Goldbelt Tram — Attraction in Juneau

I'm guessing our experience was better than others. The cost was much less because we booked it through NCL. There's a $50 credit per tour that applies to the first guest through the "More at Sea" package. You'll also get Latitude Reward discounts depending on your tier. It somehow ended up costing less than $20 for both of us. It's also an all day pass, so you can go up & down as many times as you want.

We were one of the first in line that morning. There were only 8 people in front of us. We watched as they were taking the staff up to the shop & resraurants. Before long, it was our turn. The tram was pretty packed with lots of standing room and very few seats. I chose to be on the outer edge with a great view. The climb is steep, and you do go straight up like an elevator for that last push to the top. To be honest, I've been on much higher gondolas (to the top of the Zugspitze near Garmisch). The Goldbelt Tram was an easy ride compared to that.

I did like the commentary along the way. It was nice to hear fun facts & history as you're taking in the view of the channel and forest below. There is a gift shop, restaurant, bar, and theater as you get to the top. We opted to take on the Alpine Loop Trail early. We also made sure to stop at the Chilkat Theater to view the "Seeing Daylight" documentary. Don't miss that viewing. It's part of the whole experience. It really puts everything into perspective about the land and its people (Tlinget) who have lived here for centuries. You'll see an ongoing theme as you explore other Alaskan towns. It really ties it all together.

We didn't get to try the restaurants. We thought it best to explore Downtown Juneau and the waterfront instead. It was a good decision. It was all very memorable! I'd love to do...

Complete waste of time -a LOT of time – and money. Everything about this “adventure” was horrid. Overpriced, underdelivered and a major, MAJOR waste of time. To begin, we had to wait in line for 45 minutes to board. After about 30 minutes in that line, an employee came by and advised us that the wait to board a tram back down, was now an hour and a half. That’s when I started having doubts. However, I’m a avid photographer and the ride promises “Spectacular Views,” so we stuck it out. When we arrived at the top, there were no signs or employees telling us where to go to find the “Spectacular views.” There were plenty of signs and announcements directing us to the restaurant and gift shop, but the only views we could find were of the harbor and pretty severely obstructed by the tram infrastructure. On one pseudo-sign opposite the tram building there appeared to be some hiking trails to supposed photo spots, but it wasn’t at all clear and the hikes were 30 minutes or longer. Since we had already spent the day hiking, we weren’t up for another hour of hiking just to get to the closest photo point. We waited a while on some benches to see if the LONG return line would get any shorter and it didn’t, so we got in line. BTW this was around 4:00 pm. The return line took us about 40 minutes. By the time we were down, it had cost $60 each for hardly any pictures and NO “Spectacular views.” Plus, given the wait to board at both ends, it was almost 3 hours of our vacation time absolutely pissed away. You have...

The Goldbelt Tram travels up Mount Roberts, which is a 3,819 foot mountain near downtown Juneau, located near the cruise ship docks. The Goldbelt Tram can carry 60 people from sea level to 1,800 feet up the mountain in 6-minutes. It gets its name from the mines in the mountain which opened in 1917, and closed during WWII. Almost 3 million ounces of gold and other precious minerals were taken from it. We rode the Tram up Mount Roberts in the mist. That was probably not the best choice as the mist turned to fog and then light rain. We decided to walk the ½ mile Alpine Loop Trail anyway to try to see more of the Gastineau Channel, but we never got above the lowered cloud ceiling before the rain increased and the trail got slippery and muddy. We decided to turn back, as we weren’t dressed for those conditions. The fog mostly obscured the view from the trail outlooks. We did see some examples of the Sitka Spruce and some totem poles along the way. There is a restaurant at the tram’s docking point on the mountain and we enjoyed a hot lunch there before descending. During the descent, the fog lifted a little and we had nice views of Gastineau Channel. The Tram runs from mid-April to mid-October, depending on...