Ferry from Bellingham to Juneau with car, motorcycle - any advice for newbies? (Juneau and: motel, buy)

[HEINZRX]

Hi everyone. We're flying down to Seattle this week and will be returning to Juneau via the Columbia (Friday evening sailing) with a car and a motorcycle. We have our reservations of course - us, a cabin, both vehicles. And we have a little bit of experience with the AMHS ferries, but only the LeConte and Aurora out to Tenakee and the Fairweather down to Sitka and back but we've never taken cars or traveled on one of the bigger boats.

So we just thought we'd ask if anyone has experience to share - what can we expect in Bellingham? Any tips/hints/advice about boarding there with vehicles? Any tips/hints/advice about the ferry ride itself? Anything you know now that you wished someone would have shared with you before your first trip?

Thanks in advance...

Oh, and one more question - is there anywhere on the web that we can find a deck/cabin layout of the Columbia? We've been looking but haven't had much luck yet.

[Alaskan Mutt]

I have only arrived into Bellingham but I am guessing boarding procedures are basicly the same as Juneau. When you check in at the ferry terminal they should tell you which staging lane to park in. There will be people outside that will tell you when to actually drive on the ferry.

Here is a link showing the layout of the Columbia.

If you already know your cabin number you might want to look at the layout and see where it is. If you look at the layout for the upper deck you will see there are 8 cabins on both sides near the front that have an outside walkway going past them. If your cabin is one of these cabins you might want to see if you can change to a different cabin. I once had one of these cabins and had to keep my curtains closed as all day long passengers were standing right outside my window looking in. If you do not already have your cabin number ask if there are any rooms available that do not have that outside walkway.

The Columbia has both a snack bar and a formal dining room. When I rode the Columbia last year I did not eat in the dining room so I can not comment on food quality and prices. The snack bar was ok. Nothing special. If you want to bring on an ice chest to keep drinks and snacks in your stateroom, you can buy ice at a cheap price should your's melt. There is an elevator so you do not have to lug your cooler up the steps. There is a microwave in the snack bar for passenger use. I would suggest you bring snacks.

Be sure to bring tie down straps for your motorcycle. You are required to secure you motorcycle to the deck. They do not provide straps.

You are only allowed to access the car deck while in port and maybe a couple times while traveling between Bellingham and Ketchikan.

Between Bellingham and Ketchikan there is about a 2 hour stretch of open water. The ferry may rock some. The rest of the trip is fairly protected.

Unless you have to keep in touch with the outside world you might want to turn off your cell phones after boarding the ferry. Shortly out of Bellingham the ferry heads into Canadian waters. You could get hit with international roaming fees if your phone locks onto a Canadian provider.

[HEINZRX]

Thank you so much for the info, Alaskan Mutt!

Great info overall and especially the tip on the "walkway cabins" - we'll be sure to avoid those if at all possible. We don't have a specific cabin number for our reservation yet, but with the layout you provided we can know what we're looking at when we call the reservation folks back to request a cabin in a certain area of the ship. (We're thinking starboard would give us more land views on this trip.)

Plans for snacks - check.
Straps for motorcycle - check.
Plans to not have to "go get something out of the car" by packing wisely - check.
Turning off cell phones in Canadian waters - OMG we have to remember this. I can't imagine what international roaming charges would look like, but I bet they're scary, LOL.

Thanks again!!

[Dakster]

International Data Roaming charges could break the bank. I turn off my phone and would remove the battery if apple wouldn't have made that a chore to do. Just to be safe I still disable cell data and roaming thru the settings...

Voice calls depending on your carrier are not great, but not so bad that a quick phone call won't break the bank... And in our case, Canada text messages cost the same as ones in the U.S.... Just to give you some ideas on how to stay connected if you think you need to.

[richelles]

We came from Bellingham to Whittier with a vehicle and two cats and the trip was fine. We had a cabin without a shower which meant we had an inside location. When you get to Bellingham be early and you'll be measured for length and told what lane to get in. We had a 20 foot Featherlite trailer and a handicap permit and the crew put us on the inside row next to the elevator. I noticed those walking dogs were mostly in the front and in port took their dogs ashore. One guy with a boat on a trailer had two motorcycles in the boat and they had loads of ropes around them and the parts of the boat that were convenient. When they have pet call anyone can go down and do anything in their vehicle. We had a cooler and kept a number of things in it during the trip. We re-iced in Juneau and bought some things at the store being we had to change boats. One other port had the store across from the dock so we visited there as well. The crew made sure our backing and filling with an F150 and 25 feet of featherlite was done safely. They seem to have had a lot of practice with that chore. We were close to the first vehicle off both times.

[Rail-to-Rail]

What great informative answers, really impressive.

I will remember this thread if I ever take that trip. I'm here in Bellingham and have been down to watch the ferry sail, also I love the ferry terminal building, it's beautiful and a nice place to hang out in any weather. Be sure to walk all over the building and the upstairs, it's very nice.

Last year they had one of the boats docked here and opened it up for the public to tour, not sure which boat it was, chances are it was the Columbia. I was glad to seize the opportunity to check it out, they even let us walk up into the bridge/pilot house/control room not sure what the correct term is, it was really cool to see though.

Hope you have a great trip on the Alaska Marine Highway!

[Alaskan Mutt]

A few more things to consider.

The cabins are small. There is not really anywhere to put large suitcases. There is an open closet of sorts where you can hang a few items. There is room on the floor below to stash a couple small day packs. I can not remember if you can slide anything under the lower bunk. If you do bring a cooler you can put it along the wall just inside your cabin. There is a sink and a little counter space in the main part of the cabin. There is also one chair. The bathroom has a toilet and a walk in shower. There is plenty of room for even a large person to use the bathroom. The toilet is a regular flush type toilet like what you would find in a motel room and not like what is on an airplane. There is no housekeeping. If you want fresh towels or linens you can get them from the pursers desk. There is a small charge for this.

Anytime you are in a port you can go to the car deck. There will also be a few times while traveling between some ports. When checking in for your cabin you can find out when the enroute car deck calls are scheduled for.

If you find that somehow you have ended up with quite a bit of stuff in your cabin you might want to consider taking some of it to your car during the last car deck call before Juneau. Once the ferry arrives at Juneau you will not be allowed down to the car deck until docking is complete. Then they expect you to expidite getting to your car so that you are standing by when it is your turn to drive off.

Bring a light jacket, hat and gloves. If you plan on going out on deck you will need them.

No need to bring dress clothes. No one else will.

[DagnyT63]

This thread has had some great information! Thank you all so much. What is there to do on the boat? I think I read about a movie theater? (We would be taking the ferry to Wittier). Since we will be taking the trip in the process of moving, we'll have the kids with us. I've been trying to come up with ideas to entertain my 2&5 year old boys who will only sit still long enough for a movie...well, truth is, I don't think I've ever seen them do that!

[jdhpa]

When I'm on a long trip with my kids I bring an amazon kindle with lots of movies for them.

[stiffnecked]

Originally Posted by DagnyT63

This thread has had some great information! Thank you all so much. What is there to do on the boat? I think I read about a movie theater? (We would be taking the ferry to Wittier). Since we will be taking the trip in the process of moving, we'll have the kids with us. I've been trying to come up with ideas to entertain my 2&5 year old boys who will only sit still long enough for a movie...well, truth is, I don't think I've ever seen them do that!

It's not a theater. Depending on the ferry and length of trip they'll usually show a couple of movies somewhere on the ferry. It could be in the recliner lounge or in another designated place. The purser will be able to tell you. Also, some of the ferries have wifi internet service. Spotty at best but better then nothing.