Ward Cove

[SoloAlaska]

First time cruising NCL in Alaska and they use Ward Cove instead of downtown Ketchikan. I’m trying to figure out what I want to do that day and need some help.

 

Does anyone know if there are any taxis from Ward Cove? There’s a nice hike 2 miles away I’m thinking of going but don’t want to walk on the road or waste precious time on this short port visit.

[wolfie11]

There may be a taxi or two hanging out hoping to find people willing to pay to get to downtown Ketchikan, but you have to realize that they’re looking for a higher fare to take people to town or book them for an extended period of time to tour around than they are to want a fare only going two miles.

[SightCRR]

Check the silver bus (north and return south) schedule and go to Totem Bight park. You can do google street view and see what the walk to the hike is like and even walk a little of the trail. $2.00 bus p/p (seniors might be less). 7234 Revilla Rd - Google Maps For a great but a little pricy tour try for the NCL crab boat tour. Watch on youtube to see if you would like it. 

[disneyochem]

My recommendation is to NOT walk into town or get on the bus line from Ward Cove.  It is not pedestrian-friendly!  No sidewalks, busy traffic.

 

Take the cruise-line free shuttle into town.  Once in town, you can explore the area—take the public bus to the totem park, go to the Totem Heritage center, visit Creek Street, visit the science museum, see the Lumberjack show or go on a hike.

 

Docking at Ward Cove is one of the many reasons I will not sail on NCL in Alaska.  Just a pain to get into town.  Port times in Ketchikan are sometimes short—it takes port time away getting to/from downtown.  Booking a tour with NCL will get you on an early shuttle; some private companies will pick you up at Ward Cove.  Just ask.

[SightCRR]

If going into town for sure take ship bus. If going away from town to Totem Bight or another trail take Silver Bus Line. 

Edited February 8 by SightCRR

[tetleytea]

Those cruise line buses in Ward Cove are horrible.   The lines to get into town are terrible.  And to get back to the ship, you have to return 1 1/2 hours early--and for a NCL round-trip Seattle cruise, that port stop in Ketchikan is already very short. 

 

Taking the public bus the opposite direction to Totem Bight sounds like a great idea.  Or an excursion, or pretty much anything that lets you not have to take those buses.   We did Ward Cove twice:  one time we did the Zodiac excursion (which was awesome), and the other time we hired a driver who dropped us off at Ward Cove--quite a bit after all the bus passengers had boarded the ship already.  That bought us an extra hour of actually touring stuff.

 

[SoloAlaska]

So the nearest trail is much closer and can connect to other trails for longer hikes. It’s the Pipeline Trail to Connell Lake but it connects to a trail to Ward Lake or Perseverance Lake. I’ve added the beginning of the trail to show close it is to the port. It’s a bit of an uncomfortable walk at the beginning from what I’ve read but not long on the road.

[Casey12]

On 2/8/2024 at 10:36 PM, tetleytea said:

Those cruise line buses in Ward Cove are horrible.   The lines to get into town are terrible.  And to get back to the ship, you have to return 1 1/2 hours early--and for a NCL round-trip Seattle cruise, that port stop in Ketchikan is already very short. 

 

Taking the public bus the opposite direction to Totem Bight sounds like a great idea.  Or an excursion, or pretty much anything that lets you not have to take those buses.   We did Ward Cove twice:  one time we did the Zodiac excursion (which was awesome), and the other time we hired a driver who dropped us off at Ward Cove--quite a bit after all the bus passengers had boarded the ship already.  That bought us an extra hour of actually touring stuff.

 

I completely agree with you. The lines for the buses are horrible. You were very wise to do what you did. Totem Bight is great.

[rnr4thatsme]

On 2/8/2024 at 10:36 PM, tetleytea said:

Those cruise line buses in Ward Cove are horrible.   The lines to get into town are terrible.  And to get back to the ship, you have to return 1 1/2 hours early--and for a NCL round-trip Seattle cruise, that port stop in Ketchikan is already very short. 

