What is the status of Skagway for 2023 season?

[Hllb]

1 hour ago, eileeshb said:

I’ll be on Bliss in October when she’s the only ship on the schedule that day in Skagway. I am hoping that tendering won’t be necessary by then. My one experience of tendering on that size of ship at great stirrup caye did not fill me with confidence so I’m hoping to avoid it in the future.

I don't believe there is any solution planned for this year that would allow large ships to dock normally. You'll either tender, or bus across the rock zone, depending on which position your ship is assigned to. Since you're the only ship in port, I'd think they'd go with the bussing option.

[LB_NJ]

On 3/9/2023 at 1:48 PM, Hllb said:

I don't believe there is any solution planned for this year that would allow large ships to dock normally. You'll either tender, or bus across the rock zone, depending on which position your ship is assigned to. Since you're the only ship in port, I'd think they'd go with the bussing option.

Since it is bussing the article I read says the rockslide fix has to comply with DOT requirements, whatever that means.

 

I seem to remember the article saying that the city would also have spotters watching the mountain just in case.

 

Even if that works not sure I would want to be on a big ship with everyone trying to get on however many buses they have.

 

I have a cruise scheduled to stop there however I think it will be touch and go all season.

 

The cruise I am in already canceled Juneau and put in a sea day.  I will not be happy if they cancel another port.

[cruisingrob21]

3 hours ago, LB_NJ said:

The cruise I am in already canceled Juneau and put in a sea day.  I will not be happy if they cancel another port.

Which voyage and what month did they cancel Juneau?  Juneau did recently vote to limit 5 ships per day so that could have been what impacted your voyage.  Sorry to hear that they just swapped in a sea day - hopefully they can remain in the interior passages for scenic cruising.

[Hllb]

9 hours ago, LB_NJ said:

Since it is bussing the article I read says the rockslide fix has to comply with DOT requirements, whatever that means.

 

I seem to remember the article saying that the city would also have spotters watching the mountain just in case.

 

Even if that works not sure I would want to be on a big ship with everyone trying to get on however many buses they have.

 

I have a cruise scheduled to stop there however I think it will be touch and go all season.

 

The cruise I am in already canceled Juneau and put in a sea day.  I will not be happy if they cancel another port.

I actually canceled a cruise that was doing Skagway because I was concerned about them canceling and adding another sea day. Why did they cancel Juneau? 
 

For the busses, I think the DOT regulations are lesser since you’d have the protection of the vehicle.

[LB_NJ]

7 hours ago, cruisingrob21 said:

Which voyage and what month did they cancel Juneau?  Juneau did recently vote to limit 5 ships per day so that could have been what impacted your voyage.  Sorry to hear that they just swapped in a sea day - hopefully they can remain in the interior passages for scenic cruising.

The cruise is June 20 on Cunard QE.  The reason given for canceling Juneau was “operational issues “.

 

I call it a sea day however they will be going into one of the glaciers.

[Hllb]

15 minutes ago, LB_NJ said:

The cruise is June 20 on Cunard QE.  The reason given for canceling Juneau was “operational issues “.

 

I call it a sea day however they will be going into one of the glaciers.

That does make it better - at least there should be something to see! Hopefully Skagway goes well this season.

[wolfie11]

2 hours ago, LB_NJ said:

The cruise is June 20 on Cunard QE.  The reason given for canceling Juneau was “operational issues “.

 

I call it a sea day however they will be going into one of the glaciers.

The Queen Elizabeth is my favorite "big" ship.  I could definitely see cruising by a glacier sipping tea and eating scones and little sandwiches at High Tea!

[cruisingrob21]

6 hours ago, LB_NJ said:

The cruise is June 20 on Cunard QE.  The reason given for canceling Juneau was “operational issues “.

 

I call it a sea day however they will be going into one of the glaciers.

Operational reasons are probably a combination of it being a very busy day in Juneau - note that the QE isn't even on this list - simply not enough room for her even with the shifting of calls between the NCL ships at the AJ Dock (7-1 on bliss, then 3 to 11 on Encore)

 

 

The other reason is likely related to this

https://www.seatrade-cruise.com/ports-destinations/juneau-caps-ships-five-day-and-cruise-lines-are-fine

 

Don't be surprised to see another 2 ships drop off that list.  Unfortunately, all the cruise lines have been playing coy and doing these "operational reason" adjustments well after final payment and close to the sail date.

 

Alaska will be very crowded this year with lots of full ships, un/fortunately, things at Skagway and now Juneau will push some ships to less visited ports or extra sea days.

[eileeshb]

7 hours ago, Hllb said:

I actually canceled a cruise that was doing Skagway because I was concerned about them canceling and adding another sea day. Why did they cancel Juneau? 
 

For the busses, I think the DOT regulations are lesser since you’d have the protection of the vehicle.

From what I remember reading here last year NCL switched all their Skagway itineraries to ISP after the rockfall. I’d hope most of the cruiselines with big ships have alternative ports lined up for this year after last seasons issues. 

