Shuttle to walmart in ketchikan

[GeorgeL]

We always go the grocery stores. We went to on our first night in Rome and had a ball. We bought cheese, salami, wine and bread and had a picnic in our room.

 

We do the same. I find out quite a bit about local culture from the local stores where locals shop, not from souvenir kiosks.

 

As the saying goes: "When in Rome, do as the Romans do".

[Ray_Ray]

Geez ~ I was hoping I would get at least one response to my question. Who knew it would create such a flurry of activity and discussion.

 

Not that it should really matter, but having a place to pick up items that I forgot or couldn't take on the plane, and medications, is why I was asking. I went to the Walmart in Puerto Vallarta for the same reasons, and trust me, I was far from the only cruise person in the store.

 

People go on vacation for all sorts of reasons, and choose what they want to do for all sorts of reasons. Especially when I go to places I have already been, such as Ketchikan, I don't particularly want to spend the entire day on excursions and tours. I will go to the Walmart in Ketchikan to get what I need, and will spend the rest of the day relaxing and enjoying the port.

 

 

 

Bravo Shirley!

[Dale]

Has anyone take the shuttle to the Walmart in Ketchikan? Any info on where to get it, how long it takes to get there, how often it runs, etc. is appreciated.

 

Thanks.

Sorry I can’t help you with the shuttle in Ketchikan, but I’ll share a couple of experiences involving :cool:“Walmart Shuttles”:cool: and Walmart stores while on cruises.

 

First was on a cruise in the Hawaiian Islands. We were docked in Hilo. One of the things that was in our plans was to visit Hilo Hattie’s to purchase Moo Moo‘s. Our mode of transportation there was on the :cool:“Walmart Shuttle.”:cool: That shuttle came right to the ship and operated hourly.

 

Two years ago while on a river cruise on the Yangtze River in China, a group from our river boat was organized to visit a Walmart Store that was in one of the cities along the river. This proved to be most unusual and interesting to see what a Walmart looked like in China.

[Jill SC]

My DH used to work for a big supermarket chain, so we often check out grocery stores and supermarkets in other countries, just for comparison.

[LSEA]

How many people do you know who go to Europe and then rsve about the McDs that they go to? Same thing. People travel but do not want to leave home.

 

DON

 

 

Actually, on a couple of trips through Europe we have enjoyed McDonalds. After traveling for 10 - 15 days at a swift place and finding ourselves alone in a unfamiliar city, hungry, late at night McDonalds was a sight for sore eyes!! A little taste of home, even though I rarely eat there.

[cruie4ever]

On one of our past Hawaii cruises I had to go to Wall Mart in Hilo (they have a shuttle) to fill a prescription .While there we bought several Hawaii shirts /blouses , sun screen,snorkle equipment & saved quite a lot of money over other stores.

[Sail Girl]

On one of our past Hawaii cruises I had to go to Wall Mart in Hilo (they have a shuttle) to fill a prescription .While there we bought several Hawaii shirts /blouses , sun screen,snorkle equipment & saved quite a lot of money over other stores.

 

The first time I ever shopped at Wal Mart was in Hawaii many years ago. Bought a nice photo album and other souvenirs.

Also shopped for souvenirs at a Wal Mart on a Mexican Riviera cruise. It was an easy walk from the pier. There were many pax and crew in the store.

We actually tried to make a stop at Wal Mart during our taxi tour of Cartahena, but the driver didn't seem to understand. My DH was looking for some toiletry items and didn't want to pay ship-board prices. We were left paying cash as the very "local" marker to which we were brought didn't take credit cards. We also had no local money and the store didn't take Dollars. Our taxi driver paid in local currency and we reimbursed him in dollars.

So, to refill prescriptions, purchase toiletries and souvenirs be able to use either credit cards or use dollars, Wal Mart can be very useful while on a vacation.

[STXCruisers]

Hi Shirley! You were on our roll call for an April cruise on Solstice last year, but we never got to meet you.:confused:

In September, we went to Alaska on Mercury. DH and I each thought the other had packed a cell phone charger, but neither of us had. He had some business calls he had to take. We had been to Juneau before, so there was nothing we felt we HAD to do there. We got on a city bus and went to a mall. The ride was interesting, visiting with the driver and some locals. The scenery was fabulous. The mall was not like any I had ever seen. We DID find a phone charger in a little store there which had the stock left from a Radio Shack which had closed. Was that luck or what? We both enjoyed this little "excursion" very much.

