Alaska cruises: Ketchikan replaced with... Klawock?

[roninman]

Received notice without explanation that RSS will replace the long-established scheduled port of Ketchikan in 2024 with the brand new and as-yet incomplete port of Klawock, Alaska.   No excursions listed yet.  Probably understandable, as the port has not yet set up a cruise tourist infrastructure.   I hadn't heard of this port of call, so did a little research and posted results in a different forum (link below).    Looking forward to reports once people actually visit Klawock.  Until then, we can only speculate on why an established, historic port with a portfolio of excursions was summarily replaced.

 

 

[mrlevin]

NCL developed new dock in Ketchikan a few years back that is not even in Ketchikan.  Last time we were on Mariner in Alaska stopped at this new dock and it was ridiculously far out of town.  Any change would be welcome versus going again to NCL dock.

[doowopbob]

We also received e-mail, but in our case Klawock is replacing Wrangell, not Ketchikan.  Considering there are 7 ships in Ketchikan with possibly 11,000 people when we are there I would rather have skipped Ketchikan and went to Wrangell.

[Jim Avery]

Klawock seems to be in the middle of nowhere.  According to Wikipedia the latest population number is 755.😳

[SC Retired Cruiser]

I received the same email replacing Wrangell with Klawock on our May cruise.  As I remember there was a very bad landslide in Wrangell in November which caused deaths and significant damage to the town.  I was not surprised they changed ports.

[Port Power]

20 hours ago, mrlevin said:

NCL developed new dock in Ketchikan a few years back that is not even in Ketchikan.  Last time we were on Mariner in Alaska stopped at this new dock and it was ridiculously far out of town.  Any change would be welcome versus going again to NCL dock.

On a shore excursion with Silversea in August, we drove past that dock.  There was a NCL ship there.  The area looked derelict!  We were all astounded!  SO far out of town, nowhere to just go for a stroll.  Anywhere would be better.  At least Regent passengers would have a free shuttle into town.  NCL passengers probably have to pay for the transfer.

[2012_Alaska_bound]

13 hours ago, SC Retired Cruiser said:

I received the same email replacing Wrangell with Klawock on our May cruise.  As I remember there was a very bad landslide in Wrangell in November which caused deaths and significant damage to the town.  I was not surprised they changed ports.

 

 

Wonder if our May 15-29 cruise will be the first ship to go to Klawock? May 17.

[kahuna21]

 

On 2/1/2024 at 4:59 AM, 2012_Alaska_bound said:

 

 

Wonder if our May 15-29 cruise will be the first ship to go to Klawock? May 17.

There is one earlier port stop in Klawock in May. Oceania. 

[mj_holiday]

We have a scheduled stop in Ketchikan this April 28.

[roninman]

Looks like a couple lines have finally stopped at Klawock, incl RSS Explorer.

 

Wonder if anyone can share any impressions of their visit to this port?

[RELS]

We stopped in Klawock yesterday. We took the paid whale & otter watch boat excursion and did see both. The whales were particularly abundant.

 

The port isn’t in walking distance of the town. The free shuttle that ran to Klawock and Craig (one way port-Klawock-Craig-port) dropped off at small artisan markets set up in both towns. We only went to the one in Klawock. Some things were unique, some were predictable. Prices were pretty high. $80 for hand beaded earrings seemed too much to me. I would have considered them at $45 or $50, especially since most vendors were only able to accept ca$h.
 

I would have liked a stop at the Klawock totems, apparently among the best totem parks in Alaska. We would have had to walk 20 minutes each way from the shuttle stop to get there, and decided not to because it was already after 4pm. An excursion went there, but we had to choose, and I was mistaken in that we could do the totems on our own.

 

There needs to be better infrastructure before the port can support cruise ships. The port itself has a tent for a port building, a restroom trailer (not portapotties, thank goodness, but only one step up), and a single lane gravel road for the shuttles. 
 

Explorer was the second ship this season. There will be six stops total there by cruise ships this season.  Explorer is scheduled once more. The points guy has an article on the Klawock that’s pretty accurate:

https://thepointsguy.com/news/new-klawock-alaska-cruise-dock/

[BaileyMJ]

I can’t say anything about Klawock but yesterday I was In Ketchikan and there were 5 ships and just the start of the season - while I love Ketchikan Juneau had 6 ships Skagway had 4 - there are just too many big ships and too many people so I do welcome new less crowded ports of call to explore!  Just my opinion.