[cruisingrob21]

2 minutes ago, eileeshb said:

From what I remember reading here last year NCL switched all their Skagway itineraries to ISP after the rockfall. I’d hope most of the cruiselines with big ships have alternative ports lined up for this year after last seasons issues. 

Could happen again this year, but as of late Feb, NCL is still sending several ships to Skagway weekly.  Additionally, one of their RT Seattle ships (Bliss) regularly spends a whole day at ISP, probably ILO Skagway.

https://claalaska.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/SKG-Skagway-2023.pdf

 

[eileeshb]

12 minutes ago, cruisingrob21 said:

Could happen again this year, but as of late Feb, NCL is still sending several ships to Skagway weekly.  Additionally, one of their RT Seattle ships (Bliss) regularly spends a whole day at ISP, probably ILO Skagway.

https://claalaska.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/SKG-Skagway-2023.pdf

 

I’m sailing on Bliss in October and at the moment it’s the only ship scheduled for Skagway on that day so I’m hoping we’ll make it to the port but I’m keeping an eye out for what happens during the season. There’s a lot of @sea time on the itinerary already with only a morning in Ketchikan and a night time in Victoria so Skagway and Juneau are the only ports with a decent amount of time in port.

[wreckem2013]

On 2/9/2023 at 10:04 PM, Panhandle Couple said:

Looking at the port schedule for May, I see Radiance of the Sea for Skagway as follows:

 

Sunday May 14 - RRF  (not good)

Wednesday May 24 - ORE (Good)

Monday May 29 - RRF (not good)

And

Wednesday June 7 - ORE

Monday June 12 - ORE

The rest of the summer looks like Wednesdays for ORE, Mondays for RRF.

This I has been confusing for me. When I originally booked my back to back it had Skagway and Haines on the same day on southbound leg. Now in the app it just has Haines. It still shows as being docked at RRF in Skagway that day? Do you think this is just Royal hedging? Right now it says 7pm-12am for Haines with Radiance being the only ship docked that day day. Will we probably be in Haines all day instead?

Edited March 19, 2023 by wreckem2013

[Panhandle Couple]

45 minutes ago, wreckem2013 said:

This I has been confusing for me. When I originally booked my back to back it had Skagway and Haines on the same day on southbound leg. Now in the app it just has Haines. It still shows as being docked at RRF in Skagway that day? Do you think this is just Royal hedging? Right now it says 7pm-12am for Haines with Radiance being the only ship docked that day day. Will we probably be in Haines all day instead?

Just checked the pot schedule listed in 3 posts above, looks like it hasn't changed.

 

At this point we won't know much until approximately 3 weeks from now.

All updates are that the work is progressing.  It has to be completed and then inspected. (state or federal, not certain which or both?)

If it passes, then the proposed work around (tender and bus combo) will be used.

If not, then that is the large question for everyone.  Travelers, cruise lines, Skagway officials.

 

I can't say what RCL is thinking.  Hopefully they have more insight (eyes and ears on the ground there) than simply web searching.

 

I hope it all works out for you and everyone traveling there this summer.

 

 

[wreckem2013]

26 minutes ago, Panhandle Couple said:

Just checked the pot schedule listed in 3 posts above, looks like it hasn't changed.

 

At this point we won't know much until approximately 3 weeks from now.

All updates are that the work is progressing.  It has to be completed and then inspected. (state or federal, not certain which or both?)

If it passes, then the proposed work around (tender and bus combo) will be used.

If not, then that is the large question for everyone.  Travelers, cruise lines, Skagway officials.

 

I can't say what RCL is thinking.  Hopefully they have more insight (eyes and ears on the ground there) than simply web searching.

 

I hope it all works out for you and everyone traveling there this summer.

 

 

I guess I am just going to hedge my bets and rearrange my plans to do the Whitepass Railroad during the north bound leg where Radiance is supposed to be at the Ore Dock and flip my Chilkoot hike and kayak/float to the southbound as that option would be accessible from either Skagway or Haines. I’ll hold off on booking the excursion for the southbound leg until Royal figures out what they are doing.

Edited March 20, 2023 by wreckem2013

[Panhandle Couple]

2 minutes ago, wreckem2013 said:

I guess I am just going to hedge my bets and rearrange my plans to do the Whitepass Railroad during the north bound leg where Radiance is supposed to be at the Ore Dock and flip my Chilkoot hike and kayak/float to the southbound as that option would be accessible from either Skagway or Haines. I guess it will be a couple months before anything solidifies.

I think that is a very good approach.  

[latebuyer]

Thanks for posting about 5 cruise ship limit in Juneau. Looks like i'm ok on june 28 as 5 ships in port. Day before is showing 6 ships. I'd be mad to miss a port.

[latebuyer]

Is there a way to see which dock the ship is at? I was interested whether Brilliance of the Seas was at a close dock at Juneau or if we'd have to bus in. Sorry i realize unrelated to topic.

[Crow9]

@latebuyer I have been looking at the Alaska cruise dock schedules for that, which has a chart for each port. https://claalaska.com/?page_id=1250

[AnniversaryCruizer]

On 2/3/2023 at 4:20 PM, Panhandle Couple said:

I have been looking at on line articles, and no mention of anything past late November.

