Shuttle busses in Alaska Ports

[rnr4thatsme]

I've been reading about nightmare line-ups for shuttle busses in some of the Alaska ports such as Sitka (if it's a bigger ship using the out of town dock) and Ketchikan (if sailing on NCL to Ward Cove).  How does one find out if the ship one is considering drops you off in town where you can just walk to the town, or away and you need a shuttle?    Especially for the following ports - Juneau, Skagway, Icy Straight Point...  The thought of standing in line for an hour for a shuttle does not seem appealing.  We are having to sail in July or August, as well, so the ships will probably be full (friend is a teacher).

[SbbquilterUT]

Juneau you are in town and it is easily walkable unless mobility is an issue as it is an uphill trudge or you can walk along the waterfront at pier level.  Skagway - when they were rebuilding due to the landslide you had to be driven off but last season you could walk it.  And ISP was always walkable though this summer will be our first visit there in many years.  

Edited April 24 by SbbquilterUT

[wolfie11]

Don’t book on NCL or go to Sitka and your problems are solved.

[DogLover]

https://claalaska.com/?page_id=1551

 

This link is for the port schedule Alaska 2024. Click on the port name and then look on the calendar for the date your ship will visit. You will see a berth code ... the main page has a link to all the berth codes. To the best of my knowledge, the majority of ships use the out of town dock in Sitka, now called Sitka Sound Cruise Terminal https://www.sitkadock.com/ . We'll be there on May 8th (Celebrity Solstice) so I'll try to remember to report our experience when we return from our trip.

[Eileen G]

In Juneau make sure the ship you are planning on taking doesn't use the AJ dock. While it is walkable it's quite a walk into town. Royal Caribbean, Celebrity and NCL use this dock. There is a free shuttle. Also in ISP there is a dock that requires a gondola ride that can get a line. There is a walking path that takes maybe 10 minutes. It's a bit up and down and can be an issue if you have mobility issues.

[SightCRR]

Check youtube for last years reviews. It will show you everything you need to know. 

[edinburgher]

Based on only our  two 14 night itineraries onboard HAL ships, Holland America and Princess usually have the best docking locations, or had pre-pandemic, but maybe things have changed since then?

Edited April 26 by edinburgher

[jean-lynd]

Claalaska.com will tell you what dock your ship will be at. Be aware in Skagway if you are at RRF you will be tendered to shore and if you are at RRA you will ride a shuttle. This is because of the land slide there a couple of years ago. This is still in place fir the 2024 season but it may be corrected in future seasons. I hope this helps!

[sherryf]

23 hours ago, jean-lynd said:

Be aware in Skagway if you are at RRF you will be tendered to shore and if you are at RRA you will ride a shuttle. This is because of the land slide there a couple of years ago. This is still in place fir the 2024 season but it may be corrected in future seasons.

Does anyone have an update on this?  I thought it was supposed to be fixed for this season.  We don't go until mid-August, so I'm hoping things are back to normal by then.

[jean-lynd]

27 minutes ago, sherryf said:

Does anyone have an update on this?  I thought it was supposed to be fixed for this season.  We don't go until mid-August, so I'm hoping things are back to normal by then.

No plans for it to be fixed this year per the Mayor of Skagway.

[sherryf]

9 hours ago, jean-lynd said:

No plans for it to be fixed this year per the Mayor of Skagway.

Thanks, it's good to know in advanced so we know what to expect.  We are scheduled to be at RR Foreward.

[Coral]

On 4/25/2024 at 6:36 PM, Eileen G said:

In Juneau make sure the ship you are planning on taking doesn't use the AJ dock. While it is walkable it's quite a walk into town. Royal Caribbean, Celebrity and NCL use this dock. There is a free shuttle. Also in ISP there is a dock that requires a gondola ride that can get a line. There is a walking path that takes maybe 10 minutes. It's a bit up and down and can be an issue if you have mobility issues.

Having used the dock in ISP that used the Gondola - this is incredibly smooth. They can move people extremely quick on this. I never saw more than a few minutes max for a wait time.

[Coral]

On 4/26/2024 at 3:09 AM, edinburgher said:

Based on only our  two 14 night itineraries onboard HAL ships, Holland America and Princess usually have the best docking locations, or had pre-pandemic, but maybe things have changed since then?

Princess often docks at Franklin dock in Juneau. I can't say it is the best location (it isn't bad and extremely walkable) - they dock there so they can hook up to Juneau's power and save energy (so for green reasons). For this, I applaud them. If there are 2 Princess ships, the other ship can dock at various docks.

[Eileen G]

3 hours ago, Coral said:

Having used the dock in ISP that used the Gondola - this is incredibly smooth. They can move people extremely quick on this. I never saw more than a few minutes max for a wait time.

 

Unfortunately we were there when an NCL ship was tendering into that area too so there were two ships using the gondola and the lines were long. Getting the gondola back at 2 was even worse so we walked. 

[Coral]

35 minutes ago, Eileen G said:

 

Unfortunately we were there when an NCL ship was tendering into that area too so there were two ships using the gondola and the lines were long. Getting the gondola back at 2 was even worse so we walked. 

Thanks for the update. We only had one ship but there was never a wait. I was one of the first off and last person back but we had a long day there (I did 2 shore excursions, morning and afternoon). 

Edited April 28 by Coral

[BeasleysMom66]

Well after reading all the comments and looking at the port schedule for my upcoming cruise on the Summit the good news for me is that other than in Icy Straight Point I am on ship excursions so will have priority for debarkation and separate transportation into the towns.  When in ISP the Summit is the only one there that day so there shouldn't be a big wait for the gondola.  We are also the only ship in port in Ketchikan.  Now to just tick of the days on the calendar until I sail!

Edited April 28 by BeasleysMom66
added information

[Northern Aurora]

On 4/25/2024 at 3:36 PM, Eileen G said:

In Juneau make sure the ship you are planning on taking doesn't use the AJ dock. While it is walkable it's quite a walk into town. Royal Caribbean, Celebrity and NCL use this dock. There is a free shuttle. ..........

 

While @Eileen G doesn't state that all Celebrity ships use the AJ dock I hope that no one makes the assumption that all Celebrity ships will be at AJ since specific Celebrity ships deployed in Alaska are not mentioned.  Prior and post pandemic Celebrity ships have also used the Alaska Steam dock.  

 

In 2024 Celebrity will have three different sized ships deployed in Alaska.  Only the Edge is scheduled for the AJ dock.  Both the Summit and Solstice are docked at AS.  

 

Folks can check the Cruise Line Agencies of Alaska website for docking locations at all Alaska ports.

[gknep]

My experience on multiple Alaska cruises on both NCL and Holland America is that Holland America has better docking positions and no shuttles needed. This is especially good for Ketchikan where NCL now docks at Ward Cove and the provided shuttle drops you off at a place that still requires a bit of a walk to the main part of town. This season there are more ships than ever so even Holland America is having to anchor in Ketchikan and use tenders for some of their stops there. I had to tender once in Ketchikan back in 2004 and it wasn't too bad, but I was a lot younger then.