Alaska Rail Coastal Classic: Adventure class or GoldStar service?

[wisemommaerts]

first cruise to alaska. taking alaska railroad coastal classic from anchorage to seward. is it worth the extra money to get the gold star service instead of adventure class for this 4 hour trip? for my husband and i it would be either $150 or $320. is it worth it?

[Budget Queen]

I've always been in the "cheap" seats. Perfectly fine for me. :)

[kermode]

I don't think so. We recently took the train from Seward to Anchorage in adventure class. We were able to move around a lot and spent some of our time sitting in an upstairs section with dome windows very similar to those in goldstar class. We also spent a lot of time outside (between cars) taking pictures. My husband managed to sneak into gold class to take a look and some pictures, and it didn't really seem notably better than the upstairs section of adventure class. Bottom line I'm glad we didn't pay extra. (Also check if they are still running 2-for-1 specials for the 50th anniversary).

[Pusniski]

It looks like the 2-for-1 deal is for Alaska residents and restricted to Tuesdays only.

 

http://www.akrr.com/arrc51.html

 

 

I was struggling with this exact same thing. I'm leaning towards Adventure Class but my husband seems to want to stick with Gold Star. No firm decision has been made. I can see using the difference in fare on an some type of excursion like sport fishing. It's a 3 to 4 hour ride and we probably won't even eat a meal onboard the train. Someone posted pictures of the upper dome for Adventure Class and it was empty. She also captured the Gold Star balcony from the dome. I don't know what time of year it was but she did mention it was busy in the beginning of the train ride and the oohing-aahhing slowed down considerably after a while.

[wisemommaerts]

awesome responses everyone. thanks so much. unfortunately we are traveling on a friday. darn, that 2 for 1 deal would have made it an easy decision. but your responses will help me to convince my husband we should stick with the cheap seats and save the money for an excursion or something. thanks again. you guys rock!

[kermode]

I think you should call them and double check about the 2-for-1 deal. We are not Alaska residents and we were able to get a coupon that they sent us in the mail which I then used to book over the phone. We caught the train on a Tuesday.

 

Also, we did eat on the train in the dining car and the food was great, so don't rule that out if you're traveling adventure class.

[Budget Queen]

I have purchased a Subway sub for the trip, and then not tied down to waiting for dining car seating- if of interest, the food is very good. :)

 

For clairfication the dome car seating in the regular class is limited to 30 mins. if other people are waiting. Seats are also assigned. So depending on where my seat is. I go to the Dome car for the views. Meaning the right side leaving from Seward, then switching over to the left on the Arm.