KETCHIKAN (WARD COVE), ALASKA Port Reviews

The Excursion itself, nature boat ride and crab feast were SUPER. We saw seals, bald eagles and of course crabs. They showed us the crab pots and how crabs are caught. Now for the bad part. Norwegian ports at the FURTHEST port from the city. Combined with the short amount of time off the ship means you do the Excursion and go back on the ship. Our bus met us at the port and took us to the Excursion and then picked us up and had to go straight back to the port. Couldn't stop in town for souvenirs. Also, if you just went to town instead of a excursion it took 30 to 40 minutes to get there and the last bus back to the ship leaves at 11 am. So you get off the ship around 7. You get in town, no earlier than 730 to 8ish and then need to jump on the last bus back by 11. At best 3 to 3 and a half hours to explore. When we 1st got there, no other ships were docked at the city. When we were passing by on the way back to our ship, there was 1 ship as big as ours docked right bt the city. I'm sure Norwegian uses the further dock to save on port charges, but charges the same fees as if we docked right by the city. They could extend the stay and offer shuttle services.

Our excursion(not thru Norwegian) made this a memorable port. We had a tribal elder give the tour, with much knowledge of the history of his tribe and of Alaska. We saw the fish ladder, a bear getting salmon from a steam, totem pole carving and much more.

Liked Ketchikan, but the shuttling 20+ minutes each way was inconvenient and since we were only in port 630 am - 1200pm, options for tours and other activities was insufficient

Another very walkable town with lots of shops and things to see. Again we got off the ship as soon as they let us I'm wound up being the only two people on the first shuttle bus to town. The shuttle driver was a very nice lady and was very informative about the town. After more shops and sightseeing we decided to head back to the ship a little earlier than normal. We never wandered down Creek Street but that gives us something to do on our next trip to Alaska.

We attended the Lumber Jack show and the Saxmen's Village. The Saxmen's village was well spoken, informative and interesting. One guide helped my wife with her wheel chair.We appreciated it. Because of the two parts of the back to back tours, we had no time to mill about the port town. The Encore was situated outside of the town while other ships were docked in town. Same for Juneau, AK.

Beautiful town. We took the shuttle bus tour but it didn't let us off downtown to shop. We saw lots of countryside scenery but again not enough time at port (7am-12:45pm). Also, Encore has to port at Ward Cove which is a 20 minute drive to downtown where the other ships port at downtown.

Excursion was very good. Logistics again was the issue.

Creek street was awesome. Walked the town.

It was a cute little fishing village, quintessential Alaska! We did a jeep ride into the woods with a canoe ride attached.

Ketchikan is nice but did not like having to ride 20 minutes to get there from Ward Cove and you have to walk another 15 to 20 minutes to get into the main part of the town. The terminal at Ward Cove was nice.