Ketchikan in May Help

[Katarae]

Hi, first time posting in here (I did read the rules) but I have been reading through so much of this board, I felt it would be maybe better to post hah. There are about 6 of us going to Alaska on NCL Encore May 15th 2022 through Seattle. I am so excited as this is my second cruise, both with NCL but first time in Alaska so I am wanting to make the most of it, just in case it is a while before we go again. 

We are doing the Mendenhall glacier helicopter and walk excursion in Juneau and hoping to get to the Alaska brewing before they close for the day. We are doing one of the train rides in Skagway, trying to determine if we want to do another one as we are there from 7 am until 8:15 pm and our train leaves at 1:30pm. In BC we are doing the orca whale watch. 

I am struggling with Ketchikan though. We have a short time there, from 7:30-1:30pm and docking at Wards Cove, so I don’t feel comfortable booking an independent excursion. I read about it being a 20-30 min bus ride to the town. And I’ve seen people talk about walking around Ketchikan and enjoying themselves, but I also don’t want to feel like I am missing anything. To help out, none of my party is into gold panning, or the Bering sea excursion. Since we are doing a helicopter tour in Juneau, no need to spend a crazy amount of money on another one. But I have been thinking about maybe kayaking, but NCL added a few new excursions (to throw in a wrench haha) which a few unique ones are a rainforest and bike tour near Connell lake, a sea cycle ocean adventure. 

 

Any advice would be so appropriated, four of us are in our mid 30s and our friends parents are coming too. I am also looking through NCL’s boards too haha

[strickerj]

I wasn't aware NCL uses a different dock (we have similar hours in Ketchikan but on HAL), but we're doing a 4-hour sightseeing cruise to Misty Fjords; is that something NCL offers too? Otherwise, if you can get to town, you can explore places like the waterfront and totem pole park on your own.

[rsldonk]

Misty Fjords is pretty awesome.  I haven't watched the lumberjack show, but I hear it's fun.  And yes, walking around town is kind of nice also, creek street is cool. Really you can't go wrong, so do something you enjoy

[SightCRR]

Look into a visit to Totem Bright state park. It is about a 5 min taxi ride away from town from Ward Cove. Check the silver line bus schedule. Should be easy to get taxi at pier but not sure about Totem Bright back. It wont be as exciting or take as long as the other tours but also will be less than 30 bucks. Even the local bus is fun to see the other folks on the bus. Think about that then watch a Y/T video on the crab boat tour. It is more about nature than the tv show.  fyi Skagway train once is enough and walk around town after the train. sightcrr. 

[Katarae]

11 minutes ago, SightCRR said:

Look into a visit to Totem Bright state park. It is about a 5 min taxi ride away from town from Ward Cove. Check the silver line bus schedule. Should be easy to get taxi at pier but not sure about Totem Bright back. It wont be as exciting or take as long as the other tours but also will be less than 30 bucks. Even the local bus is fun to see the other folks on the bus. Think about that then watch a Y/T video on the crab boat tour. It is more about nature than the tv show.  fyi Skagway train once is enough and walk around town after the train. sightcrr. 

I think you identified a typo on my part.. I meant to say doing another excursion aside from the skagway train haha 😉  And thanks for the feedback on the crab tour, my boyfriend feels its too gimicy from him. I did try haha

[Katarae]

53 minutes ago, strickerj said:

I wasn't aware NCL uses a different dock (we have similar hours in Ketchikan but on HAL), but we're doing a 4-hour sightseeing cruise to Misty Fjords; is that something NCL offers too? Otherwise, if you can get to town, you can explore places like the waterfront and totem pole park on your own.

So they had Misty Fjords boat tour, but now its not showing up. I think it got booked up which makes me sad that I missed it. 

[strickerj]

Ah, that's a bummer. I considered a seaplane flight too but I hear it gets canceled often due to weather, and I didn't want to end up not seeing Misty Fjords at all.

