How many ships in port is too many?

[nmsk5]

My husband and I just booked our first trip to Alaska for the end of May. There are 3 ports and we sail by Glacier Bay. (Very excited about that!).
I lost some excitement however when I checked the number of ships in port… Skagway has 4, Juneau has 5 and Ketchikan has 6!  I thought May might be a little less crowded but looks like I was wrong. Is this normal?  Should I rethink my travel dates?

[zqvol]

Unless you go in April or at the very end of the season that is how it is going to be. What is worse is most of the ships are large with huge passenger loads. It’s really hard to avoid that issue. 

[wolfie11]

8 hours ago, nmsk5 said:

My husband and I just booked our first trip to Alaska for the end of May. There are 3 ports and we sail by Glacier Bay. (Very excited about that!).
I lost some excitement however when I checked the number of ships in port… Skagway has 4, Juneau has 5 and Ketchikan has 6!  I thought May might be a little less crowded but looks like I was wrong. Is this normal?  Should I rethink my travel dates?

You must be on NCL.  Be aware that when they advertise sailing by Glacier Bay it means you sail past the entrance like every other ship transiting Icy Strait.  You do not see anything but Gustavus Flats and some mountains in the distance.  The actual glaciers are 65 miles up the bay. 

[Aquahound]

16 minutes ago, wolfie11 said:

You must be on NCL.  Be aware that when they advertise sailing by Glacier Bay it means you sail past the entrance like every other ship transiting Icy Strait.  You do not see anything but Gustavus Flats and some mountains in the distance.  The actual glaciers are 65 miles up the bay. 

 

Tell me this is a joke.  NCL actually advertises sailing BY Glacier Bay? 

[curry767]

As stated, it’s very hard to avoid mid season - Alaska is popular. 
 

This makes the importance of picking shore excursions wisely. I always advocate for organising it yourself and picking one that gets away from the normal tourist areas with small groups. The unfortunate consequence of this strategy is that you will pay more for shore excursions, but for me it has always been about the natural beauty of Alaska not the towns. 
 

Also, have a look at the actual times your cruise ship is in port compared to the others, you may be ahead of the wave and can get some stuff done before the masses arrive. 

[wolfie11]

2 hours ago, Aquahound said:

 

Tell me this is a joke.  NCL actually advertises sailing BY Glacier Bay? 

NCL - Master baiters and switchers!

[nmsk5]

We’re actually sailing on Grand Princess. Glacier Bay was the main reason we chose them. 

[AZDuck]

Don't worry. You made a great choice with the Grand Princess w/ Glacier Bay for Alaska. In Juneau and Ketchikan the ships aren't always docked all at the same time. Some will be leaving early afternoon as others are arriving. And any kind of boat excursion will get you away from the crowds. Skagway on the other hand, 4 or 5 ships will be there all day 7a to 8p, so head up to the Yukon on the train/bus combo tour or get a trail map and hike one of the local trails. They also rent e-bikes in town. Like others said, the trick is to get out of town and sightsee. It's stunningly beautiful!

[racnwdow]

23 hours ago, nmsk5 said:

My husband and I just booked our first trip to Alaska for the end of May. There are 3 ports and we sail by Glacier Bay. (Very excited about that!).
I lost some excitement however when I checked the number of ships in port… Skagway has 4, Juneau has 5 and Ketchikan has 6!  I thought May might be a little less crowded but looks like I was wrong. Is this normal?  Should I rethink my travel dates?

What is the website for checking on $ of ships in ports?  TIA

[Glaciers]

5 minutes ago, racnwdow said:

What is the website for checking on $ of ships in ports?  TIA

https://claalaska.com/?page_id=1250

 

The schedule can change a bit as well. We're looking at the Grand just prior to your sailing and they recently added Vancouver to the sailing.

Edited August 22 by Glaciers

[racnwdow]

33 minutes ago, Glaciers said:

https://claalaska.com/?page_id=1250

 

The schedule can change a bit as well. We're looking at the Grand just prior to your sailing and they recently added Vancouver to the sailing.

Thank you. 

[donaldsc]

9 hours ago, AZDuck said:

Don't worry. You made a great choice with the Grand Princess w/ Glacier Bay for Alaska. In Juneau and Ketchikan the ships aren't always docked all at the same time. Some will be leaving early afternoon as others are arriving. And any kind of boat excursion will get you away from the crowds. Skagway on the other hand, 4 or 5 ships will be there all day 7a to 8p, so head up to the Yukon on the train/bus combo tour or get a trail map and hike one of the local trails. They also rent e-bikes in town. Like others said, the trick is to get out of town and sightsee. It's stunningly beautiful!

 

This means that you get half a day in port in Juneau and Ketchikan.  This is definitely not good!!

