GTJ

Excellent video. While the bus stop at which one alights given a bleak view of the port, the video shows the short walk to be much easier than that which it appears to be at first. Disappointing is the cumbersome and uninviting staircases, but there does appear to be plenty of room for the port to install elevators for access by disabled passengers and for those with a good amount of baggage. I used to face a similar length staircase, from the platform to the street, whenever I returned home on the railroad (until elevators were installed a few years ago), and that did not deter me from using the train. I would not hesitate to use the Metro bus in Seattle as shown in the video. Spending $45 to $65 for a car is not going to happen!

Just to be certain: the name of the bus company is National Park Tours and Transport, Inc., USDOT 2435195, which does business as Acadia National Park Tours. The National Park Service does not, itself, operate any buses at Acadia National Park.

The scheduled times of day have remained fairly stable over the years . . . what typically changes from year-to-year are the days of operation. As for 2023, the railroad has posted its schedule. Trains to Fraser depart Skagway at 7:40 a.m. and 12:40 p.m., and arrive Fraser at 10:15 a.m. and 2:15 p.m.; trains depart Fraser at 11:45 a.m. and 4:35 p.m., and arrive Skagway at 12:20 p.m. and 5:10 p.m. (All times noted are local times, Alaska time in Skagway and Pacific time in Fraser.) What I find interesting is that it seems that almost all passengers purchasing round-trip tickets between Skagway and Fraser elect to go one-way via railroad and the other way via bus. Not many people seem to travel round-trip going by railroad in both directions.

Most people I know use the B61 bus between the subway and the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal. Certainly a bit clumsy having to do so, especially in comparison to the greater convenience of the Manhattan Cruise Terminal and its easy walk to and from the Eighth Avenue subway. A few people I know use the NYC Ferry, but since it has no free transfer to or from the subway it has been a second tier choice. Among the objections I have to the car services are their excessive costs and also the necessity of having to find and use one particular vehicle (rather than having the flexibility in boarding the first bus, train, or ferry available when i want to depart). Just for fun I tried the Carmel website for ascertaining the ease of booking and cost from my home to the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal. The booking engine worked fine, but the $61 fare (plus gratuity) was rather steep. (I also noticed that if I used a wheelchair, the price given by Carmel is $10 higher, a violation of the ADA.) It is nice to know that, if I were to be carrying a huge amount of baggage, there are car services that could be booked without too much trouble.

Yes, the area is commercial, the sidewalks are reasonably well-maintained, and there is only slight chance that you get into an accident while on the sidewalk that would cause injury, particularly in daytime when everything is well illuminated. Vehicular traffic is generally slow enough that is fairly safe crossing the streets (one block over from the hotel is Fulton Street, which is a transit-only mall, where it is likely even safer with the absence of general traffic on the street). Fairly recently the City of New York began installing count-down pedestrian signals at many intersections, allow one to know how much time remains to cross the street with a green traffic signal, thereby further increasing safety . . . especially for seniors and disabled persons who might walk more slowly and require allocating sufficient time to cross the street safely. New York City is one of the safest cities in the country for pedestrians.

I think that you might be referring to a different port. Vessels arriving at the port in Québec do so, of course, in the lower city, and there is a steep cliff (climbed by a funicular railway) to the upper city where you would find the Château Frontenac and the rest of the walled city. However, the Gare du Palais is part of the lower city, and there is a very flat path from the port by walking along either rue St-André or rue St-Paul.

The available regularly-scheduled transportation from Anchorage to Seward, on Fridays (the days that Royal Caribbean International vessels are in port) is the following: (1) Alaska Railroad, "Coastal Classic," depart downtown Anchorage 6:45 a.m., arrive Seward 11:05 a.m.; (2) Alaska Railroad, RCI chartered train, depart Anchorage airport 1:00 p.m., arrive Seward 5:30 p.m.; (3) Seward Bus Lines, depart Anchorage bus terminal near airport 2:00 p.m., arrive Seward 4:30 p.m.; (4) Park Connection bus, depart downtown Anchorage 7:00 a.m., 3:00 p.m., arrive Seward 10:10 a.m., 6:10 p.m.; (5) Alaska Cruise Transportation bus, depart various hotels in downtown Anchorage between 1:30 p.m. and 2:00 p.m., arrive Seward 5:00 p.m.; (6) Alaska Cruise Transportation bus, depart Anchorage airport 11:00 a.m., 2:30 p.m., arrive Seward 1:30 p.m., 5:00 p.m.

As to dedicated shuttles, no. Practical non-dedicated alternatives are the NYC Ferry service, operated by Hornblower, with service from Pier 11 in lower Manhattan and with direct or connecting ferry service from other ports in New York City; and New York City Transit Authority bus route B61, with service from downtown Brooklyn and with direct or connecting bus and subway service from other places in New York City. Nothing from outside New York City.

