Milliennium disembarkment in Skagway

[beaver01]

Will be on an independent Yukon Rail & Bus Excursion July 5 with pickup 7:30 am at the end of the pier. Since the port arrival time of Celebrity Milliennium is 7 AM I would like to know if anyone has taken a 7:30 am tour independent and whether experienced any problem disembarking in time. How soon can guests get off the ship when not taking a ship tour?

[Lsimon]

I haven't cruised Celebrity to Skagway - but in general if the tour operator is used to cruise ship passengers and is picking you up at the pier you shouldn't have any issues with the timing - if for some unsual reason debarkation is late then their other customers will be late as well.

 

Since your port before Skagway will also be Alaska ports (I presume this is the case) then there wouldn't be any customs issues with the ship so clearing should be pretty fast.

 

When you're docked, as you should be in Skagway, there is no priority for disembarkation as you just walk off the ship with the only bottleneck being a short one as you have to have your ship card scanned as you leave, and there will also be a small bottleneck just off the ship as the photographers try to take every one's picture but you can bypass than one if you want.

 

I do recommend that you get ready but don't bother queueing up to get off the ship until they make the general announcement that the ship is cleared and passengers can leave the ship. If you're in your stateroom you might have to open the door to hear the PA announcment - sometimes it is also broadcast on one of the ships information channels on the TV but this varies from cruise to cruise.

 

I always get the tour operator's phone number too so I can call them if a problem comes up either before, or on, the day of the excursion.