Alaska Ports are being invaded

[donaldsc]

14 hours ago, wolfie11 said:

The second picture (Margerie) must have been taken in the last few weeks.  Margerie has been stable for over a hundred years, but has retreated considerably since 2019.  It started with an embayment on the right hand side and has retreated around 3/4 mile since then.  In the last few weeks, a new embayment is forming on the right side again as your photo shows.  I would expect if this process continues, Margerie will be out of the water in the next 10-20 years. The attached photo was taken two weeks ago and it looks like the embayment is increasing in size.

 

We have a family tradition that when the grandkids turn 10 we take them to AK w/o their parents.  One of the very important reasons that we considered in advance of making that decision was that their parents don't have the time to do a long AK trip and we wanted to give the kids a chance to see glaciers before all of them disappeared.

 

DON

[Thetideishigh2021]

16 minutes ago, donaldsc said:

 

We have a family tradition that when the grandkids turn 10 we take them to AK w/o their parents.  One of the very important reasons that we considered in advance of making that decision was that their parents don't have the time to do a long AK trip and we wanted to give the kids a chance to see glaciers before all of them disappeared.

 

DON

We’re booked to sail with 3 generations as well next spring before the glaciers are gone.   

[Aquahound]

4 hours ago, wcook said:

No need to even go down to South East Alaska. Which opens up Anchorage-Anchorage, Valdez, Homer, Kodiak, Dutch Harbor etc.  

 

The PVSA has nothing to do with those ports not being regular and frequent cruise ports.  

[peety3]

If this (or frankly anything) is important to you, vote with your wallet. Visit Cruise Line Agencies of Alaska and view the port schedules per city. If you see a city you like with a low number of ships in port, consider cruising on one of those ships. You could also fly to the cities you like, or take a ferry, or (for most of them) drive to them in a car or RV, or charter a boat and visit them on your own pace. You can get a reservation to visit Glacier Bay NP by boat. You can go visit Tracy Arm Fjord by boat, or Endicott Arm, or lots of other places too.

[wcook]

2 hours ago, Aquahound said:

 

The PVSA has nothing to do with those ports not being regular and frequent cruise ports.  

The problem is that it’s hard to visit those ports and Canada except on longer cruises. 

[wolfie11]

6 hours ago, wcook said:

No need to even go down to South East Alaska. Which opens up Anchorage-Anchorage, Valdez, Homer, Kodiak, Dutch Harbor etc.  

Do you think these ports are going to build docks for the cruise ships to visit?  Norwegian started going to Valdez last year and pulled out mid-season because passengers said it was boring.  Homer doesn’t want cruise ships, Kodiak is a long ways out of the way, as is Dutch Harbor, which is the second-most missed cruise port in the world after the Falklands.  Anchorage is shallow and muddy and has 30 foot tides with strong currents and is also out of the way. Let’s not even get into the nasty year-round weather in those regions.

[zqvol]

7 hours ago, wcook said:

No need to even go down to South East Alaska. Which opens up Anchorage-Anchorage, Valdez, Homer, Kodiak, Dutch Harbor etc.  

Excellent idea that I hadn’t even thought of, and I agree, at least in my opinion, that those would be better cruises than the SE stuff. 

[wcook]

1 hour ago, wolfie11 said:

Norwegian started going to Valdez last year and pulled out mid-season because passengers said it was boring.

Lol. We cruisers are funny. “Enough with the tourist stuff, give us authentic experiences.” But also, “This is boring. Where are the zip lines and souvenir shops?”

 

As for the other stuff, it’s all moot as long as the PVSA is around. But I honestly believe Anchorage/Aleutians would be viable if allowed. 

[Thetideishigh2021]

9 minutes ago, wcook said:

Lol. We cruisers are funny. “Enough with the tourist stuff, give us authentic experiences.” But also, “This is boring. Where are the zip lines and souvenir shops?”

 

As for the other stuff, it’s all moot as long as the PVSA is around. But I honestly believe Anchorage/Aleutians would be viable if allowed. 

As long as it’s what they want… once the money’s been spent on tourism infrastructure , the genie is now out of the bottle and the Aleutians (and Anchorage I guess) won’t be the same 

[Aquahound]

1 hour ago, wcook said:

The problem is that it’s hard to visit those ports and Canada except on longer cruises. 

 

12 minutes ago, wcook said:

As for the other stuff, it’s all moot as long as the PVSA is around. But I honestly believe Anchorage/Aleutians would be viable if allowed. 

 

I don't think you realize how far and remote those destinations are, not to mention weather and tides.  Again, the PVSA is not to blame for the lack of cruise ships going to those destinations.  

