lunch on ship during port days? (ROTS)

[SparkleBee]

I have not really started planning our ports yet but wondered about eating lunch on the ship... It's me and my 2 teens and we will not be doing excursions, except for the AK RR and possibly dog-sledding. as you know, the costs of the trip keeps piling up and even though the cruise is not a lot, it gets pricey when you add in air, hotel, transfers, etc. SO, just wondering if the ports are such that it's convenient to go back to the ship for lunch? possibly we'll be hiking or something and not be able to but just wondering if it's even a decent option to consider... ports are:

 

Ketchikan

ISP

Juneau

Skagway

 

thanks for your input!

[karatemom2]

Well it really does depend what you are doing in those ports. If you are just wandering around the town in Juneau, Ketchikan and Skagway it may be easy enough to go back to the ship for lunch and then return to town, although it can be a long walk depending on where your ship is docked. But if you are any further out you may not want to waste the time it would take to return to the ship eat and then venture out again.

 

ISP is a tender port, so you have to factor that into the equation as well. There really isn't a town so to speak at the port, but a refurbished cannery with a museum and shops as well as a Native Tribal House where there are dance shows and cultural demonstrations. If you take the very scenic walk into Hoonah, the town there, you will be a considerable distance from the ship so would have to factor that distance along with tendering. If you just stay at the small enclave at the port it would likely be more realistic.

 

But all that being said, I would try to maximize your port time even if it meant paying for lunch so as not to waste precious hours running to and from your ship. It's usually easy enough to find an inexpensive lunch with sandwiches and chips at a local deli or market. Hoonah might be the exception to this since it is so small but there is food available at the dock and in town.

[sept10dsm]

Well it really does depend what you are doing in those ports. If you are just wandering around the town in Juneau, Ketchikan and Skagway it may be easy enough to go back to the ship for lunch and then return to town, although it can be a long walk depending on where your ship is docked. But if you are any further out you may not want to waste the time it would take to return to the ship eat and then venture out again.

 

ISP is a tender port, so you have to factor that into the equation as well. There really isn't a town so to speak at the port, but a refurbished cannery with a museum and shops as well as a Native Tribal House where there are dance shows and cultural demonstrations. If you take the very scenic walk into Hoonah, the town there, you will be a considerable distance from the ship so would have to factor that distance along with tendering. If you just stay at the small enclave at the port it would likely be more realistic.

 

But all that being said, I would try to maximize your port time even if it meant paying for lunch so as not to waste precious hours running to and from your ship. It's usually easy enough to find an inexpensive lunch with sandwiches and chips at a local deli or market. Hoonah might be the exception to this since it is so small but there is food available at the dock and in town.

I agree. You are only in the ports for a short time, and some of the docks are a hike now. But if closeby, by all means take advantage of the included food especially with hungry teens! And if a tender port to me not worth going back and using time for that. In my cruises to Alaska we never had a tender but at times even some of the other ports do tender.

[marysb]

When we cruise with our teens, we want make the most of our time onshore, so we usually just have a big breakfast and then just grab a snack to tide us over until we get back on board around 4 or whenever the all aboard time is. Then it's pizza or room service before dinner. We rarely find/make the time on shore to have a sit-down lunch.

 

This works for Alaska or when we are at a Caribbean beach.

 

But last time we were in Ketchikan, we had lots of time to get back on board to get lunch and get out of the rain .... and then go back out shopping:D.

[Ashland]

I have not really started planning our ports yet but wondered about eating lunch on the ship... It's me and my 2 teens and we will not be doing excursions, except for the AK RR and possibly dog-sledding. as you know, the costs of the trip keeps piling up and even though the cruise is not a lot, it gets pricey when you add in air, hotel, transfers, etc. SO, just wondering if the ports are such that it's convenient to go back to the ship for lunch? possibly we'll be hiking or something and not be able to but just wondering if it's even a decent option to consider... ports are:

 

Ketchikan

ISP

Juneau

Skagway

 

thanks for your input!

Just off ROS northbound Alaska and while we prefer to eat in town in these same ports..The last three times on this same cruise RCI Radiance has docked in the same port location.

 

Ketchikan..close easy access

ISP..tender but doable.

Juneau..the best location right across from Mount Roberts Tramway

Skagway..the farthest docking from town at the Rail Road dock.

 

Not sure when your sailing but it's easy to find out the docking locations from each port online...best of luck.

[Nanookz]

One thing we have done in the past is to get pizza or sandwiches from the ship and pack them to take off the ship with us. Not the most glamorous but it does keep the cost down while off the ship.

[ikirumata]

I totally understand if you want to save some money by eating on the ship while in port, especially in Alaska. I didn't find anything in Alaska worth the price for eating in port. There were good/tasty choices, but I thought things were typically overpriced for the tourists. I didn't find that Alaska had a great food tradition anyway, compared to other places, like New England/Canada.

 

I think that every port will allow you to come back to the ship and eat lunch without difficulty, except for Skagway. The walk from town to port is a haul.

 

The Radiance has a really good lunch in the MDR during port days, in particular, the made to order salads.

 

Have a great time!

[sherryf]

One thing we have done in the past is to get pizza or sandwiches from the ship and pack them to take off the ship with us. Not the most glamorous but it does keep the cost down while off the ship.

 

This is NOT allowed in Alaskan ports. You may only take off prepackaged foods, in original packaging.

[SparkleBee]

thanks for your input, everyone. I would ONLY consider going back to the ship for lunch in it was super convenient, which is why I asked. sounds like it might work out for 1 or 2 ports. or not...

 

: )

[Nanookz]

This is NOT allowed in Alaskan ports. You may only take off prepackaged foods, in original packaging.

