Blogs about trips on the Alaskan Marine Highway

[lizzie]

I am interested in reading recent blogs (2014, 2015)about trips on the Ferry from Prince Rupert to Skagway or Haines. Or if you just want to share your experience that would be great also. We are hoping to get on the boat. We will be 48' long with the truck and TT. We will not have a pet and we can put our bikes and inflatable canoes inside the TT. lizzie

[lizzie]

We are ON!! Board at Prince Rupert on June 4. Off at Ketchikan until June 7. On again to Juneau (got a cabin)on the morning of the 8th. In Juneau until morning of the 12th, then to Haines. We skipped Prince of Wales Island because of the expense but may go to Glacier Bay for the day from Juneau. Brinson at AMH was very helpful in putting this together for us. He said there are still lots of ferry spots for June. lizzie

[PA12DRVR]

FWIW,

- I've only taken "legs" on the Ferry vs. the entire trip;
- If you can come up without pets or food that will spoil, obviously that much less to worry about;
- As noted above, it is a ferry, not a cruise ship. Onboard food is (IMO) more than adequate, but will not even begin to compare to what one might find on a cruise ship.
- As a driver of a 3-seat airplane and a 23-foot boat, ferries seem pretty big to me. After a few days, they shrink considerably!.
- Work with AMHS personnel to plan a multi-day trip. It just works better that way. What I've done a time or two before is build and book an itinerary, then call with questions about it and they point out all the errors I made and what I could have done better...and were more than happy to fix it on the spot.
- If you do take a multi-day trip, get off at every port you can and: 1) Go get a large breakfast at a local diner (stick to basics, eggs, bacon, potato variants); 2) after breakfast, go to the nearest grocery store and stock up on the least perishable greens and fiber that you can find for the next leg.

My last trip was a one-leg trip, Bellingham to Ketchikan. Turned out to be the trip of a decade anyway but that was more due to Ketchikan (go to Misty Fjords!) and the time there than the trip, although the trip was actually pretty spectacular: no rain, incredible sunset out of Bellingham, eagles galore along with a variety of sea life (whales, porpoises) visible along the way.

FWIW, as a nearly lifelong Alaskan, I can appreciate the tourist business, but it is a very depressing and disheartening experience to see the cruise ships dock in SE: Floating city pulls up, disgorges hordes intent on knickknacks and other ****, managers apologize for the rainy weather (its SE Alaska for cripes sake), hordes go on pre-packaged "tours" and/or walking routes, 6 hours later, hordes embark on the Floating city again...never having experienced anything that makes AK unique (except for a few glimpses of unique scenery from the midst of the afore-mentioned pre-packaged tours). Sad, IMNSHO.

Take the ferry if possible. Puts an entirely different spin on things.

[Grit_dog]

There's not much to say except sit back and enjoy the ride.
Did PR to Haines in 2013.
Personally 36 hrs is enough on the ferry, it's not a cruise ship and that leg is he scenic one anyway vs taking it up from Bellingham.
You already know about no access to your camper except when in port. Gas is turned off and bring your sleeping bags or get a berth for the night.
One thing we'd have done if we had the time was de-board the vehicle in some of the towns along the way and spend time exploring the SE coastal areas. An hour walk with the dogs was not enough. I'd assume that would require more difficult scheduling issues especially considering your late start on the reservations.
We booked in Mar for May of the same year and were limited in sailing options.

[lizzie]

Many thanks to all who responded. Joe, you are always so helpful. I still have print-outs of information you sent in 2013. Thanks for the PM's pigman, I have those printed out also. An EEWALLY, you hit the nail right on the head. I spent most of the day yesterday reading blogs I got from google. Lots of information about beautiful sunsets but not what I needed. We are fortunate in having been to Alaska before but working out this ferry thing is a whole different ball game. I spoke to a representative of AMH yesterday and he said there were still lots of spaces for June sailings but I have better get a move on. lizzie

[EEWally]

Our 8 weeks up north began with 2 weeks on the Alaska Ferry system starting at Prince Rupert and ending in Haines. Five layovers including Prince of Wales Island using the Inter-Island Ferry. It took a lot of trial and error to get a "civilized" schedule w/o 3 AM arrivals or departures.

Our trip journal has a summary w/39 photos for the ferry portion of the trip.

http://www.mytripjournal.com/waaliworld

[pigman1]

Our experience is a number of years old, but we traveled the PR to Haines and loved the trip. We stopped at Ketchikan, Petersburg, Wrangell, Juneau, Skagway and then Haines. We spent 2-4 days at each stop, mostly camping dry, for free, and each stop was unique and different. Meals on the ferries were cafeteria style, relatively inexpensive and good. Due to the short leg length we did not take any cabins and our refrigerator did not need special treatment when the gas was turned off. We were also able to spend a night in the AMHS parking lots when there were not ferries scheduled. Just ask inside first.

I agree that you are probably late in getting your reservations in for the 2016 season, so I'd get on that immediately.

[joe_b_]

Not too sure if the AMHS has set in stone the schedule for the ferry system for the up coming year. Alaska is having major budget problems and the ferry system is one of the first items looked at for cuts to save a few bucks. The SE part of the state no longer has the political clout to protect the ferry system as they once did.

Since I am not working, currently for any Alaska clients, that would be directly effected by state budget cuts, I haven't kept up the last couple of weeks as to what the thinking is in Juneau on the budget. Sounds like Alaska residents may have to start paying taxes again like we did in the past plus give up a part of their yearly PDF check from the state. Hawaii tourism will suffer when that happens. LOL

I have a few photos on our web site but not a lot of blog narative and not as recent as you mentioned, Lizzie. The last time we did the Prince Rupert, a great little town, lots to do there, to Skagway and preferred it to the Skagway to Bellingham run. More to see and less open water running as you get down around the Dixon Entrance area. Our 2011 Alaska trip was the last time we were on the AMHS ferry. Click on that on our web home page and it should take you to the ferry trip.

http://www.pajbcooper.com

Don't believe I have ever had to edit a short post so many times. The web site address in my signature, which has worked for the last 13 years, stopped working and had to have a different formatting used. Ah, the wonders of computers, servers and forums.

[fishhogg]

lizzie wrote:
I am interested in reading recent blogs (2014, 2015)about trips on the Ferry from Prince Rupert to Skagway or Haines. Or if you just want to share your experience that would be great also. We are hoping to get on the boat. We will be 48' long with the truck and TT. We will not have a pet and we can put our bikes and inflatable canoes inside the TT. lizzie

If your planing for this year you might be to late! Go to "Alaska Marine Hiway" web site or they have a 1-800 # If you P.M. Your phone number I'll call you we live in Alaska and have used it many times.