White Pass Railway in Skagway: Was It Worth It and What We’d Do Next Time?

We had breakfast onboard and then visited the Thermal Suite before getting ready to head ashore.

We got off the ship at about 11:00 AM and went directly to line up for the excursion. Looking back, the timing itself was almost perfect.

We weren’t tired from getting up early. We weren’t watching the clock all morning. And after the train, there was still enough time to spend part of the afternoon and early evening in downtown Skagway.

That relaxed pace fit the overall rhythm of this cruise well. Our Norwegian Encore Alaska Itinerary Guide: What the Week Feels Like talks more about how the different days fit together, and Skagway is one of those ports where having a long day doesn’t necessarily mean you have to fill every hour.

What we’d change: We would still choose the noon excursion, but we’d probably get off the ship earlier next time and spend an hour or two walking around Skagway before the train instead of spending the entire morning onboard.

There were four of us traveling together, and arriving early helped us get seats together instead of splitting up between rows or cars.

For this excursion, we’d rather spend an extra 20 minutes waiting than arrive right at the meeting time and hope four seats line up the way we want.

The seating itself was comfortable for sightseeing. Each row had two seats on each side, so window access wasn’t nearly as competitive as we had imagined.

You don’t need to be the first person on the train to see anything. But if you’re traveling with several people and sitting together matters to you, showing up a little early is an easy win.

The left side going up did have the better overall views in our opinion.

There were stretches where the scenery opened up better from that side, and if we were choosing again, we’d probably still sit there.

But we wouldn’t stress about it.

On the return trip, you’re seeing the route from the opposite perspective, so people on the other side get many of the views they missed going up.

That made the seat-side decision feel much less consequential once we experienced the whole trip.

• Choose the left side going up if you have the opportunity.
• Don’t panic if you don’t get it.
• Pay attention in both directions.
• Get up and use the outdoor viewing areas when you can.

For us, getting the four of us together was more important than fighting over one particular window.

There are absolutely beautiful stretches of the White Pass route.

Mountains, valleys, water, bridges, steep terrain and the railway itself all make the ride visually interesting.

But it isn’t hours of completely unobstructed mountain views.

Trees block portions of the view, and that made the overall scenery a little less impressive than we had built it up to be beforehand.

We don’t mean that negatively. We’d still call the scenery great. It’s more of an expectations issue.

If you’ve seen dramatic White Pass photos online, remember that those photos naturally tend to show the best open viewpoints—not the stretches where you’re looking through trees.

That distinction is one reason we try to be careful with “worth it” recommendations. The White Pass Scenic Railway was worth doing for us even though the scenery didn’t quite match the mental picture we’d built before the cruise.

The outdoor areas gave us a different experience than taking every picture through the train window.

If photography matters to you, we’d absolutely spend some time outside when conditions allow.

• Layers. We had great weather and weren’t nearly as cold as we expected, but Alaska weather could easily make the same train ride feel very different.
• Binoculars. We didn’t see meaningful wildlife on our ride, but we’d still carry them.
• Phone or camera. There are plenty of opportunities for photos in both directions.
• Something easy to carry. This isn’t an excursion where you need a large port-day setup.

We wouldn’t obsess over getting a window seat because the seating configuration gives almost everyone good access to the view.

And we’d definitely take advantage of the opportunity to step outside instead of shooting every picture through glass.

The history gave context to what we were looking at.

Instead of just seeing mountains, railway tracks and old structures, we were hearing about the people, the Klondike Gold Rush era, and what it took to build and operate a railway through this terrain.

White Pass & Yukon Route describes its White Pass experiences around the combination of mountain scenery, railway engineering, and the history of the Klondike Gold Rush.

For us, that mattered.

We’re not sure the ride would have felt like as good a value if it had simply been scenery with very little explanation.

The combination of scenery plus history is what made it feel like an experience rather than transportation.

