Alaska cruise departing Whittier 8.30pm - what time is Muster?

[~*Lou*~]

Hello

 

We are on a southbound Alaskan cruise on Coral Princess in June. The cruise departs at 8.30pm from Whittier. Can anyone tell me what time muster will be - I am trying to work out what to do about dinner (MDR? buffet?) and I have 2 children with me so a bit of advance planning is handy.

 

Many thanks

Lou

[StrongMinded1]

Following.  I'm going on this same cruise but in Aug 2020.  I was on the boards looking for info on hotels near Whittier Port and haven't found any info yet, but you pose an interesting question that I'd like to discover the answer to as well. 

-Josie

[idahospud]

We left last year at 8 and had a 7:45 Muster. 

The Inn at Whittier is right there near the dock. 

Here's my blog post from that embarkation day. While it's not on the Coral, it still might answer some of your questions. Do let me know if you have any other questions. I've done this itinerary several times, including on the Coral.

Blog from May 26, 2018:

 

Cruising Alaska on the Golden Princess - Embarkation Day

In 2002 I took a picture when we were in Whittier of something that looked like a hotel. Here's that picture from 16 years ago.

 

On all of our subsequent trips to Whittier I've looked at that building and wondered about it. Wondered if it was a hotel or bed and breakfast or somebody's home. Well, it's a hotel. It's the hotel we stayed in last night, the Inn at Whittier. It was nice staying so close to port for a change. All we had to do is walk just a bit and we would be on the ship. 

Our room

The view at breakfast

 

Embarkation at Whittier should be super easy. Everyone has to come through the tunnel at Whittier to get here. All cars, coaches, and even the trains share the one lane, one way road. You can find my most recent picture of the inside of the tunnel here. It opens for traffic heading out of Whittier on the hour and to Whittier on the half hour. Just time your walk to coincide with no one coming into town and you should be good. Easy peasy if you beat the train passengers. And with no customs to go through (that'll happen after disembarking in Vancouver) it should have been even more easier peasier. But it wasn't. There were two dozen folding chairs in the waiting area for about a dozen of us independent travelers another 300 train passengers. It was a bit of a mess. We all stood in line for close to half an hour before they opened the check in line around 12:30. They really needed that line open before folks started piling off the train.

 

We headed to the buffet for a quick bite before going to the cabin. As reported by someone else, there is a dripping water issue. At least there was in the middle of the Horizon Court where they had a bucket near the pastry section. Not just a slow drip, either. That's the only drip I've seen so far but I haven't wandered far.

 

We are in an interior cabin on the Caribe deck, C737. We just booked this cruise a couple weeks back for a rock bottom price so we won't be complaining too much. Although I might be tempted to say something about that dirty Q-tip hubby found in the nightstand drawer. Yuck.

 

I left hubby to take a nap (after he washed his hands, of course) and I am camped out up in Skywalkers. Such a pretty view of Whittier from up here. The rain has stopped and the sun is out. 

 

Muster Drill is at 7:45 pm tonight and All Aboard is after that at 8:00 pm. Tomorrow is our first scenic cruising day with Yakutat Bay and Hubbard Glacier on the itinerary.

 

Here is the stack of today's first day papers, including the Patter.  

 

[caribill]

Muster will usually be about a half-hour before departure.

 

On the first evening, all dining rooms have open seating, but are not anytime.

 

As passengers board the ship, they are handed a card indicating if they will eat before-muster or after-muster. Those who board first will get the before-muster cards. Once those have all been given out, those arriving will then get the after-muster card.

 

The before-muster seating is timed to be over by muster time. The dining rooms (as well as the buffet and other food venues) will not be open during muster.

 

If you are assigned the after-muster time but need to eat earlier, then the buffet is an option for before-muster dinner.

[Kingofcool1947]

5 hours ago, ~*Lou*~ said:

Hello

 

We are on a southbound Alaskan cruise on Coral Princess in June. The cruise departs at 8.30pm from Whittier. Can anyone tell me what time muster will be - I am trying to work out what to do about dinner (MDR? buffet?) and I have 2 children with me so a bit of advance planning is handy.

 

Many thanks

Lou

Get onboard early.   Suggest the buffet.  Eat before muster.

muster @ 8:00 pm.

Enjoy.

Edited March 13, 2019 by Kingofcool1947