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ovation of the seas alaska route difference for aug 12th vs aug 19th.


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Hi-

I'm looking at the ovation of the seas itinerary to alaska [rd trip from seattle] for aug 12th and aug 19th.    'm debating btwn the 2 sailing dates.   

 

what throws me for a loop is that the aug 19th sailing specifically says sailing the inside passage while the aug 12th simply mentioned a sea day.    when i look at the other itineraries for the other dates in july/august, it specifically mentioned "sailing inside passage."   does that mean the aug 12th doesn't sail the inside passage?  or does it mean aug 19th spends more time sailing the inside passage rather stopping off at ketchikan?  am i just reading too much into it?  its just so strange for that itinerary to omit the phrase "sailing inside passage."

 

Like i said, i'm debating btwn the 2 sailing dates and  i really want to sail the inside passage.  as for the aug 12th date, the times in port are also strange to me.  it seems that all port times are in the afternoon into the late evening.  just wondering how that will affect excursions and if local businesses [diners/saloons/ stores etc] will be open that late.   also they are only in victoria for 5 hrs.  while the aug 19th has a more sensible time at port, it doesn't stop at ketchikan. 

 

would appreciate any insights.   

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Creative marketing.  

There are two "Inside Passages" in the region.  The Canadian Inside Passage through the inlet and islands of British Columbia and the  Alaskan Inside Passage used to reach destinations such as Skagway and Juneau.  

The Canadian Inside passage is restricted to smaller ships due to power lines that cross the channel.  Ovation is too tall to sail the Canadian Inside Passage.  

In reality you can not reach Juneau, Skagway, or Endicott Arm without sailing in the Alaskan Inside Passage.  It's impossible to reach these destinations without sailing the Alaskan Inside Passage.  

For some reason Royal will arbitrarily label one cruise "Inside Passage".  Sometimes they used the word "Glacier" in the label they apply.  Sometimes they use other marketing names.

Make no mistake, if the cruise goes to Juneau, Skagway or Endicott Arm you will sail the Alaskan Inside Passage.   

Aug 12

Fri 12Aug2022    Seattle, Washington
Sat 13Aug2022    Cruising  
Sun 14Aug2022    Ketchikan (Ward Cove)
Mon 15Aug2022    Skagway, Alaska 
Tue 16Aug2022    Endicott Arm & Dawes Glacier (Cruising)
Tue 16Aug2022    Juneau, Alaska  

Wed 17Aug2022    Cruising 
Thu 18Aug2022    Victoria, British Columbia
Fri 19Aug2022    Seattle, Washington

Aug 19

Fri 19Aug2022    Seattle, Washington 
Sat 20Aug2022    Cruising  
Sun 21Aug2022    Alaska Inside Passage
Sun 21Aug2022    Juneau, Alaska   
Mon 22Aug2022    Skagway, Alaska   
Tue 23Aug2022    Endicott Arm & Dawes Glacier (Cruising)

Wed 24Aug2022    Cruising   
Thu 25Aug2022    Victoria, British Columbia 
Fri 26Aug2022    Seattle, Washington

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Maybe this will help with your decision.  I received this email from RCL yesterday regarding our Aug 12 sailing on Ovation:

 

Dear Guest,

Due to port congestion in Ketchikan, we've had to slightly adjust our arrival. Instead of arriving directly at Ketchikan, we'll now debark a little further north in Ward Cove - just a short 15-minute drive away. As a result of this change, we've had to slightly adjust some of our shore excursion offerings to allow additional time for the short drive.

Unfortunately, making this change means we have to cancel all Cruise Planner reservations for the old tours impacted by this change. We've issued a full refund to your original form of payment, which you should see within 14 business days. Additionally, we'll also be providing you with a non-refundable Onboard Credit which should reflect on your account in the next 3 business days, so you can put it towards booking a new tour in Ward Cove! Please feel free to visit Cruise Planner to book and explore other exciting tour options for your sailing.

We're sorry for any confusion caused by this but appreciate your understanding. We can't wait to welcome you onboard!

