Which Airport for Whittier?

[dopey1200]

Sorry, I'm sure this has been asked before, but I searched and couldn't find an answer. What airport do you all fly into if sailing from Whittier? I'll be coming from Cincinnati, if that matters or helps. The HAL cruise I'm looking at leaves Whittier on 6/23/24 and doesn't depart until 7:30pm. With that late departure, I'm hoping it will be easier to find flights. There is a possibility for us to do a northbound cruise ending in Whittier, if you think that makes more sense for flights. TIA

[no1racefan1]

Anchorage

[AKStafford]

Anchorage. And don't underestimate the time it'll take to get to Whittier. There's only one road and delays happen.

I think a great way to do it is to fly in the day before and overnight in Anchorage. Then in the morning, take the Glacier Discovery Train and do the 26 Glacier Cruise before boarding your ship.

[SirTomster]

 

 

3 hours ago, AKStafford said:

Anchorage. And don't underestimate the time it'll take to get to Whittier. There's only one road and delays happen.

I think a great way to do it is to fly in the day before and overnight in Anchorage. Then in the morning, take the Glacier Discovery Train and do the 26 Glacier Cruise before boarding your ship.

 

So is anyone aware if someone has missed their cruise because of a delay on the 26 Glacier Cruise?   You get back 1.5 hours (or so) before the ship leaves.   Which just seems too close to me.

[AKStafford]

4 hours ago, SirTomster said:

So is anyone aware if someone has missed their cruise because of a delay on the 26 Glacier Cruise? 

Philips Tour's bread and butter is cruise ship passengers. If they weren't getting passengers back to the ship in time, they would be in business for very long.

[Northern Aurora]

Just want to expand slightly on post #3.  Not only is there one road between Whittier and Anchorage, there is also a long tunnel which is shared by vehicles and the train.  There are references to “timing the tunnel” as the road is closed when the train is using the tunnel.

[GTJ]

And to expand even further on postings. 3 and 6, not only is the tunnel shared by motor vehicles and trains, but the tunnel is only one land wide, and when not in use by trains, it can handle motor vehicle traffic in only one direction. Accordingly, the tunnel is available--at most--for only 15 minutes each hour. There is a published timetable for using the tunnel by motor vehicle. Plan your trip around the timetable.

 

Best solution: use a bus or a train to get to and from Whittier. There's two train departures from downtown Anchorage, the first being a regularly scheduled train departing at 9:45 a.m., arriving at 12:05 p.m., with tickets sold by the Alaska Railroad; the second being a train chartered by Holland America Line departing at 12:45 p.m., arriving at 3:35 p.m., with tickets sold by Holland America Line. There's a bus departure from downtown Anchorage departing at 3:00 p.m., arriving at 4:45 p.m., operated as the "Park Connection" with tickets sold by Alaska Tour & Travel. There's a bus departure from downtown Anchorage at 1:00 p.m., from the Anchorage airport departing at 2:00 p.m., arriving at 3:45 p.m., operating as, with tickets sold by,  "Alaska Cruise Transportation." Of course, Holland America Line has its own bus transportation arrangements from the Anchorage airport.