Sitka bus from dock to downtown question---

[Jetswdo]

The NCL Bliss will be in port  11:00 - 6:00 ----  Having been to Sitka 2 times already, this time we just want to catch the free bus that Sitka provides for the cruise ships, and spend the day downtown at our own pace./ (We did the  Fortress, Raptor center, etc.  previously)   My question is, do we need to make a mad dash off the ship to be among the first to line up for the free bus?  Or are there several buses lined up so that we can just get off the ship as close to 11:00 as possible? Just want to make the most out of the day.  We want to eat light lunch in town at the dumpling place between 12:00 and 1:00---- Thanks for any info.  Anita

[wolfie11]

A lot will depend if there's another ship in port.  When I was there last summer it took almost three hours to transport 3200 people.  That was from the time we docked to when the line was down to 50 people.

[Coral]

I got off immediately last summer (one ship in port) and there were huge lines to get on the buses to downtown Sitka. I decided to go back to the ship and changed jackets. When I got back off the ship, the lines were much smaller. My guess is you have to get off right away or wait an hour or so.

 

I also agree with @wolfie11 that it varies if there are 1 or 2 ships in port. We only had 1 ship in port.

Edited April 1 by Coral