Coastal Connection & Waterfront views-NCL excursion Ward Cove

[smokey11]

It looks like new this season NCL has added an excursion that is $99 per person and it goes from Ward Cove to downtown Ketchikan. In the morning from ward cove they serve doughnuts and coffee and from downtown to ward cove in the afternoon they provide local beer tastings. Has anyone tried this excursion yet?  It seems pretty high at $99 per person when the shuttle to and from ward cove is free. 

Edited May 19 by smokey11

[SightCRR]

If it extends your stay in the downtown area it might be worth the 100 bucks. 

[smokey11]

The last shuttle from downtown to Ward cove is at 2:30pm and that is the time the excursion boat leaves downtown so not any extra time in downtown, but I bet it would save standing in a long line for the shuttle. 

[nordicacres]

Oh, funny. I posted on the NCL board about the same time you posted here! We are considering taking this alternate form of transportation back to Ward Cove, but don’t sail until late June. Hopefully someone can pitch in.

[dmwnc1959]

3 hours ago, smokey11 said:

It looks like new this season NCL has added an excursion that is $99 per person and it goes from Ward Cove to downtown Ketchikan. In the morning from ward cove they serve doughnuts and coffee and from downtown to ward cove in the afternoon they provide local beer tastings. Has anyone tried this excursion yet?  It seems pretty high at $99 per person when the shuttle to and from ward cove is free. 

Keep in mind that there is the NCL shore excursion discount of $50 per passenger #1. 

[Northern Aurora]

Interesting to read that this alternate mode to transportation to downtown Ketchikan allows folks to "bypass the long lines often associated with other modes of transportation."  So just how well is that shuttle working?

[VUCruiser]

Thinking about doing the return via this NCL excursion (one-way back to ship) in September while getting on a very early free bus shuttle in the morning. Hope others who purchase this option over the summer will post their experience...Was there only one boat going?  Did they only sell tix for the # they could carry? (I don't want to pay and end up waiting for the boat to make a return trip...) Did it drop you at downtown? With the $50 off NLC excursion credit, it may make going into town doable. We have not traveled into Ketchikan on our past two visits to Ward Cove-we only walked on the paths near the ship (great view of the ship!) and hit the shops...Have been to Ketchikan on another cruise line so have done Creek Street so not feeling it is a must do...

[Mbcruiser704]

I, too, am hoping others who travel in August will report back!

[smokey11]

Just checking if anyone has done this tour?

 

[donaldsc]

I see it as a way of NCLof trying to extort money from passengers after they madea horrible decision of parking their ship out of town in Ward Cove.  Instead of just walking off your ship into town as you can do with most of the lines you get to pay $100 to get there.

 

Paying $100 for "free" donuts, coffee and beer seems a bit much to me.

 

DON

Edited May 31 by donaldsc

[nordicacres]

NCL dropped the price of this excursion from $99 to $59 for our upcoming cruise. We have FAS+ so a whopping $9/pp for us. We decided to go for it and will report back afterwards!

[dmwnc1959]

8 hours ago, nordicacres said:

NCL dropped the price of this excursion from $99 to $59 for our upcoming cruise. We have FAS+ so a whopping $9/pp for us. We decided to go for it and will report back afterwards!

Still definitely hoping it shows up for one of my B2B port stops at Ward's Cove. Seriously have nothing planned at all for either one, so the boat ride back be very neat. 

[edinburgher]

14 hours ago, dmwnc1959 said:

Still definitely hoping it shows up for one of my B2B port stops at Ward's Cove. Seriously have nothing planned at all for either one,

Ward Cove is actually much closer to Totem Bight than other docking locations.

 

If you have not already visited Totem Bight, it could be worth considering for one of your days.

 

Reading past threads might help you decide.  Choose from these

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/search/?q=totem bight&quick=1&type=forums_topic&nodes=33

 

 

[donaldsc]

If you want to go to Totem Bight which is highly recommended check out Google Maps.

 

DON

[Coral]

I am just glad I didn't book NCL. This is definite the definition of nickel and diming.

[Crew News]

On 6/14/2024 at 8:53 AM, edinburgher said:

Ward Cove is actually much closer to Totem Bight than other docking locations.

 

If you have not already visited Totem Bight, it could be worth considering for one of your days.

 

Reading past threads might help you decide.  Choose from these

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/search/?q=totem bight&quick=1&type=forums_topic&nodes=33

 

My Holland America Totem Bight excursion started from Ward Cove.

Edited 9 hours ago by Crew News

[dmwnc1959]

8 hours ago, Coral said:

I am just glad I didn't book NCL. This is definite the definition of nickel and diming.

