Opinions on Skagway excursions sought

[mrsbojamp]

I have my whale watching and helicopter glacier landing set for Juneau and my Misty Fjords flight seeing reserved for Ketchikan, but the Photo Safari trip from Skagway that I was looking forward to was sold out. I'm hoping that some of you experienced Alaska cruisers could comment on some of the other activities available in Skagway. Is the railroad a "must do" for first timers? How about the float boat to the Bald Eagle Preserve? Any suggestions would be helpful. Thanks!

[Yukon]

With 130 commercial tours alone, there is something for everyone. The thing that Skagway doesn't do well is wildlife, but pretty much anything else can be accommodated - what are your interests? If "history" is on that list, I consider the railroad to be a "must-do." The Bald Eagle Preserve in the summer is just a beautiful river trip - the eagles don't come in the thousands until the winter.

Murray

[tetons]

Any helicopter tour is great in Skagway. The train is fun if it is a pretty day. Would recommend the shorter trip rather than the longer one though. If you, spend time out of the car and on the ends of each car. You can see much better.

[dougp26364]

We did the "to the top" bus tour. It follows a similar path to the train. In fact, you can see the rails across the valley for much of the trip.

Our bus driver stopped frequently so we could get out, look around and take pictures. The trip crosses over into Canada and on the way back, there's a stop at the "Welcome to Alaska" sign. Everyone is given enough time to have the bus driver take individual pictures with the sign. For a long time I used that picture as my background for my desktop. On the way back they stop at an overlook just outside of town that give you a great view of the pier for taking pictures of the ship in port. We also stopped by Goldrush cemetary and hiked up a trail to Reed falls (sp?) which was quite impressive and made for some decent pictures. In Goldrush cemetary are the grave of Soapy Smith and Jack Reed. Soapy was the town thug and Jack challenged him. They both died as the result of gunshot wounds they gave each other in a shoot out.

At the time those tours were around $49 pp while the train was $99 pp.

There were also horse drawn carriages that would take you on a tour of the town. It was a nice little ride and you get some of the history of the town.

There is also a walking tour called "Ghost's and Goodtime Girls" which gives a walking tour with histroy of brothels and ghost stories of the town. We found it to be reasonably interesting.

Believe it or not, we managed to get the bus tour, the ghost/goodtime girl tour AND the carriage ride all into one port stop.

Future cruises
Explorer OTS - Easter Caribbean 11/04
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Past cruises
Vision OTS - Alaska 7/03
Legend OTS - Alaska 7/02

Never regret growing old. Many are denied the privilege

[fajitapita]

If you like horseback riding, check out this site:
[url="http://southeasttours.com/03_skagway_yukon_horseback.html"]http://southeasttours.com/03_skagway_yukon_horseback.html[/url]
or
[url="http://www.yukonhorses.com"]www.yukonhorses.com[/url]

***Nancy***

Song of Norway 12/79
Tropicale 12/84
Explorer of the Seas 8/3/02
Mariner of the Seas 1/4/04

Serenading to Alaska for our 10th anniversary!
[url="http://messages.cruisecritic.com/2/OpenTopic?a=tpc&s=927093444&f=1683059817&m=552109271"]Roll call for Serenade 8/1/04 click here[/url]
Time until our next cruise
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[lmcd]

Frontier excursions has 2 tours for you to choose. One is the Yukon Discovery tour which I believe includes Emerald Lake. The other is The Yukoner which is a shorter trip about the same as the Photo Safari I believe. I may have these just reversed. Check [url="http://www.frontierexcursions.com"]www.frontierexcursions.com[/url]

Larry

Fantasy 08/99
Ecstacy 05/00
Westerdam 04/01
Legend of the Seas 08/02
Zaandam 04/03
Carnival Spirit 08/03

[Lizzybell]

I recently booked with Frontier Excursions-City/Summit tour. Recommended by cc members and several independant tour operators. Will let you know on my review of Sapphire Princess 7/18. Liz

[yukoner]

Take one of the Hiking tours into the Yukon. Lots of photo ops and great views. or a van drive up to emrald lake!
Flight to the dog sledding if you have the money.