Skagway - our new favorite excursion! My video, photos, and town visit info

[ABQrobin]

This excursion was not what we had planned to do, we had booked something else.... but that one didn't have enough people sign up, so we switched to this one.  WOW, are we glad we did.  It is longer, and more expensive than most of the excursions, but worth every penny!  What a great adventure, highly recommended.  Feel free to ask any questions!!!

 

[pattyj 1204]

What a great video. Thanks for taking all the time to edit and post. Did you use a "go Pro" camera that you wore on your hat? So smooth and focused. I loved Skagway the last time we were there. Glad you showed the walking path, will be a help with decision making process.  

[ABQrobin]

On 8/27/2024 at 11:02 AM, pattyj 1204 said:

What a great video. Thanks for taking all the time to edit and post. Did you use a "go Pro" camera that you wore on your hat? So smooth and focused. I loved Skagway the last time we were there. Glad you showed the walking path, will be a help with decision making process.  

 

Thank you so much!  No, my GoPro is hand held but we have the GoPro10 which has a stabilizer in it to make it smooth.  Really does make a difference!  Its a great excursion, so feel free to ask any questions about it.  Highly recommended for most people without mobility issues.

[Coral]

They have had severe safety issues in the past and someone died. Several former employees spoke up indicating that the company didn't care or want to correct the safety issues that were brought to their attention. 

 

I would like to think that they have learned from their mistakes but I am not touching that excursion from a 10 foot pole.

 

https://khns.org/coast-guard-rescues-cruise-ship-passengers-after-canoe-capsizes-at-glacier-point

 

https://khns.org/safety-complaints-from-former-employees-pile-up-against-skagway-tour-company

 

[ABQrobin]

On 9/1/2024 at 6:01 PM, Coral said:

They have had severe safety issues in the past and someone died. Several former employees spoke up indicating that the company didn't care or want to correct the safety issues that were brought to their attention. 

 

I would like to think that they have learned from their mistakes but I am not touching that excursion from a 10 foot pole.

 

https://khns.org/coast-guard-rescues-cruise-ship-passengers-after-canoe-capsizes-at-glacier-point

 

https://khns.org/safety-complaints-from-former-employees-pile-up-against-skagway-tour-company

 

I can guarantee you that we saw nothing that was unsafe.  In fact, I didn't show some of their safety stuff as I was trying to keep the video informative about the excursion only.  

[ABQrobin]

4 hours ago, ABQrobin said:

I can guarantee you that we saw nothing that was unsafe.  In fact, I didn't show some of their safety stuff as I was trying to keep the video informative about the excursion only.  

Oh, and I forgot to let you know.... the company was sold a few years ago.  NEW company owns this op, and they have completely redesigned how its done.  The company now owns all boats used to get to site now, as well as everything at the site. It is now one of the highest rated excursions on Carnival, Princess, and NCL.  They're not going to go with this company if things haven't met their expectations and people aren't raving about it now.

Edited September 3 by ABQrobin

[Casey12]

1 hour ago, ABQrobin said:

Oh, and I forgot to let you know.... the company was sold a few years ago.  NEW company owns this op, and they have completely redesigned how its done.  The company now owns all boats used to get to site now, as well as everything at the site. It is now one of the highest rated excursions on Carnival, Princess, and NCL.  They're not going to go with this company if things haven't met their expectations and people aren't raving about it now.

I also will not go on this tour due to their safety issue. I know people who worked for them last year and they did not say positive things about the owners. They left when they thought the excursion was not safe for passengers. They wanted nothing to do with the company and I assume that meant the new owners.

[ABQrobin]

49 minutes ago, Casey12 said:

I also will not go on this tour due to their safety issue. I know people who worked for them last year and they did not say positive things about the owners. They left when they thought the excursion was not safe for passengers. They wanted nothing to do with the company and I assume that meant the new owners.

Well, we actually DID the excursion and I can say that I felt perfectly safe in all aspects the whole 6+ hours.  The most difficult thing was getting in and out of the canoe, but they gave demo of how to do it and 2 guides held the canoe still as one by one people got in and out.  Other than that it was just sitting in the canoe and walking, which is pretty safe.  So I don't know why you are attacking me.  Watch the video and see what happens on the excursion for yourself instead of spreading secondhand rumors.

[CaribbeanIsland]

Delete.

Edited September 4 by CaribbeanIsland

[Coral]

13 hours ago, ABQrobin said:

Oh, and I forgot to let you know.... the company was sold a few years ago.  NEW company owns this op, and they have completely redesigned how its done.  The company now owns all boats used to get to site now, as well as everything at the site. It is now one of the highest rated excursions on Carnival, Princess, and NCL.  They're not going to go with this company if things haven't met their expectations and people aren't raving about it now.

I don't see that the company has been sold. Maybe I am missing something - can you show proof? From what I can tell - it is run by the same guy: https://www.alaskax.com/Home/About

 

Robert Murphy owned the company when the death was occurred and when people raised issues.

[ABQrobin]

18 minutes ago, Coral said:

I don't see that the company has been sold. Maybe I am missing something - can you show proof? From what I can tell - it is run by the same guy: https://www.alaskax.com/Home/About

 

Robert Murphy owned the company when the death was occurred and when people raised issues.

 

I don't know who owned it before or now.  I know that the guides told us that the Glacier Point was sold by the original company and bought by this new company that changed things.  They said that they now own the boat that brought us there so that there is no need to go thru the middle man shuttle service like before.  Everything is now owned and run by the parent company.

 

And if you really want to know about the safety... why don't you look at Trip Advisor!  You can see that they do this tour all day long, every day from late April to early Oct.  Sometimes 3 groups per day.  That is hundreds of people per day for almost 4 months.  There are hundreds of 5star reviews.

[Coral]

11 hours ago, ABQrobin said:

 

I don't know who owned it before or now.  I know that the guides told us that the Glacier Point was sold by the original company and bought by this new company that changed things.  They said that they now own the boat that brought us there so that there is no need to go thru the middle man shuttle service like before.  Everything is now owned and run by the parent company.

 

And if you really want to know about the safety... why don't you look at Trip Advisor!  You can see that they do this tour all day long, every day from late April to early Oct.  Sometimes 3 groups per day.  That is hundreds of people per day for almost 4 months.  There are hundreds of 5star reviews.

Honestly - the tour has always rated high, even when they were having safety issues.

 

A lot of safety issues the average person would not be aware of. There was an independent excursion that I did multiple times, I raved about and they also had very high ratings. They were a favorite amongst locals and when locals friends and family visited Juneau, they would take them on this tour. At the end of 2022, they were shut down by the Coast Guard. A friend went summer of 2022 and didn't notice a thing. I signed up to go in 2023 and it was cancelled the day before. It turned out that they didn't go any day in 2023. This was my all time favorite shore excursion that I did multiple times. It was a very popular excursion. Just because it was my favorite and I loved it, doesn't make it safe. Nor does it mean that I would be able to tell if it is safe or not.

 

My point was to say that someone died on this excursion and from reports I posted, there were several incidents of unsafe conditions in which the excursion ran in the past. Thus, I will probably never go on the excursion.

 

I don't know if they were sold or not. I couldn't find any proof that this was done.

 

Ratings don't make things safe.

[ABQrobin]

okay, we all have to make choices.  People died on a helicopter tour in Alaska from Juneau a few years back and yet they still do those tours.  In fact, we DID that too... we knew people had died on a crash and yet we still booked it and did it and LOVED it.  Everything we do has risks, every excursion has risks.  We all have to make our own choices.