with our two daughters 18 and 20. Train up, bus down with dogcart ride. The time went very quickly. The bus stopped numerous time for photo ops and the driver was very talkative. I would highly recommend the tour. It was our favorite excursion.

 

Ha! Renee, When I first saw this post, I thought, I didn't post a response to that thread again. Someone hacked into my account! I don't have 18 and 20 year old daughters! Then I did a double take and checked the screen name again. :)

 

I think this would be a great tour, just not sure the rest of my party is going to want to spend that much on an excursion. They've already said that a whale-watching excursion was the only "expensive" excursion they would be able to do.

[Needs_A_Vacation]

We did the 7.5 hour Chilkoot tour this summer with our two daughters 18 and 20. Train up, bus down with dogcart ride. The time went very quickly. The bus stopped numerous time for photo ops and the driver was very talkative. I would highly recommend the tour. It was our favorite excursion.

 

We're looking at this tour too. So 3+ hours continuous on the train? Then stop for lunch and dogcart ride. The bus ride down with stops to get out?

 

I was afraid it was a long train ride up and a long bus ride down.

[Budget Queen]

Ha! Renee, When I first saw this post, I thought, I didn't post a response to that thread again. Someone hacked into my account! I don't have 18 and 20 year old daughters! Then I did a double take and checked the screen name again. :)

 

I think this would be a great tour, just not sure the rest of my party is going to want to spend that much on an excursion. They've already said that a whale-watching excursion was the only "expensive" excursion they would be able to do.

 

Split up, frankly, and my opinion only. I don't care what other people do, I do what I want and see you later. :) Alaska has some superb touring that is costly, and for people with the interest and funds. It makes no sense to me, to compromise on what you want to do, or drag someone along who isn't interested. Especially if they have other preferences. :) Flame away. :)

[world_traveler_et]

I am going back and forth about the 3 1/2 hour tour or the longer 7 1/2 tour. I was wondering if you felt that you were able to see everything you wanted or did you feel like you should have done the longer tour? I'm just nervous about wanting to be sitting in a train/bus for that many hours no matter how beautiful the scenery is.

 

We took our cruise this past June and booked the Scenic Bennett Journey directly with Chilkoot Charter & tours. In my opinion the best part of this tour started where the 3.5 hour tour was touring around and heading back to Skagway at the summit. If you are into photography the scenery is breath taking on your way to Bennett and than onto Carcross. The time went by quickly--we were never bored. I was standing outside on the platform most of the time viewing the scenery. If you do stand outside on the platforms you won't hear any of the history. It would be nice if the railway had a speaker on the platforms so that you could hear what was coming into view. If you book the 3.5 hour trip IMHO you end up seeing the same scenery both ways. Some other post on cc have mentioned that Chilkoot has their own rail car but this was not our case we were with other passengers. Our train consisted of about four to five rail cars. We had enough room to move about on the cars and everyone alternated on the platforms for photographs. If you opt for the longer tour booking through a smaller company has its advantages in that they use vans. We were able to pull over where every we wanted to take photographs or stop for wild life sitings. The buses were too large and could not pull over or stop when ever they wanted. I felt Chilkoot gave us our moneys worth. After our tour we still had plenty of time to drop off our day bags at the ship and head back to the city of Skagway and look around and do so shopping for T-shirts. After being on the longer trip I don't think I would have enjoyed the shorter round trip. Again, this is my opinion and everyone's interests are different. If you have questions send Chilkoot and email. The were very helpful. I asked which trips where the best in terms of scenery because I was a photographer and they suggested the longer Scenic Bennett Journey.

 

Have fun planning your trip!

[olemissreb]

We booked the 7 1/2 hour tour through Chilkoot. It's been a year since I booked it, but I think I just sent them an email and they responded right away. While it's convenient to book through the cruise line and really convenient to load up right there at the dock, I would totally book through Chilkoot again. We were a small group - maybe 20 people in the van. We had our own rail car with another Chilkoot van of about 20 people - so maybe 40 people in the entire car and we were able to move around and take lots of pictures despite the rain. Stanley was our bus driver and she (yes a she) was so talkative and so informative. We went up to Bennett, Emerald Lake, Caribou Crossing, Carcross desert and pulled off the road a few times to take in the scenery or look at wildlife - something the big buses couldn't do.

 

It was a memorable trip and I would do it all over again the next time I head to Alaska.

[GORDONCHICK]

We did the 7.5 tour when our son was 7 and he loved it! Ours was train up, shuttle back. Our shuttle driver & guide were great and if we to stop for a photo op, we just yelled out and they stopped. When a big a big bus stopped, we would all run for our little shuttle and take off. I always recommend Chilkoot for someone who ports in Skagway. Here's a photo of my son with one of the puppies.

[LoriPhil]

We're also Chilkoot fans. The touring van was comfy with very large viewing windows, and so easy to hear the driver who was informative and happily accommodated us with scenic stops. As for the cost - yes, a tad pricy in Alaska but we don't get back there very often and so enjoy a variety of activities when we are. When we travel as a family "pack" the only obligation is to meet for dinner and people participate in the excursions that interest them, but I've never heard anyone say "wow, that was beautiful, I'm bummed I went". ;)

Edited November 20, 2013 by LoriPhil