Doris

[Shirley C]

Hi Shirley! You were on our roll call for an April cruise on Solstice last year, but we never got to meet you.:confused:

 

In September, we went to Alaska on Mercury. DH and I each thought the other had packed a cell phone charger, but neither of us had. He had some business calls he had to take. We had been to Juneau before, so there was nothing we felt we HAD to do there. We got on a city bus and went to a mall. The ride was interesting, visiting with the driver and some locals. The scenery was fabulous. The mall was not like any I had ever seen. We DID find a phone charger in a little store there which had the stock left from a Radio Shack which had closed. Was that luck or what? We both enjoyed this little "excursion" very much.

 

Doris

 

Hi Doris!!

 

I remember chatting with you on the thread prior to the Solstice cruise last year. I wasn't notified of the CC party and never was able to hook up with anyone either. It was a great cruises though, wasn't it, even with a side trip to the Bahamas!! Hope all is well with you. We are just about a month away from our next cruise, and I can't wait.

 

Shirley

[CathyCruises]

Actually, on a couple of trips through Europe we have enjoyed McDonalds. After traveling for 10 - 15 days at a swift place and finding ourselves alone in a unfamiliar city, hungry, late at night McDonalds was a sight for sore eyes!! A little taste of home, even though I rarely eat there.

 

We just got back from two months in Europe. and I confess that we did stop at McDonalds a couple of time but ONLY TO USE THE RESTROOMS! We bought a coke each time, and once in France we bought French Fries, heaven forbid! Trying to find a public bathroom when you are on a road trip can be tough. But we stopped short of actually having a meal there. . .I had to do a lot of talking to get DH to go into a Starbucks for the same reason. Interestingly, in England they do not have the rule that places that serve food must have restroom facilities, so you can go somewhere for a sit down meal and not be able to wash up beforehand or afterward. But Starbucks always had a decent bathroom, so they got our pounds instead of a local place when necessary.

 

But I wouldn't shop at a Walmart at home so I sure wouldn't go into one on vacation unless it was a DIRE emergency and Walmart was the only store for miles. . .but that's just me, and our family. . .we are walmartphobes!

 

Cathy

[babyorca]

Hey I went to Mcdonalds in Europe, I think in vienna...it had free internet access! Other than that I made a point not to eat at mcdonalds. did a lot of grocery food shopping. walmart is not a bad place to look for some souvineers i think, and necessities too :)

[outerspaceguy]

I honestly thought this was a joke when I read the title.

 

Wow.

 

First time I was in Alaska, I was sitting on the balcony in Ketchikan... late in the afternoon... and the walmart shuttle pulled up.

 

a] It was packed. Funny.

 

b] Watching what people bought at walmart was hilarious (as they unloaded the van). One guy bought a power drill... (this was before the days of fees for airline checked bags... I'm guessing walmart was running a sale on power drills that day??)

 

It was random enough to take photos of ;).

[tea4ular]

From personal experience, I found the WalMart in Kauai (Hawaii) had one of the nicest (and largest) selections of Hawaiian fabric for incredibly low prices (I purchased several yards at well under $4 a yard); best friend found cute Hawaiian sundresses for the grand-daughters, and Hawaiian shirts for the grand-sons, that were not bank breakers.

 

Had a medical urgency (not to be confused with emergency) that required a trip to the WalMart in Puerto Vallarta. Plus an assortment of Mexican vanilla that could not be beat.

 

On our last cruise, my best friend discovered she had not emptied her memory card off her camera from her last trip, went to WalMart (again in PV) where they burned her images on to a CD, and she found a sweet sale on an extra memory card.

 

There are many reasons to know where a name brand store is in a local port.

[sandyh422]

I honestly thought this was a joke when I read the title.

 

Wow.

When I saw the title, I completely understood why someone would want this information. I am one of those people who seem to forget something or run short on something on each cruise, so I welcome knowing how I can get to a store like Walmart just in case there is a unique item that the ship's store does not sell. Particularly if it the first stop on the cruise. I have seen plenty of jewelry and gift items in the stores close to the ship but do not recall seeing any store that might carry a wide range of useful items.

[satchiesmom]

Grocery stores are fascinating places in cultures and countries different from ours. After living out of the country for 8 years (4 years in Japan and 4 years in Germany in the '80's I found the supermarkets here in the States endlessly fascinating and could not get over the fact that many were open until midnight and gasp! even 24 hours. I would wander around for hours reading labels in my native language.

And living outside the US, when we found a McDonalds (or Dunkin' Donuts or Pizza Hut) we were thrilled - it was a little taste of home for us, something we rarely had.

[cruisestitch]

I have uploaded photos and had my prints ready mid-cruise at both Walgreens and Walmarts. I bought scrapbook supplies and started on a memory book on board, and even had a mousepad made of one great cruise photo and picked it up on arrival.

