Last minute itinerary change, what to do in Sitka?

[jamminlion]

NCL has cancelled Skagway on us (not happy at all). Have never researched Sitka. Need some ideas for last minute things to do. Family of 4 with to girls. Nothing too adventurous.

[AKStafford]

Sitka is a beautiful town.

There's this: http://www.fortressofthebear.org/ . And more ideas here: http://www.sitka.org/

[sreed41]

Check out the Fortress of the Bear and the Raptor Center (I can't remember the exact name of it). Both would be interesting for your girls. It's gotten very good reviews from many people on the boards. We're doing those when we go to Sitka in a few weeks.

[jamminlion]

Most excellent. Thank you!

[DougH]

A walk thru the Totem Pole park and a visit to the Raptor center would be my first suggestions. Haven't visited in a while but it was the last of the unspoiled by the large jewelry stores Alaska ports. Just a nice normal little town

[Budget Queen]

https://www.nps.gov/sitk/index.htm

 

 

If you have a long port day, Sitka is very walkable to most of these sites mentioned above. Fortress of the Bears does run a bus from the dock. There also is a loop shuttle bus (used to be an all day pass, verify what it is now?) that goes to the Raptor Center and NPS's.

 

There is also the Archangels Dancers which some people do enjoy. http://www.newarchangeldancers.com/index.html

[xlxo]

NCL has cancelled Skagway on us (not happy at all). Have never researched Sitka.

Was there any reason provided why Skagway is being substituted?

[Northern Aurora]

If I was on a cruise which substituted Sitka for Skagway I would be very happy indeed. I much prefer Sitka to Skagway.

 

In addition to the suggestions already made I would add a visit to the Russian Bishop's House (operated by the National Park Service).

 

The National Park Service also operates the Sitka National Historical Park, which is commonly referred to as Totem Pole Park.

 

Loved Budget Queen's charitable comment about the New Archangel Dancers. It has been a number of years since I've seen them, and so would hope that the troupe has changed and improved.

[Budget Queen]

 

Loved Budget Queen's charitable comment about the New Archangel Dancers. It has been a number of years since I've seen them, and so would hope that the troupe has changed and improved.

 

to expand on my recommendation- this is not a theatrical production. The expression is genuine and linked very much to each person's pride in their heritage. I greatly valued the "realness", and enjoyed the show.

[spedrson]

I'm curious... when do you sail and how did they let you know about the port change? We leave in 3 weeks on the Sun, northbound from Vancouver, and wondering what the odds are that we'll get switched from Skagway to Sitka as well.

[zqvol]

Sitka is our favorite AK port. There is so much to do. The raptor center is great, as is the park with the totems, the Russian Bishop's house, the Cathedral, and the Fortress of the Bear, just to name a few things. The snorkeling is also really good.

[bambilin]

NCL has cancelled Skagway on us (not happy at all). Have never researched Sitka. Need some ideas for last minute things to do. Family of 4 with to girls. Nothing too adventurous.

 

Did they change the itinerary while you were on board or notify you prior to sailing?

 

We sail 8/26 and have a private excursion for 27 booked in Skagway. Yikes!

 

 

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[tracyktn]

Sitka is beautiful, I love all the islands that dot the coast there. Allen Marine offers great tours and we have done kayaking in Sitka check out Sitka Sound Ocean Adventures.

[Khgator]

It sure would have been nice if NCL notified us ;-). We embark tonight, 6/20, and we were notified by independent excursion vendors in Skagway a few days ago. I am guessing that most of the passengers do not know, unless they have found out as they boarded today.

 

 

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[bambilin]

It sure would have been nice if NCL notified us ;-). We embark tonight, 6/20, and we were notified by independent excursion vendors in Skagway a few days ago. I am guessing that most of the passengers do not know, unless they have found out as they boarded today.

 

 

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Wow! That sounds awfully strange! Not good at all! Good luck with whatever you decide and let us know what reason they gave you!

[3Fluffies]

Wow! That sounds awfully strange! Not good at all! Good luck with whatever you decide and let us know what reason they gave you!

 

Seconding this - I would love to know the reason. That seems like a drastic change that would need a pretty compelling reason - since it would result in a lot of headaches for NCL too. Hope your trip is great nonetheless!

Edited June 21, 2016 by 3Fluffies

[BenCoudon]

Did they change the itinerary while you were on board or notify you prior to sailing?

 

We sail 8/26 and have a private excursion for 27 booked in Skagway. Yikes!

 

 

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I was on that NCL cruise on June 20 southbound to Vancouver. Not only they changed port but also moved the stop at Juneau to a day later.

 

The first time I heard about the cancellation of Skagway and replacement by Sitka was Wednesday June 15. I was on the train from Denali to Anchorage when a woman told me that she received an email from her travel agent informing her of the changes. The same night, I went to the NCL website but found nothing there. Initial itinerairy was still shown.

Like most passengers, I found out about it at the time we boarded the ship on June 20. There gave us a letter saying: Due to maintenance to our water production systems, we need to make those changes. No further explanations why that work couldn't be done in the scheduled ports.

It turned out that the ship experienced additional problems in Sitka and instead of departing at 5:00pm, we left at 11h00 pm. Because of that, they had to rework the schedule again and cancel the cruise at one glacier. For that last event, they gave an onboard credit of $100.00 per room (non-refundable credit that is)

 

So given the reason of the schedule change, I don't think it will affect the subsequent sailings (southbond, Seward to Vancouver)

[bambilin]

Thanks! I did not realize the ship, we are actually sailing the Pearl round trip Seattle.

 

Hope you still had a great cruise!

[karoo]

I think it's to do with the water dispersement-since dry dock they have to go further out to the Pacific Ocean to disperse the water. I did read the explanation of why on a trip review, but not being an engineer I didn't have a clear understanding.