Ward Cove Ketchikan

[Cruiser933]

I would love to hear from someone who has been to the new NCL cruise terminal in Ketchikan. Are there any outside excursion vendors there? How easy is it to get to town?

[CruisinMama2003]

1 hour ago, Cruiser933 said:

I would love to hear from someone who has been to the new NCL cruise terminal in Ketchikan. Are there any outside excursion vendors there? How easy is it to get to town?

There is currently a Live Review being done by BirdTravels and the last couple of pgs discuss their visit there today. You can also ask any question there as the Bird is great at responding with lots of info 👍

[Cruiser933]

12 minutes ago, CruisinMama2003 said:

There is currently a Live Review being done by BirdTravels and the last couple of pgs discuss their visit there today. You can also ask any question there as the Bird is great at responding with lots of info 👍

Thanks!

[udivegirl]

Are there taxis at the new pier in Ketchikan?

[deliver42]

There was a video somewhere in this forum, and i believe there is a shuttle to town for $8.00.

[BirdTravels]

On 8/12/2021 at 10:30 PM, Cruiser933 said:

I would love to hear from someone who has been to the new NCL cruise terminal in Ketchikan. Are there any outside excursion vendors there? How easy is it to get to town?

No outside vendors. 
 

There are unconfirmed reports that if you book your own excursion, those vendors are not allowed to pick up at Ward Cove. 
 

I don’t know that I have ever seen a taxi in Ketchikan. And no taxis at the dock. 
 

Shuttle to town is $8 roundtrip. It is about 7 miles and 20 minutes to town. 

Edited August 15, 2021 by BirdTravels

[KruzPrincess]

Where does the shuttle drop off and pick up in Ketchikan? 

[World Juggler]

We were there on the 8/7 Encore. We didn't see outside tours taking new reservations, but we were picked up/dropped off by the independent tour that we pre-booked. 

[lmom1]

We were on the 8/7 Encore cruise.  Ketchikan was a disaster. The ship docked over an hour late.  A line to buy bus passes and then another line to board the busses quickly built up to over 2 hours.  By the time we got there, they had waved the $8 fee and brought in more drivers.  The ride is 20 minutes and dropped us off right in front of the Holland America ship docked conveniently in Ketchikan.  We had less than 1.5 hours to do anything.  

If you didn't have an excursion booked through NCL, then you were in trouble.  With arriving late, many with excursions through NCL were hosed, too.

I do expect it to get better, but unless you book directly through Norwegian, then you will still have at least 40 minutes less time to explore.

[AtlantaCruiser72]

NCL build a new pier a significant distance away from the town centre

NCL don’t allow third party taxi/tour operators to set up/sell tours from their facility

NCL charge guests using their facility $8 to get to town and back

 

Nope, not a cash grab by NCL at all, not one bit…..

[hwatsonnia]

On 8/12/2021 at 8:41 PM, CruisinMama2003 said:

There is currently a Live Review being done by BirdTravels and the last couple of pgs discuss their visit there today. You can also ask any question there as the Bird is great at responding with lots of info 👍

Today is the first day of the new ketchikan dock. I waited 1 1/2 hours in a line to take a bus into town. Still not on the bus. This port is so far away from town that you cannot do anything here and there are no private cars or taxis to support the thousands of people waiting to leave this stupid building. We finally called a cab and the six of us took a cab into town. $40. The Holland America ship parks right here in town. I would not take another Norwegian ship to Alaska if Ketchikan is on the itinerary. The captain was on the dock for an inauguration ceremony and I told him what’s up. He had no idea what a disaster with the shuttle buses. Many people complaining and what a wasted day. Don’t take Norwegian to Alaska Don’t take Norwegian to Alaska. Don’t take. Norwegian to Alaska. 

[CruisinMama2003]

17 minutes ago, hwatsonnia said:

Today is the first day of the new ketchikan dock. I waited 1 1/2 hours in a line to take a bus into town. Still not on the bus. This port is so far away from town that you cannot do anything here and there are no private cars or taxis to support the thousands of people waiting to leave this stupid building. We finally called a cab and the six of us took a cab into town. $40. The Holland America ship parks right here in town. I would not take another Norwegian ship to Alaska if Ketchikan is on the itinerary. The captain was on the dock for an inauguration ceremony and I told him what’s up. He had no idea what a disaster with the shuttle buses. Many people complaining and what a wasted day. Don’t take Norwegian to Alaska Don’t take Norwegian to Alaska. Don’t take. Norwegian to Alaska. 

