Tender or Dock in Ketchikan?

[Front Row]

We’re on the Coral in June for a northbound gulf passage.

We have a very early independent excursion scheduled in Ketchikan, can anyone with experience from last year tell me if they docked or had to be tendered?

We are supposed to arrive at 6:30 our excursion pick up time is 7:00. If we tender will we have time to get to the dock in one half hour?

I have checked and there should only be 4 ships in port that day, Ketchikan has four berths, but I was just looking at some photos taken a few years ago and the Coral was at anchor??

I guess it's possible that the berths were added after the photos were taken. Does anyone know?

Thanks

[HJH]

Chances are good for docking if there are only four ships scheduled that day.

[Pia1913]

We’re on the Coral in June for a northbound gulf passage.

We have a very early independent excursion scheduled in Ketchikan, can anyone with experience from last year tell me if they docked or had to be tendered?

We are supposed to arrive at 6:30 our excursion pick up time is 7:00. If we tender will we have time to get to the dock in one half hour?

I have checked and there should only be 4 ships in port that day, Ketchikan has four berths, but I was just looking at some photos taken a few years ago and the Coral was at anchor??

I guess it's possible that the berths were added after the photos were taken. Does anyone know?

Thanks

 

 

 

We were on the Coral last year. Dock.

[gertz]

We have done both. Last time was dock. But your close for either.

[Cruisin' Chick]

You should be getting informational emails from Princess that will tell you which ports you'll be tendering in and which ones you'll be docking at.

 

One thing to be concerned about is if somehow your ship is delayed in getting to port. You may want to keep handy a contact phone number just in case you won't be able to be there on time. And be aware of their cancellation policy (will you be charged even if you don't make the excursion?).

[Front Row]

That's what I love about this board, 4 responses in 10 minutes.

 

Thanks

[SlyOldLady]

Most independant excursion people cater to the cruise ships and will wait for you. I booked one for this coming May and asked the same question and was told not to worry...she'ld wait if the ship was late.

[dunbawn]

http://www.claalaska.com/schedules.html try this site. It'll tell you if your ship is tenderd or docked and which dock it is. I haven't checked in a couple of days so it may not be updated for the year yet but it should be soon.

[Putterdude]

You will dock, there is only one day a week that there are more then 4 ships in port and on that day one of the ships departs before the the 5th arrives.

[Hoyaheel]

2007 we tendered (from Pacific Princess) I just checked my information sheet/packing list from that cruise - sure enough, there were 5 ships in port that day. Though a couple were getting ready to leave as we came in, we still tendered. It was lovely, though - before we reboarded the ship, we sat in a bar on the dock (out on the patio - weather was great) and enjoyed the weather & took a great photo of a seaplane coming in for a landing with our ship in the frame too:D

[FLACRUISER99]

Looks like Dock 4 Ketchikan Packing.

[Front Row]

http://www.claalaska.com/schedules.html try this site. It'll tell you if your ship is tenderd or docked and which dock it is. I haven't checked in a couple of days so it may not be updated for the year yet but it should be soon.

 

Wow thanks Dunbawn, this is great info. What really helped is that it shows that our ship is the first to arrive, which means the others in our excursion will more than likely be from our ship. So if the ship is running late, (unlikely as we have a at sea day before we arrive) the excursion will probably wait for all of us.

 

I can breath a little easier.

 

Thanks again

[NHsnowpup]

Wow thanks Dunbawn, this is great info. What really helped is that it shows that our ship is the first to arrive, which means the others in our excursion will more than likely be from our ship. So if the ship is running late, (unlikely as we have a at sea day before we arrive) the excursion will probably wait for all of us.

 

I can breath a little easier.

 

Thanks again

 

On the Diamond, we were at the last (furthest from the rain gauge) dock when we were in Ketchikan last year. All people were from our ship on an independent excursion and they picked us up right there at the ship so we didn't have to rush up to the rain gauge which is the typical pick up spot. Our tour people let us know this ahead of time. Be sure they have your number and check when disembarking to see if anything has changed. We found that the independents really do a great job of taking care of you and knowing the schedules.

 

Our only snafu were the nimrods (strangers) that were on with us that totally screwed up their times and went shopping first, causing us to sit and WAIT for them. The providers went out of their way to go pick them up and get them to the dock for the start of our excursions. Then they had the gall to complain that they were rushed and didn't have time to shop and eat lunch when we were done.:eek:

 

Enjoy!!! We did the Orca's Cove paddle with a pickup by seaplane for the Misty flight. SeaWind Aviation and Southeast Kayaks were wonderfully fun!!