The broader Skagway area has plenty of potential wildlife. Alaska Department of Fish and Game identifies a variety of wildlife around Skagway depending on location, habitat and season.

But we couldn’t find reliable guidance showing that an early or late White Pass train consistently produces more wildlife sightings than a noon departure.

So while we still wonder if the time of day might have made a difference, we wouldn’t tell someone to book an early train because they’ll see more animals.

Our experience was the opposite: we basically saw none.

If wildlife is your primary reason for choosing an Alaska excursion, we’d look for something designed specifically around wildlife viewing. For the White Pass Scenic Railway, we’d consider wildlife a bonus.

The ride felt about the right length.

It was slow enough to enjoy the scenery and listen to the narration without feeling rushed, but it didn’t reach the point where we were ready for it to be over.

That’s one of the reasons we’d recommend this excursion to someone looking for a low-effort Alaska port day.

There isn’t much to figure out.

You board the train, sit back, watch the scenery, listen to the history, move around for pictures when you want, and let the excursion happen.

For travelers who don’t want hiking, boats, strenuous walking or a tightly scheduled adventure, that’s a real advantage.

We got off downtown, walked around Skagway and went to Skagway Brewing Company for an early dinner.

That was exactly the kind of afternoon we wanted.

The train had been structured and easy. Afterward, we could wander without much of a plan.

We didn’t need another formal excursion. We didn’t have to race back to the ship. And we still felt like we’d experienced more of Skagway than just riding a train in and out of town.

This is also one of the reasons we’re glad we chose noon instead of making the train the first thing we did in the morning.

The only change we’d make would be using more of the morning for Skagway too.

Rather than staying onboard until about 11:00, we’d probably get off earlier, walk around town for a while, take the noon train, then get off downtown again afterward for dinner and anything we didn’t see before the excursion.

We wouldn’t say $387 is cheap for a scenic train ride.

That’s real money, especially once you start adding several paid excursions to an Alaska cruise.

Our Cruise Budgeting in Real Life: What You’ll Actually Spend Beyond the Fare is built around exactly that issue: the cruise fare is only one part of what a trip really costs.

For us, White Pass justified the expense because it combined several things we valued:

• A signature Skagway experience
• Beautiful scenery
• Excellent narration and history
• Very little physical effort
• Simple logistics
• A relaxed pace
• Enough time afterward to enjoy downtown Skagway

The NCL excursion credit and our Latitudes discount helped the math, but we wouldn’t call an excursion worthwhile just because a credit reduced the price.

We still wanted the underlying experience to feel worth what we paid.

This one did.

We’d recommend it most strongly for:

• First-time Skagway visitors who want to experience one of the port’s signature attractions.
• Travelers who enjoy scenery and history.
• People looking for a low-effort excursion.
• Cruisers who want a relaxed day rather than an adventure excursion.
• Multigenerational groups where different physical abilities can make more active excursions difficult.
• People who want an organized excursion without giving up the entire day.

We’d be less enthusiastic for someone whose biggest goal is wildlife viewing, hiking or physical activity, a highly interactive adventure, spending most of the day independently exploring Skagway, or repeating something they’ve already experienced on a previous Alaska cruise.

For us, the best description is probably: worth doing once.

1. Keep the noon train. The relaxed morning timing worked very well.
2. Get off Norwegian Encore earlier. Instead of breakfast, Thermal Suite and then straight to the excursion, we’d spend some pre-train time downtown.
3. Still arrive around 20 minutes early. That helped the four of us sit together.
4. Choose the left side going up if available—but not stress about it.
5. Spend more time on the outdoor viewing areas.
6. Bring layers and binoculars again.
7. Get off downtown after the train. We’d absolutely keep that part of the plan.
8. Treat wildlife as a bonus rather than an expectation.

The biggest lesson wasn’t that we chose the wrong excursion time.

It was that the noon departure gave us enough flexibility that we could have done more before it without making the day feel rushed.