 

My friends who had lost a suitcase headed straight for the nearest Shopko at one port to pick up underwear and socks and all sorts of things to make the rest of the trip go better while waiting for their misplaced stuff to show up.

 

Magazines, coloring books for the kids, extra suntan lotion, a new pair of flip-flops (yes, like Jimmy Buffett, I once blew out my flip flops) and a couple of birthday cards were on my shopping list at K Mart in St. Thomas.

[Polar Bear Mom]

We are going on our fourth Alaskan cruise on Sat. Have been to Ketchikan each time and done most things. We want to go to Wal-Mart. Have gone to many on our travels and can find something completely different at each one.

 

It is always interesting to look around and see different items. At Wal-Mart we will see the local people not the ones in the souvenier stores who are the same where ever you go.

 

Have a good time, I know I will.

 

Nancy;)

[esther e]

Target, I can understand. Wal-Mart, not even in my town will I go!

[cruie4ever]

There is not only a Wall Mart in Kertchican ;but ,there are Wall Marts in Juno ,Anchorage & Fairbanks Alaska .The Ketchican has a free shuttle .

[Lindysu]

I am new to Cruise Critic and I am going on my first cruise to Alaska in July on HAL. I am also Australian and I was absolutely thrilled to read that there is a Walmart in Ketchikan.......

You see - we just don't have these huge stores in Australia. There is a type of Kmart down under, but your Walmart chain is absolutely fantastic!!!!!

I went to Hawaii two years ago and I found Walmart there and had a fantastic time shopping. I bought an ipad and some DVD's. Not only do we not have these stores - but your clothes, DVD's electricals etc. are so much cheaper that we can get in Australia, so I had the time of my life stocking up plus the iphones are released earlier in the USA than in Australia.

So, there is your answer! Instead of spending my money tipping bods for doing their job when I have already paid for a tour and the wage should be paid from the cost of the service obtained (tipping is so Anti-Australian), I would rather spend it at Walmart!!!

[chetty13]

People do come across as judgy here. 
I am not sure about the Ketchikan shuttle, but we were encourage by the ship to take it. It is not just for crew despite what some people are saying. First off, they have free wifi and if you have to communicate back home, it's the place to do it. Secondly, people may need stuff they have forgotten. I scraped my arms up really bad on the ship waterslides and had to go to the medical bay. Bandaids were very expensive there, So when we got to land we headed to walmart and stocked up on them and polysporin. 

 

[wpgcycler]

Dead man walking...

[hcat]

On our Celebrity excursion in Puerto Vallarta, the last  stop was at Walmart...If folks were interested,  they could get off and go back to the ship on their own. We didn't but many   others did,....to pick up water,  drug store items, buy tee shirts and souveniers.

 

Why not?  

Folks go to the  "CVS" in various ports all the time.....sunscreen,  shampoo, water, all sorts of stuff. Lots of items you can't pack or fly with anymore!

[phoenix_dream]

I can't believe the rudeness and nastiness of some of these responses!  It's no one else's business why someone would want to go to Walmart.  Why can't the OP just get a simple answer to their question.  There could be a thousand reasons.  Sometimes people do long B2B trips, or have long land vacations prior to cruises and need to replenish some of their personal supplies/OTC medications or whatever and prefer not to pay the outrageous prices in the cruise shops or near the ship.  I remember a sailing to Alaska a few years ago where a couple of us came down with bad colds.  Quickly ran out of our own supply and the ship was sold out as well.  I was extremely happy to be able to locate a grocery store in Skagway where I found something to help us.  I only wish there was a Walmart in town as the grocery store had few options.

 

No wonder newcomers wonder about the type of passengers they are going to encounter onboard when these boards have too many people who hide behind screen names for their shaming.

[varoo]

1 hour ago, wpgcycler said:

Dead man walking...

 

LOL!  Only the posts on this thread.

 

Actually both the Walmart and the shuttle were alive and well in Ketchikan the last time we were there.

 

The shuttles ran frequently and the line for the shuttle was well organized with no pushing or shoving. 

They had an attendant passing out numbers and people lined up and boarded in order.

 

I am only posting this in case anyone reading this thread is planning a cruise that has Ketchikan as one of its early ports to let them know that there is no need to pack heavy, bulky items to bring along from home,  if they are items that can easily be picked up at Walmart.

 

Additionally, for those planning to take the city bus ride up to visit Potlatch Park and Totem Bight that day, on the ride back to town you can ask the bus driver to drop you off at Walmart. 

Then, after you finish shopping, you can return to your ship on the free Walmart shuttle.

 

 

 

Edited November 3, 2019 by varoo