As Juneau, Alaska, grapples with native rules limiting cruise ship passenger arrivals, Royal Caribbean Group is partnering with Alaskan Goldbelt Integrated to develop a brand new cruise port on Douglas Island, Alaska.
Positioned straight throughout the Gastineau Channel from downtown Juneau and related by the Juneau-Douglas Bridge, the brand new port goals to scale back site visitors congestion in downtown Juneau whereas enhancing each native infrastructure and the customer expertise.
Plans for the port embrace two floating berths with views of the Chilkat Vary and a recreated 1800s Tlingit village, the place guests can study Alaska Native historical past and tradition by artwork, music, dance, and conventional meals.
The port’s location will probably be on Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act land and can allow easy accessibility to whale-watching excursions and different customer actions with out overwhelming downtown Juneau.
“We sit up for the prospect of bringing this sustainable, culture-rich cruise ship terminal to life in partnership with Royal Caribbean Group, offering neighborhood options to native transportation and financial improvement points,” stated McHugh Pierre, president and CEO of Goldbelt Integrated.
Learn Additionally: Juneau Cruise Port, Alaska – Overview and Information
Visitors disembarking in Juneau will probably be transported to excursions and the town by shuttle boat, bypassing a number of the Alaskan capital’s most congested streets and doubtlessly lowering downtown site visitors by as a lot as a 3rd.
The port’s design additionally incorporates environmental advantages with its location serving to to scale back journey time and gas consumption for cruise ships heading north to different Alaska locations like Skagway.
Goldbelt Integrated says the port is usually a long-term financial driver for the area, creating jobs and presumably resulting in the event of much-needed infrastructure like worker housing and a second crossing between Juneau and Douglas Island.
The brand new port is scheduled to be accomplished in time for the 2027 Alaska cruise season with Turnagain Marine serving because the design builder for the challenge.
Managing Tourism Amid Document Numbers
Alaska welcomes most ships to its ports between Might and August and noticed a record-breaking 1.6 million passengers in 2023. In latest months, Juneau has taken steps to handle its rising cruise tourism trade by limiting ships and visitor disembarkment.
Metropolis officers and the cruise strains initially imposed a cap of 5 ships per day at the beginning of the 2024 season, which started Might 24, 2024. Nevertheless, on Might 4, 2024, a brand new settlement was reached to restrict the variety of passengers disembarking from cruise ships to 16,000 per day.
The restrict was lowered to 12,000 on Saturdays, significantly lowering earlier figures of as many as 21,000 passengers on the town’s busiest cruise days.
Residents of the town have additionally been pushing to determine “ship-free Saturdays” to additional restrict company and ease congestion on days when locals are additionally exploring Juneau, however the petition to position the limitation on election ballots failed on October 16, 2024.
Royal Caribbean Group and Goldbelt Integrated hope their partnership and new port will present an answer to rising transportation points in Juneau.
“We’re grateful to Goldbelt Integrated and to the Juneau neighborhood for the partnership to carry solution-oriented initiatives, equivalent to this port, to life,” stated Preston Carnahan, assistant vice chairman, west coast locations for Royal Caribbean Group.
“We sit up for persevering with to assist Juneau because the cruise capital of Alaska by providing award-winning company experiences by accountable vacation spot administration,” he continued.
Juneau’s final name of its 2024 season will probably be Norwegian Cruise Line’s Norwegian Jewel, arriving on October 24, 2024, with as much as 2,376 passengers. Norwegian Bliss will arrive on October 21, 2024, with as much as 4,004 company.
The town’s 2025 season is anticipated to kick off once more on April 15, 2025, with the arrival of Norwegian Bliss.
