How much do you spend during your cruise ship port stops?

[3rdGenCunarder]

10 minutes ago, Mary229 said:

That is true only if you stay on the”strip”. Ketchikan has its own homegrown economy if you step off the strip.  Even some of Creek street is locally owned 

 

I suspect that the farther you go from the ship, the more likely you are to find local businesses. That's why I like to wander away from the pier.

[cbr663]

We first sailed to Alaska in 2014.  It was the Volendam's first sailing, midweek and the ship wasn't full.  We were the only ship in port.  It was an outstanding cruise and ranks #2 as the best cruise we have ever taken.

 

In May of last year we sailed to Alaska on the Koningsdam.  The ship was full.  We sailed on a weekend and in every port there were 3 - 4 other ships as large as and larger than the K.  It was a terrible sight to behold and it was a very different experience than our previous cruise.

 

The $ spent per cruise passenger isn't for me a great measure.  I know why they use it though.  I can't un-see all those cruise passengers piling out of the ships and overwhelming these small port towns.  The lineup at the Juneau tram never stopped all day.  We had tickets for it and said no way.  The wooden sidewalks in Skagway were crowded with so many people we had trouble getting around.  We enjoyed the cruise, but we both agreed we were so happy that we had sailed in '14 as we most likely will never return.  The cruise lines created this over tourism and have, for us, completely ruined the Alaska experience.

 

Our cruise experiences this year have changed our outlook, especially around ocean cruising.  We have been wanting to do a Canada/NE cruise for a while now and have decided that this Fall we will drive instead.  We are now researching river cruises over ocean cruises and booking more land based vacations than ever before (2 booked already and finalizing 2 more in the coming days).  I am one to never say never, yet when I ask my DW about booking another ocean cruise, she just shakes her head and says she has no interest in it.

[TRLD]

28 minutes ago, Mary229 said:

That is true only if you stay on the”strip”. Ketchikan has its own homegrown economy if you step off the strip.  Even some of Creek street is locally owned 

Sure some locally owned business remain. Largely a factor of town size vs number of ships and passengers. Visit in the winter, and the scope of the impact is very clear.

[cruisemom42]

23 minutes ago, cbr663 said:

We first sailed to Alaska in 2014.  It was the Volendam's first sailing, midweek and the ship wasn't full.  We were the only ship in port.  It was an outstanding cruise and ranks #2 as the best cruise we have ever taken.

 

In May of last year we sailed to Alaska on the Koningsdam.  The ship was full.  We sailed on a weekend and in every port there were 3 - 4 other ships as large as and larger than the K.  It was a terrible sight to behold and it was a very different experience than our previous cruise.

 

Imagine how I felt going back to Alaska in 2021 after a first visit (by cruise ship) in 1977!

 

It is a totally different place now, and not one in which I have much interest.

[TRLD]

30 minutes ago, cbr663 said:

We first sailed to Alaska in 2014.  It was the Volendam's first sailing, midweek and the ship wasn't full.  We were the only ship in port.  It was an outstanding cruise and ranks #2 as the best cruise we have ever taken.

 

In May of last year we sailed to Alaska on the Koningsdam.  The ship was full.  We sailed on a weekend and in every port there were 3 - 4 other ships as large as and larger than the K.  It was a terrible sight to behold and it was a very different experience than our previous cruise.

 

The $ spent per cruise passenger isn't for me a great measure.  I know why they use it though.  I can't un-see all those cruise passengers piling out of the ships and overwhelming these small port towns.  The lineup at the Juneau tram never stopped all day.  We had tickets for it and said no way.  The wooden sidewalks in Skagway were crowded with so many people we had trouble getting around.  We enjoyed the cruise, but we both agreed we were so happy that we had sailed in '14 as we most likely will never return.  The cruise lines created this over tourism and have, for us, completely ruined the Alaska experience.

 

Our cruise experiences this year have changed our outlook, especially around ocean cruising.  We have been wanting to do a Canada/NE cruise for a while now and have decided that this Fall we will drive instead.  We are now researching river cruises over ocean cruises and booking more land based vacations than ever before (2 booked already and finalizing 2 more in the coming days).  I am one to never say never, yet when I ask my DW about booking another ocean cruise, she just shakes her head and says she has no interest in it.

Be prepared for the large number of river cruise boats rafting as many as 3 deep in some places. Causing very crowded impacts in some places. Not just ocean cruises having an impact. Comes down to too many tourists over whelping smaller or for that matter even some larger towns. Problem with Ocean and river cruises is that the numbers are concentrated in both location (ports) and time.

 

Lots of other negative impacts  outside of cruisers. The conversion of apartments and long term rentals to short term vacation rentals have driven locals outside of down town in many tourist focused cities such as Prague.

[Mary229]

57 minutes ago, TRLD said:

Sure some locally owned business remain. Largely a factor of town size vs number of ships and passengers. Visit in the winter, and the scope of the impact is very clear.

I think we all are getting a bit nostalgic.  Alaska towns were very small before the current tourist boom.  No tourist then there is no need to have the shop open regardless of whether they came by ship, ferry or air.  For a town to exist they need economic activity. I regularly travel the Route 66 trail and once the boom of tourism left the towns shriveled and died.  And yes people complained about the traffic during that boom

 

this is our time, sure 1899 might have been better.. It is up to us as travelers to make discerning decisions and up to the towns people to divvy up their resources to suit the best needs of the citizens. 

