Train Anchorage to Seward

[cheryltwin]

Leaving next week on Royal Caribbean Radiance out of Anchorage. Have been reading as much as possible to know what to expect... now a little confused. There seem to be 2 trains going to Seward... one at 6:45am from the Anchorage train station and one run by the cruise lines that leaves the airport train station around noon...?

 

My biggest question is about luggage transfer to the ship. It appears that if you take the cruise line train from the airport, you check in for the cruise in Anchorage and your luggage goes straight on the ship when you arrive 5pm. That makes sense.

 

We have purchased Gold Star Coastal Classic train from Anchorage that leaves at 6:45am. What happens to our luggage? Will we retrieve our luggage at the Seward train station and take it ourselves to the port? Appears to be a fairly short walk? Will we check it with a porter (curbside) like we have done at other ports?

 

I thought I had this figured out, but now that I've seen info about the cruise line trains I'm not sure. Thanks everyone for any info you can provide!

[SparkleBee]

if you call AK RR directly they can give you the scoop on all the logistics

[olemissreb]

As Sparklebee suggested, call the Alaska Railroad and ask them. They MIGHT have a deal with the cruiseline that they will take your luggage direct to the ship. I know they do this with some of the hotels in Seward (Holiday Inn being one of them as that's where we stayed last year).

 

If they do offer this service, jump on it and then take advantage of one of the Kenai Fjords cruises. It's a great way to see a whole lot of wildlife that you may not see while you are on your cruise. We did the Major Marine tour last year. They were there waiting on us when we got off the train and then the bus took us to their office to get our tickets and get on the boat. My youngest son wanted to see otters and we saw some before we ever got out of Resurrection Bay! You would get back about 5pm and could then catch a cab over to the ship and probably avoid all lines!

 

If the railroad doesn't have a service to get your luggage to the ship, you could claim it and take it with you to Major Marine (if you go on one of their cruises) - they will store it for you until you return if I remember correctly.

[rjeffler]

Just did this in June. We did our RR tickets ourselves. They will check your bag at the RR Depot and put tags on it to go directly to the ship. You don't have to do anything extra!

 

Actually, we stayed 2 nights in Seward, but they checked our bags all of the way to our hotel. My parents arrived in Seward the day of departure and had checked their bags straight through to the boat.

 

They make it so easy!

[AKman2495]

Will we retrieve our luggage at the Seward train station and take it ourselves to the port? Appears to be a fairly short walk? Will we check it with a porter (curbside) like we have done at other ports?

 

What appears to be a fairly short walk is not too bad -unless you're dragging suitcases and it is raining. The odds of Rain in Seward on any given day are pretty good and I can tell you that it will be pretty miserable for the last 1/2 of the walk, which is on unpaved gravel.

 

Check with the AK RR about this because it could be quite the chore.