Juneau AJ dock question

Hello, I will be in Juneau on July 13th and ship docking at AJ dock at 7am. I plan to be off the ship as soon as possible and just wondering how long it generally takes to disembark the ship? Should I be waiting by the exit doors like half an hour to an hour in advance?

Do you have an urgent appointment you have to make at 7:15a? Or are you just looking for an early start to your day?

There will be a lot of people who want off the ship the same as you do. but with docking, it is efficient getting off the ship. The hold up is going to be the shuttle buses. They do pretty much run nonstop early in the port day, but there are still going to be waits. If you have a car rental pick up or independent tour- won't be an issue. Avis is quite a distance away, Juneau Car Rental is a 5 minute walk.

Do you have an urgent appointment you have to make at 7:15a? Or are you just looking for an early start to your day?

 

There will be a lot of people who want off the ship the same as you do. but with docking, it is efficient getting off the ship. The hold up is going to be the shuttle buses. They do pretty much run nonstop early in the port day, but there are still going to be waits. If you have a car rental pick up or independent tour- won't be an issue. Avis is quite a distance away, Juneau Car Rental is a 5 minute walk.

My excursion tour guides are going to be waiting for me at the end of the dock at 7:15. I called them yesterday, they said that if I am waiting by the exit by 6:45 then I should be fine getting off no problem

And they are meeting you at AJ dock? "by the exit" is going to be tough, areas are going to be blocked off and you will be told to move along from stairs, lower decks etc.

Key it to find out WHAT dock is going to be open and be above it in the approved staging area. So, take a look early in the morning prior from an upper deck and make sure you aren't on the wrong end of the ship. At the outside of the ramps, go right for independent pick ups, shuttle buses will be lined up on the left and cruise tour buses are in the far right large parking area. Independents are usually inn the back lot behind all the ship tour buses. Shouldn't be difficult to find.

And they are meeting you at AJ dock? "by the exit" is going to be tough, areas are going to be blocked off and you will be told to move along from stairs, lower decks etc.

 

Key it to find out WHAT dock is going to be open and be above it in the approved staging area. So, take a look early in the morning prior from an upper deck and make sure you aren't on the wrong end of the ship. At the outside of the ramps, go right for independent pick ups, shuttle buses will be lined up on the left and cruise tour buses are in the far right large parking area. Independents are usually inn the back lot behind all the ship tour buses. Shouldn't be difficult to find.

Thank you so much budget queen. You sure are a wealth of information :). You sound like a real Alaska pro :). I did look at photos on google on the AJ Dock to familiarize myself with it. The guide said they would be holding up a sign that says my tour name on it. So should be fine. And they provided me with a number to call just in case. But as you mention. It shouldn't be difficult at all :)

Thank you so much budget queen. You sure are a wealth of information :). You sound like a real Alaska pro :). I did look at photos on google on the AJ Dock to familiarize myself with it. The guide said they would be holding up a sign that says my tour name on it. So should be fine. And they provided me with a number to call just in case. But as you mention. It shouldn't be difficult at all :)

Sorry, to clarify. When I said "by the exit" what I meant to say was the guides will be meeting me at the end of the pier

Sorry, to clarify. When I said "by the exit" what I meant to say was the guides will be meeting me at the end of the pier

So I am looking at this picture of the AJD unfortunately this site won't let me upload it. So what you're saying is that the guides will be somewhere near the bigger parking lot on the far right, where the big rectangular roof is?

At that time, there won't be that many lining up to exit the ship. Maybe 15 people. I always get there about 15-20 minutes before the time we are supposed to disembark. You will be off very quickly. No worries.

At that time, there won't be that many lining up to exit the ship. Maybe 15 people. I always get there about 15-20 minutes before the time we are supposed to disembark. You will be off very quickly. No worries.

Thanks Coral. You are absolutely right :). that totally went right over my head that my ship is the first one scheduled to dock that day. So I won't have to worry about crowds :)

Thanks Coral. You are absolutely right :). that totally went right over my head that my ship is the first one scheduled to dock that day. So I won't have to worry about crowds :)

It is more so that most people will not be lining up to get off the ship at 7. Most tours through the ship start later then that and there are only a few that have that early of tours setup.

I have been there at 7:30 waiting to get off for an 8 am docking time and to meet someone in the parking lot. There are 15 or 20 people waiting to get off but that is it. Once they have security setup, everyone is off very quickly.

It is more so that most people will not be lining up to get off the ship at 7. Most tours through the ship start later then that and there are only a few that have that early of tours setup.

 

I have been there at 7:30 waiting to get off for an 8 am docking time and to meet someone in the parking lot. There are 15 or 20 people waiting to get off but that is it. Once they have security setup, everyone is off very quickly.

Oh ok, ya I'm not doing a tour with the cruiseline. I signed up for an independent tour excursion