Is the White Pass Scenic Railway far from where QE will dock at Skagway?

[newbie202020]

My dad has limited mobility and can only walk maybe 5 minutes at a time and then need to rest. I want to book this excursion but worry that there may be too much walking from where the QE will dock at Skagway to where the train is located. Any feedback would be appreciated. Thx

[MozzaG]

[MozzaG]

Just now, MozzaG said:

That's how close it is!

[david,Mississauga]

It depends on what dock the QE will be berthed at.  On our cruise of 22 July the QE will be at Railroad Dock Aft on the 27th of July.  Due to the risk of rockslides it is not permitted for passengers to walk the long distance and shuttle buses are provided.  

 

We did this last year, also from Railroad Dock Aft. There was a short walk - under five minutes for sure - from the gangway to the shuttle bus and another short walk to the train.  Returning to the ship involves a steep ramp from where the shuttle drops people off and the side of the ship.

 

The photos above appear to be the Broadway Dock, but I stand to be corrected. 

 

You can see the berth assignments here:

 https://claalaska.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/SKG-Skagway-2024.pdf

 

[newbie202020]

Thanks so much @david,Mississauga. This changes everything as my dad can't walk on steep ramp.

 

I'm also on the July 22 cruise. Would you know which ports have steep ramps to board/leave the ship or where I can find this info? I don't want to book any excursions in those ports. Thanks very much again.

[david,Mississauga]

1 hour ago, newbie202020 said:

Thanks so much @david,Mississauga. This changes everything as my dad can't walk on steep ramp.

 

I'm also on the July 22 cruise. Would you know which ports have steep ramps to board/leave the ship or where I can find this info? I don't want to book any excursions in those ports. Thanks very much again.

 

Some of the gangways between the ship and the docks are rather steep and others are almost level.  The staff do provide assistance in wheelchairs to get people up and down those gangways. I don't know if they would take people to the shuttle or the excursion buses.

 

It would be a shame to miss the WP&Y excursion. It is my favourite excursion which we have done a few times.  From my experiences that excursion doesn't always sell out - except for the luxury parlour car at the rear which is already sold out - so you could check the ramp as soon as we dock and decide whether your dad could make it. You could also enquire at the shore excursion desk if assistance would be provided to the shuttle buses and, if you have not booked,  make a last-minute booking if that is possible. The second excursion train is 1:00 p.m. so you would have time to check things out.

 

We are at berth 4 in Ketchikan and the Franklin Dock in Juneau.  I'm not familiar with those particular docks.  From the aerial views with the on-line maps it doesn't appear there are any steep ramps on the dock.  On MyCunard it still says a tender is required in Juneau, which is highly unlikely. The CLAA information has always been more accurate than Cunard's site. There are three ships in port and four berths.  I have never been to Wrangell but there is only one dock and it doesn't look difficult. Victoria is easy as the free downtown shuttles and the tour buses are very close to the gangway.

[milamber]

Gangway steepness also varies during the day with the tides. It's not uncommon to walk down a steep ramp and return on a flat one, or vice versa. So one person's experience in a port won't necessarily be the same as the next person. Either way, help is always on hand. Your dad won't be the only person to struggle

[newbie202020]

Thanks so much @david,Mississauga. You have no idea how helpful you've been.

[david,Mississauga]

"milamber" has reminded me that at most Alaska ports (and many others, of course) there is often a second gangway from a different deck. So the lower one is easier to navigate. One is usually marked for off and one for on, but the staff are flexible and persons with mobility issues are well looked after.

 

My wife has mobility issues, fortunately not yet too serious, and we always ask for assistance at airports and many ocean terminals. If you are not familiar with Vancouver's Canada Place terminal, you may be surprised that is much like an airport. We love Vancouver and taking a ship from there, but we have to admit it can be a "zoo" as some have described it.  The staff who help with wheelchairs are great.

 

You may already know this, but starting this year we had to fill out an application for assistance on the MyCunard site. Previously our travel agent would simply have a note on our file that Alison needs assistance at the terminal.  Apologies for mentioning this if you have already done so, but I have been advised that the questionnaire is mandatory. It was five pages, but in our case the answers were mostly "no" so it wasn't as bad as it appeared.

[PaPaPV]

Good day - We are on the QE cruise 9 September, arriving in Juneau 12 September.  I am looking at the Bennett Lake train/bus tour.  I have heard good and bad - the bad being one side of the train just looks at rock walls -- I know look out the other side!  Posting to see which booking site is preferred and why.  I have sent a note to WPYR.com and received a very quick and informative reply.  The ticket office and boarding is very close to the port.

Asking who have taken this tour and what stops does the van take coming back??  

Appreciate any information

[newbie202020]

Thanks David and milamber. We filled out the accessibility questionnaire and I also informed the travel agent that we will need wheelchair help at the Vancouver port. I'm curious as to how Cunard would help people in wheelchair at the ports with steep incline. Once off the ship, Celebrity staff refused to help push my dad's wheelchair up the ramp to the port (not sure I'm using the right terminology). This was due to insurance reasons, not because they didn't want to help. Thus, he returned to the ship as we weren't strong enough to push him up the ramp.

 

This makes me weary about booking any excursions if I don't know how easy it will be to get off/on the ramp to the ship again.

[david,Mississauga]

My recollection is that assistance is provided only up and down the gangway. Page 11 of Cunard's Accessibility Factsheet says this:

 

"Going ashore. Staff will be able to provide wheelchair or arm assistance from the top to the bottom of the gangway only where safe to do so. Guests must make their own way to and from the terminal, shuttle bus, tour buses etc. Please note that, if your shore experiences are operated by mini bus, there will be no storage space for mobility scooters or wheelchairs. Please be aware that, in consideration of health and safety, tour providers and coach operators reserve the right to refuse carriage to any guest who is unable to negotiate the steps of the coach independently."

