Alaska Southbound Cruise Hotel/Train Question

[GEARADRIFT]

Still 9 months away, but I have some questions that cannot seem to be answered by the the folks on the other end of the phone at RCCL.

 

Looking for any fellow CCers with experience staying at Hilton (or, Marriott) prior to taking the 'cruise train' down to Seward. I have perused some Youtube videos where it appears that 'cruisers' staying at the pre-cruise (Hilton/Marriott) hotels checked their luggage with RCCL (contractors/staff) at the hotel before getting on the bus that took them to the train awaiting them at the airport. In one video it appeared that the luggage was being placed in a box truck. It did not appear that they had to 'deal' with their luggage (other than what they wanted to take with them on the train) once they departed the hotel. Is this the case? Is the luggage handed over to RCCL at the hotel prior to departing the hotel, not to be seen again until it arrives in your stateroom? Or, do you retrieve it once you arrive Seward via the cruise train and then hand it back over to RCCL at the Seward Port?

 

Inquiring minds would like to know. Thank You.

[bluebeard39]

On the RCCL CruiseTour #3A they asked that you keep one bag for daily delivery to your room and any other bags they will store in a box truck until the day before the cruise when you will receive all your bags. The morning that you leave from the hotel to the ship all bags for your cruise will be collected and dropped of at the ship terminal and receive at your cabin. Just don't give them anything you might need during the day. We received our luggage at about 6pm the first night on the ship. Enjoy Alaska It was Fantastic.

[negc]

On the RCCL CruiseTour #3A they asked that you keep one bag for daily delivery to your room and any other bags they will store in a box truck until the day before the cruise when you will receive all your bags. The morning that you leave from the hotel to the ship all bags for your cruise will be collected and dropped of at the ship terminal and receive at your cabin. Just don't give them anything you might need during the day. We received our luggage at about 6pm the first night on the ship. Enjoy Alaska It was Fantastic.

 

That pretty much describes our experience when we did our last Alaskan cruise tour a few years back and what we expect to find next June. We are hoping that the train from Anchorage to Seward will once again be an option but our cruise tour this time brings us to Seward a day ahead of our sailing date so things might be a bit different this time. RCI does a terrific job of handling and transporting your luggage so you shouldn't worry.

[GEARADRIFT]

On the RCCL CruiseTour #3A they asked that you keep one bag for daily delivery to your room and any other bags they will store in a box truck until the day before the cruise when you will receive all your bags. The morning that you leave from the hotel to the ship all bags for your cruise will be collected and dropped of at the ship terminal and receive at your cabin. Just don't give them anything you might need during the day. We received our luggage at about 6pm the first night on the ship. Enjoy Alaska It was Fantastic.

 

Sounds like what I have been seeing. Thank You for the response. We are really really looking forward to it.

[Robinhill]

Still 9 months away, but I have some questions that cannot seem to be answered by the the folks on the other end of the phone at RCCL.

 

Looking for any fellow CCers with experience staying at Hilton (or, Marriott) prior to taking the 'cruise train' down to Seward. I have perused some Youtube videos where it appears that 'cruisers' staying at the pre-cruise (Hilton/Marriott) hotels checked their luggage with RCCL (contractors/staff) at the hotel before getting on the bus that took them to the train awaiting them at the airport. In one video it appeared that the luggage was being placed in a box truck. It did not appear that they had to 'deal' with their luggage (other than what they wanted to take with them on the train) once they departed the hotel. Is this the case? Is the luggage handed over to RCCL at the hotel prior to departing the hotel, not to be seen again until it arrives in your stateroom? Or, do you retrieve it once you arrive Seward via the cruise train and then hand it back over to RCCL at the Seward Port?

 

Inquiring minds would like to know. Thank You.

\

 

are you talking about in Anchorage? Because i did a DIY land tour of 6 days prior to getting the train to go down to Seward and i stayed at Comfort Inn Ships Creek which is just a really short shuttle ride from the hotel to the station and the hotel provides it free. We left at 5:00 in the am to get over to the railroad station with out bags and i was traveling with a 6 year old. It was EASY-PEASY! Hotel had a nice indoor pool, decent room, and a free continental breakfast in the am before we left for the station.

[island lady]

We stayed this last August at the Hilton Homewood suites in Anchorage overnight.

The hotel picked us up at the airport, later took a shuttle to Walmart to pick up some

wine, then they shuttled us with our luggage to the train station in the morning.

All free of charge (but of course we tipped the driver ;)).

 

We simply handed our luggage from the shuttle to the RCI crew members at the

train station which indeed was loaded onto a box truck (not the train). Be sure to

have your luggage tags attached before you get to the train station, to make it

easier. Our luggage was not seen again until delivered to our cabin.

 

It was a beautiful day when we got to Seward, so we opted to just walk to the

ship with our rolling carry on bags. Most others just hopped on the free of charge

waiting buses for the quick 1/2 mile trip to the ship.

 

Was indeed easy peasy. :D

Edited October 31, 2016 by island lady

[GEARADRIFT]

We stayed this last August at the Hilton Homewood suites in Anchorage overnight.

The hotel picked us up at the airport, later took a shuttle to Walmart to pick up some

wine, then they shuttled us with our luggage to the train station in the morning.

All free of charge (but of course we tipped the driver ;)).

 

We simply handed our luggage from the shuttle to the RCI crew members at the

train station which indeed was loaded onto a box truck (not the train). Be sure to

have your luggage tags attached before you get to the train station, to make it

easier. Our luggage was not seen again until delivered to our cabin.

 

It was a beautiful day when we got to Seward, so we opted to just walk to the

ship with our rolling carry on bags. Most others just hopped on the free of charge

waiting buses for the quick 1/2 mile trip to the ship.

