Whittier to Anchorage Airport

Hi,

My ILs will be disembarking in Whittier on the Island Princess. We currently have a 3:30 PM air reservation on hold and my ILs will either take the Princess bus or train transfers to the airport. What is the latest time that they should be at the airport and will using Princess' transportation allow for that. (If there is adequate time I am thinking about an earlier flight, ie; 2:30 PM)

Thanks,

jay

They will have NO Problem making a 3:30pm flight out of Anchorage. All they will need is the Princess airport transfer, bus would be my suggestion since the rail which has the exact same scenery is more costly. Disembarkment starts early out of Whittier.

We have not yet been on an alaska cruise, but we are sailing June 12 on the Island Princess. You might want to check out the private limo services. We are saving alot of money and they will drive you wherever you want to go before your flight leaves.. Good luck

We purchased the Princess transfer from Wittier to the airport in Anchorage. Once at the airport we will pick up the rental car we have reserved and head to Denali.

HOWEVER, we called Princess to try to get information about departure times from Whittier. The young man from Princess said disemparkation would begin at 6:30am, we would report to Princess Hospitality building, and from there we would leave at 1pm for the 60 mile trip to the airport. THAT WOULD BE A 5 HOUR WAIT at the Hospitality House (which is absurd). Could this possibly be correct. If it is, what other option might we pursue? If this is incorrect, what should we expect. How might we determine the truth? If we were catching an early flight we would expect to be sent to Anchorage earlier, but because we are picking up a rental car are we to expect to be bumped to the last departure?

Are there travel sources that we should have arranged ourselves? Ii's not to late to switch.

Disembark starts around 6:45am, everyone is off the ship by 10:00am. You'll have no problems making a 2:30 flight. The Whittier Tunnel open at the top of the hour for outgoing traffic. Usually all passengers are out of Whittier by 10:15am. Princess does not house passengers in Whittier in a Hospitality Building. Princess does use the Egan Center in Anchorage for a Hospitality Center and has shuttles running to the Airport every 30 minutes or every hour. They also run shuttles from there to Whittier to catch the ship.

ARRTrain, your information is very helpful.

It is comforting to know that most passengers are out of Whittier by 10:15.

If we find we are to be at the Hospitality Center in Anchorage for longer than we want to wait we will gladly take a taxi to the airport's car rental area. Will our luggage be released to us at the Hospitality Center (Egan) in Anchorage?

In Whittier, having pre-purchased transportation, do we carry it to the transport area from the dock beside the ship as in Ft. Lauderdale?

Maybe I'm asking for too many details but I am a very detail oriented (anal) person.

Thank you.

Princess has a transfer to the Airport for Car Rental passengers from the ship. I believe when you tag your luggage onboard as Car Rental, it will be waiting for you at the Airport Luggage Room, or it might be down by the Car Rental Area. I don't quite remember where they put the Car Rental Luggage.

First off, you don't even want to go to the hospitality center. Just get your bus transfer directly to the airport from Whittier. As least they have had this in the past and I highly doubt they discontinued it???

Your information is all jumbled. The 1pm transfer start is for people heading to the ship from Egan Center, not the airport.

So far your have been a tremendous help and will, without a doubt, be the major contributing factor in tweeking our plans.

We have booked Princess transfers but I'm beginning to suspect that we made a mistake as we can't get exact answers when addressing questions to them.

Should we cancel our Princess transfers? Princess can't seem to explain to us exactly where in Anchorage we will be going or by what means. If our bags are sent to the airport and we to downtown we while have difficulties. If the train or bus takes us to downtown and gives us our bags we can take a taxi to the rental company.

Is it possible to leave the ship, board the train, bus, or take a cab to get us to Avis on B Street as we have reserved a car there.

We have also followed your advice and reserved a car at the airport through another company. Once we are clear on where we will be dropped off we can cancel the one we don't need.

Everything else has fallen nicely into place and we are looking forward to having a great time, but the ship-to-Anchorage transer is perplexing.

You can take a Princess transfer to the Airport or Downtown to the Egan Hospitality Center. You'll find out all the colors of luggage tags onboard the ship and where they will be delivered too.

I have a copy of the Disembarkation Arrangements from Sept. 5, 2005. It says:

Gold 1 - Car Rentals from Anchorage Airport South Terminal

Collect Luggage - Airport

Approx. Disembark Time 7:20am

If that is still the case this upcoming summer, you'll probably leave on the 8:00am-8:15am Tunnel opening and be at the Anchorage Airport by 10am.

What are the private transportation options from Whittier to Anchorage other than the train and Princess transfer? We don't pick up our car until the day after we dock, so just need to get to our hotel in Anchorage. Thanks for your help.

http://www.anchorage.net has lists of private transfers Anchorage/Whittier.

Choose where you want to go, downtown or airport and make the arrangements to that location. You will be able to do so with Princess. Bags go with you.