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Chilkoot Charters & Tours in Skagway


Alaskacruiser08

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My husband and I are booking the 3.5 hour tour. We are going to rent bikes later in the day if the weather is nice. The longer trips seem toooo long for us.

 

~Once in a while you get shown the light in the strangest of places if you look at it right~ Robert Hunter

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You can also do bus up and train back on 7 hr tour or train up bus back. One departs at 7:30 the other at 8:30 AM.

Will be doing the 8:30 on the 21st.:D

Jack

for the

 

Unless something changed this summer, Chilkoot Charters offers only one option for the 7.5-hour rail/bus excursion to the Yukon - and that's train up and bus back (http://www.chilkootcharters.com/yukonrail.htm). For the 3.5 hour rail/bus option, you can choose from 4 starting times and either rail or bus first (http://www.chilkootcharters.com/summitrail.htm).

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Unless something changed this summer, Chilkoot Charters offers only one option for the 7.5-hour rail/bus excursion to the Yukon - and that's train up and bus back

 

This year you can do either train up or bus up on the 7.5 hour.

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This year you can do either train up or bus up on the 7.5 hour.

 

Must've been after we were there in May. I don't see that option listed on their web site.

 

**Never mind - I see that on their reservation page! I know that wasn't available when I booked our tour in January, but that is a good way to get customers from ships that arrive at 8 a.m.

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Must've been after we were there in May. I don't see that option listed on their web site.

 

**Never mind - I see that on their reservation page! I know that wasn't available when I booked our tour in January, but that is a good way to get customers from ships that arrive at 8 a.m.

 

We just did the bus up/train down tour last Tuesday - it was nice for us, since we didn't think we'd be able to get the kids off the ship for a 7:30 departure time. :D

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We took the 3.5 hr. train up/van back tour in 2006. It was great. My only suggestion would be to ask the van driver about stops on the way back, because although the website listed several stops for pictures, we actually only stopped twice, and we were back in town before I realized we should have been asking to stop along the way to take pictures when we wanted to. But otherwise, it was very well-run, and I'd book with them again.

 

Also, there was a question about getting back to the ship in time. As long as you're scheduled to be back while the ship is in port, you should be okay. Chilkoot guarantees that if anything goes wrong and you don't make it to the ship on time, they'll get you to the next port at their cost. They claim never to have had this happen, though.

 

 

http://www.chilkootcharters.com/faq.htm#Late%20Return

 

 

Happy sails to you,

Irene

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Is Chilkoot a BETTER tour than the one offered by NCL, or it is just a lower price for basically the same thing?

 

One big difference is that you'll be on a van with 12 to 20 people with Chilkoot whereas all the cruise lines use coaches (BUS) with 45 or more people. I've done both - would take Chilkoot anyday over any cruiseline.

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One big difference is that you'll be on a van with 12 to 20 people with Chilkoot whereas all the cruise lines use coaches (BUS) with 45 or more people. I've done both - would take Chilkoot anyday over any cruiseline.

 

RCCL offers a tour to the summit in a 12-person van with the extra-large touring windows. I imagine other cruise lines do, too. It's a good option for those not wanting a coach tour and those not necessarily wanting the train trip. (The van trip is both ways - no train option...at least on RCCL.)

 

Maybe NCL offers a similar option, 50thBdayCruise.

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  • 1 month later...

We did the 7 1/2 hour tour last month. Overall, we were pleased and would recommend them; however, on that day, we were very frustrated with the choice that they made.

 

They put you on the train. So far, so good. They tell you that they'll meet you at the end of the train ride. We get off the train and there's a group of us standing around. No one comes. After about 20 minutes, another driver from Chilkoot comes, says that he's not our driver, and that our driver is delayed because one family who was not on our train forgot their passports. Chilkoot decided to wait for them and leave the rest of us waiting. The family was not joining our tour, but rather was getting on the train up there.

 

We were stuck waiting for an hour. Seriously, an hour of just standing around looking at each other. All the other tours left; other than the people waiting to board the train, it seemed that we were the last ones there. Did I mention that it was raining on and off? That added joy to the experience. The driver finally got there, and to be honest, wasn't apologetic. He made a few jokes and basically said oh well.

 

As far as I'm concerned, you don't make a whole group wait because one family was stupid. Seriously, how many times do you need to be reminded to bring your passports? If you forget, sorry, that's your loss.

 

That meant that the time had to be made up somewhere. We got to the area where you have lunch and do the doglsed ride. We were only there for about 50 min tops. We literally inhaled a piece of chicken and a donut, slammed down a drink, and then raced over to the dogsled. We got off the dogsled, had about 10 minute to play with the puppies, and that was it, back on the bus. I don't know where else they made up the time; perhaps we missed more.