Sincerely,

Royal Caribbean International

 

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2 hours ago, Toby said:

Maybe this will help with your decision.  I received this email from RCL yesterday regarding our Aug 12 sailing on Ovation:

 

Dear Guest,

Due to port congestion in Ketchikan, we've had to slightly adjust our arrival. Instead of arriving directly at Ketchikan, we'll now debark a little further north in Ward Cove - just a short 15-minute drive away. As a result of this change, we've had to slightly adjust some of our shore excursion offerings to allow additional time for the short drive.

Unfortunately, making this change means we have to cancel all Cruise Planner reservations for the old tours impacted by this change. We've issued a full refund to your original form of payment, which you should see within 14 business days. Additionally, we'll also be providing you with a non-refundable Onboard Credit which should reflect on your account in the next 3 business days, so you can put it towards booking a new tour in Ward Cove! Please feel free to visit Cruise Planner to book and explore other exciting tour options for your sailing.

We're sorry for any confusion caused by this but appreciate your understanding. We can't wait to welcome you onboard!

Sincerely,

Royal Caribbean International

 

So how are they moving people to Ketchikan? It's a nice little walking port and I'm sorry if you're going to either miss it or have to taxi to see it.

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It is unclear what RCCL's plans are for getting us to and from Ketchikan.  I looked at the new excursions offered and none of those trip our trigger.  Some are sold out.  They gave us a $40 pre-purchase credit.  I look at the terms and conditions and if I read the boiler plate correctly we have to use the credit to PRE-PURCHASE using cruise planner.  It is NOT an OBC that can used once on board.  I will mention this is the 2nd time RCCL has changed our current excursion reservations and the options for new excursions have been reduced each time.  I understand the need to be prepared for changes.  I guess I didn't anticipate the changes would affect us like this.

This is the first cruise of a B2B cruise on Ovation and we paid for most of them using FCC's from the past 2 years of cancellations.  Those FCC's are void after 9/30/22 but I owe to us to explore other options. 

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1 hour ago, Riley said:

So how are they moving people to Ketchikan? It's a nice little walking port and I'm sorry if you're going to either miss it or have to taxi to see it.

I imagine it will be like Sitka where the larger ships port away from the town center and free shuttles run continuously to take guests back and forth.  Some excursions might run directly from Ward Cove while anything that required a vehicle before will still require a vehicle.  It's only self explorers that will need a shuttle to town.

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46 minutes ago, twangster said:

I imagine it will be like Sitka where the larger ships port away from the town center and free shuttles run continuously to take guests back and forth.  Some excursions might run directly from Ward Cove while anything that required a vehicle before will still require a vehicle.  It's only self explorers that will need a shuttle to town.

I have looked via google maps and Ward Cove is not much of town yet.  NCL is using the new port and it appears RCL is going to be using from time to time.  There is one local excursion vendor now (The Mill) and availability of their different excursions seem to be tied to days an NCL ship is in port. 

5 ships plans to stop in Ketchikan on Aug 14.  Even with Ovation moving to Ward Cove I would imagine Ketchikan will be very crowded

Ketchikan
Sunday 14 August, 2022

Seabourn Odyssey    07:00    15:00
Celebrity Solstice    07:00    16:00
Ovation Of The Seas    07:00    16:00
Carnival Splendor    07:00    13:00
Ruby Princess        08:00    18:00

 

I did little digging and the total possible number of passengers of the 5 ships is 16,706.  Even at a conservative estimate of 80% occupancy that comes to 12860 people visiting a town with a population of 14K.  Oh My!

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Fyi… just got a notice that the iconic train in skagway will not go into canada but will stop and turn around at white pass.  So trip is cut short to 40 miles rd trip for 2.5 hrs. 
 

i originally booked excursion of train one way and bus/shuttle back with stops along the way.  However with train stopping now at white pass… there’s no longer a bus option because there is no access for them at that junction.  
 

my question for those who have been to skagway is would you recommend the train ride (rd trip to white pass) or the small bus tour (rd trip) to the canadian border   
 

Also, im an avid photographer so which would give me better photo opportunities?

 

 

 

 

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