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Skagway excursion timing question in regards to rock-slides construction

StrikeEagle

By StrikeEagle,
in Alaska

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wolfie11

wolfie11

Posted
Posted (edited)

There are three solutions to the railroad dock problem: bussing and tendering, hot berthing, and skipping the port altogether and replacing it with a sea day.  If you are on a ship longer than 1000 feet, check the CLAA schedule for Skagway to see if there are two ships at the railroad dock that day (https://claalaska.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/SKG-Skagway-2023.pdf).  If yours is the only ship you have no problem.
 

The reality is that, no matter what your itinerary says, you may very well not know what choice has been made until the night before you get to Skagway or even the morning you arrive.  This sucks, but it is up to the captain, the cruise line, and the port authorities to decide what they want to do.  Weather can be a big factor.  Chop can make tendering difficult.  Heavy rain or a couple of days of rain can destabilize the slope, increasing the chances for slide activity.  
 

I would say to make your plans and schedule what you want to do without trying to second guess what will happen.  If things change, the tour operators and the ship will try to maximize the time you have in port.  Train schedules may change and tour operators shorten or lengthen their tours accordingly.  Skagway is an interesting place with lots of history and even just walking around town or going on a ranger hike can be fun.

 

Edited by wolfie11
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endoellen

endoellen

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, wolfie11 said:

There are three solutions to the railroad dock problem: bussing and tendering, hot berthing, and skipping the port altogether and replacing it with a sea day.  If you are on a ship longer than 1000 feet, check the CLAA schedule for Skagway to see if there are two ships at the railroad dock that day (https://claalaska.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/SKG-Skagway-2023.pdf).  If yours is the only ship you have no problem.
 

The reality is that, no matter what your itinerary says, you may very well not know what choice has been made until the night before you get to Skagway or even the morning you arrive.  This sucks, but it is up to the captain, the cruise line, and the port authorities to decide what they want to do.  Weather can be a big factor.  Chop can make tendering difficult.  Heavy rain or a couple of days of rain can destabilize the slope, increasing the chances for slide activity.  
 

I would say to make your plans and schedule what you want to do without trying to second guess what will happen.  If things change, the tour operators and the ship will try to maximize the time you have in port.  Train schedules may change and tour operators shorten or lengthen their tours accordingly.  Skagway is an interesting place with lots of history and even just walking around town or going on a ranger hike can be fun.

 

Thank you! Good advice & just roll with whatever happens!

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LB_NJ

LB_NJ

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13 hours ago, endoellen said:

Well this is depressing news.... Radiance is scheduled to dock there on May 14th.  We have had no notice from Royal as of yet that the port may be cancelled or time change.  From everything I've read recently trying to reach Royal for any information is next to impossible!

On one Royal Cruise I have been handed a port change notice as I was boarding the ship.

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ruready

ruready

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I am in Skagway today and we docked and walked off ship (no tendering or shuttles).  I will say we are docked 1 over from the dock that is impacted by the rock slide.  No issues for us at all and the weather is fantastic today.  

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endoellen

endoellen

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2 hours ago, ruready said:

I am in Skagway today and we docked and walked off ship (no tendering or shuttles).  I will say we are docked 1 over from the dock that is impacted by the rock slide.  No issues for us at all and the weather is fantastic today.  

That's awesome for you! Hope we have good weather when we are there in 2 weeks.   

Were you at the Railroad dock? Aft or Forward?  It seems the biggest issue is with Railroad Forward,  To best of my knowledge there are 2 other docks that were not affected by the rock slide.

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ruready

ruready

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29 minutes ago, endoellen said:

That's awesome for you! Hope we have good weather when we are there in 2 weeks.   

Were you at the Railroad dock? Aft or Forward?  It seems the biggest issue is with Railroad Forward,  To best of my knowledge there are 2 other docks that were not affected by the rock slide.

We are at Broadway Dock (vs the Railroad Dock that was/is impacted by the rock slide).    We are the only ship today due to it being so early in the season.  It was nice being able to walk around town without huge crowds.  Most of the shops were open today.  Beyond our tour, we walked into the non touristy part of town and went to their annual rummage sale at their rec center (got a mug, shot glass and gardening book).  Last time we were here, we rented a car and went to Emerald Lake and went dog sledding as well.  

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783D1637-005B-43AB-8BFD-17E344CA4980.jpeg

B8A2AB09-8D36-4C82-815C-63A8F87D2BD7.jpeg

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Kittybucks

Kittybucks

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Posted

This was posted to the FB group I am in for our June cruise on the Quantum of the Seas last night. Can anyone verify if this is true?  I can't find it anywhere.  The post also said the person talked to the Mayor of Skagway and he confirmed it.  Royal said there have been no port changes.

