Overcrowded Alaska Ports - Yes or No?

[kodykatt]

There seems to be several ships in port at one time with potentially thousands of people getting off the ships at about the same time. From those of you who have cruised Alaska, is this a problem? Are tours very crowded as well as local attractions and shops? This will certainly not keep me from going to Alaska next year but just curious. Thanks.

[Yukon]

On a 4 or 5-ship day, the ports and shops are extremely crowded. But that may just be crowded by my standards - I think that 4 cars in a row is a traffic jam :D

 

Murray

[irislady]

In late August-early Sept. of 03 we were always in port with 2-4 other large ships. The towns always seemed busy, but the crowds were usually spread out. Occasionally a small shop would be packed with people, so we would return to it later. Every person we met who lived in Alaska was friendly, courteous and patient which made the whole experience so much nicer than it might have been elsewhere. We go back in less than 10 weeks and are really looking forward to it!

Shae

[Landlubber54]

In looking at the port schedules at the attached link, I can see that there will be two other ships in Sitka that same day we are there. But we get there two hours before the second one arrives and six hours ahead of the third. Probably not a bad day.

 

I can also see that Juneau will be a virtual zoo the morning we arrive there. Five ships are scheduled to be in port by 8:00 am. We don't have anything scheduled until 10:30 so, hopefully, we will be able to handle that mass of humanity.

 

And in Ketchikan, we will be one of five ships in port that day. However we will not arrive until after the scheduled departure of two of the ships, and just one hour before a third is scheduled to depart. We'll see.

 

Regardless of the crowds, we will have a good time (or else:cool: ).

 

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

[Budget Queen]

Absolutely!!!!!!!! The ports are exploding with tourists, so many so, I have to get out of town. :) It's common to unload over 10,000 passengers, this is a significant number, and nothing like when I first started sailing in 1994. Ships are twice the size. So bottom line, have plans and reservations MADE in advance of your trip, gone are the days where you can pick up tours on the dock (except city bus tours, shuttles).

[Landlubber54]

Whether through HAL or on my own (did it both ways), our shore excursions are already booked. Just one less thing to fret about while cruising.:cool:

[Hate 2 W8t]

Wow! Don't know if it is due to the lateness in the season, but Sun Princess will be the only boat in Skagway for my cruise. Same with Glacier Bay and College Fjords. Only one of four in Juneau and Ketchikan. :D Woo-hoo!

 

Thanks for the link. Hadn't thought to check how many other ships would be around. Great information!!!

[Landlubber54]

I think that I have read that only HAL and Princess have access to Glacier Bay (and a couple of other places; College Fjord?). We, too, will be alone going through College Fjord, but we will have to share Glacier Bay with the Amsterdam. I guess we'll manage.:rolleyes:

[Hate 2 W8t]

Landlubber,

 

I watched the Ryndam pull out of San Diego on Saturday as my miniscule whale watching vessel came in to dock. It was beautiful! Then...the Oosterdam cruised by. WOW! That is a huge ship! I am on the Sun Princess, which I believe to be about the same size as the Ryndam. Looks just right to me! :D

[GloriaF]

We'll all have to be friendly and courteous to one another. What a mass of humanity! It's a shame, as this is not a true Alaska experience.

[Landlubber54]

Hate:

 

Looks like the Sun Princess is a tweener. Here are the stats:

 

MS Oosterdam -- 85K Tons; 951' long; 1850 pax

Sun Princess -- 77K Tons; 856' long; 1950 pax

MS Ryndam -- 55K Tons; 720' long; 1260 pax

 

Either way, I think we will each have a great time seeing Alaska. Looks like you're northbound. We will be southbound, about a month earlier. We'll leave some salmon for you. :)

 

I had read on an earlier post -- and saw the picture proof -- that the two HAL ships were in SD. In the picture, the O'dam looked HUGE.

[Coral]

Last year on the Dawn Princess - we were the only ship in Ketchikan and it was heavenly! No crowds.

 

Otherwise, get as far out of town and enjoy that scenary in Alaska!

