Whittier arrival time at midnight?

[YWW]

We are looking at North Bound 7-day Alaska cruise on Royal Princess for this summer from Vancouver to Anchorage (Whittier). It says on the itinerary Whittier arrival time is 12:30am. Can that be right? What time are we supposed to disembark? 1am? Or is that a typo?

[jean-lynd]

From what I have seen that is just when the ship is supposed to get in. We will disembark at a normal time in the morning. The transfer we have booked to Anchorage stops at the Wildlife Conservation Center which opens at 10am. It is only 1/2 an hour from the pier so I am thinking we won't be leaving until around 9 or so. I do know there is a one way tunnel that has to be worked around to get to Anchorage. I hope this helps!

[DougH]

Ship will arrive around midnight but Disembarkation will start around 7:30 - 8am as usual

[Essiesmom]

Yes, they arrive at midnight.  Disembark at the usual early morning times

[LeeW]

Last time we took the train they had us out there before 7.

[Sarnia 432]

Does the itinerary have College Fjord prior to Whittier?  It is just outside the town, so won’t take long to get to the port, hence the early arrival time.  You will wake up in the morning docked and disembark at the usual times.

[cruisequeen4ever]

Don’t worry; you can not disembark until the morning. They just dock after midnight and start transferring luggage throughout the night. It’s fun to watch the ship sail into port that night. Disembarkation begins at about 7 AM.

[HYWTravel1]

Does anyone know for sure (by experience or first hand knowledge) the latest we can remain on the Princess cruise ship after arriving around midnight? We want to stay on as long as possible due to late flights.

[Essiesmom]

You will sleep onboard, and be out of your cabin the same time as in any other debarkation port.  You can take a Princess transfer with excursion to Anchorage which will drop you at the airport, or perhaps in town to do more sightseeing.  Whittier is very small and transfer opportunities very limited.  And there is the tunnel, one way each half hour.  You can get more info on the Alaska board here, under Ports of Call.  
Welcome to Cruise Critic.  EM

[Alaska05]

We were on the Sapphire in May doing a B2B. Since we were staying on the ship in Whittier we were out on the front of Promenade deck around midnight as it gently pulled into the small town of Whittier. It was very surreal as we were the only ones out there other than one crew member. Just a couple of dock workers on hand to tie up the ship. Afterwords we went down to the International Cafe and grabbed a dessert. Only one other person down there. Guess everyone else was tucked away in bed.

 

We’ve arrived in Whittier several times before but were always getting off in the morning so went to bed early.

[JimmyVWine]

1 hour ago, HYWTravel1 said:

Does anyone know for sure (by experience or first hand knowledge) the latest we can remain on the Princess cruise ship after arriving around midnight? We want to stay on as long as possible due to late flights.

There is no official "latest time."  But they will want you off the ship by 9:00-9:15 for sure. When we had a very, very late flight out of Anchorage, we booked a transfer to the airport from a third party vendor that makes the same trip as a Princess transfer, but throws in a couple of stops for photos and viewing.  We stopped at a wildlife sanctuary and at a couple of scenic areas for some photos, and were then taken to the airport.  We had reserved a rental car in advance, so once we arrived at the airport we picked up our rental car, drove into town, went to the Anchorage Museum (highly, highly recommended-one of the best museums of its size that I have ever been to); had lunch, drove around the area on a self-guided driving tour, came back into town and had a wonderful dinner, then headed to the airport to return the rental car and check in for our flight.  It was a very full and fulfilling day.  No need to hang around the ship because there is "nothing to do."  And no need to hang around the airport.  Get yourself a car and enjoy a full day in Anchorage and the surrounding area.  

Edited Tuesday at 03:24 PM by JimmyVWine