Ward Cove Ketchikan

[BirdTravels]

5 minutes ago, Yo Adrienne said:

We have 3 Alaskan cruises booked...and all of them have very short port times in Ketchikan. 

 

@BirdTravels and @minnievanmommie...any thoughts from one or both of you:  if this will be NCL's new "home" pier in Ketchikan and they'll get top priority...why are their actual port times are so short there...?   (I think we arrive around 7 am, then depart around 1 pm.)

 

And any thoughts on whether they'll eventually extend the times...? 

No reason beyond someone has to have a short day to get the ship to Victoria while there is still a little daylight. It takes time to move the ship at an affordable cost (I.e., the ship can sail a faster and burn fuel, and have no margin for weather (heavy seas or fog like our cruise)). 

[Yo Adrienne]

4 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

No reason beyond someone has to have a short day to get the ship to Victoria while there is still a little daylight. It takes time to move the ship at an affordable cost (I.e., the ship can sail a faster and burn fuel, and have no margin for weather (heavy seas or fog like our cruise)). 

Thank you...! 🙂 

 

I haven't finished reading all of your postings about the cruise on the Encore yet (I'm savoring it cause it's so much fun to read and see all of your pics/descriptions)...so I know you might have covered this over there...do you think that the wait times for the shuttle into town will get better as everyone gets used to the new set-up and more staff/shuttles can be added...?  

[BirdTravels]

5 hours ago, Yo Adrienne said:

Thank you...! 🙂 

 

I haven't finished reading all of your postings about the cruise on the Encore yet (I'm savoring it cause it's so much fun to read and see all of your pics/descriptions)...so I know you might have covered this over there...do you think that the wait times for the shuttle into town will get better as everyone gets used to the new set-up and more staff/shuttles can be added...?  

Last week was a first cruise. First time the crew has really worked in nearly 2 years. The Encore made maiden calls to brand new ports. Ship's personnel were limited by COVID protocols which prevented crew from being on shore to supervise what was happening in ports. 

 

Lessons learned are applied to future cruises. Can everything be fixed by this week,,, probably not. By cruise 4, hopefully. 

[alohayall]

On 8/18/2021 at 3:15 PM, BirdTravels said:

Were you on the cruise?

Only vicariously, through your review.  Reality version begins Sep 4.  I had been curious about Ward Cove and the new Wilderness Landing at ISP since booking my cruise in July.  It took a lot of digging to find any info before your photos filled in a lot of gaps.

[illinigirl87]

On 8/15/2021 at 3:29 PM, World Juggler said:

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. 

Do you mind telling me what company you used?

[CroozFanatic]

Huge mistake.

 

Wait for shuttle + loading + drive + unloading...TWICE (to and fro).

 

Could not hail Uber or Lyft from this location.

 

Unfixable situation.

[ChiefMateJRK]

2 hours ago, CroozFanatic said:

Huge mistake.

 

Wait for shuttle + loading + drive + unloading...TWICE (to and fro).

 

Could not hail Uber or Lyft from this location.

 

Unfixable situation.

Perhaps your "mistake" was booking one of the first cruises after an 18 month shut down and expecting that everything would run flawlessly??

Edited August 20, 2021 by ChiefMateJRK

[Korlad]

Since this issue with Ward Cove probably will not get better before the end of the 2021 Alaska cruises in mid/late October, I sure wish they could just try to use the downtown docks for these next 10 weeks or so. They simply are not ready. I am amazed that the 2022 new schedule for Bliss has Ketchikan from 630am to 115pm- an even shorter day.

 

TV News report on the new port at Ward Cove-

https://www.alaskasnewssource.com/2021/07/09/ward-cove-developers-race-get-facility-new-cruise-ship-dock-ready-north-ketchikan/

 

Another current story on the dock.

https://www.ktoo.org/2021/08/17/first-cruise-ships-tie-up-at-new-dock-outside-of-ketchikan/

Edited August 20, 2021 by Korlad
additional info

[Topdog52]

For me docking downtown is the best way to go. You can do an excursion and still have plenty of time to walk around the town. What I liked most was with 15 minutes left before boarding you knew you had plenty of time to walk down the ramp and board the the ship. This will never happen again.

[CroozFanatic]

7 hours ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

Perhaps your "mistake" was booking one of the first cruises after an 18 month shut down and expecting that everything would run flawlessly??

 

I provided information and opinion. You contributed snark. 

 

For everyone's benefit, please find something else to do.

[kimandtim]

I was on August 7 sailing. Just putting this out there as what my husband and I did (along with about 10-12 others from the ship).  Since weather was beautiful, rather than wait for what we could see was a giant mess, we headed up the hill and caught the city bus into town.  Its a little bit of a hike, its not pretty but it only took about 10 minutes and we lucked out and bus pulled up right as we got to the not very clearly marked stop. It made a couple of stops at a grocery store, local library, Walmart, and then let us off in the middle of downtown.  It was $4 and you had to have cash.  We had booked Lumberjack show, so we returned on shuttle but I am just putting this out there in case someone wanted to do a little exploring (Creek Street - DO NOT MISS SEALS AND SALMON),  totem poles in town, souvenir shopping, etc. on their own

[ChiefMateJRK]

2 hours ago, CroozFanatic said:

 

I provided information and opinion. You contributed snark. 

 

No, just a different opinion.  That's how the internet works.  Perhaps those who have problems with it are the ones who should find something else to do.

[Shellbelle28]

I think, as with all new things, it will get much better as passengers become aware and the town, vendors and NCL learn what works. I'm sad for the old days of stepping off the ship into the middle of town, but success can be its own enemy, and change has to happen to address it.

