dmwnc1959

For 2025 Ketchikan it unfortunately doesn’t specify downtown or Ward Cove despite NCL listing the latter for both ships on their own website. I’ll assume it’s Ward Cove.

I got the dates wrong and Norwegian Jade will be there on the 24th, not that that makes it any better with another ship there still.

Can both ships fit there at the same time? 😳 Holy cow! I would’ve thought that the biggest of the two would be docking downtown? Or maybe we can and they can dock at Ward Cove! 🤣 PS the date I posted earlier is incorrect and Norwegian Jade will be there on the 24th. 😁

With your description of the thermal suite and sauna, I’ll have to give it a shot if it’s open on port days. I wonder if they offer a single-day pass on a special? Days 8, 9, and 10 of the 25-night cruise are ports I’m not interested in sightseeing and a spa day sounds good.

Very nice, THANK YOU very much!!!

Totally agree. Even if it’s just for a stroll up and down the streets and through Creek Street. There’s a very high probability that even if I wasn’t going to buy something, just being amongst all the goods and services would have been incentive enough to support the local vendors in town. But the buses and shuttles just seem like a real hassle. Here are a few pictures from a visit way back in 2002… I think I would have liked seeing this again very much.

Norwegian Jade is going to be at Ward Cove from 6am - 4pm on April 25th, which is ‘technically’ before the Alaska Season really starts. If I don’t sign up for a shore excursion, and I’ve already been to Ketchikan 4X, chances are I won’t even leave the ship. Might wander ashore to the shops at the end of the pier, but that’s about all. Which is a shame, had it docked downtown I’d most definitely been out there shopping.

Crumbl rotates their lineup and it can be found on their website. Chances are the fruity pebbles cookie may not be back around for a little while since this was last July. Sorry. 😢 https://crumblcookies.com

Want to jump in and say THANK YOU to everyone who contributed to this thread!!! I’ve saved this to a list of other tips that I’ve received on Cruise Critic in the past few weeks on shipboard life. Can never be too prepared! 😁

As a birthday treat last year I bought myself four of them, not realizing they were an estimated 800 calories EACH. The blueberry cheesecake here was my favorite.

I know, right 🤪 just freaking beyond crazy! And you know what else? There are a LOT of things people buy while on a cruise, or pay for amenities and services that I would NEVER EVER consider. It really is great that NCL offers a service that may add that extra touch someone wants waiting in their room when they embark, or when they call it a day after a hard port visit, or even adds ease to their vacation without having to run around the ship trying to find something when they have a sweet tooth and they are in their pajamas ready for bed. Sure, I can get better cookies anywhere else in the world, and I’m sure my hometown bakery or Crumbl have much better cookies with greater variety and a competitive price. But it’s my cruise, my money, and my experience. And if I want to pay for cookies on my cruise, that’s my prerogative. 😁

I’m not sure how old this information is but there are a LOT of details: https://myperfectalaskacruise.com/ketchikan-travel/ward-cove-cruise-port-ketchikan/ And this picture from the Ward Cove FB late dated July 2022…

THIS is the main point I’m trying to get across. Everything starts up around mid-May, but on April 28th there’s nothing. I am quite sure that NCL will have something figured out. I hope. 😉

Dining solo, the likelihood of me being seated at a table for 6-8 are ‘zero’, with the odds much greater that (per my request ) I’d wind up at a table for two. In the Grand Pacific Dining Room these all appear to be at the back of the venue, whereas in Alizar it has this weird bench seating all along the walls and the tables are quite close to each other. Honestly my only ‘experience’ is from watching YouTube video walk-throughs that include the main dining room while meals are being served like these images show…

It’s a personal preference. I dine solo and really do not care for small talk with the adjoining tables - which are usually so close to each other they are practically table mates. I know you can put in a request to ‘dine quickly’, and not sure how well that works because I can’t even fathom taking 90 minutes to eat dinner. Since I eat early, the smaller-sized specialty restaurants usually have a light attendance at that time and it’s much easier/quicker to order, be served, and leave. All of this is why I’ve avoided the MDR in the past. Admittedly, on a 25-night repositioning cruise the chances of me dining in the MDR increase exponentially than if it were just a week in the Caribbean.

I’ll be booking only for one, so would I be able to do that over the phone?

THANK YOU for both links, extremely helpful! I’ll have to earmark my iPhone calendar for 121 days out to remind me to book the onboard reservations. I’m only in an inside cabin and this is my first NCL cruise, so I’ll get bottom of the barrel priority lol. I do plan on buying a SDP for 7- or 9-nights plus the 2 FAS freebies. The other nights I’ll use the complementary options that are not MDR (which is still a tough sell for me). 😁

This is all really good information! I was going to ask if NCL offered post-cruise tour excursions from ship-to-airport sort of like they do in Fort Lauderdale, with a side-trek to a wildlife or scenic stop. Some of the ANC-PIT flights I’ve seen for 2024 leave around 9pm, so looks like plenty of time to burn before getting to the airport.

Definitely sounds like a plan. I’m not much for joining Roll Calls (I am most definitely an introvert in real life), but it will be interesting to read how a ‘chartered’ van comes into fruition. 👍

Maybe I’ll get lucky and they’ll offer a mid-cruise special. I’m sure after two weeks a sauna and steam might hit the spot! 😉

Excellent thought process! I think they open 90 days before sailing? I’ll have to make sure I jump on those. 😎

I’ve seen that in a couple of YouTube videos, it really looks very small and antiquated. 😳

I think you’re right that they are going to be guinea pigs for that early in the season. In 2024/2025 not a single cruise line has a ship arriving or leaving prior to mid-May. NCL has Norwegian Jade arriving at the end of April 2025, hence the reason I was asking. Princess Cruises and Holland America already use Whittier, and have so for at least the past season or two. I still envision just an absolute disaster.

Well, I kind of already figured that. 🤣 Certainly doesn’t explain how they coordinate 2000 people. Curious do all 2000 people stand outside waiting on buses or lineup for a single train, or two trains?

This will be a first for me where the cruise ends in such a remote area. Guess I’ve been spoiled having tons of taxis and Uber available, or my car was waiting in the parking garage. That way everyone sort of quickly disperses from the ship in all different directions. So, how is it that NCL gets everyone off of a 2000 passenger cruise ship from Whittier to Anchorage, especially for a cruise that ends late April? I’m just imagining a giant chaotic mass of humans disembarking and flooding into the exit side of a terminal, standing around waiting for instructions. It appears this sort of thing (cruises ending in Whittier) happens a lot, but maybe not this early in the season. I have looked at some scenic independent options but they don’t seem to be up and running yet. And I have tried to search here, and combed through the NCL website, that went no where. Any help or insights on how this works is greatly appreciated.