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Alaska - Cancellation of White Pass train shore excursions in Skagway - July 2022


Al Li

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Hi Matt,

I received the following notice (below) from RCI for our Alaska cruise this July on Ovation of the Seas.  I'm sure that this will impact thousands of RCI cruisers this summer, but calling the Royal customer service line, it doesn't look like they have a contingency plan to add additional excursions to substitute for this popular tour.  All the other existing excursions are either sold out or very limited space left and we have 16 cruisers in our group. 

Do you have an inside resource to see if Royal plans to try and provide substitute exclusions or expand existing ones?  I would imagine RCI would like to not lose this much revenue for all their Skagway stops this summer.  

Please share or post any information that you are able to receive from Royal.

Thanks,   Al 

*****************

Ref: Goldrush Sled Dogs and White Pass Train Adventure

Dear Guest,

Due to operational challenges that would cause significant delays at the US/Canadian border, the White Pass Railway tour operator has advised they're temporarily suspending any train services into Canadian territory for the 2022 season. Unfortunately, this impacts several of the shore excursions operating out of Skagway, Alaska.

As a result, we've canceled your reservation for this excursion. A full refund has been issued .......

 

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We booked the deluxe Yukon tour through this company.  

https://www.southeasttours.com/

While it is a bus and not a train, it does have a stop at the dog mushing camp.  I got an e-mail from them verifying that they are indeed operating this season.   All of July seems still available on the booking calendar but you might check with them due to your large group size if interested.  I had E-mailed and got a reply back the next day.

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On 5/3/2022 at 9:57 PM, Ken Edgar said:

We booked the deluxe Yukon tour through this company.  

https://www.southeasttours.com/

While it is a bus and not a train, it does have a stop at the dog mushing camp.  I got an e-mail from them verifying that they are indeed operating this season.   All of July seems still available on the booking calendar but you might check with them due to your large group size if interested.  I had E-mailed and got a reply back the next day.

They specifically say this tour crosses the US/Canadian border and I have read on Trip Advisor the dog sled camp is in Canada.  That particular tour had the dog sled camp cancelled and the tour stayed within the US border.  The review was written in Sept. 2021.   

I am curious if the tour will indeed cross into Canada or will the tour itinerary be changed as last fall

Royal Caribbean offers a very similar excursion which also states it will cross border into Canada which we had booked months ago.  We have not received any heads up from Royal Caribbean of any tour changes yet..........  

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On 5/8/2022 at 10:56 AM, Toby said:

They specifically say this tour crosses the US/Canadian border and I have read on Trip Advisor the dog sled camp is in Canada.  That particular tour had the dog sled camp cancelled and the tour stayed within the US border.  The review was written in Sept. 2021.   

I am curious if the tour will indeed cross into Canada or will the tour itinerary be changed as last fall

Royal Caribbean offers a very similar excursion which also states it will cross border into Canada which we had booked months ago.  We have not received any heads up from Royal Caribbean of any tour changes yet..........  

This was part of an E-mail they sent me after booking and just a couple weeks back.   Clearly they plan to go into Canada.  Of course we know its possible since we are departing from Vancouver.   I think the train just doesnt want to deal with checking vaccination cards, ect.

Thank you for booking with Southeast Tours!  We are operating tours into Canada!  They are no longer requiring a negative COVID test to enter the country, so that is good news.  They are still requiring proof of vaccination, so make sure everyone in your party has their proof of vaccination as well as passports.

Your tour will meet at our office in the popcorn store.  Because of the new rules entering Canada, we need to make sure all paperwork and documentation is accounted for with each guest. 

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8 hours ago, Ken Edgar said:

This was part of an E-mail they sent me after booking and just a couple weeks back.   Clearly they plan to go into Canada.  Of course we know its possible since we are departing from Vancouver.   I think the train just doesnt want to deal with checking vaccination cards, ect.

Thank you for booking with Southeast Tours!  We are operating tours into Canada!  They are no longer requiring a negative COVID test to enter the country, so that is good news.  They are still requiring proof of vaccination, so make sure everyone in your party has their proof of vaccination as well as passports.

Your tour will meet at our office in the popcorn store.  Because of the new rules entering Canada, we need to make sure all paperwork and documentation is accounted for with each guest. 

Thanks for sharing this information!!

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On 5/7/2022 at 5:09 PM, ihaoan said:

we were very bummed about the cancellation of the train excursions into Canada but chose to independently rent a jeep for the day instead (not through RCCL)

diyjeeptours.com also known as Alaska Green Jeeps

 

 

I basically did the same. As soon as I received notification (had booked through Chilkoot Charters and not RCI), I quickly booked an SUV rental with the thought that they may sell out after travelers received the cancellation notifications. I'll really miss the train experience, but I just couldn't justify over $200/ea for a 3.5 hour ride without crossing into BC and the Yukon. What to put on the ArriveCan info is somewhat confusing, but it's worth it to drive to Emerald Lake and get pics of those "Welcome to Alaska" and "Welcome to the Yukon" signs.
 

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