NCL post-cruise transfer Whittier-ANC

[dmwnc1959]

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. 

 

[1025cruise]

Buses or a train.

[yakcruiser]

24 minutes ago, dmwnc1959 said:

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. 

 

I do believe the folks on the Jade cruise will be the guinea pigs for Whittier. That will be a new port for NCL.They will use Seward until the end of this year. I am sure they will have buses lined up to take passengers to ANC. And maybe some of the private operators will start a few days early if they know a ship is in town. It looks like the train does not run until late afternoon.

[dmwnc1959]

5 minutes ago, 1025cruise said:

Buses or a train.

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? 

[dmwnc1959]

3 minutes ago, yakcruiser said:

I do believe the folks on the Jade cruise will be the guinea pigs for Whittier. That will be a new port for NCL.They will use Seward until the end of this year. I am sure they will have buses lined up to take passengers to ANC. And maybe some of the private operators will start a few days early if they know a ship is in town. It looks like the train does not run until late afternoon.

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. 

[yakcruiser]

1 minute ago, dmwnc1959 said:

 

I still envision just an absolute disaster. 

Very possible! When it gets much closer I am going to contact one of the local providers and see if they will run a tour that ends at ANC at the end of April if I can round up enough people. It looks like they use 10-12 person vans.

[SoloAlaska]

The companies that provide these services are very well established. My cruise is after the end of the train season but I’ve cruised in and out of Seward before. It’s like any excursion you know when you meet up and you board your bus and away you go. NCL will contract these companies to provide transport especially since it’s earlier than the normal season. 
 

if you have the option of booking a transfer with a stop at the wildlife center it’s a nice stop especially if you have time to burn before a flight.

 

Alaska know cruises so don’t worry too much.

[dmwnc1959]

Just now, yakcruiser said:

Very possible! When it gets much closer I am going to contact one of the local providers and see if they will run a tour that ends at ANC at the end of April if I can round up enough people. It looks like they use 10-12 person vans.

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. 👍

[dmwnc1959]

6 minutes ago, SoloAlaska said:

The companies that provide these services are very well established. My cruise is after the end of the train season but I’ve cruised in and out of Seward before. It’s like any excursion you know when you meet up and you board your bus and away you go. NCL will contract these companies to provide transport especially since it’s earlier than the normal season. 
 

if you have the option of booking a transfer with a stop at the wildlife center it’s a nice stop especially if you have time to burn before a flight.

 

Alaska know cruises so don’t worry too much.

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. 

[julig22]

Similar situation, arriving in Seward late April, before the train runs.  There is a bus that runs daily from Seward to Anchorage and NCL appears to be doing transfers - besides the thousands of passengers disembarking, they will have a similar number embarking, so need busses going each way.

 

As to post-cruise excursions - NCL seems to think waiting until day 50 to post them is a smart idea, saves them having to cancel excursion bookings when people get their flight info and find out it won't work (their words, not mine).  I disagree but thems the breaks.

[SoloAlaska]

1 hour ago, julig22 said:

Similar situation, arriving in Seward late April, before the train runs.  There is a bus that runs daily from Seward to Anchorage and NCL appears to be doing transfers - besides the thousands of passengers disembarking, they will have a similar number embarking, so need busses going each way.

 

As to post-cruise excursions - NCL seems to think waiting until day 50 to post them is a smart idea, saves them having to cancel excursion bookings when people get their flight info and find out it won't work (their words, not mine).  I disagree but thems the breaks.

Most of the buses only run on ship days. I only know of one company which runs its buses daily to Seward and they are very small and don’t have the best hours for cruise ships. I was trying to go to Seward a few days early but since my only option would have been either arriving at 3 am or taking a private transfer I ended up changing my plans. 

[julig22]

40 minutes ago, SoloAlaska said:

Most of the buses only run on ship days. I only know of one company which runs its buses daily to Seward and they are very small and don’t have the best hours for cruise ships. I was trying to go to Seward a few days early but since my only option would have been either arriving at 3 am or taking a private transfer I ended up changing my plans. 

