Airport?

[TSUmom]

I have a group of friends planning an Alaskan cruise for next year.  Their cruise consultant told them they fly into Seward.  We are cruising next week and fly into anchorage.  I told her two check with her cc and again they were told they fly into Seward.  Am I incorrect?  Is there an airport I. Seward?  

[Northern Aurora]

@TSUmom:  You are correct and the cruise consultant is incorrect.  Folks boarding cruise ships in either Seward or Whittier fly into Anchorage.  Seward does have a very small airport, but there is NO commercial aviation service.  I don't know how long that runway is, but it handles planes in the four seat Cessna range.

[TSUmom]

I told my friends they might look for another consultant because when questioned she did not even check just kept saying they fly into Seward.  They even asked about the train transfer from anchorage to Seward and they were told not needed.  

[AKJonesy]

When I hear things like this, I am reminded we live in a post covid world and there is no consequences for bad information.  "Back in the day", people were trained and there were consequences.  Nowadays, it's, "oh well", "sorry about that", "thanks for your understanding".  When someone makes an assumption like "thanks for your understanding", and I'm not understanding, I shoot right back, "what makes you thinking I am understanding of your mistake?".  I'm spouting off probably because I was told my car was ready for pickup today and when I got there, they said the car wasn't ready.  When I checked out 1.5 hours later, she said, "thanks for your understanding", and I replied, "what makes you think I am understanding"?  Tell your friends they are not going to Seward and tell them to get a different TA.  It's obvious the one they have is incompetent if that is what they are being told.  

[GatorMomInNC]

1 hour ago, TSUmom said:

I told my friends they might look for another consultant because when questioned she did not even check just kept saying they fly into Seward.  They even asked about the train transfer from anchorage to Seward and they were told not needed.  

Wow!

 

A few weeks ago I booked a one way cruise from Vancouver to Whittier.  I had seen a fantastic fare for a late season (in September) Alaska Cruise on NCL and I had a credit and I went to book with NCL and somehow I had not realized it ended in Seward.  I said, well I have no way to get home from Seward, so is there any option to get to a major airport and the NCL rep was like, nope, sorry, can't help you.  So I didn't book it.  😒 

 

Then I found similar cruise on HAL that ended in Whittier.  I called HAL.  He was like, yep, you can go by bus or train, you can use our transfers, this is how much it costs, this is how long it takes, this is the earliest you should book your flight, etc.  This was even after I told him that I would likely call a TA and have them callback to book to get an OBC.  He was like, no problem, let me know if you need anything else!  When I called my TA I was told you could have done the same thing on the NCL cruise from Seward, and the NCL cruise was cheaper, but I was so happy with the customer service on HAL (and annoyed with NCL) that I booked the HAL cruise. 

[AKJonesy]

@GatorMomInNC In addition to the cruise ship transfers from SEWARD, there is the train and also the Park Connection.  I'm not sure when the Park Connection and the train stop running between Anchorage and Seward but those are options for SEWARD and WHITTIER.  No one except locals fly in and out of Seward but this is one of the cruise ship ports for Alaska and of course, cruise lines are not going to just abandon you in a small town in Alaska.  It's too bad you got some poor info but sounds like in the end you made the right decision.  Good for you.

[Northern Aurora]

I am just so amazed that the OP's friends were told by a "cruise consultant" that cruise passengers fly into Seward that I checked the Seward airport runway specs.  They actually have two runways, so apparently can handle cross winds for small planes.  The longest Seward runway is 4240 feet.  The shortest is 2279 feet in length.

 

In contrast the longest of the four runways in Fairbanks is 11800 feet.  

 

And because I am so surprised that  "cruise consultant" told our OP's friends that they can fly into Seward I checked the specs for an Embracer.  An Embracer E175 requires a runway length of 5656 feet for takeoff, and an E175AR requires 7362 feet.  Alaska Airlines uses Embracers for their shuttle flights between Anchorage and Fairbanks, and we have also flown them between Seattle and Vancouver on the Alaska subsidiary Horizon Air.

 

Definitely time for the friends to find another travel agent/cruise consultant.

 

 

 

 

[TSUmom]

An update:  Each person of the group emailed and requested the "consultant" to check into the information she had given them....They all recieved a response saying they fly into Anchorage and will be bussed to Seward and also and apology for not having her facts correct.  Maybe a new consultant?  I don't know but I am lucky because I have an awesome cruise consultant and have had him for 10 plus years.....

[Jeeden]

Not to turn the thread into a whining session, but as mentioned above you do see this sort of thing within a lot of industries now.