 

The problem with Railroad Dock Aft at Skagway is the extension to the dock which is at a higher elevation than the main dock, hence a wide and  steep ramp between the two parts. When we returned from the train excursion last year I offered my other arm to an elderly man  to assist him up the ramp. He was not the only one complaining about it.  I can find no photos of the ramp which would be no problem for most people, but it is challenging for some. It appears that Skagway is the only port on our cruise that has this significant issue.

 

The CLAA site shows there is no ship booked at the forward position of this long dock.  It might seem that would be a more convenient location to tie up, but passengers from ships at that location have to go ashore by taking a tender to and from the harbour which is a short distance away. I was told it is too dangerous to disembark on the dock side because of the proximity of the rockslide area. 

[57eric]

18 hours ago, PaPaPV said:

Good day - We are on the QE cruise 9 September, arriving in Juneau 12 September.  I am looking at the Bennett Lake train/bus tour.  I have heard good and bad - the bad being one side of the train just looks at rock walls -- I know look out the other side!  Posting to see which booking site is preferred and why.  I have sent a note to WPYR.com and received a very quick and informative reply.  The ticket office and boarding is very close to the port.

Asking who have taken this tour and what stops does the van take coming back??  

Appreciate any information

We recently booked this tour and went with the best price.  It's the same train and likely to be the same bus.

[newbie202020]

Do you stay on the train the whole time as it's a round trip or do you get off and board again later for the return trip? Thanks

[PaPaPV]

The train is a one-way ride - either from the port to the Yukon or from the Yukon to the port.  The other transport is via a van which does make stops at the driver's discretion and the weather.  You have an option of which mode you would like to take going up first.  Call the folks at WPYR.com and discuss with them.  They are very helpful.  Remember, they are on Alaska time!

[newbie202020]

15 minutes ago, PaPaPV said:

The train is a one-way ride - either from the port to the Yukon or from the Yukon to the port.  The other transport is via a van which does make stops at the driver's discretion and the weather.  You have an option of which mode you would like to take going up first.  Call the folks at WPYR.com and discuss with them.  They are very helpful.  Remember, they are on Alaska time!

Are you sure this is the case? I thought it was by train round trip according to the mycunard description. If it's by van, we are definitely not interested.

[Victoria2]

21 minutes ago, newbie202020 said:

Are you sure this is the case? I thought it was by train round trip according to the mycunard description. If it's by van, we are definitely not interested.

 

I'm sure you're correct. The excursion doesn't actually enter The Yukon as such. We went as far as Fraser and then looped back again and I don't think the route has changed all that much over the years although the latest itineraries, if a 40 ml round trip, will mean the White Pass Summit will be the loop area to come back from which also means it is a shorter distance than travelling to Fraser.

Edited June 26 by Victoria2

[PaPaPV]

I am thinking of the Bennett Lake trip - my apologies.  Yes, the White Pass is by train 100%!

 

[57eric]

There are a variety of WP&YR excursions.  Cunard alone lists at least seven.  Overall, some are train up, bus down, some are the reverse, and some are round trip on the train.

[Victoria2]

11 hours ago, 57eric said:

There are a variety of WP&YR excursions.  Cunard alone lists at least seven.  Overall, some are train up, bus down, some are the reverse, and some are round trip on the train.

The standard [40mile] White Pass excursion, the focus of this thread, is a round trip up to the Pass and back down on the same train.

[Megabear2]

12 hours ago, 57eric said:

There are a variety of WP&YR excursions.  Cunard alone lists at least seven.  Overall, some are train up, bus down, some are the reverse, and some are round trip on the train.

Goodness!  How do I know which one I should be booking then? 

[Victoria2]

11 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

Goodness!  How do I know which one I should be booking then? 

Not having Alaska on my bookings, I can't see the excursions offered but if you list them, we can give an opinion. 🙂

[Victoria2]

Thinking about it, we went up to Carcross as we definitely saw Bennett Lake and got out of the train to inspect the bridge over the lake.

[Victoria2]

We then went up to Emerald Lake which had to be by coach. Looking at past photos we made two lots of rail journeys, fourteen years apart. White Pass first then the longer trip actually into The Yukon and that was the trip where our passports were required.

 

 

Edited June 27 by Victoria2

[newbie202020]

Thanks for everyone's input. This is the description below. Just to confirm, is it the case that we don't leave the train and the train will do a loop to return? Also, I guess it doesn't matter if we sit on the left/right side if the train will turn around anyways. Thanks

 

 

White Pass Scenic Railway

Your fully narrated, 40-mile roundtrip adventure along the historic, narrow gauge railroad, built for the Klondike Gold Rush of 1898, offers a truly breathtaking ride. The vintage train winds its way along jaw-dropping hairpin curves, over plunging gorges, past sparkling glaciers and waterfalls and across sky-high trestles.

 

 

At a glance

Duration: Half day guided tour 

Activity: Moderate level of walking 

Transport: By train and on foot 

Why Book? For an unforgettable journey on ‘The Scenic Railway of the World’ to the magnificent White Pass Summit.

Itinerary

Depart pier on train and travel to the White Pass Summit > Train ride around the White Pass loop > Depart back to pier > 

What's included

Local guide

Photo opportunities

Scenic view 

Refreshment of bottled water