KETCHIKAN (WARD COVE), ALASKA Port Reviews

This one had a big shopping area as soon as you get off the ship. We went on an excursion and again the guide was friendly, funny and knowledgeable.

This was the worst port of call and I blame NCL for this one. They should have made it crystal clear that it would be a long bus ride up and back from Ketchikan to the ship. We left the ship at 9:30am expecting 3 hours in Ketchikan before the 12:30pm all onboard. Instead there was wait for the bus and finally arrive in Ketchikan at 10:15am. I asked the bus driver when the last bus back to the ship was and he said I needed to be in line at 11:00am !!! We walked around for an hour and returned at 11:15am to find hundreds (perhaps a thousand) passengers lined up for the buses back to the ship. We took our place in line and made it back to the ship about 12:15pm. Most of the time off the ship at this port was spent in a bus or waiting for a bus.

The Ducks were Okay, but left a lot to be desired.

The Lumberjack show is a must see! We have seen it before and it is a great time. We did have an issue in that we booked an 11am show noting that our ship was departing at 1:15pm. The show is 1 hour long and in past our ship docked in town - so a walk of 15 minutes or so. Norwegian docks outside of town which requires a 15-20 minute shuttle bus ride. AND, we were informed on the day before we arrived in port that the last shuttle was scheduled to leave town at 11:20 am (even with a 1:15 departure!). As a result, we had to book an earlier performance and our tickets for the 11am show were nonrefundable. Norwegian was unwilling to refund us for the cost of the tickets.

Not here long enough to enjoy.

We wasted 3 hours on shuttle bus to and from town.

Typical cruise port loved the lumberjack show.

This was a fun port but was cut short because of the 4th of July parade, with the last bus leaving at 10:15am to get back to the ship.

No excursion. Port was too far from town and not enough time at port. We did, however, really like the mill/museum shop/store . Great live music and fair prices on merchandise. So we spent most of our time shopping there, then back to ship.

Did not go sight seeing but went through the town the way to and back from our excursion. Wish more information was given about Ketchikan port because we would have stayed in town and did more sight seeing around the boardwalk area.