 

Was indeed easy peasy. :D

 

Question? Did you take the train that originates at the airport? We initially made reservations through RCI pre-cruise (tours) for a 2N Stay at the Hilton Downtown plus the train down to Seward. We decided not to stay at the Hilton for the 2 Nights but still wanted to use the train to get down to Seward. I was told today that since we were not doing any pre-cruise/tour stuff (through RCI) that the system would not let them book/make reservations for the train (since we were arriving 2 days before the cruise(?)). :confused: Apparently, now that we will have a rental car at our disposal, that all we need to do is go back to the airport the morning of departure and find a RCI staff member in the airport baggage claim and they can sell us tickets for the train service to Seward. Does that sound correct to anybody?

 

Has anyone taken the 'regular' train service from downtown Anchorage, that leaves early in the morning (6:45)?

[GEARADRIFT]

\

 

are you talking about in Anchorage? Because i did a DIY land tour of 6 days prior to getting the train to go down to Seward and i stayed at Comfort Inn Ships Creek which is just a really short shuttle ride from the hotel to the station and the hotel provides it free. We left at 5:00 in the am to get over to the railroad station with out bags and i was traveling with a 6 year old. It was EASY-PEASY! Hotel had a nice indoor pool, decent room, and a free continental breakfast in the am before we left for the station.

 

Thanks, we are going to think about taking the earlier train from the downtown station. Would certainly get us into Seward earlier so we could look around there during the afternoon. In fact, I just made reservations at the Comfort Inn Ships Creek. Great convenience to the station.

[island lady]

Question? Did you take the train that originates at the airport? We initially made reservations through RCI pre-cruise (tours) for a 2N Stay at the Hilton Downtown plus the train down to Seward. We decided not to stay at the Hilton for the 2 Nights but still wanted to use the train to get down to Seward. I was told today that since we were not doing any pre-cruise/tour stuff (through RCI) that the system would not let them book/make reservations for the train (since we were arriving 2 days before the cruise(?)). :confused: Apparently, now that we will have a rental car at our disposal, that all we need to do is go back to the airport the morning of departure and find a RCI staff member in the airport baggage claim and they can sell us tickets for the train service to Seward. Does that sound correct to anybody?

 

Has anyone taken the 'regular' train service from downtown Anchorage, that leaves early in the morning (6:45)?

 

 

No, we did not take the train from the airport. If you read my first paragraph, I

detailed what we did on the overnight at the Hilton from Anchorage. The free

Hilton shuttle took us to the Anchorage train station (about 5 miles away) I booked

train passage myself online. You simply show your receipt at the counter, and they

give you your tickets. Very easy to do.

 

You need to arrive at that "regular" train station an hour ahead of time. The RCI

crew with the box truck that takes your luggage will open up for checked bags around

6 am. Also very easy.

[GEARADRIFT]

No, we did not take the train from the airport. If you read my first paragraph, I

detailed what we did on the overnight at the Hilton from Anchorage. The free

Hilton shuttle took us to the Anchorage train station (about 5 miles away) I booked

train passage myself online. You simply show your receipt at the counter, and they

give you your tickets. Very easy to do.

 

You need to arrive at that "regular" train station an hour ahead of time. The RCI

crew with the box truck that takes your luggage will open up for checked bags around

6 am. Also very easy.

 

Thank You very much. That sounds much better for what the Wife and I would like to do. A member of the other couple that is going has expressed that they do not want to get up that early while on vacation. Whereas, the Wife and I are always up by 5:30/6AM. They'd prefer to take the Noon(ish) train from the airport. We may be taking separate trains getting down to Seward. :) I told them that as far as their body would be concerned, it will be 11:45AM (EST)!! We are more inclined to take the same train you did. Get down to Seward, and 'kick around' there for the afternoon. Thanks Again.

[island lady]

Thank You very much. That sounds much better for what the Wife and I would like to do. A member of the other couple that is going has expressed that they do not want to get up that early while on vacation. Whereas, the Wife and I are always up by 5:30/6AM. They'd prefer to take the Noon(ish) train from the airport. We may be taking separate trains getting down to Seward. :) I told them that as far as their body would be concerned, it will be 11:45AM (EST)!! We are more inclined to take the same train you did. Get down to Seward, and 'kick around' there for the afternoon. Thanks Again.

 

You are most welcome, and indeed that 5:30 shuttle to the train station felt

more like 9:30 am to us also with that four hour time difference. ;) Was no

big deal. Could not make use of the breakfast at the hotel, but the breakfast

on the train was very good. It was the second time we took that southbound

train. Always a fantastic experience! enjoy! :D

 

Tip for kicking around Seaward. Check in at the ship, drop your heavy carry

on bags once your cabin opens up, and enjoy walking around Seward. It's a

pretty little port town. The actual downtown area is a couple miles away. Easy

walk for those that can, but there are also free town shuttles that will pick you up too.

 

Sail away is quite late, and can mess up dinner plans with the muster drill.

Edited January 6, 2017 by island lady

[chandom]

Might be wrong on this...

 

The train doesn't pickup from the airport. Rather some sort of transfer occur to the train station.

 

Ref:

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/contentWithHero.do?pagename=us_direct_grandview_transfer

 

Sent from a mobile device

[island lady]

Might be wrong on this...

 

The train doesn't pickup from the airport. Rather some sort of transfer occur to the train station.

 

Ref:

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/contentWithHero.do?pagename=us_direct_grandview_transfer

 

Sent from a mobile device

 

It also does not drop off from the northbound leg. We had to take a taxi

from the train station to the airport for our late flight out.