 

Taking the public bus the opposite direction to Totem Bight sounds like a great idea.  Or an excursion, or pretty much anything that lets you not have to take those buses.   We did Ward Cove twice:  one time we did the Zodiac excursion (which was awesome), and the other time we hired a driver who dropped us off at Ward Cove--quite a bit after all the bus passengers had boarded the ship already.  That bought us an extra hour of actually touring stuff.

 

So just curious, the Ketchikan stop for Bliss says 6:30am to 1:15 am, and you have to be back in the lineup downtown for the cruise line shuttle bus to Ward Cove by 11:45 then?  Or back on board ship at 11:45?

[karatemom2]

All aboard for a 1:15 p.m. departure will be 12:45 p.m. so you would want to be in line for the bus back by no later than 11:45 a.m. so you allow yourself time to get back. The lines can be pretty long for people returning from town, so it's smart to give yourself an hour window.

[GlitterFemme]

6 hours ago, rnr4thatsme said:

So just curious, the Ketchikan stop for Bliss says 6:30am to 1:15 am, and you have to be back in the lineup downtown for the cruise line shuttle bus to Ward Cove by 11:45 then?  Or back on board ship at 11:45?

 

The last shuttle will be listed as 11:45am https://wardcoveak.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/2024-Ward-Cove-Port-Schedule-w-Shuttle-8.29.23.pdf

[lisabdh1]

Another thing to consider is how many other ships will be in town that day. There's a lot of information over at Trip Advisor about how there is no infrastructure, steep hike, busy highway to cross, unmarked bus stop etc etc. It's generally advised to not walk to get the Silver Line bus. We are coming in on a day when there is only one other ship docked downtown about 4 hours after we dock, so we should be able to get a taxi quite easily to go to Totem Bight.

[dmwnc1959]

I’m not sure how old this information is but there are a LOT of details:

 

https://myperfectalaskacruise.com/ketchikan-travel/ward-cove-cruise-port-ketchikan/

 

And this picture from the Ward Cove FB late dated July 2022…

[GlitterFemme]

I will also say that I was planning on walking somewhere from Ward Cove this past October, and watching out the window on the shuttle I didn't feel good about the road actually leading in and out of Ward Cove, which didn't look great for walking at all, let alone if a shuttle had to get by you while you were on it. And the North Tongass Highway didn't look great for walking on either. I love to walk and to check out local coffee places, but after getting back from town I decided it wasn't worth investigating the place a mile from Ward Cove if it meant walking on those roads.

[dmwnc1959]

Norwegian Jade is going to be at Ward Cove from 6am - 4pm on April 25th, which is ‘technically’ before the Alaska Season really starts. If I don’t sign up for a shore excursion, and I’ve already been to Ketchikan 4X, chances are I won’t even leave the ship. Might wander ashore to the shops at the end of the pier, but that’s about all. Which is a shame, had it docked downtown I’d most definitely been out there shopping. 

[SoloAlaska]

2 hours ago, dmwnc1959 said:

Norwegian Jade is going to be at Ward Cove from 6am - 4pm on April 25th, which is ‘technically’ before the Alaska Season really starts. If I don’t sign up for a shore excursion, and I’ve already been to Ketchikan 4X, chances are I won’t even leave the ship. Might wander ashore to the shops at the end of the pier, but that’s about all. Which is a shame, had it docked downtown I’d most definitely been out there shopping. 

I heard somewhere that they sell Ketchicandies at the pier. They make incredible chocolates that I bought in town last year. This is the one thing I want to buy from Ketchikan so if I can get it right there I won’t even need to go into town. Ketchikan is such a nice place to walk around though so Ward Cove will probably be a let down.

 

ill be there the last few days of the season (very end of September) so some shops will already be closed sadly. But there will be lots of sales.

[dmwnc1959]

28 minutes ago, SoloAlaska said:

Ketchikan is such a nice place to walk around though so Ward Cove will probably be a let down.

 

ill be there the last few days of the season (very end of September) so some shops will already be closed sadly. But there will be lots of sales.

