How long to get on/off ship at port (Alaska)?

[emilystelzer]

We're on our first 7-night cruise to Alaska this summer. I'm currently planning rough itineraries for our port days in Skagway, Juneau, and Ketchikan. In most cases, it looks like we'll be taking shorter excursions (~3 hours), with time spent walking around each town either before or after the excursions.

Is it unrealistic to think that we could come back to the ship for lunch? Meaning (depending on port times), we could do a morning excursion, have lunch on the ship, and then head back out into town to stroll around for a few hours?

Or, are the boarding/leaving processes or transport process too complicated or time consuming to make it worth it?

 

[cruisehopeful]

You can reboard the ship for lunch and get off again. That's a little more inconvenient in Juneau, because the ship is docked further away. There were buses taking people to and from the ship in Juneau, but that does add on time.

 

[Geomom]

As far as the time spent getting on/off the ship--I would think lunchtime wouldn't have much of a line--coming back in the late afternoon, 4-5PM may have a much longer line. We had a very long wait in Skagway to get back on the ship around 5PM. As soon as you get on the ship you go through the metal detectors and put your bags through the x-ray machine, as well as having them scan your key card. Getting off is just them scanning your card. Some of the ports require the ship to move the gangway to a different floor due to tides--so there will be a time when no one can get on/off while they're doing that. Skagway was one of those ports. Ketchikan would be the best place to come back for lunch as the ship's port is right in the heart of things!

 

[xlxo]

Thoughts...

• It's kinda busy first thing in the morning with everyone leaving for excursions. But it's orderly if you are on DCL excursions. After that, walking on and off is super easy. Security search delays is only a few minutes.
• Go ahead and take a multi-hour excursion... All excursions get back to town with plenty of time to explore before the ship departs. I encourage combo excursions to explore more of the port, while maximizing your port day.
• Juneau's AJ dock is located a mile away from town. Need to research shuttle.