Panning for Gold at Skagway

[professor]

Every summer, the selection of cruise shore excursions at Skagway always includes a panning-for-gold trip. The description provided by NCL for their version of this excursion for 2009 reads as follows:

"After learning the art of gold panning from a prospector, you'll have a chance to try your hand at gold panning in warm water - with gold guaranteed in every pan. The Gold Shack staff will then weigh your gold and fashion a memorable keepsake..."

I assume it is the same experience from year to year, regardless of the cruise line. It sounds a little hokey to me, but maybe that's just my reaction to the description.

If you have gone on the panning-for-gold excursion at Skagway, what did you think if it? (Interesting? Boring? Tedious?) Thanks!

[Yukon]

I prefer the one at the Klondike Gold Dredge, so you actually get a learning experience on a genuine gold dredge too. Panning is always fun, though - it sounds and even looks hokey until you see those little flakes of gold in the bottom of the pan! :)

 

Murray

[allyourauctions]

I prefer the one at the Klondike Gold Dredge, so you actually get a learning experience on a genuine gold dredge too. Panning is always fun, though - it sounds and even looks hokey until you see those little flakes of gold in the bottom of the pan! :)

 

Murray

 

Exactly, Murray! I didn't gold pan in Skagway but the excursion description sounds good. We went gold panning at Gold Creek in Juneau. You really do find gold and it is great fun to try it. The prospector guide is a little hokey but not too bad. We went to the Salmon bake in Juneau after gold panning. Where ever you go, try one of the Salmon Bakes. Delicious! We will be going gold panning again on our third cruise to Alaska, Sea Princess this Sept. :p Sherry, Arroyo Grande, CA

[Joaozinho]

I don't know if 'hokey' is quite the word, but I did find the panning experience to be quite contrived -- aimed at the interests (or the "amusement level") of a 12-year-old. For my wife and me, both in our 50's, it was really rather tedious. But we got a bit of gold, as promised, and a tacky little souvenir of the occasion (I guess that was the hokey part).

[BitsnBearsmom]

So by the sounds of this excursion (that we've been looking at) it sounds like it would be perfect to do with my boys (9yo and 15yo) Hokey souveineer and all!!

[Yukon]

So by the sounds of this excursion (that we've been looking at) it sounds like it would be perfect to do with my boys (9yo and 15yo) Hokey souveineer and all!!

 

I'm sure the boys will enjoy it :)

[bbcruisin]

So by the sounds of this excursion (that we've been looking at) it sounds like it would be perfect to do with my boys (9yo and 15yo) Hokey souveineer and all!!

 

 

I was thinking the same thing... I have 2 boys also (12 & 15 yo). :)

[WeBCruisin]

For kids I would highly recommend Liarsville in Skagway. It is a replica of a goldrush camp. It can be booked either with or without a salmon bake. We included the salmon bake and it was delicious - and I don't normally like salmon at all.

 

The staff is in period costume and stays in character the entire time. Great interaction with the visitors - especially good with the kids. It includes panning for gold with gold promised in every pan (salted beforehand of course). Later there is a cute show in the "hippodrome" with the staff doing an interpretation of some Robert Service poetry. There is also a resident Alaskan Malamute there which is always a hit with the kids.

 

We went in 1999 with our neice and nephew and they loved it. We are returning this summer with our own children - boys ages 5 & 9. Yes - some would call it a little hokey but we thoroughly enjoyed it.

[JCrewz]

I went on this excursion in 2002 and booked through NCL. The tour guide handed everyone a small bag of dirt. Each bag was guarenteed to have a very small amount of flake (although the guide said convincingly that someone had found a small nugget a few months earlier.

 

An older woman dressed as a saloon girl came out and greeted us in gold rush talk and hammed it up pretty good. We got a tour of the gold rush operation and saw the remains of a big dredge. We watched a little film about some of the main gold rush events and the trails. It was interesting in a Discovery Channel type of way.....but nothing you could not see on TV or wikipedia.

 

Outside, there were mining troughs lined up and filled with water. They taught us about how gold was a very heavy substance and how it woud sink into the pan (which was issued to each person). After about five minutes on technique, everyone poured their dirt, little by little, into their pans. Sure enough, every bag had a very small amount of gold......probably about 1/200 of an ounce (that's a guess that equals about $5 of gold, tops).

 

The guide then pushes your flake into a little bitty bottle, fills it with water, and corks it. The water magnifies the gold to look bigger than it is. The tour guide we had picked us up at the ship in character and dressed as a stampeder. He quickly broke that character for good when asked a lot of questions about life in Alaska by the group. He was informative.

 

I went on this tour because it was pretty reasonably priced....about $40 per person back then....plus a $5 tip to the guide. It wasn't great, but it wasn't terrible. Hokey is probably a good adjective.....but some people love hokey, I mean, millions of people watch American Idol.

 

I'd say it would be pretty good for young kids.....not as good for teenagers and adults. Hope this helps.

[diathoney]

I prefer the one at the Klondike Gold Dredge, so you actually get a learning experience on a genuine gold dredge too. Panning is always fun, though - it sounds and even looks hokey until you see those little flakes of gold in the bottom of the pan! :)

Murray

I'm glad I saw this thread. I had dismissed the idea of gold panning (sounded like it was for kids), but the dredge sounds interesting. It looks like we can walk there from the ship. I see there's a brewery too - even better

[Yukon]

I'm glad I saw this thread. I had dismissed the idea of gold panning (sounded like it was for kids), but the dredge sounds interesting. It looks like we can walk there from the ship. I see there's a brewery too - even better

 

It's a long walk - 2 miles - but the dredge has a shuttle from town.

[diathoney]

It's a long walk - 2 miles - but the dredge has a shuttle from town.

Aren't there shops along the way? I was hoping we could shuttle there, then shop our way back. I run a couple of miles several days a week, so walking 2 miles isn't a problem if there is something to see.

[Yukon]

Aren't there shops along the way? I was hoping we could shuttle there, then shop our way back. I run a couple of miles several days a week, so walking 2 miles isn't a problem if there is something to see.

 

There are shops for a few blocks, then you're basically going through a residential area and then past the railroad yard.