If traveling by railroad, the Queen Elizabeth will be by far the most convenient place to stay. The railroad station is directly below the hotel, and the express bus to the airport stops at the hotel as well. The logistics could not be easier, and by staying at the Queen Elizabeth you would be in the centre of everything.

Yes, last year, on an exceptional basis, the railroad had cancelled all of its regular route transportation, and only offered a limited selection of simple excursion trips, which are, as noted, round-trip. Ordinarily, however, the railroad does offer regular transportation, and not merely excursion trips. Commercial tour operators that rely on the inclusion of railroad transportation as part of their tour packages were adversely affected, and were compelled to cancel such tours. This year, while the railroad will be offering regular transportation again, it will also continue offer excursion trips from Skagway to White Pass and return. These excursion trips are round-trip only, and neither board nor discharge passengers at White Pass. Persons who desire to travel in one direction by railroad and in the opposite direction by motor vehicle should rely on the railroad's regular transportation, to such points as Fraser or Carcross.

I have always viewed the Queen Elizabeth as the "standard" place to say while in Montréal, cost being no factor, as it is right in the centre of the commercial city, near Dorchester Square, and directly above Gare Centrale (where more often than not I am arriving or departing the city), There's several other good hotels between the Queen Elizabeth, on boulevard René-Lévesque (previously Dorchester Street), and rue Sherbrooke. Several times I have stayed near rue Berri-UQAM, convenient to the Gare d'autocars de Montréal. While there are also several hotels in and around Vieux Montréal, some architecturally attractive, this neighborhood is a tourist trap, a bit removed from the modern commercial centre of the city, and less convenient to transportation and most other things besides the quay from which most cruise vessels depart.

The simple excursions to the White Pass are all round-trip, as noted. But passengers who travel elsewhere (e.g., Fraser, Carcross) have a choice whether to travel one-way or round-trip by railroad. For some trips the railroad does not directly offer a single round-trip ticket, and passengers may need to purchase a one-way ticket there, and a separate one-way ticket back.

The White Pass & Yukon Route has its main railroad station in downtown Skagway, and it may require a walk of 1,500 feet or so, between one's vessel and the railroad station. The White Pass & Yukon Route also has tracks that go directly to each of docks, and for tickets purchased from cruise line excursion desks, passengers may board trains that travel directly to the docks. So the answer to your question is your final answer: purchasing tickets directly from the railroad simply means having slightly greater effort to get to the train station to board.

Less than one thousand feet. The attached satellite photograph shows Perrotti Park, where the vessel tenders ordinarily bring passengers, at the bottom of this view. The north-south street is America's Cup Avenue. Walk north along America's Cup Avenue, from Perrotti Park, crossing both the Long Wharf Mall and West Marlbogough Street, to the triangular shaped building opposite the baseball field. That is the Newport Gateway transportation and visitors center, at which the no. 67 bus departs from bus stop "A."

Deadheading three hours, between Anchorage and Seward, both at the start and the end of each run, must be not only a safety risk but expensive as well. HAP Alaska provides lodging in Healy, and I would think that they could do so, as well, in Seward. The Alaska Railroad bases its Grandview charter train at Seward (it deadheads between Seward and Whittier only on HAP cruise vessel days), so it must have some mechanism by which it deals with lodging in Seward.

Many bus companies--not all, though--take the view that "people skills" are more important than driving skills when hiring. The reason is that driving skills are technical, and can be taught. On the other hand, "people skills" are innate and cannot easily be taught. Some bus companies believe that they can save money on driver training by recruiting professional truck drivers, who already have the technical skills relating to driving. But taking the professional driver out of the truck and into a bus is not always a success story . . . it is important to assess their "people skills." As a point of interest, note that Holland America Line utilizes Royal Hyway Tours (s/b/a HAP Alaska) to provide the bus service in Alaska, both companies being commonly owned by Carnival Corporation. Holland America Line, itself, does not technically employ any bus drivers. For the same reason, Princess Cruises also utilizes Royal Hyway Tours. (The other cruise lines typically utilize Premier Alaska Tours for bus operations, the same company employed by Alaska Tour & Travel for its "Park Connection" scheduled motor coach service, and the same company that operates the Wilderness Express railcars.)

But not all of the on-duty hours are clocked as being driving, so within the FMCSRs . . . so long as there is the eight hours off-duty. But these days, and at least so long as one is not truly in a remote part of Alaska that is distinct from the lower 48, there's really not much difference in driving and safety in Alaska. The roads are similar to those that one might encounter in, say, Colorado. The hours of service, particular for carriers of passengers, should really be the same. If the carriers established garages in Seward and Whittier, then they could shave off 3 to 6 hours of driving time daily and live within the regulations applicable in the rest of the United States. I assume they have garages or lodging facilities in Denali or Healy for drivers. But the idea of a "grueling 20 hour day" does not sit well with me when passenger safety--and the safety of other motorists and non-motorists on the highways--is at stake.