Totally agree. Even if it’s just for a stroll up and down the streets and through Creek Street. There’s a very high probability that even if I wasn’t going to buy something, just being amongst all the goods and services would have been incentive enough to support the local vendors in town. But the buses and shuttles just seem like a real hassle. Here are a few pictures from a visit way back in 2002… I think I would have liked seeing this again very much. 
 

[SoloAlaska]

1 minute ago, dmwnc1959 said:

Totally agree. Even if it’s just for a stroll up and down the streets and through Creek Street. There’s a very high probability that even if I wasn’t going to buy something, just being amongst all the goods and services would have been incentive enough to support the local vendors in town. But the buses and shuttles just seem like a real hassle. Here are a few pictures from a visit way back in 2002… I think I would have liked seeing this again very much. 
 

It’s one of my favorite ports. All the salmon and seals at creek street make me so happy I can spend an hour just watching them. Ketchikan is at the end of my cruise which by then I know I’ll be more than happy to just avoid buses. Chances are I’ll either do a hike or just stay on the ship and relax.

[yakcruiser]

7 hours ago, dmwnc1959 said:

Norwegian Jade is going to be at Ward Cove from 6am - 4pm on April 25th, which is ‘technically’ before the Alaska Season really starts. If I don’t sign up for a shore excursion, and I’ve already been to Ketchikan 4X, chances are I won’t even leave the ship. Might wander ashore to the shops at the end of the pier, but that’s about all. Which is a shame, had it docked downtown I’d most definitely been out there shopping. 

The Encore will also be there that morning so it will be a nightmare early but if you were to wait until 9 or 10 to go into town there probably won't be any hassle getting into town. And the Encore departs early so it should be easy to get back around 2 or so. Or so I hope because that's what I'm planning to do. If it's not pouring that is.

[dmwnc1959]

39 minutes ago, yakcruiser said:

The Encore will also be there that morning so it will be a nightmare early but if you were to wait until 9 or 10 to go into town there probably won't be any hassle getting into town. And the Encore departs early so it should be easy to get back around 2 or so. Or so I hope because that's what I'm planning to do. If it's not pouring that is.

Can both ships fit there at the same time? 😳 Holy cow! I would’ve thought that the biggest of the two would be docking downtown? Or maybe we can and they can dock at Ward Cove! 🤣

 

PS the date I posted earlier is incorrect and Norwegian Jade will be there on the 24th. 
 

😁

Edited February 19 by dmwnc1959

[yakcruiser]

5 minutes ago, dmwnc1959 said:

Can both ships fit there at the same time? Holy cow! I would’ve thought that Norwegian Encore would be docking downtown? 😳

There is room for 2 ships. I do not believe that NCL ever docks downtown anymore. The Encore is scheduled 7:00-1:30. That's why I will not even attempt to go into town before 9:00.

[dmwnc1959]

2 minutes ago, yakcruiser said:

There is room for 2 ships. I do not believe that NCL ever docks downtown anymore. The Encore is scheduled 7:00-1:30. That's why I will not even attempt to go into town before 9:00.

I got the dates wrong and Norwegian Jade will be there on the 24th, not that that makes it any better with another ship there still. 

[jean-lynd]

13 minutes ago, dmwnc1959 said:

Can both ships fit there at the same time? 😳 Holy cow! I would’ve thought that the biggest of the two would be docking downtown? Or maybe we can and they can dock at Ward Cove! 🤣

If you go to claalaska.com you can see where every ship is scheduled to dock in every port in Alaska. I hope this helps!

[dmwnc1959]

11 minutes ago, jean-lynd said:

If you go to claalaska.com you can see where every ship is scheduled to dock in every port in Alaska. I hope this helps!

For 2025 Ketchikan it unfortunately doesn’t specify downtown or Ward Cove despite NCL listing the latter for both ships on their own website. I’ll assume it’s Ward Cove. 
 

Edited February 19 by dmwnc1959

[dmwnc1959]

8 minutes ago, jean-lynd said:

If you go to claalaska.com you can see where every ship is scheduled to dock in every port in Alaska. I hope this helps!

I do see on the 2024 schedule below where two NCL ships can be at Ward Cove at the same time. 👍