 

 

  Skagway.thumb.jpg.4f27476b2941597d1259158d5166aee7.jpg

 

 

 

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quack2

quack2

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Posted
On 4/26/2023 at 7:16 PM, endoellen said:

I certainly hope they get things worked out! Our ship Radiance will be at RRF dock on May 14th if it doesn't get cancelled all together.  And now I'm finding out that is where Ship Rock is located! Yikes!

Radiance is a smaller ship so hoping we won't have to miss this port.  I've been looking forward to this port & excursion with Chilkoot!  Our excursion is at 12:30pm & with my luck we'll probably be switched to docking 1/2 day in early morning....

The instructions I have from Chilkoot for Railroad dock is to walk to the end of the pier and go through security checkpoint to the "Skagway Small Boat Harbor" sign near public restrooms.  I'm wondering if

this will be different due to the construction??

So far we have not received any changes from Royal.  I sure hope they don't wait & spring the changes on us after boarding.  I don't plan on paying for wifi on the ship & we would need to be able to communicate with Chilkoot charters.

You will have cell phone service as you approach Skagway.

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wolfie11

wolfie11

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1 hour ago, quack2 said:

You will have cell phone service as you approach Skagway.

You'll have cell service as you go past Haines (depending on your provider) about an hour before you get to Skagway.  There's no cell service in the Lynn Canal approaching Skagway until you're close to the dock.

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SuzieQ521 Great Review Rare

SuzieQ521

Posted
Posted
7 hours ago, Kittybucks said:

This was posted to the FB group I am in for our June cruise on the Quantum of the Seas last night. Can anyone verify if this is true?  I can't find it anywhere.  The post also said the person talked to the Mayor of Skagway and he confirmed it.  Royal said there have been no port changes.

 

 

  Skagway.thumb.jpg.4f27476b2941597d1259158d5166aee7.jpg

 

 

 

 

That's so strange. I just looked on the main Skagway website that has all the cruise arrival information and there has been no update to that schedule since February. You would think your cruise line would be the first to know...

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wolfie11

wolfie11

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49 minutes ago, SuzieQ521 said:

 

That's so strange. I just looked on the main Skagway website that has all the cruise arrival information and there has been no update to that schedule since February. You would think your cruise line would be the first to know...

First to know, last to let you know.

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SportsFanatic

SportsFanatic

Posted
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On 5/1/2023 at 10:01 AM, Kittybucks said:

This was posted to the FB group I am in for our June cruise on the Quantum of the Seas last night. Can anyone verify if this is true?  I can't find it anywhere.  The post also said the person talked to the Mayor of Skagway and he confirmed it.  Royal said there have been no port changes.

 

 

  Skagway.thumb.jpg.4f27476b2941597d1259158d5166aee7.jpg

 

 

I was wondering how this was going to work out because we are in Skagway on Thursday with the Quantum  coming in a half hour after us and we are both on the railroad dock of course. They extended our time in port, which I thought was due to maybe we were going to tender and was going to take a little longer. But I was curious as to what was going to happen with two big cruise ships coming in around almost the same time so we shall see.

 

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kirstie101

kirstie101

Posted
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On 5/1/2023 at 7:01 AM, Kittybucks said:

This was posted to the FB group I am in for our June cruise on the Quantum of the Seas last night. Can anyone verify if this is true?  I can't find it anywhere.  The post also said the person talked to the Mayor of Skagway and he confirmed it.  Royal said there have been no port changes.

 

 

  Skagway.thumb.jpg.4f27476b2941597d1259158d5166aee7.jpg

 

 

 

I’d love to know if this is accurate. We’re on the Discovery Princess, docking RRF on a Thursday when Quantum is supposed to be docked RRA. 

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endoellen

endoellen

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3 hours ago, naturelovergirl said:

The most current Alaska cruise port schedules are now on Claalaska (updated May 3)

 

www.claalaska.com

 

 

Thanks for the info! I just checked & now Radiance of the Seas will be at Broadway dock on May 14!

I think this is good for us and looks like we keep our same time in port.  I'm looking forward to our White Pass Summit Rail & Bus excursion and if this schedule remains the same we should be in port from 9am-7pm!!!!

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SuzieQ521 Great Review Rare

SuzieQ521

Posted
Posted (edited)
3 hours ago, naturelovergirl said:

The most current Alaska cruise port schedules are now on Claalaska (updated May 3)

 

www.claalaska.com

 

 

Thanks, I see it now!

 

Still has my Royal Princess on RRF on May 23rd, so fingers crossed.

 

I guess the real test will be next Tuesday which is the first time RRF will be used this season with Royal Princess;  Majestic Princess is supposed to be at RRA around the same time.

Edited by SuzieQ521
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kirstie101

kirstie101

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15 hours ago, naturelovergirl said:

The most current Alaska cruise port schedules are now on Claalaska (updated May 3)

 

www.claalaska.com

 

 

I’m only seeing the one from February. How do I find the updated one? 

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