It looks as though the plans for Ward Cove will eventually be a great addition for arriving passengers, offering things to see and do there as well as in Ketchikan proper.

I was one of those who reacted with "oh this is awful, I hate it" when The Bird posted about the first Encore sailing, but my main concern was about how long it took and that you had to pay to get anywhere but an empty warehouse. I've done a lot of NCL cruises and never did they charge to get from port to the town by bus when the port wasn't within "walk off" distance so that felt wrong, even if it was a token cost. Reports seem to indicate that's already been changed, and that makes me feel better. 

[davencl]

I am very much looking forward to docking at Ward Cove.  I love old industrial buildings and architecture.  Will be taking many pictures.   

Edited August 20, 2021 by davencl

[ChiefMateJRK]

1 hour ago, Shellbelle28 said:

I've done a lot of NCL cruises and never did they charge to get from port to the town by bus when the port wasn't within "walk off" distance so that felt wrong, even if it was a token cost. Reports seem to indicate that's already been changed, and that makes me feel better.

That was probably a measure they took when they realized that they weren't going to get enough busses running for the first cruise.  Yes, I do believe that some number of passengers would take a "free" shuttle but skip the one that cost $8.

[CroozFanatic]

I think the NCLH Board of Directors should setup a committee to investigate this. TA on board said she would dissuade customers from booking NCL because of this. With all of the busses and drivers required, I'm skeptical if it even makes business sense. If it doesn't... somebody probably has a financial incentive...who?

[ROCruiser]

7 hours ago, kimandtim said:

I was on August 7 sailing. Just putting this out there as what my husband and I did (along with about 10-12 others from the ship).  Since weather was beautiful, rather than wait for what we could see was a giant mess, we headed up the hill and caught the city bus into town.  Its a little bit of a hike, its not pretty but it only took about 10 minutes and we lucked out and bus pulled up right as we got to the not very clearly marked stop. It made a couple of stops at a grocery store, local library, Walmart, and then let us off in the middle of downtown.  It was $4 and you had to have cash.  We had booked Lumberjack show, so we returned on shuttle but I am just putting this out there in case someone wanted to do a little exploring (Creek Street - DO NOT MISS SEALS AND SALMON),  totem poles in town, souvenir shopping, etc. on their own

Thanks for the info. So the Silver Bus is running. The $4 for one trip or day pass? We did that bus to Totem Bight from downtown and back on one of our trips to Ketchikan.

[kimandtim]

I think all day pass is $5.  We paid $4 for one way.  It was nice visiting with some locals and the biggest bonus for me was not listening to Tim complain about the horrific shuttle lines....Fingers crossed that they will get that situation worked out but the bus would definitely be an alternative for someone wanting to meander a bit on their own.

[ChiefMateJRK]

5 minutes ago, kimandtim said:

the biggest bonus for me was not listening to Tim complain about the horrific shuttle lines...

🤣  Hopefully he didn't find something else to complain about.

[kimandtim]

Not at all - great cruise!  Ketchikan was a great port but it was a bit of a disaster.  We made it work🙂

[World Juggler]

On 8/19/2021 at 11:05 PM, illinigirl87 said:

Do you mind telling me what company you used?

We took the Misty Fjords seaplane tour with SeaWind Aviation. Fantastic day!

[bonvoyagie]

Looking ahead at the future NCL plans on having some short cruises to Ketchikan and back to Seattle via Victoria - they are going to have the Sun, Spirit, Jewel, Encore, Joy and Bliss in AK over the next two years running everything from 5 to 11 day cruises - the Jewel out of Vancouver the rest out of Seattle. I expect the operation at Ward Cove to get better with time and the local vendors will come out to pickup guests. 

[Sea saw 56]

I wonder if the smaller ships will continue to dock right in town, and the larger ones at Ward Cove?  

[BirdTravels]

5 hours ago, Sea saw 56 said:

I wonder if the smaller ships will continue to dock right in town, and the larger ones at Ward Cove?  

Nope. West Cove is set up to handle 2 NCL ships at a time. 

[joeflow80]

Just back from our cruise. I'd say that Ward Cove port isn't optimal, but hardly a disaster. Considering the last time I cruised there, we had to tender. So it's a small improvement over that. We didn't have an excursion booked in Ketchikan, so we took our time on the ship before heading out to let all that chaos clear out. We probably could've waited a little longer as we then had to wait for that first round of buses to return. After that point, the process went pretty smooth. So if not going on ShoreEx, wait about 60-90 minutes before heading to dock, and it should be mostly painless.

 

Coming back from town there was no waiting in lines. Buses were sitting there waiting for us to board, and then went back as soon as (mostly) filled.

 

Our shuttle driver flat out told us we 2021 cruisers were guinea pigs in seeing how this system would all work. There are some definite areas of improvement needed, but by next year things should iron out. Some highlights of what NCL should improve:

 

Need to schedule more time in Ketchikan dock to account for what the shuttling eats up. If you are doing a ShoreEx, there isn't much time left to wander the town. (still plenty of time if only plan is to wander the town.)

 

They need to provide flexibility to the ShoreExs to have an option to be dropped off in town (or picked up there if a late booking). That should be an easy fix once they get used to the system. It's a bit ridiculous to have to always return to Ward Cove.

 

It was very good that they dropped the $8 shuttle fee. I imagine they took a lot of heat for that from the previous week's cruisers, as well as the Ketchikan Chamber of Commerce. Hopefully the shuttles remain complimentary (a word they stressed constantly the night before).

 

Note: There is a freshly-paved trail at the port that heads out into the woods. Did anyone traverse this to see where it went? We went up it about a quarter-mile to get a different angled picture of the ship, but our feet were too tired at this point to go any further.