Pacific Princess in Whittier

[southpawsdakota]

We are staying at The Inn at Whittier. Looked out our window at about 5:30 p.m. And saw the ship coming in. It was about 6 hours early. We went down to the dining room and had quite a "show" for almost 1 1/2 hours watching the ship try to dock. They could not and pulled away and turned and the ship was listing bout 5 degrees, turned and headed out again. After awhile it started to head out of Whittier and then turned around to come back. This time it was able to dock. Definitely worth the bottle of wine we drank while watching. 🍷🍷🍷🍷😀

[Colo Cruiser]

We are staying at The Inn at Whittier. Looked out our window at about 5:30 p.m. And saw the ship coming in. It was about 6 hours early. We went down to the dining room and had quite a "show" for almost 1 1/2 hours watching the ship try to dock. They could not and pulled away and turned and the ship was listing bout 5 degrees, turned and headed out again. After awhile it started to head out of Whittier and then turned around to come back. This time it was able to dock. Definitely worth the bottle of wine we drank while watching. 🍷🍷🍷🍷😀

 

 

Are you sure it was the ship that was listing?

[c-legs]

Whittier is , to use a well known blogging Captain from a sister company, a ''blow hole'' . More than rarely,poses a challenge at docking time. While a complete scrubbing of the mooring ( can't really be considerd as it is a turn around port ) is very rare, it sort of explains why every body other than Princess has now vacated Whittier in favor of the much ''sedate'' port of Seward ( Regent, NCL, and others...).

It does have the distinct advantage of being closer to Anchorage.

Looks like little Pacific Princess faced some stiff winds conditions tonight....and it must have been pretty nasty in Prince Williams Sound since she appears to have skipped the ''College Fjords'' cruising which put her quite earlier than usual in the Whittier channel area...

Cheers

C

[caribill]

Whittier is , to use a well known blogging Captain from a sister company, a ''blow hole'' . More than rarely,poses a challenge at docking time. While a complete scrubbing of the mooring ( can't really be considerd as it is a turn around port ) is very rare, it sort of explains why every body other than Princess has now vacated Whittier in favor of the much ''sedate'' port of Seward ( Regent, NCL, and others...).

 

Our first Alaska cruise on Princess, in 1997, did start from Seward.

[Coral]

Our first Alaska cruise on Princess, in 1997, did start from Seward.

 

This is before Princess built Whittier's dock.

 

At most, only one other line ever used Whittier. I think the pier will only accommodate one ship so it had to be on days when Princess wasn't there. Limited who else can be there.

 

I think the benefit of Whittier is the "Direct to Wilderness/Denali". I don' think the other lines ever did this so there probably was little benefit.

Edited August 31, 2015 by Coral

[Coral]

We are staying at The Inn at Whittier. Looked out our window at about 5:30 p.m. And saw the ship coming in. It was about 6 hours early. We went down to the dining room and had quite a "show" for almost 1 1/2 hours watching the ship try to dock. They could not and pulled away and turned and the ship was listing bout 5 degrees, turned and headed out again. After awhile it started to head out of Whittier and then turned around to come back. This time it was able to dock. Definitely worth the bottle of wine we drank while watching. 🍷🍷🍷🍷😀

 

I am surprised that the Inn At Whittier is still open. I thought the hotel went into bankruptcy a few years ago. I am curious how your stay was.

[DougH]

Our first Alaska cruise on Princess, in 1997, did start from Seward.

 

My second Alaska cruise in 1998 started in Anchorage. That was nice :)

[southpawsdakota]

The Inn at Whittier has been very nice. There is a very nice pub which seemed to be busy most of yesterday and we had lunch and dinner in the dining room. The food for both was very nice.

[AKman2495]

Vacated Whittier in favor of the much ''sedate'' port of Seward ( Regent, NCL, and others...).

It does have the distinct advantage of being closer to Anchorage.

 

C

 

"Sedate" Seward has 30-40 MPH winds today....

Edited August 31, 2015 by AKman2495

[Coral]

"Sedate" Seward has 30-40 MPH winds today....

 

I saw snow in the forecast this past weekend in Alaska. Hopefully weather is ok for the fall tourists.