Fly in to Anc same day as embrkation?

[sunviking90]

Hi there,

Living in Vancouver we have done a number of Alaska cruises, but never the one way southbound or northbound. I'm thinking of doing a southbound,this summer. I notice the cruises seem to leave later in the evening from Seward/Whittier than we are used to from Vancouver. I always follow the rule to fly in a day early for cruises, but I'm thinking maybe as the ships leave so late in the evening this isn't necessary? What time would you all suggest would be the latest we could arrive at ANC? I'm really not interested in spending time in Alaska before the cruise.

[mapleleaves]

It depends on how you plan on getting to Seward or Whittier. They are both a distance away from Anchorage, so you would need to coordinate your flight with the departure time of the train, bus, cruise transfer, independent transfer.

Driving a rental car provides the most flexibility however one way rentals are pricey and vendors limited: Seward is Hertz and Whittier is Avis.

[Ashland]

An option might be:

 

www.alaskacruisetransfer.com.

 

This private transfer bus leaves ANC at 2:30pm and arrives at the Seward port right next to where the ship docks at approx 5:00pm. We have used this company when arriving from a cruise into Seward and needed to be at ANC early for a same day flight home. They also serve Whittier. Great reliable service.

Edited June 29, 2015 by Ashland

[Budget Queen]

I would be totally dependent on the transfer- as mentioned above. So, take a look at those options first, then back up your arrival time, I would suggest- 3 hours prior to the last available.

 

It takes 3 hours to get to Seward, 1 1/4 + tunnel waits for Whittier.

It would also be a one shot deal, if something happens with your flight, there won't be other options, same with misdirected luggage.

[sunviking90]

Thank you everyone for your replies. I have a little bit better idea now of how to plan this.

[agabbymama]

I live in Southern California and have taken two HAL trips to Alaska.

 

The first was a Southbound cruise only. I booked the cruise with HAL air & transfer. They flew us in the day of embarkation. We indeed had a 3 hour bus ride to Seward arriving approximately 5:00 pm for an 8:00 pm sailing.

 

The 2nd trip was a cruisetour from Vancouver Northbound, but again with HAL air & transfer booked, they flew us in on embarkation day to Vancouver.

 

Being on the West Coast, I wasn't overly concerned with flying in on embarkation day, with HAL flights and transfers. Of course things can always happen, but our plans went without a hitch.

[CanadianDee]

Glad you posted. We are looking at an Alaska cruise and figured the late sail would allow to fly in same day.

 

But. We have always flown in the day before. IRL I'm obsessive about being early for ... well, everything. I think I'll stick to my flying in the day before. :)

[dcdisney]

We are doing a tour on the Friday before our cruise and the tour operator routinely starts their afternoon tour at 3 but they recently called and they have had to change it this year to 1:30 because there are a few places on the highway that goes from Anchorage to Whittier and Seward where they are doing construction and only one way of traffic passes at a time. They were getting to the wildlife center and glacier boat tour an hour later than expected so some guests were missing one of the two highlights of the tour. I would plan for PLENTY of time both for air delays and land delays though if you use the cruise line transfer they would theoretically wait for you.

[Van1982]

Air Canada has a Vancouver to anchorage flight during the summer that arrives at 3:58 to conveniently arrive by the 4pm cutoff many cruise lines have. Embarkation is often 8 or 8:30pm. Anchorage to Whittier is 1.5-2 hrs (depending on tunnel traffic). To be safe, we book the airfare and shuttle from the cruise line...it's worth a little more ($50) to book through the cruise line to have next port protection.

Edited July 19, 2015 by Van1982

[kennicott]

I would stick with your original rule, fly in at least a day ahead. We usually try for two days ahead in a nice hotel, but the minimum being one and we never attempt to fly the day we sail.

 

Reason--Any little thing goes wrong and you may be looking at your ship "hull down on the horizon" as you reach the pier. In addition, sailing out of Central Alaska is not like on the Caribbean where you can catch a flight to the next port and board the next day, you may find yourself missing half the voyage and sights.

 

Little things include: Delayed or canceled flights, terror threats closing airports, traffic stoppages on the Seward Highway---for hours and hours due to avalanches-rock and snow or major traffic accidents, wash outs like bridge approaches, etc. Not to mention lost or misplaced luggage.

 

Nope, just the thought of it all gives me the willies so travel early, relax and enjoy.

[laughing husky]

went fishing on the Kenai the other day......before the Kenai/Homer turnoff, there were at least 3 road work stoppages.....they change daily, but I might want to tack on extra time if you are leaving out of Seward....several of the lanes had no pavement on them as they are repairing them......Going towards Whittier only had one this past week....Who knows what it might be when you are here....:) A day early? always a great idea...

[Lazy K]

I must agree with my fellow Alaskans, Laughing Husky and Kennicott. Arrival one day early, at a minimum, is highly recommended. All kinds of potential delays exist and on a southbound cruise from Whittier on Princess you will miss both Hubbard Glacier and Glacier Bay if you miss the ship.

 

Transferring on the train eliminates the road delay issues but the train leaves early in the morning. You need to arrive the day prior to make this work. We joke that we have two seasons in Alaska: Winter and Construction. It is not winter right now so the potential for traffic congestion and construction delays is very high.

[prchoudh]

I don't like to leave things to chance so IMO I always go in the day before. There are too many factors and I'm always the person that doesn't like to stress over things.

 

One of my friends left today for an Alaskan cruise. His flight was delayed for over 4 hours last night. Potentially that might have screwed things up if it was on the same day.

 

 

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