A cruise ship is docked at Ketchikan’s downtown Berth 2. About 1 million cruise passengers visited Southeast in 2015. (Photo by Leila Kheiry)
The City of Ketchikan Port and Harbors Department has been working on the 2016 cruise ship calendar, and the latest draft was recommended for approval by the Port and Harbors Advisory Board.
There was no dissent from Ketchikan City Council members during last week’s meeting, so the cruise schedule now is pretty much set.
The first ship of the season will be the Crystal Serenity, arriving May 1st. That ship carries a little more than 1,000 passengers. That first week of May has a few ship-free days. Daily visits and multi-ship days start on May 8th. After that, there are no scheduled ship-free days until Sept. 10th.
Once the season kicks into high gear, the busiest days tend to be Mondays and Fridays, with Thursdays and Sundays close behind. Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays are relatively lighter, but even they occasionally have up to four cruise ships.
The season slows down in September, and the 2016 Ketchikan cruise season ends on Sept. 30th, with the departure of the Volendam.