This will be my first cruise with NCL. I primarily picked this Norwegian Jade itinerary due to the fact that it goes to so many places I've never been - Panama Canal, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Cabo San Lucas and Acapulco - then roughly 10 days in Alaska after hitting the US West Coast. I don't mind that it goes to Ward's Cove, and I don't mind the fact that they offer the excursion transfer to and from downtown. Do it or don't. I don't see as being nickel and dimed. Personally I think it will be fascinating. 

[edinburgher]

2 minutes ago, dmwnc1959 said:

I don't see as being nickel and dimed

Other lines dock at downown locations meaning just walk of ship and you are there, saving

 money and gaining extra time as not losing the 2 X transfer times and the lines to board the transfers..

[Coral]

18 minutes ago, dmwnc1959 said:

. I don't mind that it goes to Ward's Cove, and I don't mind the fact that they offer the excursion transfer to and from downtown. Do it or don't. I don't see as being nickel and dimed. Personally I think it will be fascinating. 

You must not hang out on these board much. I haven't read any positive comments about Ward Cove. Most people complain because they don't have time to do anything due to the commute to Ward Cove and limited times in Ketchikan.

 

Shuttles should be free and should be plentiful. People worry about getting back to the ship in time and about missing the ship. The talk of long lines for the shuttles is not something I would look forward to.

 

Many lines do the FLL, through Panama Canal to Alaska trip (or reverse) when they transition. This is not unique to NCL.

Edited 8 hours ago by Coral

[dmwnc1959]

12 minutes ago, edinburgher said:

Other lines dock at downown locations meaning just walk of ship and you are there, saving

 money and gaining extra time as not losing the 2 X transfer times and the lines to board the transfers..

 

Just now, Coral said:

You must not hang out on these board much. I haven't read any positive comments about Ward Cove. Most people complain because they don't have time to do anything due to the commute to Ward Cove and limited times in Ketchikan.

 

Shuttles should be free and should be plentiful. People worry about getting back to the ship in time and about missing the ship. The talk of long lines for the shuttles is not something I would look forward to.

 

Appreciate the advice. This will (only) be my 6th and 7th time to Ketchikan. I've been there on Princess Cruises, Celebrity Cruises, and Holland-America. I've already done the wildlife cruises, totem pole sights and lumberjack shows, visited Misty Fjords and Metlakatla. So I personally am not bothered at the loss of riding a school bus from Ward's Cove to town.
 

On this B2B cruise the first call will be from 6a-4p, the second call 10a-6p. If NCL drops the price as previously mentioned in post #9, I'd love to take the slow hour-long scenic route. In both directions. 

[dmwnc1959]

41 minutes ago, Coral said:

Many lines do the FLL, through Panama Canal to Alaska trip (or reverse) when they transition. This is not unique to NCL.

A lot of lines do offer this, but very few offer this extensive of a single-leg 25-night repositioning cruise all the way to Alaska on ships small enough that can still transit the historic locks of the Panama Canal. Most terminate in Los Angeles or Seattle. This went all the way to Whittier, so I added the SB sailing to make it 32-nights. 
 

I researched this endlessly, had spreadsheets and did the cost breakdowns, looked at what the contending smaller ships offered onboard and which ones matched my personal style (no formal nights is best), and Norwegian Jade won hands down. I even got what I consider a superb deal on a solo inside, a standard-sized cabin specific for single-occupancy at a solo discounted rate. 
 

I'm not worried about missing the ship in Ketchikan. I have plenty of time on both port stops to make it back, with the added benefit that it's a small ship and maybe one other cruise ship docked in port on the same day. 
 

 

Edited 8 hours ago by dmwnc1959

[Coral]

2 hours ago, dmwnc1959 said:

A lot of lines do offer this, but very few offer this extensive of a single-leg 25-night repositioning cruise all the way to Alaska on ships small enough that can still transit the historic locks of the Panama Canal. Most terminate in Los Angeles or Seattle. This went all the way to Whittier, so I added the SB sailing to make it 32-nights. 

 

It doesn't matter to me if I book something in one leg or 3 legs. Often, financially, it works out better for OBC to book multiple legs.

 

[dmwnc1959]

24 minutes ago, Coral said:

It doesn't matter to me if I book something in one leg or 3 legs. Often, financially, it works out better for OBC to book multiple legs.

 

I looked at that as well. And in this one case it didn't, at least for me. The advantages of a single-leg longer cruise outweighed the cost benefit of getting more OBC in the fact that the cruise cost was significantly cheaper for the Norwegian Jade over other ships and lines when booking multiple legs.