[maker102]

How do you tell how many ships will be in the different towns on any specific day? That is without checking each cruise line. Is there a schedule anywhere? Thanks

[GloriaF]

Here are a couple of sites that I've found posted on various threads on this board:

 

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

 

I couldn't find the other one bookmarked, I must have deleted it - I think it is http://www.cruisecal.com

[Gardyloo]

So here's Skagway, pop. 750 or so, with 4 (occasionally 5) 2000-passenger ships in port. What do you think it will be like?

[OnlyMe]

Oh Boy! I've just realised that there will be 4 Other ships in port with us in Juneau and 3 others with us in Skagway!!

 

I guess it's a good job we will be whale watching with Captain Larry and doing the helicoptes glacier landing in Juneau and we are planning on the white pass in Skagway.

[travelgirl87]

We found that the towns weren't that crowded early in the day (while most folks were off on excursions outside town) but they did get overrun in some places in late afternoon once the ship-booked excursions ended.

 

For example, I have some great "in-town" Skagway pictures taken early in the morning with just a handful of people out and about. Later on in the day, the crowds were so large that I didn't even bother taking snapshots of town.

 

Also remember that even though the year-round population is small in places like Ketchikan and Skagway, they are well equipped to deal with large summertime crowds so lines won't be as long as you might fear.

[ScrapHappy05]

Travelgirl87 has a really good point! If we have a choice of 2 departure times for a tour, would you say it's better to see the town in the morning and then do the afternoon sightseeing tour away from town? I never thought of that.

[Mary Ellen]

We were most recently in Ketchikan in May 2003. It was so crowded in town that we quickly gave up and returned to the ship. Skagway was great and Juneau was 'busy'.

[mii]

When we were in Sitka in 2003 there wee 4 other ships besides us. Now Sitka is small and boy was it crowded. Next month I will be on my third trip and and have already checked out the port schedule and the most we will have is a total of 3 in Juneau. The rest of the stops are either 1 or 2 ships. Not bad.

 

marilyn

[Xoe]

Back in the 90's we were on the little old now-retired Island Princess for an 11-day northbound itinerary, and at most ports we were the only ship in port (Skagway was the exception -- one other ship was there). Things have changed!

 

Last year we were on Coral Princess for her first cruise of the season, northbound, and that was great; except for one port, we were the only ship docked. We did a b2b, and as we returned southbound the ports were much more crowded. What a difference!

 

A recommendation would be to book one of the first or last cruises of the season for a better experience of these small Alaska towns. This year we're going again, a last-minute booking of the 5/15 Sapphire Princess R/T Seattle, and I see ports will be busy. It is Sapphire's first Alaska sailing of the season, but others ships start earlier. We're mentally prepared so it should be okay; our motto this year iis "The Ship Is The Trip".

[bearbait]

Ketchikan can get very crowded. Especially on Thursdays. There are rope barriers and crossing guards to prevent people from crossing in the middle of

the street. Cross only at the crosswalks. Do not climb or crawl over the rope

barriers to cross in the middle of the street. That is just plain lazy and rude.

Before they had the crossing guards and barriers, tourist were getting hit

by cars or trucks every week. While it is a wonderful port city with tons of

things to do, see and enjoy, regular folks also live and work there.

 

It always makes for an interesting afternoon to go down to the dock and sit

on the bench by the crossing guards. We would take bets on who was gonna

crawl over the rope and try to cross in the middle of the street. Usually it was

someone that wasn't in the best physical shape who wanted to save walking an extra 50 feet to the crosswalk. Sad.

 

Okay, that was my pet peeve. Now go out there, embrace the Last Frontier and have a good time......

[GloriaF]

Yep! it's one of my pet peeves too.

 

I checked our calendar, when I'm on the Coral Princess, we'll be in K on Thurs 5/26 with 5 other ships, so lots of people! I hope they are all friendly and polite. :) When we were out west driving in 2003, I stopped and took a picture of one of the highway signs that said "Drive Friendly". I loved it!

[Yukon]

>>I checked our calendar, when I'm on the Coral Princess, we'll be in K on Thurs 5/26 with 5 other ships<<

 

I'm there on the Radiance that day. I HATE crowds, so maybe I'll just enjoy the jacuzzi on the ship that day. I can take the ferry down to actually see the town :)

 

Murray

[camaj]

thanks for the link to the port schedules. That was very helpful. Every port we have at least three other ships with us, but I'm used to crowds so it shouldn't bother me. Let's hope not anyways. :)