 

Curious.. Do they scan your bags when you get off the ship in Alaska?

[PandRBarry]

Yes Skagway was a haul BUT they do have a shuttle bus to/from the docks and then a little tram to take you to your ship. Celebrity Millenium was very far away and thank GOD for the little tram because my feet were killing me.

 

We plan to eat on the ship as much as possible this year to reduce the costs. Coral Princess Northbound.

 

They don't scan your bags when you're getting off but they'll make you throw away a cup or bottle if they see you carrying it.

[sherryf]

Curious.. Do they scan your bags when you get off the ship in Alaska?

 

No, they don't scan bags. They announce it, post signs, etc. and expect you to be honest. They have been known to make people throw away something as simple as cups of coffee.

[elainemasey]

We always take some granola/ protein type bars with us. Or those peanut butter/cheese crackers. Just to hold us over until we are back on the ship.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[Nanookz]

No, they don't scan bags. They announce it, post signs, etc. and expect you to be honest. They have been known to make people throw away something as simple as cups of coffee.

 

Is that the same for the Caribbean? If it is I never noticed the signs and I've been on alot of cruises.

[Alberta Quilter]

No, they don't scan bags. They announce it, post signs, etc. and expect you to be honest. They have been known to make people throw away something as simple as cups of coffee.

 

I was not allowed to take coffee in my travel mug off the ship. I was turned away right after they scanned my keycard. Had to be scanned back in so that I could dispose of the illegal coffee. Not a big deal.

 

In Chile, they have dogs to sniff for food...

[sherryf]

Is that the same for the Caribbean? If it is I never noticed the signs and I've been on alot of cruises.

 

I have no first hand experience. As you can see in my signature, I have only cruised Alaska.

 

I have read on these forums that it is not allowed in many countries, and some are quite strict.

[Cheryl H]

For Icy Strait, we went back to the ship for lunch with no problem. We got off the ship in the morning time early enough to check out the cannery display, and we walked the beach down to the restaurant (Landing Zone?) where we walked through and out the back side to watch the zipliners come down. Then we walked the nature trail. Then we returned to the ship for lunch. Went back off the ship in time to meet our 1:00 whale watch with FISHES.

 

We are headed to Alaska again and I've been researching restaurants and prices. Icy Strait does have The Cook Shack that would seem handy and it looked like one meal of fish & chips was about twenty dollars. So we will probably be getting back on the ship for lunch again for that day.

 

However, last time we were in Ketchikan, our tour guide recommended an outdoor fish shack right on the pier for fish and chips. It was cash only so we weren't prepared. But this time we will. I think it's the Alaskan Surf shack and fish & chips appear to be about 12 dollars there. I read on trip advisor that if you mention you read about them on trip advisor, they'd give you an extra piece of fish. Not sure how true that is.

 

Juneau we ate at Twisted Fish in the Taku building and it was fantastic. But I would think it would be really easy to get back on the ship there. I sort of remember the ship being parked near the Twisted Fish because Radiance is in the background out the window of the restaurant in our picture.

 

Skagway we ate at the Skagway Brewery. It was just okay, but packed! Popular place. I agree with the others. It seemed like a long walk here to get back to the ship.

 

Have a great time!!

[JimAOk1945]

We did this same itinerary in August 2012. It was a fantastic cruise. Skagway and Ketchikan are very walkable but it can be very inconvenient and tiring to walk all the way back to the ship and then venture out again. I speak from past experience. :D

Edited June 12, 2014 by JimAOk1945

[agabbymama]

Just be willing to go with the flow. We arrived in Juneau with overcast skies. We walked the town, then it started to pour. Two of us returned to the ship and two decided to go out to Mendenhall (even in the pouring rain).

 

So only you know what you want to do. The two of us that returned to the ship, just had lunch on-board. The two that went to Mendenhall waited for dinner.

 

When we have paid for food during the cruise, we never eat off the ship. We didn't have any excursions booked, we just winged it and were glad we did, as the rain did put a damper on spending time outdoors.

Edited June 13, 2014 by agabbymama

[GeorgiaPeach]

thanks for your input, everyone. I would ONLY consider going back to the ship for lunch in it was super convenient, which is why I asked. sounds like it might work out for 1 or 2 ports. or not...

 

: )

 

 

Just returned from the Radiance May 23rd sailing. With the exception of Skagway which we had a day long tour including lunch, we had all our meals on board the ship. I totally agree that Skagway would be quite a hike to/from the ship but there was a tram running that was free but of course tips were expected and gratefully given after a long day of touring;)

Other ports....

Juneau:Radiance docked right in town. We had a morning tour and it was quite easy to return back to the ship, leave a few tour items in our cabin, have lunch and return to town for a bit of sightseeing.

 

Icy Straight Point: tendered but tenders ran continuously both ways. Have tendered many times in other ports and this was by far the best tender experience. As in Juneau, had just a morning tour so was able to return to the ship, lunch and then return back to look around a bit.

 

Ketchikan: docked right in town. We just toured on our own in the morning, again returned for lunch and then returned for some shopping. The town was very crowded with cruise guests and it was especially nice to return to a relatively quiet ship and recharge our batteries before hitting the pavement some more.

 

Have a great cruise!!!!

[SparkleBee]

fabulous info, thank you for posting. certainly we'll play it by ear but I like to have a rough idea of options.

 

when my brothers and I were in the Baltic we only ate pastries for lunch due to having no time- plus the prices were outrageous. since I'm going with my kids this time I hope to give them something better than baked goods!

[kennicott]

More on taking food off the ships, in Alaska and elsewhere.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2050070