Skagway - No Train, Only Bus - Chilkoot White Pass & Yukon

[JT1962]

8 minutes ago, Kitty Ellas Mom said:

I'm uncertain whether I should keep my excursion booked through Princess or cancel it.  There is no doubt that it is one of the ones affected.  I'm thinking maybe I should go ahead and cancel and instead book only the train, going up to the White Pass, as that is the main thing I want to do.  I'm worried the train will sell out.  Is that a reasonable worry?  Right now all tickets seem to be unsold, on the Princess website, and the day I'm in port is also available directly through the train.

That seems like a reasonable plan, if you are able to cancel the current excursion with Princess with no issues (you should be able to). Once they start notifying people the longer excursions are canceled, there will be a rush to book the train excursions that are available.

[Gramma of Boys]

I don't know what to do either.  We've done the train portion in the past, so are more interested in the stops at the Wildlife Museum, Caribou Crossing, Musher's Camp etc. It looks to me like that should still be available by bus.  Am I correct?

 

[Eaglecw]

30 minutes ago, Gramma of Boys said:

I don't know what to do either.  We've done the train portion in the past, so are more interested in the stops at the Wildlife Museum, Caribou Crossing, Musher's Camp etc. It looks to me like that should still be available by bus.  Am I correct?

 

That would be correct, the bus up to Caribou Crossing is still on, with short stops at Emerald Lake and Carcross. We are as frustrated as everyone else. We had planed on doing the Bennett Lake train excursion up to Carcross.

[Kitty Ellas Mom]

I am anxious to book only the railway b/c that was the thing I most want to do, but my tour that was bus up, train down (Carcross, sled dogs, lunch etc.) goes almost all day and Princess won't let me book the additional railway excursion even though it technically doesn't overlap.  Not sure if I should cancel now or wait to see what Princess does with my excursion.  I'm also thinking about booking the White Pass Railroad independently b/c it would only cost $10 to cancel, but at the moment there seems to be plenty of availability of tickets.  Also, I'd rather book with Princess to be able to go to the rail right from the port.  But, since I'm only in port that one day in mid June, I'm worried it will sell out quickly as people realize their original tours won't happen.

[Sandyrella]

We are so confused as what to do.  We are booked with Chilkoot and were supposed to take the bus up and train back.  Now they are offering a tour by bus with multiple photo op spots or a city tour with round trip train.  My worry is that we if we take the train, we will miss out on some of the big photo op stops.  Below is the comparison.  Is the train ride worth the extra money at this point?  It's $110 more per person (approx. $150 in Canadian $$)

 Any thoughts??

 

Here are the points of interest by bus

Skagway Scenic Overlook
White Pass Trail of ’98
Brackett Wagon Road
Pitchfork Falls
Bridal Veil Falls
William Moore Bridge & Overlook
“Welcome to Alaska” sign
Tormented Valley

 

Here are the points of interest by train

• White Pass Trail of ’98
• Brackett Wagon Road
• Pitchfork Falls
• Bridal Veil Falls
• Broadway Street
• Various Skagway popular locales
• 40 mile round trip train tour

Edited April 8, 2022 by Sandyrella

[Kitty Ellas Mom]

Sandyrella, I haven't been there yet, but to me it would be a choice between do you want to have the train experience or not.  I'm heavily leaning towards wanting the train experience because there's something very romantic about a train through the mountains.  Like you, I was (well still am....) booked on a tour with 1/2 bus and 1/2 train and I am also torn.

[kona_wahine]

It’s very confusing for first timers. We decided to cancel as we were set to go to Frazier, which we know will be cancelled. NCL has yet to pull the excursion, but I called and cancelled. I got on the White Pass railway website and booked the excursion to the summit directly. It does say you have to walk to the depot, about 1/2 mile. Not a big deal, we have plenty of time. It was cheaper booking directly. 

[Kissfan44]

Can anyone tell me if this Royal Caribbean excursion will effected? I'd like to try and book the round trip train through ChilKoot if my tour is going to be cancelled.

 

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/account/cruise-planner/category/pt_shoreX/product/SKRK?bookingId=9952465&shipCode=QN&sailDate=20220912

 

This is the description taken directly from the website:

Overview

Explore Skagway’s fascinating history, as you embark on a scenic journey along White Pass & Yukon Route Railway, seeing significant landmarks and breathtaking vistas. Enjoy an informative presentation at the historic Gold Rush Cemetery and then ride in a vintage parlor car, passing tall evergreens and snow-capped mountains on the narrow gauge railroad. Travel via bus on the return trip, while your guide points out vestiges of the Klondike Gold Rush, including Brackett Wagon Road, Dead Horse Gulch, and Tormented Valley. SK49

Highlights

• Take an unforgettable train-ride along the eastern side of the White Pass.
• Enjoy Alaskan Gold Rush stories as you follow in their footsteps on their original route.
• Spend some leisure time exploring the historic town of Skagway before heading back to the ship.

Important details and advisements

• Guests must carry passports (visa if required) for the US/Canada border crossing.
• Written consent is required for children traveling into Canada without both parents.
• Tour may operate in reverse order.

[Kitty Ellas Mom]

Kissfan44, I am not an expert (still trying to get on my 1st cruise, rescheduled since 2020), but to me it seems that the clue is that they say at the end you must carry a passport to cross into Canada.  I think that means this tour is affected by the closure.  But, someone more knowledgeable than I can probably weigh in better.

[Alphen]

13 hours ago, Kitty Ellas Mom said:

I'm uncertain whether I should keep my excursion booked through Princess or cancel it.  There is no doubt that it is one of the ones affected.  I'm thinking maybe I should go ahead and cancel and instead book only the train, going up to the White Pass, as that is the main thing I want to do.  I'm worried the train will sell out.  Is that a reasonable worry?  Right now all tickets seem to be unsold, on the Princess website, and the day I'm in port is also available directly through the train.