[SightCRR]

You will never see Bald Eagles anywhere like the crab boat tour again. That plus up close to sea life closer than any aquarium (even ALT) are pretty special. Some of it is gimicy like he said and it is pricy. Have him watch any y/t on it. Here is a pretty good one from 2019. Start at 3:00 since you are at Ward Cove and will be bussed in. fyi try to get wait listed for the Misty Fjords tour. Some may cancel and check right away with shore excursions on the ship as soon as you can. 

sightcrr

Edited March 31, 2022 by SightCRR

[Katarae]

19 minutes ago, SightCRR said:

You will never see Bald Eagles anywhere like the crab boat tour again. That plus up close to sea life closer than any aquarium (even ALT) are pretty special. Some of it is gimicy like he said and it is pricy. Have him watch any y/t on it. Here is a pretty good one from 2019. Start at 3:00 since you are at Ward Cove and will be bussed in. fyi try to get wait listed for the Misty Fjords tour. Some may cancel and check right away with shore excursions on the ship as soon as you can. 

sightcrr

How would I get on the wait list? Would I call NCL Excursions?

[SightCRR]

Not sure with NCL but I would start there. With people working from home and swamped right now you might need speaker phone to help with the hold times. Take Care. sightcrr. 

[karatemom2]

Given your short port day and the fact you are docked at Ward Cove you would probably best maximize your opportunities by looking at booking a ship's tour. We were in Ward Cove last year with an 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. port time and did our own tour via our own rental car, but we still had to really watch your time. With a 1:30 departure and being remote I think you would be stressed trying to plan your own excursion. 

[Katarae]

16 hours ago, karatemom2 said:

Given your short port day and the fact you are docked at Ward Cove you would probably best maximize your opportunities by looking at booking a ship's tour. We were in Ward Cove last year with an 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. port time and did our own tour via our own rental car, but we still had to really watch your time. With a 1:30 departure and being remote I think you would be stressed trying to plan your own excursion. 

Yea thats my thoughts too! With it being so short, I dont want to risk anything. We have booked everything through the cruise so far, so we can get priority off the boat to maximize time in port anyways. 

[NikiPinkston]

We were on the Encore last August and attended the Lumberjack Show, and it was a hoot!  They divide the audience into "Canada" and the "USA" and then you root for your team of lumberjacks. Having never seen real lumberjacks in action, the feats they performed were pretty amazing and the audience really got into it.  Hoping to book Alaska again this May or June on the Bliss, and we're looking at the duck boat tour in Ketchikan as you get a city tour as well as a short cruise around the bay.  (Both of these excursions are short enough to allow some time to walk around town if you wish due to having a limited time in port and allowing for the 20 minute trip from & back to Ward Cove.)  We always book through NCL & did Totem Bright a couple of years ago, but it wasn't that exciting for us aside from seeing a couple of bald eagles but, of course, everyone is different. 

 

[cantonoh1753]

Yes, NCL uses a dock north of the city.  The city has a walking tour map that could  be useful to check out the town on your own

 

 

ketchikan_maps_downtown_2016.pdf

[MichFish]

The Ketchikan Duck tour is super fun.  First time we went to Ketchikan we did not have anything planned.  
 

Walked off the ship and they were there.   We said - why not and went.   
 

It ended up being a fav of my group. 
 

 

[dgoz]

We booked a new thing called ebike and hike. Ten mile on ebike and then a 1 1/2 mile hike through the rainforest.

[Katarae]

6 minutes ago, dgoz said:

We booked a new thing called ebike and hike. Ten mile on ebike and then a 1 1/2 mile hike through the rainforest.

Have you been on that before? I did see that NCL at a least added a handful of excursions so I was curious about that one

[dgoz]

7 minutes ago, Katarae said:

Have you been on that before? I did see that NCL at a least added a handful of excursions so I was curious about that one

I haven't. This will be my 1st time to Alaska.

[Traveller20074]

14 hours ago, MichFish said:

The Ketchikan Duck tour is super fun.  First time we went to Ketchikan we did not have anything planned.  
 

Walked off the ship and they were there.   We said - why not and went.   
 

It ended up being a fav of my group. 
 

 

 

good to hear!  that's what we're doing 

 

 

 

 

 

 

14 hours ago, MichFish said:

 

 

[YVRteacher]

The kayaking excursion through NCL is fabulous.

[Katarae]

16 hours ago, YVRteacher said:

The kayaking excursion through NCL is fabulous.

I have been looking into that and was wondering. There hasn’t been a lot of feedback on that excursion so wasn’t sure