Zuiderdam Alaska Inside Passage Cruise 31 May 2014 3rd report

[Delbankin]

Although there are quite a few Zuiderdam Alaska reviews going on at the moment I've decided to continue with mine as it is hopefully useful to get another person's perspective on things. It also helps elongate the holiday by bringing back memories of the trip!

 

After Juneau and our close up with Tracy Arm glaciers our next stop was Skagway. We had already booked a trip on the Mountain Pass Summit scenic railroad in advance through HAL.

 

Our intention was to explore Skagway in the morning and return to the ship before embarking on our Tain journey early afternoon. The train trip takes around 3.5 hours which we thought would get us back to the ship in good time to allow us to get ready for dinner.

 

We had breakfast on the ship and then went walkabout in Skagway. That didn't take too long!.

 

We returned to the ship to find a message from the tour desk advising that the time of our train trip had been changed to late afternoon. This didn't suit us at all because we wouldn't have been back until after 7.30pm. Because we had returned to the ship early enough we went to the tour desk to see if we could change or cancel the trip. There was no one at the desk so we had to hot foot it off the ship again to find someone shore side.

 

We found someone on the quay and explained the later time wasn't suitable and that we were looking to cancel or change our trip. Luckily the timing of our return meant we could take the mid day trip and although this didn't give us any time at all we returned to the ship for a cookie and a coffee and then went immediately to join the train. The shore side representative was very helpful and the change to the earlier trip was easily arranged. This wouldn't have been possible if we'd spent longer ashore in the morning so we were lucky I guess that Skagway didn't have much to offer.

 

Some people describe Skagway as their favourite stop however the town itself has nothing much to see in my opinion. There is virtually one Main Street consisting mainly of shops. There is a museum with history of the gold rush which was reasonably informative and interesting. They have regular free guided walks and a short film running at various intervals which you just turn up for and take a ticket for the next allotted performance.

 

There is also the "famous" red onion saloon. We looked in the door and were glad we hadn't signed up for one of the shows they offered which give a flavour of the old days. As far as we could make out it was just another lame show with folks dressed up in costume to get something out of the tourists.

 

There was a street car excursion available which from what we could see must be one of the shortest trips out there. There is a walking tour that can be taken with tour companies but equally if you are reasonably fit the Skagway tourist site has a walking tour map available for download that covers most main sites and could be taken instead.

 

The main thing that could be said about Skagway is how close the Main Street is to the ship which makes it easy to walk to. I would advise folks to consider doing an excursion in Skagway to pass the time. The ship was in port from 7am - 9pm which for the size of the port is a long time.

 

There were numerous trips available from HAL and no doubt locally as well - some quite adventurous and expensive, others less so, offering a variety of excursions and I think it would be essential to do something if visiting Skagway.

 

Back to the train which pulls up for boarding between the ship and the town and in that respect is easy to get to. The cars are old style design but ours was well insulated and heated. As far as I could make out, all cars were the same and had their own toilet compartment for use on the journey if needed.

 

We were lucky and boarded the coach where the commentary was being provided for the whole train. That gave us some extra insights when the girl wasn't talking to the whole train and was certainly reassuring when the train came to a grinding halt half way up the mountain in a puff of smoke! The girl explained that a warning light had come on and the engineer had to investigate but we were assured this was a fairly common experience. Despite that, we couldn't help but hope the braking system was operating as it should!.

 

We had to wait some time before we moved away and then stopped again. as far as I could make out the train started the journey with 3 engines but returned with only two. We could see one had been ditched in a siding once we started to move on again.

 

The journey was very picturesque with numerous landmarks such as river valleys and waterfalls being pointed out during our journey. There was snow nearer the top and the mountain lake at the top was still frozen and full of snow.

 

We hadn't researched the journey beforehand and assumed we would get off at some point at the other end for the opportunity to buy souvenirs ( not that we wanted to) but that didn't happen. At the top, they move the engines from one end of the train to the other for the journey back down and they came round with souvenir videos and caps etc on the return leg which seemed to go down well with the train enthusiasts on board, of which there seemed to be quite a few.

 

The seats are bench type and quite unique as they tip over so the back moves from a facing the top of the hill position to facing the bottom of the hill position. They make this switch at the end of the outward journey and then ask people to move from one side of the train to the other. This means that everybody gets a view of everything there is to offer so no needed to worry which side you are sitting going up.

 

There is the opportunity to get out on the external footplate at each end of the car for better photo opportunities and everyone seemed quite happy to take their turn to let others get a view. The only thing they don't allow is moving from the footplate of one car to another for safety reasons.

 

The train is recognised as one of world heritage renown similar to the Panama Canal and Eiffel Tower and we certainly enjoyed the experience and would recommend it to others but perhaps not those with a fear of heights as the gradient of almost 4% and 16 degree turns would not be for everyone.

[PathfinderEss]

Enjoying your reports.:)

[Lizzie68]

I appreciate ALL the reports, so please keep going.:) Great to get difference perspectives.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Love your report. We have done the train ride at least 3 times.

We are one of those people who do love Skagway. The Red Onion Saloon has good food -- we ate there a couple of times.

[bumperoo]

We were on the same cruise. I just finished up my trip journals and catching up on Cruise Critic. Wish I was back on the ship! I'm sure you feel the same way, writing your thoughts helps you relive all the moments!

[erewhon]

Thanks for your report, we really enjoyed that Train Journey.