Skagway On The Pier

[carol459]

We will be in Skagway in the middle of Sept.,2007
Has anyone had any experience with finding tours/taxis on the pier there. We are nervous about reserving private tours ahead of time and hitting bad weather.
Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Rick

[Toyz711]

where my ship docked, there wasn't anything. you don't see the tour booths like in other areas. there is a visitor's center that might have some. but you might be wasting a lot of your time in port searching out what you want. i would check with the vendors to see what their refund policy is. since the trips up to the yukon is so long, if you don't leave early you will miss out.
the round-trip trains are easy, the cruise ship usually has tickets avaiable and then more at the train depot. combo trips are different, if any of those are what you want, i would have plans made.
for skagway, most of the really great stuff is outside of town, over the mountains.

[Warrior1]

We did the National Park Tour and the Train/Gold Mine Tour(one of the few things that we have ever booked through the cruise line), but I swear there was a booth along the pier, not far from the ship that had a number of different tours. We were on the pier to the very right and we walked into town. I'm sure more people will respond for you to be sure. I know that you can book the train in town even though they recommend on their website that you book through the cruise line if you are cruising. The cost was only a few dollars difference and if you book through the cruise line, you board just steps from the ship.

[MercedMike]

The pier we docked at had quite a lot of vendors waiting at the end, particularly the Yellow Streetcars.

But I have to ask -- what are you going to do if the weather is bad? Pass up this port and stay on the ship? Is that why you cruised to Alaska?

Weather in Alaska is chancy at best. If you are planning to drop all your plans because of rain or fog, I am afraid you are taking a big chance of missing out on a lot of good things. I would say go ahead and book your tours. If the weather is impossible, they will cancel. If the weather is passable for Alaskans, give it a try!

Have a GREAT cruise!

[Warrior1]

I agree with the comment on the weather. You can't obsess over it. Plan what you want to do and go with it. You will probably have some rain, fog, clouds, and sunshine. We had rain for our park tour in Skagway and fog at the top of White Pass, but for most of the ride, the visibilty was good. My parents went to Alaska last August and the weather was terrible. They still had a good enough time that they have talked us into going back in June 2009 and renting an RV for 10 days of land touring. The captain on Vision told us that the glaciers are better when it is cloudy vs. sunny. If you look on weather.com, they may have rain on the 10 day forecast everyday. Much of the rain is light or a mist and hit and miss.

[Toyz711]

skagway was the only port i DIDN'T have rain..granted, it was in sept.
we had great sunny days on every sea day, rain/sleet in juneau and heavy rain in ketchikan. skagway was morning fog and great temps in afternoon.
in alaska you just don't let the weather bother you..it's part of the experience. bad weather is just as possible as good weather. just make sure one of the layers, everyone tells you to wear, is waterproof.
if a vendor cancels because of weather, they aren't going to charge you.
but if you do have bad weather at any port, don't just sit on the ship...there is soooooo much to do!!!
we had my FIL back on the ship in ketchikan, since it was raining we went back to spend time with him. otherwise we would have explored more.

[carol459]

OK Guys,
This will be our third trip to Alaska and Skagway. We can handle the weather ok and we have done that quite well in the past trips.
My concern is a difference of opinion between us and the tour operator as to how bad the weather has to be to cancel a tour. We have been on tours elsewhere where we were totally screwed because of the weather. You couldn't see 10 feet in front of your face and we still had to pay.
I do not expect that in Alaska, however I do expect rain and the conditions that go with it.
We have done both ship tours and private tours in Alaska and will probably set something up for Skagway(done the train and town tours previously).
Also, we have 8 ports on this cruise and will be off the ship in every one of them.
Thanks for the input.

Rick