Edited January 21 by Mary229

[TRLD]

40 minutes ago, Mary229 said:

I think we all are getting a bit nostalgic.  Alaska towns were very small before the current tourist boom.  No tourist then there is no need to have the shop open regardless of whether they came by ship, ferry or air.  For a town to exist they need economic activity. I regularly travel the Route 66 trail and once the boom of tourism left the towns shriveled and died.  And yes people complained about the traffic during that boom

 

this is our time, sure 1899 might have been better.. It is up to us as travelers to make discerning decisions and up to the towns people to divvy up their resources to suit the best needs of the citizens. 

Difference with the route 66 analysis is the highway was built away from the town so without the traffic they served bo purpose.

 

In Alaska the towns had purpose before the cruise industry. Government, fishing, lumber, mining, cargo, etc.  The store fronts served the town, with some tourists. The businesses were almost all owned by locals and most were open year round.

 

Now most are owned by non residents, staffed by seasonal workers who leave at the end of the season.  In some of the towns most of the restaurants are now seasonal instead of year round. 

[OlsSalt]

Reminds me of a poll once taken - what would you do if you learned you only had 6 months to live? Top response was - I would travel around the world. Yet in fact, few ever did.

 

Some of us were lucky or cursed to be born with inherent wanderlust, but have also been lucky enough to carry out much on this list of must sees and do's, before it became a final bucket list. 

 

I believe there is a word for  this in the German language (Reise Weh????) - something like a "travel sickness" but not the kind one gets from drinking bad water. Just a part of the soul that needs to see what is around  the next corner. While other get blessed or cursed with the opposite - "home sickness" and never need to leave.

 

Kazu, lots here share your untimely loss since the two of you took us all along on so many of your travels. DH and I never would have jumped at the last minute upgrade offer to the Amundsen's Suite on the Prinsendam, without your timely and knowledgeable advice, about 48 hours before we were ready to depart. 

[OlsSalt]

Avoiding 7-day weekender Alaska cruises can be good advice, but not to write off all Alaska cruises. Recent 14 day Alaska was still quite wonderful since they go well beyond the standard 7 day run Alaska ports now taken over by generic cruise crowd marketing and multi-ship crowds.

 

 We found the addition of Valdez to be a special treat on our last 14 day Alaska. The advice remains good - go North to Alaska - the further the ports are from the Big Three, the better. But even those  still do remain their special charms, if you can visit during off-peak times and days of the week and take the time to get out of town.

[*Miss G*]

20 hours ago, OlsSalt said:

Reminds me of a poll once taken - what would you do if you learned you only had 6 months to live? Top response was - I would travel around the world. Yet in fact, few ever did.

 

Some of us were lucky or cursed to be born with inherent wanderlust, but have also been lucky enough to carry out much on this list of must sees and do's, before it became a final bucket list. 

 

I believe there is a word for  this in the German language (Frenweh????) - something like a "travel sickness" but not the kind one gets from drinking bad water. Just a part of the soul that needs to see what is around  the next corner. While other get blessed or cursed with the opposite - "home sickness" and never need to leave.

 

Kazu, lots here share your untimely loss since the two of you took us all along on so many of your travels. DH and I never would have jumped at the last minute upgrade offer to the Amundsen's Suite on the Prinsendam, without your timely and knowledgeable advice, about 48 hours before we were ready to depart. 

 

 

 

5 minutes ago, OlsSalt said:

Reminds me of a poll once taken - what would you do if you learned you only had 6 months to live? Top response was - I would travel around the world. Yet in fact, few ever did.

 

Some of us were lucky or cursed to be born with inherent wanderlust, but have also been lucky enough to carry out much on this list of must sees and do's, before it became a final bucket list. 

 

I believe there is a word for  this in the German language (Reise Weh????) - something like a "travel sickness" but not the kind one gets from drinking bad water. Just a part of the soul that needs to see what is around  the next corner. While other get blessed or cursed with the opposite - "home sickness" and never need to leave.

 

Kazu, lots here share your untimely loss since the two of you took us all along on so many of your travels. DH and I never would have jumped at the last minute upgrade offer to the Amundsen's Suite on the Prinsendam, without your timely and knowledgeable advice, about 48 hours before we were ready to depart. 

 

Phew.  Thought I was having a déjà vu moment.

[d9704011]

1 minute ago, *Miss G* said:

 

 

Phew.  Thought I was having a déjà vu moment.

Again?

[OlsSalt]

11 minutes ago, *Miss G* said:

 

 

Phew.  Thought I was having a déjà vu moment.

 

Something gets screwy and I get these repeat glitches from time to time when I try to post - it kicks back a former post and I don't know if it really posted earlier or not. 

 

I was having a deja vu moment too when it just happened again now. 

[57redbird]

To answer the OP's question....anywhere from 0 to maybe $300 not including excursions.  We did the "oh I'd like to spend some time here" for Puerto Vallarta....had a couple of port calls & really liked the vibe so we rented a condo on the Malecon for a week -- other than the hot/humid weather in May,  I'd do it again in a heartbeat...hubby not so much.  I'd move there if I could.

[cbr663]

4 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

Imagine how I felt going back to Alaska in 2021 after a first visit (by cruise ship) in 1977!

 

It is a totally different place now, and not one in which I have much interest.

 

It seems ironic that it is the cruise lines themselves that are ruining the cruise experience.  

 

Edit to Add:  Perhaps "ruining the cruise experience" is overly harsh.  Cruise lines are certainly changing it and for some of us, not for the better.

Edited January 21 by cbr663

[TRLD]

44 minutes ago, cbr663 said:

 

It seems ironic that it is the cruise lines themselves that are ruining the cruise experience.  

 

Edit to Add:  Perhaps "ruining the cruise experience" is overly harsh.  Cruise lines are certainly changing it and for some of us, not for the better.

They certainly do not seem to be willing to limit the number of passengers arriving at ports themselves.  Which is why the ports themselves have to.