Having no experience with how this will work out, we are booked with HAL and judging the late response from HAL in these matters, we decided not to wait and jump right at it and cancelled the excursion that we think is not going to happen and re-booked the loop train excursion with HAL. If later on they decide to still run the original excursion, we can always change back again, but we do not want to take the risk of the train selling out.

[mpdog42]

On 4/7/2022 at 8:43 AM, Gramma of Boys said:

My husband and I are booked for the "Yukon Expedition & White Pass Scenic Railway" excursion through Princess.  We've gotten no notification about the tour and it's still showing up as an available excursion on the PCL web site.  Is Princess just not caught up on this?

 

Myself as well...Would like to know if i need to book a different tour..or do i need the Arivecan app..

[Kitty Ellas Mom]

mpdog42, I'm also with Princess and also have heard nothing.  I've. been checking several times a day and they are still offering all the tours that I think are now going to be canceled or modified.  I'm thinking I'll cancel and book only the train, although I hate to do that b/c I wanted both parts.  I don't know if Princess will offer a bus only part that is short enough where I could also do the train later.

[newbie1900]

I’m having trouble figuring which train rides are still ok. If the ride does not need a passport, is it ok or will it be canceled?

 

I already canceled my train/Yukon excursion. I would like to pick another excursion that is still available and before prices increase even more. 
 

pretty disappointed Princess had not contacted me with options…

[JT1962]

5 minutes ago, newbie1900 said:

I’m having trouble figuring which train rides are still ok. If the ride does not need a passport, is it ok or will it be canceled?

 

If it does not need a passport, you should be fine. The roundtrip summit trips are still scheduled.

[newbie1900]

21 minutes ago, JT1962 said:

If it does not need a passport, you should be fine. The roundtrip summit trips are still scheduled.

Thank you very much!

[mpdog42]

On 4/9/2022 at 6:10 PM, Kitty Ellas Mom said:

mpdog42, I'm also with Princess and also have heard nothing.  I've. been checking several times a day and they are still offering all the tours that I think are now going to be canceled or modified.  I'm thinking I'll cancel and book only the train, although I hate to do that b/c I wanted both parts.  I don't know if Princess will offer a bus only part that is short enough where I could also do the train later.

i Agree!!!

[hapster85]

Even with the change, I think we'll keep the tour we booked (through Princess), unless they cancel it completely. We've done the White Pass Summit roundtrip before, so this will still be something different. It's disappointing to miss the train, but we'll just save that for next time.

[mamallama123]

On 4/7/2022 at 8:25 PM, jerseygirl629 said:

This is so sad. We are having such awful luck with our Alaska excursions 😞

 

We are on the Ovation in August and unfortunately the new tours Chilkoot is offering don’t align with our itinerary (we dock at 11am and are in port until 8pm). 
 

Unsure what to do now. Feeling defeated as we have been unable to book the excursions we want in Ketchikan either. 

I am on Quantum in August. Have you been notified that an excursion that you booked through RC has been cancelled? We booked just the White Pass train, no bus portion and I am wondering if ours will be cancelled. It is still showing up on my account right now.

[Kitty Ellas Mom]

Just the White Pass Train with no bus portion should be ok b/c you don't have to get out and show your passport.  I rebooked from a bus up / train down tour to only a train excursion b/c it looks like those will happen.

[jhskick]

1 hour ago, Kitty Ellas Mom said:

Just the White Pass Train with no bus portion should be ok b/c you don't have to get out and show your passport.  I rebooked from a bus up / train down tour to only a train excursion b/c it looks like those will happen.

Same here rebooked. No notice from Celebrity. They only had 10am and 2pm trains available. 

[Kitty Ellas Mom]

I've been checking a lot of websites and it looks to me like most of the tour operators haven't changed things yet.  Maybe they are still trying to decide what to do.  My guess is that the cruise lines won't say anything until the tour operators change things.  I got tired of waiting for Princess to say something.  I went ahead and switched to the train only b/c that was my main goal in Skagway and I didn't want to risk that it will sell out once people know they can't do the combo tours. But, it did still have a lot of availability when I did this yesterday.  

[Cali Viajera]

We were booked with Chilkoot for the bus up/train down tour. We changed it to the City tour and round trip train to White Pass. We hoped to go to Canada, but are glad to experience the train at least.

[TVlife]

From what I read it’s the train that will not be running. Or am I missing something??

 A few links on the subject 

https://khns.org/yukon-relaxes-border-rules-for-tours-but-not-enough-for-white-pass-and-yukon-route-railroad

 

https://yukon.ca/en/news/yukon-railway-route-cancelled-2022-season

 

 

[Kitty Ellas Mom]

Here's the info from the White Pass Railroad website.  My reading of this is that the train within Alaska--that is, up to White Pass--will be running.  What is not running is where you cross into Canada.  If you only go to White Pass you never get off the train and don't have to have a passport.  It seems the biggest fear is bottlenecks at the checkpoints where people show their passports etc to get into Canada.  I am entirely basing this on what I've read in the last few days and if anyone knows more than me please correct, as I have not yet been to Skagway.

https://wpyr.com/updates/

[TVlife]

38 minutes ago, TVlife said:

Updated… I should have researched further before my previous post.  I now see that Chilkoot tours are running a round trip train tour. Sorry,I would delete the post but can’t figure out how. 
 

From what I read it’s the train that will not be running. Or am I missing something??

 A few links on the subject 

https://khns.org/yukon-relaxes-border-rules-for-tours-but-not-enough-for-white-pass-and-yukon-route-railroad

 

https://yukon.ca/en/news/yukon-railway-route-cancelled-2022-season