Alaska Excursion - Skagway AK (my trip and tips)
Our 1 and only 1 excursion - Bennett
Scenic Journey (White Pass and Yukon Route Railroad - #2
things to do in Tripadvisor.com) on our 7
day Norwegian Sun cruise ship (south bound – from Seward AK to Vancouver BC)
at $229 per adult. (I think cruise charge $249)
Q1: How
to book it independently without going through the cruise? Booked it
online through this website here - http://wpyr.com/.
We had to walk about 200 yards from the Skagway cruise dock to the train
station. If you book it through the cruise, then you will find your sign man at
the dock and board the 8:30 train along with the crowds from the ship.
We boarded the first train at 7:30am from downtown Skagway AK with less than 7
other people.
Q2: How
long does it take? 8 hours from 7:30am to 3:30pm. We got back to the
ship before the cruise people did. The Norwegian Sun stops at Skagway from 7am
to 5pm. So, I even had time to buy myself 2 20 oz. Alaska local beer at $7+ a
bottle to bring onto the ship to enjoy and took some pictures of the town
before I re-boarded my ship. I was also able to take a video of the Salmon
ladder at the cruise dock and caught a video of a seal in the water (probably
hunting for salmon near the salmon ladder – I will upload that shortly).
Q3:
Where is the best seat of the train/bus to take video and photos? For
train, it is the back of the train. There is a platform in the back of the
train, and you can get out and take your photo and video shootings. For bus, it
is right behind the driver seat. You want to take the left (or driver side) of
the bus.
Q4:
What is the excursion? It is the famous White Pass and Yukon train/bus
route - http://wpyr.com/excursions/train-excursions/bennett-scenic-journey/
You will ride the train up and along the cliffs over
numerous bridges, rivers and waterfalls. The train ride starts from Skagway AK
and passes Fraser Canada and arrives in Carcross Yukon Territory (YT) for a
total of 67.5 miles. We stopped at the Lake Bennett station for a hot lunch
with coffee for 75 minutes, and we hiked to the church and an overlook place to
get a good look of the train station and the Bennett Lake.
We were greeted at the Skagway train station by our returned
bus driver at 7:25am before we boarded our train. He told us he would pick us
up at the Carcross YT train station. We saw the train travelling across the
valley on our return bus trip. It was truly beautiful. Let me show you a few
pictures and watch my White Pass and Yukon railroad videos by clicking my
videos on the screen.
·
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g60877-d104383-Reviews-White_Pass_Yukon_Route_Railway-Skagway_Alaska.html
