Princess removed Skagway on Southbound July '23

[CStorm]

Any idea why they changed us to Ice Strait?  The train is my husband's favorite thing to do in Skagway.  I know there have been some issues with that recently.  Super disappointed right now.

[1025cruise]

Probably port congestion.

[Snow cat]

Just moved ours from Skagway to Icy Strait Point  on Majestic Princess southbound for Sept 2023 as well.

[don't-use-real-name]

6 hours ago, 1025cruise said:

Probably port congestion.

There are 4 berths for 4 cruise ships - 2 at Railroad dock - 1 at Broadway and 1 at the Ore dock

With 4 ships Skagway is maxed out on accommodations ! Tendering could be done - but - to

what purpose.

AND there is the limitation of Canada WPYRR train trips - not terribly helpful !

[oaktreerb]

50 minutes ago, don't-use-real-name said:

There are 4 berths for 4 cruise ships - 2 at Railroad dock - 1 at Broadway and 1 at the Ore dock

With 4 ships Skagway is maxed out on accommodations ! Tendering could be done - but - to

what purpose.

AND there is the limitation of Canada WPYRR train trips - not terribly helpful !

Are you sure tendering can be done in Skagway?  Can’t imagine how it would work with a large cruise ship tendering and the 4 docked ships coming and going.  There is also the ferry dock in there.  There are too many ships sailing too few ports in Alaska. 

[don't-use-real-name]

3 hours ago, oaktreerb said:

Are you sure tendering can be done in Skagway?  Can’t imagine how it would work with a large cruise ship tendering and the 4 docked ships coming and going.  There is also the ferry dock in there.  There are too many ships sailing too few ports in Alaska. 

Tendering could be done - there is a marina facility between the 2 Railroad berths and the WPYRR

depot.

YES it would be a very tight fit with 4 cruise ships coming and going - but it is possible - - -

AND YES  There are too many ships sailing too few ports in Alaska

"AHEM" - ALL AT THE SAME TIME !

Primary cruise ports:

Ketchikan has 4 berths and adding 2 more at Ward Cove (NCL) helps a bit

Juneau will be adding a 5th berth near the float plane facility

Icy Strait Point has added 1 more for total of 2 was formerly a tender port

Whittier has 1 and will be adding a new one

Seward has 1 and a squeeze for a smaller ship making 2

Victoria can handle 2 ships

Vancouver (Canada Place) 2-3-4 variable with the size of the ship

Seattle has Pier 66 (NCL) and Pier 91

 

[CruiserBruce]

I would be asking this on the Princess...much better chance someone there will know the issues as this is really about Princess operations.

[skrufy]

Feel for you guys. Four cruises, pre pandemic to this past March. 3 of them have had port changes and reduced days. Booked cruise to Alaska next year already has had Victoria BC hours reduced. Was looking forward to a new port to explore. Now it's just a few hours to get a quick look at the city.

[GTJ]

23 hours ago, don't-use-real-name said:

There are 4 berths for 4 cruise ships - 2 at Railroad dock - 1 at Broadway and 1 at the Ore dock With 4 ships Skagway is maxed out on accommodations!

That might be true as a matter of fact. However, Skagway is owned by Carnival Corp. & plc. They bring more passengers to Skagway than any other cruise line, and they hold title to the White Pass Route. Within the larger state environment, Carnival controls so many accommodations, and has one of the country's largest motorcoach fleets, and so it can decide what local companies and municipalities get its business, and who gets employment. Unless someone messed up the local politics big time, Carnival should be able to do anything it wants, including the scheduling at the port. Moreover, scheduling is done far in advance, and scheduling conflicts do not suddenly or unexpectedly arise. Carnival is not simply sitting on the sidelines while ports are acting independently; it is a political giant. My immediate reaction--speculative as it may be--is that it is the itinerary change is the result of either an infrastructure failure at Skagway or an internal Princess Cruises issue.