 

I get that they were trying to be nice to the family who forgot their passports; however, in making customer service based decisions, my opinion is that it is NOT good customer service to inconvenience approx 20-24 people to meet the needs of one family. I don't know exactly how many were on our tour. I know that all but 2 seats were filled, and that there was a baby who fussed almost all 7 hours sitting in the seat directly behind me. That added a special joy to the day, but I can't blame Chilkoot for the baby.

 

I had a great day, the scenery was spectacular, but I felt short-changed.

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We did the 7 1/2 hour tour last month. Overall, we were pleased and would recommend them; however, on that day, we were very frustrated with the choice that they made.

 

They put you on the train. So far, so good. They tell you that they'll meet you at the end of the train ride. We get off the train and there's a group of us standing around. No one comes. After about 20 minutes, another driver from Chilkoot comes, says that he's not our driver, and that our driver is delayed because one family who was not on our train forgot their passports. Chilkoot decided to wait for them and leave the rest of us waiting. The family was not joining our tour, but rather was getting on the train up there.

 

We were stuck waiting for an hour. Seriously, an hour of just standing around looking at each other. All the other tours left; other than the people waiting to board the train, it seemed that we were the last ones there. Did I mention that it was raining on and off? That added joy to the experience. The driver finally got there, and to be honest, wasn't apologetic. He made a few jokes and basically said oh well.

 

As far as I'm concerned, you don't make a whole group wait because one family was stupid. Seriously, how many times do you need to be reminded to bring your passports? If you forget, sorry, that's your loss.

 

That meant that the time had to be made up somewhere. We got to the area where you have lunch and do the doglsed ride. We were only there for about 50 min tops. We literally inhaled a piece of chicken and a donut, slammed down a drink, and then raced over to the dogsled. We got off the dogsled, had about 10 minute to play with the puppies, and that was it, back on the bus. I don't know where else they made up the time; perhaps we missed more.

 

I get that they were trying to be nice to the family who forgot their passports; however, in making customer service based decisions, my opinion is that it is NOT good customer service to inconvenience approx 20-24 people to meet the needs of one family. I don't know exactly how many were on our tour. I know that all but 2 seats were filled, and that there was a baby who fussed almost all 7 hours sitting in the seat directly behind me. That added a special joy to the day, but I can't blame Chilkoot for the baby.

 

I had a great day, the scenery was spectacular, but I felt short-changed.

 

Seems like you deserve a partial refund. I agree wholeheartedly that it was a poor decision to delay a group for the forgetfullness of one family.

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Not unique to Chilkoot. We had late families on the Bering Sea Crab tour and Juneau whale watching. The Juneau whale watching, we were left waiting 1/2 hour. And I know why: the tour operator doesn't want to refund the family's money who would have missed the bus. The Bering Sea Crab tour, we saw the late family frantically waving at us...and the captain waving right back. Bye bye.

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We took the 7 hour tour. The rail portion was great! We were left standing at the station about 40 minutes before the van arrived to take us into the Yukon. Confusion about which van was going where was also disconcerting. The scenery itself is beautiful but the trip is about two hours too long. Caribu Crossings was a disappointment. Mediocre meal with trinket shops. The dog sleds on wheels were pulled by dogs left to lie in mud puddles when not pulling a sled. We had to wait in a long line to get back into the US at the border. If I had it to do again, I would take the train both up and down.

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The dog sleds on wheels were pulled by dogs left to lie in mud puddles when not pulling a sled.

 

You might have noticed the hoses that create the mud puddles so the dogs can cool off. Not pretty but the dogs love it.

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We have done this tour twice once few years ago and then August 21st this year. The first as a ships tour and the second with Chilkoot Charters and the weather wasn't the best. If we ever did a third it would be with Chilkoot.:D

For DD you might send your post to Larry at Chilkoot I'm sure you will get a response.

For Scanps8. The dogs actually enjoy what they are doing and are well taken care of. I didn't see a Mac or a Subway there either. Did you take time to see the collection of mounted animals there? The guy that does this is quiet famous and so is this collection. Our tour there also included Yukon's Mansion but not an inside tour, darn.:eek:

Life is what it is or is it what you make out of it? :cool:

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You know, I was quite impressed with the dogsled ride. I expected it to be a bit lame, something that involved a small gravel circle. Instead, it was a fun ride through a wooded area that was quite pretty. It wasn't a circle; it was a path through the woods. They stop at the half-way point for the dogs to get water. It's muddy there, but I kind of think that's inevitable. There were a bunch of kiddie play pools filled with water. Traipse a bunch of dogs through them (except one who they said had an aversion to water and was straining to stay far away from it) and it's bound to get muddy.

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For Scanps8.

 

I agree, Caribou Crossing was a disappointment. We saw the mounted animals and the dogs. However, I still want to do the ATV rides at some point. And the dog cart, now that you mention it. I didn't take it for the same reason (I expected it to be lame). The food, well...that's what convinced us to drive on to Whitehorse. There *is* a Subway in Whitehorse. Of course, Whitehorse is only an option if you drive it yourself instead of take a charter.

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