It is a bit of a walk getting from the quay to the route 747 bus . . . so you might want to use the route 715 shuttle between the two. Alas, it does not operate very often, only once every half hour. plan_centre-ville.pdf

You should expect the cruise to Toronto to terminate at the Cruise Ship Terminal, which is located at 8 Unwin Avenue, near the intersection with Cherry Street. The Toronto Transit Commission operates bus route 172 Cherry Beach along Cherry Street, direct to Union Station, but only between mid-May and October. A taxi ride would not be terribly expensive, as the distance to Union Station is less than 5 km. I would not anticipate taxis to ordinarily be available at the cruise ship terminal, given its remote location and the relatively small vessels that serve Toronto, though there could be. The Union Pearson Express train, from Union Station, would be the most direct service option to the airport. Union Station is certainly large, but it is not an airport and not so large as to make it difficult to walk around. The Union Pearson Express service operates from the skywalk on the western end of the station. If you’re dropped off on Front Street, at the front of the station, you’ll turn rightward to be facing the western end of the station. When you pay with a credit card, be certain that you continue possessing that credit card for the duration of your journey. That credit card can be scanned by inspectors to verify it having been used to purchase your fare. Refer to this video for additional details. Union Station.pdf

If you're referring to the Dalton Highway Express service, between Fairbanks and Deadhorse, it is advertised as 16 hours one-way. See http://www.daltonhighwayexpress.com/schedule. I would expect there two be two drivers, working eight hours each. However, I have no first hand knowledge how the work is actually performed.

Good catch on the Alaska exception. That exception at Part 395 of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations, used to be codified alongside the regular rules applying to the rest of the United States, where it would be easily seen by anyone reading the regular rule, but are now separately codified and easily overlooked (as I did). I was curious as to the exception, so I took a look at the regulatory history. The Alaska exception was effected by order of the Interstate Commerce Commission (“ICC”) made on April 26, 1963. See 28 Fed. Reg. 4198 (Apr. 27, 1963). The entire explanation of the exception was as follows: “It further appearing, that a petition has been filed by the Alaska Carriers Association, Inc., Consolidated Freightways of Delaware, and Teamsters Local 959, requesting that certain sections, pertaining to hours of service of drivers, of the Code of Federal Regulations, be amended.” Not much of a record to consider! Given that the petition was from the freight carrier industry, not from the passenger carrier industry, it is legitimately questionable whether the safety of passengers was actually considered in the ICC’s adoption of this exception. It should also be noted that the exception was applied to the driving of motor vehicles generally, not distinguishing between motor vehicles of property and motor vehicles of passengers, further supporting the idea that passenger safety was not considered by the ICC. It may well have been that, in 1963, the limited trucking infrastructure and paucity of highway traffic in Alaska justified the relaxation of the hours of service rules for motor carriers of property. But today, in 2023, the infrastructure and highway traffic in central Alaska would seem to no longer justify—if it ever justified—the relaxation of safety regulations applying to the carriage of passengers. The Alaska exception, at least to the extent of its application to motor carriers of passengers, ought to be revoked.

To expand on that example of an unlawful itinerary: if the vessel were scheduled to cruise from Boston to Montréal, and its subsequent cruise were scheduled from Montréal to New York, then a person could cruise one itinerary or the other (i.e., from Boston to Montréal, or from Montréal to New York), but could not cruise back-to-back (because that would be a cruise from Boston to New York).

While there is some flexibility that drivers may be given, the real limitation is imposed by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration through its hours of service regulation. Drivers who carry passengers are limited to 10 hours driving, after 8 consecutive hours off-duty. Given that this limitation includes the driving time to get to Denali, and from Whittier to the garage, the time you spend aboard must necessarily be less than 10 hours. The regularly scheduled bus is between 6 hours 30 minutes and 6 hours 45 minutes from Denali to Anchorage, plus 1 hour 45 minutes from Anchorage to Whittier. That is a total of 8 hours 15 minutes to 8 hours 30 minutes, plus any meal stop. The time may vary based on stops, or lack thereof, by the individual driver assigned. This compares to 9 hours 20 minutes by railroad. I would never rely on the information provided by sales agents for cruise lines. They're located in a call center, seek to separate passengers from their money, and rarely have any operational knowledge or experience beyond the script given to them. Best to use the Canada and Alaska Timetable to research these types of details.

There should be little concern with the details. There is but a single train transporting passengers between Anchorage and Whittier on days that Princess Cruises vessels are in port. The train, known as the "Glacier Discovery," is operated by Alaska Railroad. There are no separate Princess Cruises cars on this train. The typical consist is the railroad's bilevel DMU coach-café (car no. 751), labeled as car "A"; two regular coach cars, labeled as cars "B" and "C"; two baggage cars; and the locomotive.

We don't know if the destination hotel is downtown or elsewhere in Brooklyn. It is likely that LaGuardia would ordinarily be first choice, but I don't think that John F. Kennedy International is that far behind. If there is a good cost or time savings, Kennedy might be a better choice. Newark Liberty is much further behind both LaGuardia and Kennedy in its convenience to Brooklyn.