Excursion Question - Whitepass Railway

[tripsmom]

Hello!
We are going to Alaska in June and I have a question about booking excursions.
We have 7 cabins in all - my father is paying for all 7 cabins and they are all linked in the reservation system. 5 of the 7 cabins have an earlier date to book excursions because the guests in those rooms have been on DCL cruises before. The remaining 2 cabins are first time cruisers and have a later date for booking excursions. Is there anyway to book an excursion - the Whitepass Railway - for those 5 first time cruisers at the same time the rest of us book?
If not - does anyone know how the Whitepass is boarded? Is there anyway we will all be able to sit together if we don't book together?
Thanks for any help/advice. Trying to get 10 adults and 9 children organized is a bit daunting!

Rebecca
Proud mama of 5 year old triplets!

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Hello!
We are going to Alaska in June and I have a question about booking excursions.
We have 7 cabins in all - my father is paying for all 7 cabins and they are all linked in the reservation system. 5 of the 7 cabins have an earlier date to book excursions because the guests in those rooms have been on DCL cruises before. The remaining 2 cabins are first time cruisers and have a later date for booking excursions. Is there anyway to book an excursion - the Whitepass Railway - for those 5 first time cruisers at the same time the rest of us book?
If not - does anyone know how the Whitepass is boarded? Is there anyway we will all be able to sit together if we don't book together?
Thanks for any help/advice. Trying to get 10 adults and 9 children organized is a bit daunting!

Rebecca
Proud mama of 5 year old triplets!

You might look into booking directly with WPRR. I know private bookings are usually less expensive, also.

There is no assigned seating on the train, you board and take what seats you want. I will point out that while the train is going, you can go out on the platform area between the cars, a great vantage point. Many people have stayed out there for most of the journey.

I would set up small groups of 2 or 3 who definately want to sit together and let they find their seats. If several of the little groups can sit together, all the better.

 

[mickey2000]

Hello!
We are going to Alaska in June and I have a question about booking excursions.
We have 7 cabins in all - my father is paying for all 7 cabins and they are all linked in the reservation system. 5 of the 7 cabins have an earlier date to book excursions because the guests in those rooms have been on DCL cruises before. The remaining 2 cabins are first time cruisers and have a later date for booking excursions. Is there anyway to book an excursion - the Whitepass Railway - for those 5 first time cruisers at the same time the rest of us book?
If not - does anyone know how the Whitepass is boarded? Is there anyway we will all be able to sit together if we don't book together?
Thanks for any help/advice. Trying to get 10 adults and 9 children organized is a bit daunting!

Rebecca
Proud mama of 5 year old triplets!

Did this several years ago with Princess. Our ship was docked right where you board the train. There were NO reserved seats on the cars. You would pick your seat as you boarded like Southwest airlines. Saved lots of money by buying my own tickets right at the dock from the railway people with a discount. Google to see if they still have a web site with prices and details!
Have fun! This was my 2nd favorite thing after the glaciers!

 

[mickey2000]

Found the site for you!
Look here:

http://www.wpyr.com/excursions.html

 

[lbgraves]

We did this on our own instead of through DCL becuase both of our kids, at 10 & 12, were charged the adult rate through DCL, but the kids rate with the company. We made the short walk to the station and picked up our tickets. The train was divided across the street by the station with some cars being down by the ship and some being near the station. We were told which car to go on. The cars on either side of us were packed and we found out they were a tour group that were together. Our car had maybe 20 people in it and there was enough room for everyone to have a seat to themselves if you wanted. We also got to walk around freely with all of the room while the train was moving. The engine backed our cars up to attach to the ones that were by the Wonder at the dock and then all went up the pass together. On the way back the engine took us all to the ship to get off at the dock. You don't have the issue of not being a DCL excursion with this one, since the DCL excursion is just in a different car from you, so you will get back to the ship on time. The view was spectacular the day we went!

 

[tripsmom]

The only reason we are looking at booking through DCL is because of a "youth experience" on the return trip. Has anyone experienced that part of the excursion? Is it worth it? The ages of the children in our group are 11, 7, 6, 6, 6, 6, 5, 4 and 4.
We have contacted Whitepass directly and they have encouraged us to book directly through DCL. Does anyone know a reason they would encourage that?

 

[lbgraves]

I have no idea why they would tell you that. We had no issue booking with them directly. The guide walks through all of the cars a couple times during the excursion. My kids were too busy looking at the sites to have wanted to work on a craft or activity to be honest with you. The other kids in the car of various ages enjoyed it as well.