 

[david,Mississauga]

I can't help thinking of our first cruise to Alaska in 1972.  There were only two cruise ships from Vancouver. One was the vessel we were on: the Princess Patricia of the Canadian Pacific Railway and the other was the Prince George of Canadian National Railway.  Each carried about 300 passengers. The only other cruise ship at least in late summer was the Oronsay of the P&O, which was based in San Francisco. It carried about 1,000 passengers. 

 

We docked at the usual ports (Juneau, Ketchikan, Skagway) as well as Prince Rupert and one other, probably Wrangell. We visited Glacier Bay.  Nobody pressured us to buy diamonds anywhere.

 

It was many years before we took another Alaska cruise and noticed the difference.  In July of this year we took our fourth cruise on Cunard's 2,000 passenger Queen Elizabeth and noticed that all ports had fewer ships than on most of the previous cruises including one on Holland America in 2015.  We were lucky.  We had decided we needn't go ashore at any ports unless we needed a pharmacy, although I always enjoy Skagway -  mainly because of the trains even if we aren't taking the excursion.  Even Juneau had only three ships, although one (Monstrosity of the Seas or some such) seemed to take up two berths.

[wolfie11]

5 hours ago, Aquahound said:

 

 

I don't think you realize how far and remote those destinations are, not to mention weather and tides.  Again, the PVSA is not to blame for the lack of cruise ships going to those destinations.  

 

Anchorage to Dutch Harbor is 700nm.  At 20kts that would be 35 hours of sailing.  Again it is the second most frequently missed port in the world. Then it’s 480nm back to Kodiak, a sail of 24 hours.  Where do you go now?

[donaldsc]

2 hours ago, wolfie11 said:

Anchorage to Dutch Harbor is 700nm.  At 20kts that would be 35 hours of sailing.  Again it is the second most frequently missed port in the world. Then it’s 480nm back to Kodiak, a sail of 24 hours.  Where do you go now?

 

Actually it is ~ 700 nm from Kodiak to Dutch Harbor.  Anchorage to Dutch Harbor is 965 nm.  I actually had booked a pre-covid cruise on Hurtigruten that went as far as Nome.  Needless to say it was cancelled and I have not rebooked.  I still think that if a line with a smaller ship 2 or 3 times per year they could fill it.  I would take it.

 

Does the Marine Highway still do a run to Dutch Harbor?

 

DON

[wolfie11]

13 hours ago, donaldsc said:

 

Actually it is ~ 700 nm from Kodiak to Dutch Harbor.  Anchorage to Dutch Harbor is 965 nm.  I actually had booked a pre-covid cruise on Hurtigruten that went as far as Nome.  Needless to say it was cancelled and I have not rebooked.  I still think that if a line with a smaller ship 2 or 3 times per year they could fill it.  I would take it.

 

Does the Marine Highway still do a run to Dutch Harbor?

 

DON

Yes, but it is only a couple of sailings in the summer months.

 

Hurtigruten still does that route.  My friend did it last summer. I’m on a Viking North Pacific passage next spring that will hopefully stop there.

[peety3]

If you're curious about any boating destinations beyond Southeast Alaska (which I'm considering to be Glacier Bay NP / Skagway), read 50' trawler trip across Gulf of Alaska and their return, then for a little more color check out this video about Lituya Bay as told by a man with decades of boatbuilding experience. Sure, cruise ships are much bigger and more stable, but it's worth seeing that it's not just a walk in the park to get there (or back).

[MississippiMom]

On 8/22/2024 at 6:33 PM, Billthekid said:

From the Alaska Cruise Mapper for Tuesday, August 6 19:00 TWL - ISP ROYAL PRINCESS 06:30 15:00 OLD - ISP RADIANCE OF THE SEAS 13:30 22:00 WLD - ISP SOLSTICE 18:00 22:00 OLD - ISP EURODAM

These were the ships for Icy Point for Tuesday August 6.

Where do they all dock?

 

I just looked at ISP for September 3, 2025.

- Norwegian Bliss arrives at 6 a.m.

- Norwegian Jade arrives at 7 a.m.

- Celebrity Summit arrives at 7 a.m.  (Our sailing, and I don’t think I can book a private whale watching excursion at 8 a.m., because I’m not convinced we can get off the ship and through the crowd in time.)

[Billthekid]

I recall two docking ports with a walkway to a reception station where you walk or shuttle to the main activity area.  I did not get off since it was 6pm.

[wolfie11]

On 8/30/2024 at 6:37 PM, MississippiMom said:

Where do they all dock?

 

I just looked at ISP for September 3, 2025.

- Norwegian Bliss arrives at 6 a.m.

- Norwegian Jade arrives at 7 a.m.

- Celebrity Summit arrives at 7 a.m.  (Our sailing, and I don’t think I can book a private whale watching excursion at 8 a.m., because I’m not convinced we can get off the ship and through the crowd in time.)