Seward Bus line - winter schedule, Monday-Saturday

Seward-Anc 9:30am-noon

Anc-Seward 2-5pm

Summer schedule (beginning May 1) - 7 days/week

All aboard is 7pm, so hours work quite well for NCL cruises anyway.

 

[SoloAlaska]

4 hours ago, julig22 said:

Seward Bus line - winter schedule, Monday-Saturday

Seward-Anc 9:30am-noon

Anc-Seward 2-5pm

Summer schedule (beginning May 1) - 7 days/week

All aboard is 7pm, so hours work quite well for NCL cruises anyway.

 

My mistake there are two bus lines running daily. Direct flights from Canada come in later than 2 pm so that makes it necessary to stay overnight in Anchorage or arrange a private transfer. If you’re flying in from the east coast of the US it’s also very tight to make a bus on the same day. This makes it almost necessary to stay one night in Anchorage and then lots of options the next morning for ship transfers.

[BirdTravels]

12 hours ago, dmwnc1959 said:

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. 

 

They do it at least twice a month for the season. Every cruise line that does one ways do (we have done it multiple times on Princess). Yeah,,,, most try to book the scenic train. 

[julig22]

34 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

They do it at least twice a month for the season. Every cruise line that does one ways do (we have done it multiple times on Princess). Yeah,,,, most try to book the scenic train. 

Scenic train doesn't run in April.

[dmwnc1959]

3 hours ago, julig22 said:

Scenic train doesn't run in April.

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. 😉

[dmwnc1959]

Is there somewhere on the NCL website that shows how much the Whittier - Anchorage transfers cost, and what the recommended flight departure times are post-cruise? 😁

[Anoynmous Phoenix]

@dmwnc1959

 

There have been parallels drawn with Seward and the Jewel being there in April this year.   One thing to remember is that the Jewel is going to Seward FROM Japan and so all the passengers will not be debarking; there will be lots B2B.to Vancouver   This may be true (B2Bs) for your cruise too so you may not be looking at a 2000 turn round.

 

However I feel certain that, as NCL has arranged transfers from Seward to Anchorage this year "before the season", they will do the same from Whittier in 2025.

 

HOWEVER the Seward to Anchorage Airport transfer has ALREADY sold out; 58 days prior to arrival.  I suggest you keep a weather eye on your cruise shore excursions and book as soon as the Whittier to Anchorage Airport transfer appears.

[dmwnc1959]

2 minutes ago, Anoynmous Phoenix said:

@dmwnc1959

 

There have been parallels drawn with Seward and the Jewel being there in April this year.   One thing to remember is that the Jewel is going to Seward FROM Japan and so all the passengers will not be debarking; there will be lots B2B.to Vancouver   This may be true (B2Bs) for your cruise too so you may not be looking at a 2000 turn round.

 

However I feel certain that, as NCL has arranged transfers from Seward to Anchorage this year "before the season", they will do the same from Whittier in 2025.

 

HOWEVER the Seward to Anchorage Airport transfer has ALREADY sold out; 58 days prior to arrival.  I suggest you keep a weather eye on your cruise shore excursions and book as soon as the Whittier to Anchorage Airport transfer appears.

I’m not sure I can wrap my head around the fact that NCL doesn’t or hasn’t taken a mandatory survey to determine which passengers are debarking in Seward and to ensure that every single one of them has a transfer option available. Or maybe they do this onboard prior to the end of your cruise? No customer left behind!
 

I do believe I’ve read that there will be some B2B cruisers heading back down the Inside Passage to Vancouver at the end of my repositioning cruise. This will also have to be a known number. That was my concern at the very beginning of this thread on how they’re going to transfer 1500-2000 people from Whittier to Anchorage. 
 

There’s no doubt I’ll have my return flight booked within six months of the cruise starting, so that when transfers do become available I have my flight information available for input into the website. 
 

