Life on the Ferry

For more than five years I had been planning this trip.  Always wanting to see AND experience Alaska's Inside Passage, I knew I also did not want to do the trip on a large cruise ship with hundreds or (gasp!) thousands of people.  That is just not my way to vacationing or enjoying local culture and communities.

We finally pulled the trigger to make this happen more than a year ago, when I scheduled my three week vacation from work.  It was months before the AK Marine Ferry schedule for the summer of 2019 would be published however.  Very frustrating, as it is typically finalized and ready for bookings in October or early November.  Due to budget cuts, the schedule wasn't "final" until December.

I immediately fine-tuned our itinerary, as there were some changes in the "for public comment" version I had seen in November.  Once the bookings were made, I didn't expect for there to be more changes . . . there were!

We ended up having to stay an extra day in Juneau during our mid-trip schedule, shortening our time in Skagway by a day.  That worked out just fine.

The other change, however, was a pain in the ass and resulted in our having to get a refund for the segment and booking a flight back to Juneau from Sitka on our last night/day in Alaska.  A ferry schedule change getting us to Juneau a day late and more than 8 hours after our scheduled flight home was no good.

I have filed with our travel insurance company for the added expense, and expect to be reimbursed soon.  All of that said, we made it work out to our advantage, providing us with an extra full day of touring in Sitka, rather than catching a morning ferry out.

UPDATE 8/21/19  I just received word from the travel insurance company that such a "change" or "cancellation" is not a covered event.  I'm not happy about it, but since it was only $44, I'm not losing any sleep over it either!

But the hassle of it, makes the point that when you travel by the AK Marine Ferry, you should expect some changes or inconveniences along the way. Having heard the horror stories of maintenance issues, delayed sailings, and crew issues . . . we were pleasantly surprised at just how smoothly things did go.  That said, immediately after our return (within a week) there was a strike, that shut down the ferry for a few days . . . maybe a week.  So moral of the story is be flexible and don't sweat out the details.

For our trip, we had a sleeper/berth for three of our trips (Juneau to Petersburg, round trip plus the one-way from Skagway to Sitka) because they were all long, overnight trips.  The others were short enough and during daylight hours, that the added expense for a sleeper was not necessary.  Speaking of the cost for the sleepers, they were $88 for each segment of the Juneau/Petersburg trip and $130 for the even longer Skagway to Sitka sailing.

The berths did have a private ensuite toilet (marine head) and shower. In the sleeping area, there was also a wash sink.  It was very spacious. Some of my cruise friends said it looked to be larger than some of the ship cabins they had been in.  It was definitely nicer than an Amtrak sleeper or bedroom.


Our total ferry cost, after the refund for the cancelled Sitka to Juneau segment was $1,148.  Here is our full itinerary via the ferry:
Juneau to Petersburg
Petersburg to Juneau
Juneau to Gustavus (Glacier Bay NP)
Gustavus to Juneau
Juneau to Skagway
Skagway to Sitka

As for the views, for the most part the weather was pretty good. Some days there was some fog and we did have rain a couple of days in/out of Skagway.  But all in all, the ferry was very enjoyable.  The photo to the left is sunrise as we were passing through Sitka on our way to Petersburg.

The photo below was as we neared Petersburg, coming from Juneau, from the bow's observation lounge.

As I mentioned in the "food" blog post, the meals we had on the ferries were very good.  The breakfasts were fresh, cooked to order and featured eggs, pancakes, bacon/sausage, etc.  (Photo to the right)  David said the coffee was also very good.  Prices were not any higher than what we are accustomed to paying at our favorite Milwaukee area diners.

Most of the ships had cafeteria type dining.  One (the Tazalina) only had cantina type food, which could be microwaved.  The Columbia had both a cafeteria and a seated restaurant with servers.  None of the food outlets aboard the ferries permitted tipping as the service staff are employees of the state and state law prohibits them from accepting tips.


I wouldn't hesitate recommending the ferry to anyone.  The staff was personable and helpful, the ships spacious and comfortable.  And while we never took part, the larger ships also have onboard theaters showing movies throughout the day and evening.  We even took advantage of the laundry facilities on the M/V Columbia on our long trip from Skagway to Sitka.  That was especially nice!