 

DON

[aussielozzie18]

We cruised Grand Princess in May just gone.  You are going to LOVE cruising Glacier Bay NP!  
 

The benefit of cruising with Grand Princess for us was the long days in port.  I made sure to get off as soon as we docked to explore the town centres when it was still quiet - and then again after returning from excursions.  Usually, at least two of the other ships had either had their all aboard or were departing whilst us Grand Princess cruisers still had time to wander/shop in town.

 

Also, as others have suggested book something that gets you out of town.  We hadn’t planned to book an excursion in Sitka but when I discovered Quantum of the Seas was going to be in port with us, I decided to book a small group tour that got us away from the masses and also returned us back into  town centre after the Quantum cruisers needed to be back on board their ship.  That was a really good decision.

 

 

[wolfie11]

On 8/22/2024 at 7:44 AM, donaldsc said:

 

This means that you get half a day in port in Juneau and Ketchikan.  This is definitely not good!!

 

DON

Given the increase in the number of ships over the next few years and the limited dock space, I fear this is going to become the new normal.

[donaldsc]

1 hour ago, wolfie11 said:

Given the increase in the number of ships over the next few years and the limited dock space, I fear this is going to become the new normal.

 

I am really glad that I did my AK cruising in the gold old days.  I have done AK on normal sized but not ridiculous sized cruise ships.  We have done it on small ships sized from 50 to 200 passengers.  We visited the smaller ports that the bigger ships do not visit.  We have used the Alaska Marine highway to visit towns that nobody visits.  About the  only type of ship we have not done AK on is a small trawler yacht and a sailboat.  We have also done land trips ranging from a 2 1/2 month driving trip including driving the haul road to Prudhoe Bay,   We have done several small group professionally led photo shoots and also 2 weeks in Fairbanks in March for aurora photography and the ice carving festival.  We have been to Anan for bear viewing 4 times.  We have a family tradition that when a grandchild turns 10 they go on a week AK cruise plus a week DIY land tour w/o their parents amd we are out of grandkids.  One place that we have wanted to do is a cruise along the Aleutians to Nome and I may yet get to do that one.  I did have a cruise that hit those spots on a  Hurtigruten ship but it was killed by Covid.

 

I guess what I am saying is that we obviously love AK but considering what it appears that AK tourism has degraded to I seriously doubt if we will be back.  

[nmsk5]

Thank you all for the great advice and relieving some of my anxiety concerning the crowds.  I am looking at excursions as we speak!

[floridafish]

On 8/21/2024 at 4:55 PM, wolfie11 said:

You must be on NCL.  Be aware that when they advertise sailing by Glacier Bay it means you sail past the entrance like every other ship transiting Icy Strait.  You do not see anything but Gustavus Flats and some mountains in the distance.  The actual glaciers are 65 miles up the bay. 

This is absolutely not true. I just got off the NCL Sun and we spent the entire day sailing in and around Glacier Bay National Park. You should lose your posting privileges. 

[wolfie11]

1 hour ago, floridafish said:

This is absolutely not true. I just got off the NCL Sun and we spent the entire day sailing in and around Glacier Bay National Park. You should lose your posting privileges. 

I’m sorry that you did not read and/or comprehend my post. Pardon me if I’m wrong, but I’m also assuming you also don’t know Alaska geography very well. NCL has a concession permit for Glacier Bay and some of their ships certainly do go into the Bay.  I have no doubt that your ship spent the entire day in Glacier Bay.  But, if you had read the post, you would have seen that we are talking about a different ship, on a different itinerary, sailing next year.  If you look at the included photo you will see that it clearly states that it sails by Glacier Bay.  The original poster was very excited about the prospect of Glacier Bay, thinking she would see the glaciers there.  I pointed out that this was a deceptive advertising ploy by NCL, and her ship, like every other ship that transits Icy Strait, will sail pass the entrance to Glacier Bay and that the main attraction, i.e. the glaciers will not be visible. I hope this clears things up for you and you now understand the context of this post.  Please feel free to ask questions if you are still confused.

Edited August 24 by wolfie11

[ryarger]

10 hours ago, wolfie11 said:

I’m sorry that you did not read and/or comprehend my post

Your post was not well worded; it’s that simple.

 

“You must be on NCL.  Be aware that when they advertise sailing by Glacier Bay it means you sail past the entrance like every other ship transiting Icy Strait. “

This doesn’t mention a specific itinerary and implies that when NCL mentions Glacier Bay at all they are only sailing through Icy Straight.

 

Your second post makes it clearer, but I don’t think it’s necessary to accuse the other poster of poor reading comprehension when you could have easily avoided the confusion.

 

NCL absolutely sails into Glacier Bay with the full “park ranger in board” experience.

 

AND NCL deceptively advertises specific sailings as involving Glacier Bay when they really don’t.

 

Both are true.