The status then was as follows:

Landslide area is still being worked on, much of the work manually.

 

A new large "holding net will be installed to replace the destroyed one, and an additional, closer to dock, net installed.

 

This will NOT allow two ships to dock however.  It will be the same as the end of last year.  One ship docking at the far end and tendering in to the small boat harbor.  No one will be allowed to "walk the dock".

 

An expansion of the other "ore dock" to allow 1 small, and 1 large ship will not happen.  Neither RCL or NCL said they can bring their ships in unless the plan lengthens the dock.  With a steep drop of, that is nearly impossible, tripling (or more) the cost.  A moot point, as the cheapest bid for the original plan was 75% over budget.

 

Carnival has the lease for the large dock for 1 more year.  No discussion of what happens after that.

 

Tendering another large ship further away is a problem.  The water is deep, and there are not enough small boat tenders to support.  The tide also is large, up to 20ft, making tender access at all times difficult.

 

Does anyone here have any updated info?

Rumors or inside info from the locals there?

 

Thanks in advance.

 

I'm booked on Radiance of the Seas in August and we were scheduled to dock at ORE.  After looking at this thread, I rechecked the website and saw that my favorite port, Skagway, is now off the agenda.   I checked the App, and it is also off the list of ports the ship is going to.  They still offer excursions for Skagway but our only stop that day is Haines from 7 pm - 11 pm.  I called the cruise line and was told to uninstall the App and re-install it as well as rebooting my computer and clearing out cookies.  I'm not the dummy he thought we all are.  He said they had not gotten any communication about a change in ports.  

[latebuyer]

Just a note for those who haven't booked already. The Royal Caribbean Multi glacier cruises go to juneau, ketchikan and sitka. Not sure how sitka compares as a port but id' rather go there then miss a port altogether.

[cruisingrob21]

31 minutes ago, latebuyer said:

Just a note for those who haven't booked already. The Royal Caribbean Multi glacier cruises go to juneau, ketchikan and sitka. Not sure how sitka compares as a port but id' rather go there then miss a port altogether.

Sitka is a great port.  You'll find a variety of opinions on Sitka vs Skagway, but both are a nice compliment port to the standard Juneau and Ketchikan.  My only recommendation is doing a tour in the morning that ends in downtown Sitka.  It's about a 15-20 minute shuttle bus ride into town from the cruise terminal.  It's a scenic ride but you'll have a sort of priority vs the masses if you are on a tour.

[eyern1]

Fwiw, I spoke with someone at the White Pass Railway the other day and she thinks everything will be okay for up to 4 ships/day. My May 19 cruise hasn't listed a port change.

[AnniversaryCruizer]

On 3/20/2023 at 5:29 PM, AnniversaryCruizer said:

I'm booked on Radiance of the Seas in August and we were scheduled to dock at ORE.  After looking at this thread, I rechecked the website and saw that my favorite port, Skagway, is now off the agenda.   I checked the App, and it is also off the list of ports the ship is going to.  They still offer excursions for Skagway but our only stop that day is Haines from 7 pm - 11 pm.  I called the cruise line and was told to uninstall the App and re-install it as well as rebooting my computer and clearing out cookies.  I'm not the dummy he thought we all are.  He said they had not gotten any communication about a change in ports.  

Update on our cruise planned for the Skagway port in August. . .   Without a satisfactory or definitive answer from the cruise line regarding whether or not our ship would dock in Skagway, I called the Cruise Line Agency of Alaska and spoke with a very knowledgeable and helpful man.  He checked and verified our ship will not lose their spot in Skagway.  I encourage anyone wanting information from people that are in the know to give them a call.  The number for the  Skagway office is (907)983-2815.

[ruready]

Hopefully someone will report back after the first cruise ship goes there.  My cruise is scheduled to be there April 29th (only ship there that day), and I have not seen any alerts from the cruise line (although I only booked a bit over a month ago).  

[david,Mississauga]

On 3/12/2023 at 3:50 PM, cruisingrob21 said:

Operational reasons are probably a combination of it being a very busy day in Juneau - note that the QE isn't even on this list - simply not enough room for her even with the shifting of calls between the NCL ships at the AJ Dock (7-1 on bliss, then 3 to 11 on Encore)

 

...

We are taking that cruise. June 20th is the departure day of the Queen Elizabeth from Vancouver.  The QE was on the Juneau list for June 22nd until the CLAA updated their listings on Feb. 27th. Cunard didn't acknowledge this until March 8th.  There are now four ships on the Juneau list for that date.  Last year we took the same cruise, also in June. The QE was at anchor in Juneau. There were four ships docked.

 

Although I could care less about Juneau, having been there several times, I feel bad for those who were looking forward to it, especially those who had booked excursions. I will be really disappointed if we can't take the WP&Y excursion from Skagway.

 

Thanks to the poster for the telephone information for the CLAA. When I noticed Juneau was no longer showing the QE and that the call at Sitka was different from Cunard's information, I e-mailed the agency at both ports. They did not reply.