 

I would provide the care sales industry as an example. The last few times I bought a car (with exception of my new Rivian I just got! haha) every time I have been at the dealer I have obviously known more about the vehicle than the salesperson. I remember buying my mustang a number of years ago when the new design came out and hearing stories of people going on the lots and asking for a particular one they knew they had in inventory with a turbo 4 engine and having the sales person bring up several cars in a row that were wrong color, wrong options, wrong engine.

 

Of course this isn't just the car industry, but many others. A couple of seconds of reading a forum or asking a colleague could educate a care salesman on a vehicle or a TA on the details of Seward, but they aren't interested in doing that, it is easier to just keep throwing answers at you until one sticks. 

 

A few years ago I had an award from work where they would give you and a spouse a trip anywhere in the CONUS and Hawaii. My employer really tried to make it "hands off" where they would give the TA an allowance and you would just tell them where you wanted to go and what you wanted to do and they would plan it. I told our TA we wanted to stay in Maui for a week and wanted to snorkel and asked what else the recommended. They came back with an ok hotel, horrible flights, and "some snorkel place they found." I wound up planning the whole trip like usual (stayed at the Hyatt, snorkeled with Trilogy catamaran in Lahaina, mountain biked down the volcano, at at great restaurants, rented a car to drive to Hana) and the flights and hotel were expensive enough I just gave the TA the flight numbers/times I wanted and the hotel I wanted. 

 

We use a TA for our cruises, but basically we say what ship, date, itinerary, location on ship we want and then we plan the rest. I imagine there is a level of TA or assistant if you are rich enough that will do it the way you want.

[Jeeden]

3 hours ago, TSUmom said:

An update:  Each person of the group emailed and requested the "consultant" to check into the information she had given them....They all recieved a response saying they fly into Anchorage and will be bussed to Seward and also and apology for not having her facts correct.  Maybe a new consultant?  I don't know but I am lucky because I have an awesome cruise consultant and have had him for 10 plus years.....

 

If you can swing it I can't recommend the Alaska Railroad train from Anchorage to there enough. get the Gold Star Class on the Coastal classic which includes drinks, breakfast, and a dedicated glass top car and outdoor platform. It is totally worth it.

[diesel1973]

There is also the option of renting a car and driving but will be costly. Am up here now and 2 relatives came up and rented a compact car at Anchorage airport for a week to the tune of $1300 ! Also there is a fair amount of construction going on and could cause you delays. Any way you do it the trip along the Turnagain Arm  is great.

[AKJonesy]

Here is the information on the Park Connection bus I mentioned earlier.  The SEWARD route between Anchorage and Seward leaves for Seward in the morning from Anchorage and leaves from Seward to Anchorage in the evening.  Next year may change so you will have to check that.  The route time is 2:45 about the same or maybe a little less than driving time.  https://www.alaskacoach.com/routes/seward-express.html

[GTJ]

14 hours ago, TSUmom said:

Maybe a new consultant?

I would say so. Anyone with a degree of competence in selling Alaska cruises would have known better. As to transportation between Anchorage and Seward, all of the cruise lines arrange for bus, and sometimes rail, transportation between the Anchorage airport and the cruise vessel, but some people prefer making their own arrangements. Here's what is available during the summer cruise season.

 

Alaska Railroad

 

Glacier Discovery, operates daily

Coaches, Vista-Dome car, Ultra Dome car (extra fare GoldStar service), café car, dining car

Depart Anchorage downtown station 6:45 a.m., arrive Seward railroad station 11:05 a.m.

 

Cruise Train, operates in connection with NCL and RCCL cruises

Panorama Dome cars, café car

Times are approximate and are set by the cruise lines

• NCL on alternate Mondays, depart Anchorage airport 1:00 p.m., arrive Seward cruise port 5:30 p.m.
• Royal Caribbean/Celebrity on Fridays, depart Anchorage airport 1:00 p.m., arrive Seward cruise port 5:30 p.m.
• Silverseas  on Thursdays, depart Anchorage airport 1:15 p.m., arrive Seward cruise port 5:45 p.m.

 

Motorcoach

 

Seward Bus Lines, operates daily

Depart Anchorage SBL terminal 9:30 a.m., arrive Seward SBL terminal 12:00 noon

 

Park Connection, operates daily

Depart Anchorage Dena'ina Civic Center 7:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m., arrive Seward small boat harbor 10:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m.; the 3:00 p.m. trip provides service direct to cruise port on days vessels are in port

 

Alaska Cruise Transportation, operates days vessels are in port

Schedules vary by day, with service provided from Anchorage Sheraton, Hilton, Marriott, Captain Cook, and airport, direct to Seward cruise port.