Misty Fjords question

Hi All,

I'm looking for some advice on a possible excursion.

Our cruise (May 2017) to Alaska has on the itinerary a half a day of Misty Fjords (cruising) before docking in Ketchikan.

One of the excursions in Ketchikan is a Misty Fjords boat tour.

My question is, does anyone have any experience with how far cruise ships can get up into Misty Fjords (we're on Royal Caribbean, if that matters)? Is it worth it to go on extra excursion on a smaller boat to Misty Fjords or will viewing Misty Fjords from the cruise ship be spectacular in and of itself?

I thought i remember reading someplace on here that the big cruise ships can't get that far into fjords, but the only posts i can find now are in reference to Tracy Arm Fjords, not Misty Fjords.

Any advice would be appreciated!! Thanks! :)

Unless you are on a small cruise ship like Lindblad or Uncruise, you're not going to get into Misty Fjords on the big ships. If you want to see it, the excursion is a good idea. You can also fly over it but weather can often be an issue.

Only the excursions can get close enough to the waterfalls to get wet. ;) Also close enough to the petroglyphs to see them.

Hi All,

 

I'm looking for some advice on a possible excursion.

 

Our cruise (May 2017) to Alaska has on the itinerary a half a day of Misty Fjords (cruising) before docking in Ketchikan.

 

One of the excursions in Ketchikan is a Misty Fjords boat tour.

 

My question is, does anyone have any experience with how far cruise ships can get up into Misty Fjords (we're on Royal Caribbean, if that matters)? Is it worth it to go on extra excursion on a smaller boat to Misty Fjords or will viewing Misty Fjords from the cruise ship be spectacular in and of itself?

 

I thought i remember reading someplace on here that the big cruise ships can't get that far into fjords, but the only posts i can find now are in reference to Tracy Arm Fjords, not Misty Fjords.

 

Any advice would be appreciated!! Thanks! :)

We are on the same cruise as you. Please join our "Roll Call", go to roll calls and find our cruise 'Radiance 5/17/17" We have quite a large group going.

I'm disappointed to hear we will not be going into the fjord. I wonder how close we can get.

Ann

Misty Fjords National Monument is not one fjord but many. My wife and I spent an entire day sailing through it on the Uncruise Safari Endeavor last May. It was spectacular.

The closest a large cruise ship can get to it is Ketchikan. From there you can take a separate sightseeing tour by small plane, small boat, or a combination of the two.

Misty Fjords National Monument is not one fjord but many. My wife and I spent an entire day sailing through it on the Uncruise Safari Endeavor last May. It was spectacular.

The closest a large cruise ship can get to it is Ketchikan. From there you can take a separate sightseeing tour by small plane, small boat, or a combination of the two.

Hi Chenega,

Our cruise specifically states that RCCL's Radiance of the Seas will be cruising the Misty Fjords from 7AM - 12PM before we dock at Ketchikan... am wondering where they will be going.

thx.

Ann

Hi All,

 

I'm looking for some advice on a possible excursion.

 

Our cruise (May 2017) to Alaska has on the itinerary a half a day of Misty Fjords (cruising) before docking in Ketchikan.

 

One of the excursions in Ketchikan is a Misty Fjords boat tour.

 

My question is, does anyone have any experience with how far cruise ships can get up into Misty Fjords (we're on Royal Caribbean, if that matters)? Is it worth it to go on extra excursion on a smaller boat to Misty Fjords or will viewing Misty Fjords from the cruise ship be spectacular in and of itself?

 

I thought i remember reading someplace on here that the big cruise ships can't get that far into fjords, but the only posts i can find now are in reference to Tracy Arm Fjords, not Misty Fjords.

 

Any advice would be appreciated!! Thanks! :)

Heyalaskaherewecome, will you be on the May 17th sailing to Alaska? If so, there's a roll call and lots of people are goin.

Virginia

Our cruise specifically states that RCCL's Radiance of the Seas will be cruising the Misty Fjords from 7AM - 12PM before we dock at Ketchikan... am wondering where they will be going.

thx.

We toured Misty Fjords on UnCruise too. We overnighted in Punchbowl Cove. Didn’t seen any of the main line ships, actually didn’t see any of the smaller ones either. It is very deep and I did see Seabourn has a ship that actually goes into Rudyerd Bay and then continues around Revillagigedo Island. Maybe you’ll be doing the same. Hopefully Royal will add some details to this portion of the trip.

My interest was so piqued that I went to RCCL to see this itinerary in person.

My guess it that since Tracy Arm is often missed that early in the season (They only accessed it in August last year) that they have given up on it.

(Which makes me ask, "Why not Endicott Arm?")

You will have to tell us how much you get to see of Misty from a cruise ship - this is new for large ships like Radiance. (Based on my very limited experience - years of looking at the major cruise line itineraries on line, watching youtube videos, & reading reviews on CC)

I love how they call it a "Northern Glacier Cruise" & they don't even go into Glacier Bay. It reads as port intensive, not glacier intensive. (Repetitive, but they aren't even going into Endicott Arm to see Dawes Glacier while purporting to be a "Northern Glacier Cruise.")

Got curious so did some ruler measurements with GoogleEarth of Rudyard Bay and looks like most of the passages are 2000-3000 feet wide. Smaller ships in the 900-1000 foot length range should be fine and the way all the ships with Azipods and bow thrusters can spin on a dime probably no reason they can't go there. The shore drops as steeply as the cliffs above so not a lot different than many port channels except way deeper. Still they're not going to cruise too close to the sides - don't want to scratch the paint. ;) Punchbowl Cove runs around 140 fathoms deep (840 feet) or so and even way up into Rudyard past the "T" the center is 80-90 fathoms (500 ft or so). http://www.nauticalchartsonline.com/chart/zoom?chart=17424

Wondering too what sort of permits or permissions they have to obtain from the NPS since they administer the monument. Might have to work similar to Glacier Bay.

I took an excursion to Misty Fjords in May 2017 and saw the MS Radiance of the Seas - they went much deeper into fjords than our boat. You are lucky :)