Seward to Anchorage in early May?

[Hydefamilia]

We have a reservation on the Alaska railroad from Seward to Anchorage leaving 6:30 pm on May 19. I believe the rail service began just a day or two earlier. However, we get off at the main train station in downtown Alaska. Dont know if it goes on the airport but that is only a short distance more (10-15 miles). We got a B&b close by so we can stay two more days before flying home.

[GTJ]

There are up to two trains each day from Seward. The morning train goes to the Anchorage airport, while the evening train goes to downtown Anchorage. The Anchorage airport is about 6 miles south of downtown Anchorage; the airport is not 10-15 miles beyond (north of) Anchorage. The Anchorage airport is on a branch line, so trains to and from downtown Anchorage do not pass by the airport (they only pass by the junction for the branch line to the airport).

[MommaK2D2]

On 1/10/2023 at 9:07 PM, BCOS said:

We are booked on the Jewel sailing that ends in Seward on 5/8. I assume NCL will have a chartered transfer option to get us to Anchorage for our flight, but I can't get it to come up. 😕 It doesn't look like there are any regularly scheduled trains or buses for another week or two. I read a forum post by someone who had a rental car that they were going to take from Seward to Anchorage ($350ish for a 24-hour period to drop it off there), but I am struggling to find any rental car agencies in Seward. If they exist, they must not rent cars at that time.

 

Is there any way besides whatever NCL charters (bus? train?) to get to the Anchorage airport?

We will be on the Jewel for that trip also!  Will see you then. For now we have the NCL “transfer” booked…but our flight doesn’t leave until midnight-  would love to explore Seward but haven’t figured out a way to make it work- following! (Otherwise maybe renting a car for a short day of adventuring around Anchorage vs Ubers…)

[MommaK2D2]

On 1/10/2023 at 9:07 PM, BCOS said:

We are booked on the Jewel sailing that ends in Seward on 5/8. I assume NCL will have a chartered transfer option to get us to Anchorage for our flight, but I can't get it to come up. 😕 It doesn't look like there are any regularly scheduled trains or buses for another week or two. I read a forum post by someone who had a rental car that they were going to take from Seward to Anchorage ($350ish for a 24-hour period to drop it off there), but I am struggling to find any rental car agencies in Seward. If they exist, they must not rent cars at that time.

 

Is there any way besides whatever NCL charters (bus? train?) to get to the Anchorage airport?

We are on the same sailing and looking in to options. Seems like most companies aren’t doing yet on 5/8 except Alaska cruise transfers. They have some tours that stop (wildlife refuge etc) and some direct to airport.  $68 for the direct. The latest one I see is at 2:30 though. Considering doing the half day Kenai fjords boat 8:30-12:30 and catching the late bus? But not decided yet (our flight isn’t until 11:45pm)… 

   The other option dad and I are considering is taking the NCL transfer and renting a car in anchorage (<$100) so we can explore, have a place to stow luggage, and nap.   

[BCOS]

19 hours ago, MommaK2D2 said:

We are on the same sailing and looking in to options. Seems like most companies aren’t doing yet on 5/8 except Alaska cruise transfers. They have some tours that stop (wildlife refuge etc) and some direct to airport.  $68 for the direct. The latest one I see is at 2:30 though. Considering doing the half day Kenai fjords boat 8:30-12:30 and catching the late bus? But not decided yet (our flight isn’t until 11:45pm)… 

   The other option dad and I are considering is taking the NCL transfer and renting a car in anchorage (<$100) so we can explore, have a place to stow luggage, and nap.   

We ultimately booked the 2:30 bus to Anchorage. We have reserved a car in Anchorage through Turo and have a cabin in the Wasilla area for a few nights. Getting excited!

Are you looking at the Kenai boat through NCL?

Edited April 2, 2023 by BCOS

[MommaK2D2]

41 minutes ago, BCOS said:

We ultimately booked the 2:30 bus to Anchorage. We have reserved a car in Anchorage through Turo and have a cabin in the Wasilla area for a few nights. Getting excited!

Are you looking at the Kenai boat through NCL?

So I am still not seeing ANY excursions thru NCL available in Seward (boo!)- apparently the big tour folks like Major Marine don’t go full

swing until the following week?    Looking on my own the morning they Seward Ocean Excursions (smaller company) was the only one I found that would be done in time to make the 2:30 bus (I would be happy to take a later bus also but worried about the 6pm busses (if available) being able to get the 2 of us to the airport in time for the 11:45 flight?  It’s less than 3 hour drive, but the little 2 lane roads might become an issue if there were any accidents or construction?

[haolenate]

May 8th is quite early in Seward for the larger operators - NCL may not have any excursions, but the local operators might.   Check out Alaskaexcursions.net as they have a handful of Seward excursions.

 

Regarding the train, GTJ nailed it on the head.

 

*IF* the cruise line offers a cruisetrain, it will depart from the cruise terminal and take you straight to Anchorage - the price is anywhere from $129 to $169.  The Alaska Railroad only has a limited number of "single dome" railcars - as these are used primarily for the private charters, with sometimes the older classic coaches used when the cruise line needs more capacity.  You can ONLY buy seats on this train thru your cruise line/travel agent. 

 

The Alaska Railroad *public* train is only once a day, and offers 2 classes of service - Adventure or Goldstar.  The cruise lines don't typically offer transfers on the public trains.