Wow what a nightmare! I cant imagine what it would be like with a FULL ship of passengers 🥴 Thanks for this info! 

[udivegirl]

This is really disappointing.  All 3 port dockings  are located out of town on our Alaskan cruise and require the ship's shuttle.  I would have booked a different cruise line had I know this.

[KruzPrincess]

This is upsetting. 

[ChiefMateJRK]

Disaster?  Nightmare?  Really folks??

[Old & Retired]

Pretty disgraceful of NCL to do this to their customers.  The brochure reads Ketchikan, not 7 miles away from Ketchikan.  Then to charge their customers 8 bucks to hopefully get a bus ride into town, after waiting hours is truly pathetic.  Thousands of people standing around in an old broken down building with literally nothing to do.  Grand!

Edited August 16, 2021 by Old & Retired

[Cruiser933]

NCL needs to update their excursion descriptions. Many say they are a short walk from the ship, which is no longer true.

[bbnmom]

The last cruise we took was to Alaska and Ketchikan was great. I absolutely will not book any cruise line that doesn't dock right there in Ketchikan after reading all of this info. Odds are NCL will wise up to the mistake they made with this one unless they build a high speed rail or help develop the area.

 

[aubreyc1988]

8 hours ago, Old & Retired said:

Pretty disgraceful of NCL to do this to their customers.  The brochure reads Ketchikan, not 7 miles away from Ketchikan.  Then to charge their customers 8 bucks to hopefully get a bus ride into town, after waiting hours is truly pathetic.  Thousands of people standing around in an old broken down building with literally nothing to do.  Grand!

Have you ever taken a western med cruise? The ship normally docks SO far away from the towns.  7 miles is nothing.  

[aubreyc1988]

9 hours ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

Disaster?  Nightmare?  Really folks??

Right? I mean, as a business owner, I can appreciate the intelligence on this haha!  Yeah, it is inconvenient for the independent tour operators, but it is still doable. And 8.00 pp in the grand scheme of vacation cost isn't the end of the world. 

 

Idk, covid has made me a lot more flexible when it comes to things like this. I am just happy to be alive and cruising soon I suppose

[robcolem]

Do the NCL booked excursions in Ketchikan include transportation to/from Ward Cove?

[Shellbelle28]

 I think the thing that makes me salty is that they bring you in to port at a location where there are no options for local transportation. If you want to go to town, you have to use the NCL shuttle and you have to pay for it. Sure, it's just $8pp, but when there isn't any other choice, cheaper or more expensive, that's frustrating. No, I'm not going to "never sail NCL" because of it, but I think it is not the best example of customer service. 

[ChiefMateJRK]

25 minutes ago, robcolem said:

Do the NCL booked excursions in Ketchikan include transportation to/from Ward Cove?

Didn't we see excursion busses at Ward Cove in some of the photos from last week's cruise?  I got the impression that it is only the independent excursions that *may* be impacted based on early reports.

[ChiefMateJRK]

1 hour ago, aubreyc1988 said:

Right? I mean, as a business owner, I can appreciate the intelligence on this haha!  Yeah, it is inconvenient for the independent tour operators, but it is still doable. And 8.00 pp in the grand scheme of vacation cost isn't the end of the world. 

 

Idk, covid has made me a lot more flexible when it comes to things like this. I am just happy to be alive and cruising soon I suppose

 Yep.  Making things less convenient for their competition is certainly good business.   We've had at least one outstanding first hand report from last week's cruise, and despite reading all the threads 100% I don't recall seeing any real reports of poor cruisers "waiting around for hours with 1000s of other people" for a short/cheap bus ride into town in order to shop for jewelry, souvenirs and other crap that most of us don't want or need.  Some folks just like to complain.  They post in the NCL forum and just about every post is somehow focused on the evil that NCL has become.  The good news is that I likely won't run into them on the Encore later this fall.  😎

[wacruiselover]

2 minutes ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

Some folks just like to complain.  They post in the NCL forum and just about every post is somehow focused on the evil that NCL has become.  The good news is that I likely won't run into them on the Encore later this fall.  😎

My thoughts exactly! We're excited about our September 4 sailing and if it costs us the price of a drink to go to the older part of town to see some of Creek Street, I think we can afford it. As a side note, we have a very good friend who used to work at the old pulp mill.