To many ships in port

[messymarie]

On sept 17 we will be in ketchikan alaska there will be 4 ships in port. How can you tell which ships will dock and which will tender

[Cruise Junky]

Ketchikan can take 4 all docked.

[Colo Cruiser]

On sept 17 we will be in ketchikan alaska there will be 4 ships in port. How can you tell which ships will dock and which will tender

 

What ship?

 

We have been on the Coral before and tendered in Ketchikan.

[Cruise Junky]

What ship?

 

We have been on the Coral before and tendered in Ketchikan.

 

How many were in that day? we were in on the Zuiderdam with the Amsterdam, Golden Princess and Diamond Princess and all were docked.

[Colo Cruiser]

How many were in that day? we were in on the Zuiderdam with the Amsterdam, Golden Princess and Diamond Princess and all were docked.

 

 

There was 4 docked and 2 tendered. :eek:

[Cruise Junky]

There was 4 docked and 2 tendered. :eek:

 

Bloody hell, that must have been fun in town ;)

[Colo Cruiser]

Bloody hell, that must have been fun in town ;)

 

 

You are right, after riding the tender in and seeing the mess we did not stay long and went back.

[Toto2Kansas]

Try the Caribbean with 7 ships in port if you think 4 is bad. lol

[caribill]

Try the Caribbean with 7 ships in port if you think 4 is bad. lol

 

I have seen 11 at Cozumel

[flamomo]

Now that would be horrible. It was bad enough that there were 5 the day we were there!

[georoc01]

I have seen 11 at Cozumel

 

Try that with an El Norte coming through shutting down all of the water based activities.

 

But yes, Ketchikan can dock 4 boats. I'm not sure how to tell who gets that prime spot right in front of the sign though.

 

We were fortunate as the only ship in town during our visit on the Island. The only downside is that some of those jewelry and fur shops decided not to open. Oh well..

[Toto2Kansas]

I have seen 11 at Cozumel

 

Oh My, and here I thought 7 was bad. I 'bow' to the master. lol

[shushu]

What ship?

 

We have been on the Coral before and tendered in Ketchikan.

 

 

there is no more tendering in Ketchikan :)

[LoveThisCruisingThing]

Thank goodness no more tendering in Ketchikan. That was an awfully long trip up the "stairs".

[Colo Cruiser]

Thank goodness no more tendering in Ketchikan. That was an awfully long trip up the "stairs".

 

 

I agree!! :D

 

But never say never about tendering, with too many ships in or 1 extra ship that made an unexpected stop there, tendering is still a possiblity.

[Woobstr112G]

Last October in Barcelona, there were 11 cruise ships in port. Man was it crowded around all the tourist stops.....:eek::eek::eek:

 

Bob

[LoriPhil]

At least with the staggered arrival/departure times it shouldn't be massively crowded.

 

Golden 6 - 12:30

Amsterdam 7 - 13:00

Sapphire 10 - 18:00

Silver Shadow 12:00 - 18:00

Zuiderdam 14:00 - 20:00

[Ula]

The Alaska ports can get crowded, we just returned and there were four ships in Ketchikan. The trick we use is to walk to the furthest point you want to go first. We like to visit Dolly's house and that area. Then make your way back. You tend to avoid crowds.

Ketichikan is a good port for more ships, there is room. Four ships in Skagway, just do a quick walk about and get back on. Elbow to elbow.

[TuxedoMan]

http://alaska.nwcruiseship.org/port_schedules.cfm

This is what I used in May of this year to find who we would be in port with...it made for fun planning:(

[Hlitner]

Lets take a town with a population of about 8,000 souls (Ketchican) and suddenly add more than 10,000 cruise ship passengers. Doesn't that sound like fun? One of my "fondest" memories of cruising in Alaska is seeing the "quaint" little villages with a large "Diamonds International" store (yes, there is one in Ketchican). It is a darn shame what the cruise lines have done to Alaska and its also a shame what Alaska has now done to cruise passengers (cruise Head Tax). Next time we might consider the Norwegian Fjords...which are still unspoiled.

 

Hank

[woodofpine]

I've not cruised Alaska - but this thread is discouraging it versus a land trip. Diamonds International - gag me... jewelry and art sales, cruisers can be such predictable Saps (no wonder Phillip holds us in such low regard).

 

The poster mentioning 11 ships in Barcelona (I suppose Las Ramblas was Las Cruiselas) can at least console that 20,000-30,000 cruisers are better absorbed by a city of a couple of million than 5-10 ships in little places. Grand Caymen is regularly elbow to elbow in town... bummer what cruiselines are on one level. The Wal-Mart of vacationing...

[LoriPhil]

One of the key reasons we've twice booked the Northbound Coral is that with it's Monday departures, normally it's the only large ship in Skagway (NB Island is usually the same). We essentially have the town to ourselves, which is important to us since it's our favorite port.

[Ula]

LoriPhil,

That is nice to hear, Skaway is a wonderful town. Something I learned our last trip, they have removed some of the original stores and replaced them in similar style, the parks demanded that, for jewelry stores.

I do not jewelry shop on vacation. But it did explain some of the changes I noted over the years.

[Holgerdanske]

We stopped in Haynes rather than Skagway. Just us, (Sea Princess). The largest store in town is the local grocery store. We went to the hardware store, interesting to see the old fasioned bins of nails and srews sold by weight :). Basically an untouched, (still) small town. The locals say it is a "drinking town with a fishing problem" :D. Folks came over from Skagway on the "fast" ferry to get away from the crowds there, (4 ships). There are no Diamonds International or any other tourist shops for that matter in Haynes. A wonderful experience.