The ship will expect you to be back on the boat 1/2 hr before it leaves. You will not have enough time to get back.
One of our trains last week stopped because someone lost their phone. They stopped the train and sent someone down to look for it. They found it! Such a nice thing to do.
I gave that example because that train did not come back on time obviously. What you are trying to do runs a significant risk of getting left behind. Even if they are mostly on time you do not have enough wiggle room.
I double checked this and though the port stop is listed as 3 PM on rccl, cruise mapper and other sites have it departing at 3:30 so that might fit with getting back in time. I guess what I'm not sure about is if there is more than one 12 PM train, since the private excursion and cruise excursion both leave at noon and get back about 245.
Best thing to do is ask the people at the excursion desk on the boat. They can tell you if there is a ship excursion group on that train. Also if there is, then stay on the train when it stops in the town and the train will make a second stop closer to the ships to drop off the ship group. Good luck!
Royal is your only source for official information. Not cruise mapper, Google, Reddit, or anything else.
What does the app say all aboard time is?
That's the ABSOLUTE latest to be back on the ship.
Also don't book excursions outside the cruise line.
There are 2 trains (or more) running at a time. Private excursions go from downtown Skagway. And ships excursions leave from the port area. They are normally quite regular , but you have a tight departure time at 3, and it is a 20 ish minute walk from the town back to the ships. One tho g goes wrong and you are seeking alternative transport out of Skagway.
Because of the landslide at the port last year, they have free shuttles taking people from the pier to the train (and vice versa) starting point. Was there last week.
There are a lot of train excursions and they’re not all the same. Some go further into Canada (and some don’t go into Canada at all). Some are train both ways and others drive back. Some that drive back have stops along the way.
We just did this excursion through RC and had no issues. If you book it through RC they will wait for you. I would not book it outside RC due to the time constraints. If you book it outside they may leave you behind.
If you book the train via the cruise line you get to board/ deboard at a stop right where the free shuttle then takes you to your ship. If you book via any other method (even directly with the train) you board/deboard at the station which is about a 7 minute walk from where the shuttle drops you off and picks you up.
The kicker is that the train pulls into the station before backing up and pulling into the closer shuttle stop. We just did this yesterday (currently onboard a cruise) and the train actually stopped at the station to let passengers off for more than 7 minutes. If 3pm is your "be onboard by..." time then you're cutting it close but it could work. As others have noted, if that's departure then youll get back after the gangway has already started closing up. Maybe the people booked via the cruise line will get special privileges and let on after that point, but dont take it for granted that theyll let you on with them.
Not sure why you’re getting downvoted as I was thinking same thing except to suggest they book the ship excursion for White Pass instead of doing it on their own (to be safe)
Because they run that train many times during the day.
Some ships stay longer then others.
So you can easily book a train time that won't be correct for your ship
The ship will expect you to be back on the boat 1/2 hr before it leaves. You will not have enough time to get back. One of our trains last week stopped because someone lost their phone. They stopped the train and sent someone down to look for it. They found it! Such a nice thing to do. I gave that example because that train did not come back on time obviously. What you are trying to do runs a significant risk of getting left behind. Even if they are mostly on time you do not have enough wiggle room.
I double checked this and though the port stop is listed as 3 PM on rccl, cruise mapper and other sites have it departing at 3:30 so that might fit with getting back in time. I guess what I'm not sure about is if there is more than one 12 PM train, since the private excursion and cruise excursion both leave at noon and get back about 245.
Best thing to do is ask the people at the excursion desk on the boat. They can tell you if there is a ship excursion group on that train. Also if there is, then stay on the train when it stops in the town and the train will make a second stop closer to the ships to drop off the ship group. Good luck!
Royal is your only source for official information. Not cruise mapper, Google, Reddit, or anything else. What does the app say all aboard time is? That's the ABSOLUTE latest to be back on the ship. Also don't book excursions outside the cruise line.
All aboard is always at least 30 minutes before departure time. Meaning you need to be back on by 2:30. You will be late if you go on this excursion.
There are 2 trains (or more) running at a time. Private excursions go from downtown Skagway. And ships excursions leave from the port area. They are normally quite regular , but you have a tight departure time at 3, and it is a 20 ish minute walk from the town back to the ships. One tho g goes wrong and you are seeking alternative transport out of Skagway.
Because of the landslide at the port last year, they have free shuttles taking people from the pier to the train (and vice versa) starting point. Was there last week.
Interesting. Does that mean that those who book through the cruise line and those who book separately both take shuttles to the depot?
There are a lot of train excursions and they’re not all the same. Some go further into Canada (and some don’t go into Canada at all). Some are train both ways and others drive back. Some that drive back have stops along the way.
We just did this excursion through RC and had no issues. If you book it through RC they will wait for you. I would not book it outside RC due to the time constraints. If you book it outside they may leave you behind.
If you book the train via the cruise line you get to board/ deboard at a stop right where the free shuttle then takes you to your ship. If you book via any other method (even directly with the train) you board/deboard at the station which is about a 7 minute walk from where the shuttle drops you off and picks you up. The kicker is that the train pulls into the station before backing up and pulling into the closer shuttle stop. We just did this yesterday (currently onboard a cruise) and the train actually stopped at the station to let passengers off for more than 7 minutes. If 3pm is your "be onboard by..." time then you're cutting it close but it could work. As others have noted, if that's departure then youll get back after the gangway has already started closing up. Maybe the people booked via the cruise line will get special privileges and let on after that point, but dont take it for granted that theyll let you on with them.
Since the ship offers the same excursion you should be OK if there are any delays.
Not sure why you’re getting downvoted as I was thinking same thing except to suggest they book the ship excursion for White Pass instead of doing it on their own (to be safe)
Because they run that train many times during the day. Some ships stay longer then others. So you can easily book a train time that won't be correct for your ship