There are two docks at ISP.  One ship will have to tender.  Probably Celebrity Summit, since it’s only 2200 pax and the NCL ships are 4000 each.  It takes about 2.5 hours to tender 2000 people.  I would book excisions as early as possible.  ISP was overwhelmed when I was there last week with 5500 pax between two ships.  Zip line was running almost two hours behind.  I can’t even imagine it with 10,000 people.

[MississippiMom]

19 minutes ago, wolfie11 said:

There are two docks at ISP.  One ship will have to tender.  Probably Celebrity Summit, since it’s only 2200 pax and the NCL ships are 4000 each.  It takes about 2.5 hours to tender 2000 people.  I would book excisions as early as possible.  ISP was overwhelmed when I was there last week with 5500 pax between two ships.  Zip line was running almost two hours behind.  I can’t even imagine it with 10,000 people.

Thanks for the honest assessment.  We are leaning toward a whale watching excursion, but it would be TREMENDOUSLY helpful, if our family members who might be joining the same cruise would make a decision.  I am booking excursions by next week, regardless, though.

 

10,000 people sounds CRAZY.

[wolfie11]

1 minute ago, MississippiMom said:

Thanks for the honest assessment.  We are leaning toward a whale watching excursion, but it would be TREMENDOUSLY helpful, if our family members who might be joining the same cruise would make a decision.  I am booking excursions by next week, regardless, though.

 

10,000 people sounds CRAZY.

IMHO, I have done whale watching on five continents and unless you go to Antarctica, ISP is one of the best places for whale watching.

[mac66]

Just got back for a cruise in Alaska. It was on a small ship i.e 54 passengers, kind of an adventure/expedition cruise instead of a big cruise ship. 

 

Went out of Juneau and ended in Sitka. No other towns or cities.  We arrived a couple days early in Juneau on a Wednesday. 2 big ships in port. Thursday there were 4 and 5 on Friday. We walked to the Tram across from the dock from our hotel on Thursday morning and got right on. Was kind of a cold and wet day so not many people off the ship at that time. We hiked up the mountain and back down and got back about the time the ships were unloading. We also ate dinner on the dock near the ships. There was a wait but not too bad. I'm guessing most ship passengers eat on board.

 

Got on our ship late Friday afternoon which was docked way down past the Mendenhall Glacier.  No ships were in port in Sitka when we got there the following Friday.

 

The captain of our ship (younger guy about 30ish) grew up and lives in Sitka. He said the debate between limiting cruise ships is a hot one. On one side the local economy (both business and gov't) depends on the tourist revenue particularly since fishing business has gone down in recent years. They are not likely to bite the hand that feeds them.

 

On the other hand you have the locals complaining about the crowds in town.  Our captain did say that most of the complainers are older residents who are retired or liveyhoods don't depend on tourism dollars. Most residents, he says, support the cruise industry.  They argue they get their towns back to normal during the off season.

 

  I guess you could say that about anywhere that draws tourists mostly during the summer, Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Mount Rushmore  etc, etc. Nice place to visit if it wasn't for all the dang tourists.  But as Shakespear or somebody once said. "You can't have your cake and eat it too."

Edited September 2 by mac66

[Billthekid]

On 8/27/2024 at 1:46 PM, wolfie11 said:

The first picture is of Hubbard Glacier not Margerie.

I was trying to find out why the ship did not view the Hubbard Glacier.  I found out that if you visit Glacier Bay National Park you view Margerie Glacier.  But if your cruise includes Wrangler National Park you view Hubbard Glacier.  A more impressive glacier.  Is that correct?  I attempted to find a cruise that combined both with no luck.  Does the National Park Service restrict access to Wrangler?

[wolfie11]

23 hours ago, Billthekid said:

I was trying to find out why the ship did not view the Hubbard Glacier.  I found out that if you visit Glacier Bay National Park you view Margerie Glacier.  But if your cruise includes Wrangler National Park you view Hubbard Glacier.  A more impressive glacier.  Is that correct?  I attempted to find a cruise that combined both with no luck.  Does the National Park Service restrict access to Wrangler?

Hubbard is regulated by the Forest Service.  I don’t think it’s technically part of the Wrangell St. Elias National Park.  It’s out of the way on a Southeast Alaska round trip so the only cruises that usually visit are one-ways. I have been on Princess southbound ships that do both Glacier Bay and Hubbard.

[Billthekid]

Thanks for the information.  I was totally impressed by the Hubbard Glacier, and the glaciers I saw in Glacier Bay National Park were not even close.  Several years ago we did the 14+ days cruise and that was when I had the opportunity to see the Hubbard Glacier.