Cruisetrain transfer from Anchorage to Whittier: Help!

[Denise T]

Hello everyone. 

I am new to HAL and am going to Alaska for the very first time for the May 28th southbound cruise on the New Amsterdam from Anchorage to Vancouver. I am flying cross country from Pa to Anchorage the night before (this is a totally different story as flights have been changed multiple times). We have booked the Cruisetrain to take us to Whittier. We are staying at the Comfort Inn Suites near the airport. I have done a search on CC and I am finding limited information that answers my question. My question is where do we get the train? 

Thank you!

[CruiserBruce]

I would start with asking on the Alaska board, here:

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/33-alaska/

 

There was just a thread over there a week or two ago about the train station locations.

 

It is not at all uncommon for flight schedules to change. Happens more often than not, it would seem. We have 3 flights booked between now and mid September. 2 of the 3 have had changes greater than an hour.

[Dobby36]

When we went last summer, it was the Anchorage Alaska Railway Depot - i was worried it might be hard to find, but it was  north of the airport by a couple miles, an easy uber in the AM after staying at a airport hotel (we did, like you will be) and everyone we talked to seemed to instantly know what we were referring to. 

 

It seemed that day we were the only game in town - there was a huge bin with porters taking luggage, clearly marked HAL with the ships name, and only one train leaving to Whittier.  Your day may be more crowded, but the place is certainly no Union Station - the entire train depot is the size of a large barn and they have the cruise train routine down to a well oiled machine, it seemed. Couldn't have been more intuitive.

[Hlitner]

You get the train at the Train Station/Depot located in downtown Anchorage.  Make sure to check the web site, because when we took that train you did need to check-in well in advance of the departure.  We stayed in a nearby hotel (downtown Anchorage) so were able to just walk to the train station.  From out by the airport you will need to arrange some kind of transportation (taxi, Uber, etc) and allow yourself some extra time.

 

Hank

[Denise T]

1 hour ago, CruiserBruce said:

I would start with asking on the Alaska board, here:

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/33-alaska/

 

There was just a thread over there a week or two ago about the train station locations.

 

It is not at all uncommon for flight schedules to change. Happens more often than not, it would seem. We have 3 flights booked between now and mid September. 2 of the 3 have had changes greater than an hour.

Thank you! I expect my flights will change a few more times before May. 

[Denise T]

9 minutes ago, Dobby36 said:

When we went last summer, it was the Anchorage Alaska Railway Depot - i was worried it might be hard to find, but it was  north of the airport by a couple miles, an easy uber in the AM after staying at a airport hotel (we did, like you will be) and everyone we talked to seemed to instantly know what we were referring to. 

 

It seemed that day we were the only game in town - there was a huge bin with porters taking luggage, clearly marked HAL with the ships name, and only one train leaving to Whittier.  Your day may be more crowded, but the place is certainly no Union Station - the entire train depot is the size of a large barn and they have the cruise train routine down to a well oiled machine, it seemed. Couldn't have been more intuitive.

Thank you so much for the info. 

[Denise T]

9 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

You get the train at the Train Station/Depot located in downtown Anchorage.  Make sure to check the web site, because when we took that train you did need to check-in well in advance of the departure.  We stayed in a nearby hotel (downtown Anchorage) so were able to just walk to the train station.  From out by the airport you will need to arrange some kind of transportation (taxi, Uber, etc) and allow yourself some extra time.

 

Hank

Thank you!