😁

[Anoynmous Phoenix]

@dmwnc1959

 

I’m not sure I can wrap my head around the fact that NCL doesn’t or hasn’t taken a mandatory survey to determine which passengers are debarking in Seward and to ensure that every single one of them has a transfer option available.

 

As they are still taking bookings and will do for another month + it would only be a rough guide.   They would also have to do a 3 way question

Staying in Seward

Going to Anchorage City

Going to Anchorage Airport

 

And probably "still not decided"!!

[dmwnc1959]

1 minute ago, Anoynmous Phoenix said:

As they are still taking bookings and will do for another month + it would only be a rough guide.   They would also have to do a 3 way question

Staying in Seward

Going to Anchorage City

Going to Anchorage Airport

 

And probably "still not decided"!!

Thank you! I know that I am probably way overthinking this whole thing, and that I am still over a year away from even getting on the ship. But I do like planning/knowing some aspects of the cruise down to the last detail, and this Whittier post-cruise transfer is one of them.
 

Over the next several months everything from the $1000 of onboard Specialty Dining, Photo packages, and tips (for the cc bonus points), flight to TPA, pre-cruise hotel, and new clothes will be purchased. Plus lots of fun planning the port of call sightseeing trips! For a cruise this long, for me, it’s a LOT to take ALL of this in, especially in regards to the transfers - better to be prepared than overwhelmed at the last minute. 
 

😁

[julig22]

4 hours ago, dmwnc1959 said:

I’m not sure I can wrap my head around the fact that NCL doesn’t or hasn’t taken a mandatory survey to determine which passengers are debarking in Seward and to ensure that every single one of them has a transfer option available. Or maybe they do this onboard prior to the end of your cruise? No customer left behind!

There is a difference between the excursions and transfers. Excursions often sell out, as they are limited for a number of reasons, like capacity at the sites they are visiting, availability of busses and tour guides.

With the Jewel arriving in Seward from Tokyo, there will also be passengers coming to Seward for the trip to Vancouver - so the transfer busses can be doing a RT.  AFAIK, transfers to the airport are still available to purchase.

[dmwnc1959]

Realizing that Norwegian Jade will be the NCL guinea pig for this port in 2025, stumbled across the fact that there's apparently a 2-1/2 mile one-way tunnel in and out, and it's the the longest (2.5 miles) highway tunnel in North America.

 

https://www.facebook.com/story.php?id=100044584939798&story_fbid=1865960627184285

 

https://www.whittieralaska.gov/tunnel/

 

https://dot.alaska.gov/creg/whittiertunnel/schedule.shtml

 

 

Edited May 2 by dmwnc1959

[bookbabe]

Has anyone here actually done this transfer yet?  Anyone able to comment on the logistics and how well it went?

[quillwercruisers]

On 5/2/2024 at 6:33 AM, dmwnc1959 said:

Realizing that Norwegian Jade will be the NCL guinea pig for this port in 2025, stumbled across the fact that there's apparently a 2-1/2 mile one-way tunnel in and out, and it's the the longest (2.5 miles) highway tunnel in North America.

 

https://www.facebook.com/story.php?id=100044584939798&story_fbid=1865960627184285

 

https://www.whittieralaska.gov/tunnel/

 

https://dot.alaska.gov/creg/whittiertunnel/schedule.shtml

 

 

This is the coolest thing to go through.

 

I understand the wanting to plan things out as soon as the decision is made to book the cruise. I am the same way. But, just remember as well, that with the people doing B2B's as mentioned above, some people could be staying in Whittier even though it is a pretty remote town, or they could have people picking them up, so they all may not be trying to get an excursion or a transfer. Like said above, transfers are usually pretty easy to do. If it makes you feel more comfortable, call NCL and ask them to add the transfer on to your reservation. Then if an excursion does show up that you want to take instead, just cancel the transfer and book the excursion. That way, even if you are unable to book an excursion before it fills up, your trip to the airport would still be covered.