Alaska Cruises: Excursions

Your adventure begins as you board your motorcoach for a ride through the historic streets of downtown Skagway to the Klondike Gold Fields. Once there, meet your guide and watch a video presentation introducing you to the dogs of the Klondike Gold Rush and highlights of what winter dog sledding is like today. Meet and interact with the Iditarod sled dogs and their puppies, stopping first by the checkpoint tent with your musher. Here you’ll be introduced to all the gear a musher and dog team takes with them on a long distance race. Your musher introduces you to the team and then hooks the dogs to a sled to demonstrate a run for you. After layering up step into the cold chamber and experience the cold of an Iditarod race in a 40° degree below zero room!

Afterwards, get ready to warm up with a little gold fever! Learn the art of panning for gold and practice your technique in warm water troughs. Gold is guaranteed! After you've hit pay dirt, weigh your fortune in The Gold Parlor. Use your free time to visit The Gold Shack and The Unexpected for Alaskan gifts and souvenirs. Take in a brief film of the northern lights, our dredge or Charlie Chaplin in The Gold Rush. Stroll the grounds and enjoy the interactive displays and surrounding scenery.

Note: Stay past your departure time, and Klondike Gold Fields will provide you a ticket for a shuttle ride back to your ship or town. The shuttle runs every 30 minutes from the Klondike Gold Fields.

An all you can eat mouthwatering assortment of warm and cold dishes awaits your arrival in Skagway. Feast on wild Alaskan caught salmon grilled over an open alder wood fire as part of this feast in the forest. Enjoy Chilkoot Chicken, Panners Pasta, Prospector Pete’s Reindeer Beans, Liarsville Rice Medley, Sluice Box Slaw and other fresh salads, plus cornbread and blueberry cake for dessert. Beer and wine are available for purchase.

This delicious meal also includes a visit to an 1898 replica campsite located in the historic Liarsville region. During your visit, take time to reflect on how the prospectors of yesteryear survived. Chat with the colorful characters and gold-digging madams as you enjoy a glimpse back at life during the Klondike gold rush. Visit the Fancy Goods Gift Shop to find that special souvenir. Have your picture taken with the camp mascot, an Alaskan Malamute.

This tour provides an outstanding overview of the state's capital city and its scenic attractions, including one of the world's only drive-to glaciers, the Mendenhall. Your guided tour takes you through Juneau's picturesque downtown. Visit the Mendenhall Glacier, a moving river of ice with rugged crevasses and a distinctive blue color. Stroll the walkways to the Visitor Center and take in one of the glaciology exhibits, an interpretive talk with a Forest Service Ranger, or simply enjoy the panoramic view of the glacier. Afterward, you'llo visit Juneau's Macaulay Salmon Hatchery and Visitor Center. Note: This tour operates under a special use permit issued by the U.S. Forest Service. Dress in layers, as temperatures at Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Area tend to fluctuate. less

Experience Skagway with Alaska’s original city historical tour for an informative fun filled 90 minutes. Skagway character Martin Itjen came here looking for gold in 1898 and became the town’s most celebrated storyteller. He gave Alaska’s first motorized sightseeing tour on his “Skagway Street Car” for U.S. President Warren G. Harding in 1923 and delighted visitors for decades. Today, Martin’s tour lives on! Aboard your yellow 1927 sightseeing bus, your costumed “conductor” passes on a century of history, behind-the-scenes tales, and stories.

Explore the waterfront and National Park Historic District, enjoy the panoramic views from the scenic overlook and have your camera ready for the recounting of the Soapy Smith gunfight at the Gold Rush Cemetery. Highlighting the history of this gold rush town and the pioneer families that built it, you’ll motor through the residential neighborhoods of Skagway, famous for its flower gardens. A stop is made in town for those who want to get off to shop or explore before the tour continues back to the ship.

Note: For foreign language translation this tour utilizes a GPS activated audio narration. Guests wear comfortable headphones that deliver the complete tour narration in their chosen language. In addition to German, French and Spanish, the audio narration is also available in Dutch, Japanese, Mandarin and English.

No trip to Alaska is complete without a ride on the White Pass & Yukon route narrow-gauge railroad. Take the unforgettable journey aboard the "Scenic Railway of the World" and travel from tidewater to the summit of the White Pass, a 2,865 foot elevation. Ride 40 miles round-trip in vintage rail cars as you retrace the original route to the White Pass summit, passing Bridal Veil Falls, Inspiration Point, and Dead Horse Gulch. This fully narrated tour features panoramas of mountains, gorges, waterfalls, tunnels, trestles and historic sites. See the original Klondike Trail of '98 worn into the rocks, a permanent tribute to the thousands that took this route during their quest for gold. This narrow-gauge railroad is a designated International Historic Civil Engineering Landmark, shared with the Eiffel Tower and the Statue of Liberty.

Travel the route of the “Trail of ’98” in a four-wheel drive Jeep Wrangler®. Your small group of explorers will set out into the Yukon Territory via the same routes taken by the hardy gold prospectors in the late 1800’s. Your tour guide in the lead Jeep will entertain you with the lore of the gold rush era by interactive radio. Amazing vistas accessible only by off-road vehicle await you on this adventure. You’ll want to bring a camera to capture them.

There are several points along your route that drivers can rotate including Pitchfork Falls, Moore Bridge, Dead Horse Gulch, Bracket Wagon Trail, and Tormented Valley en route to the historic village of Carcross. Drive up Montana Mountain for a panorama view of the Carcross Desert, the smallest desert in the world!

Note: This excursion enters Canada and all participants are required to carry a valid passport. Drivers must be at least 25 years of age, provide a current driver’s license and must sign a liability/insurance waiver. Participants must be at least 5 years of age. We provide a booster seat for children 5 through 8 years upon request and subject to availability. Canadian citizens may not drive the vehicles into Canada due to current regulations. Both parents must accompany minors across border or a signed letter granting permission from non-participating parent may need to be presented to Customs and Border Protection. The tour is approximately three hours with approximately one hour of off-roading.