Question: Port in Sitka

I usually visit Sitka every year, whether on a cruise ship, AMHS ferry, or plane. I did miss being there in all of 2017, however, and now I have read about folks taking a shuttle into town from the port. Port??????

Do ships no longer anchor and tender? Do all ships use the port or just some? From what I have read, this new port apparently must be far out Halibut Point Road by the AMHS ferry terminal. Are the shuttles free, or do they charge as in Victoria,B.C.? Wow, miss one year in 25 and everything changes!:eek::eek:

Thanks for any information.

I usually visit Sitka every year, whether on a cruise ship, AMHS ferry, or plane. I did miss being there in all of 2017, however, and now I have read about folks taking a shuttle into town from the port. Port??????

Do ships no longer anchor and tender? Do all ships use the port or just some? From what I have read, this new port apparently must be far out Halibut Point Road by the AMHS ferry terminal. Are the shuttles free, or do they charge as in Victoria,B.C.? Wow, miss one year in 25 and everything changes!:eek::eek:

Thanks for any information.

Like you, I was used to the tendering in Stika but this May I experienced the new port that is a 20-minute free shuttle bus ride to the town Visitors Center.

Many of the water excursions leave from the new pier but many also leave from the old tender docks.

Thank you, Crew News. Never thought I would see the day!

The dock at Sitka is not new. We were in Sitka several days ago (I am posting from the Celebrity Millennium in the Bering Sea as we head to Japan) and Celebrity docks when in Sitka. I just checked our cruise history and in 2013 we also docked.

If my memory is correct it was privately built. It is five or six miles out of downtown on the road to the AMHS ferry terminal. There are several shops in the dock terminal. Celebrity runs continual shuttles to the Harrigan Center downtown.

The dock at Sitka is not new. We were in Sitka several days ago (I am posting from the Celebrity Millennium in the Bering Sea as we head to Japan) and Celebrity docks when in Sitka. I just checked our cruise history and in 2013 we also docked.

 

If my memory is correct it was privately built. It is five or six miles out of downtown on the road to the AMHS ferry terminal. There are several shops in the dock terminal. Celebrity runs continual shuttles to the Harrigan Center downtown.

Thank you Aurora. Hey, when one is 70 years old, something that's "only" 5 years old is new!

We were there in May 2017 and were docked and another ship was anchored in the harbor downtown and the passengers tendered. They have expanded the dock so 2 ships can now dock at the same time. Based on the article at this link, Sitka may be sadly as crowded as some of the other ports soon.

http://www.cliaalaska.org/2018/03/new-cruise-ship-berth-added-sitka-dock/

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Thanks so much JT! Very interesting article. I never minded tendering in Sitka, but onward and upward, I guess. I remember the furor over building the "new" O'Connell lightering dock. Right after that, fewer cruise ships called at Sitka. I can only imagine what the port construction did to the local gossip. I am anxious to see it, as I am taking the AMHS out of Sitka in November. Best I can guess is that the new port is out there close to the ferry terminal.

Thanks again for your help.

Thanks so much JT! Very interesting article. I never minded tendering in Sitka, but onward and upward, I guess. I remember the furor over building the "new" O'Connell lightering dock. Right after that, fewer cruise ships called at Sitka. I can only imagine what the port construction did to the local gossip. I am anxious to see it, as I am taking the AMHS out of Sitka in November. Best I can guess is that the new port is out there close to the ferry terminal.

Thanks again for your help.

The cruise dock is indeed between the AMHS dock and downtown.

It is a privately owned pier that some cruise lines choose to pay to use. I would rather tender directly into downtown than have to ride a bus from the pier. (Lived in Sitka myself until a couple years ago).

We will be on the Ovation in May and our itinerary shows that we will tender.

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