Alaska to impose further restrictions on cruise lines

By Kelly Ranson
09/04/2024
Home » Alaska to impose further restrictions on cruise lines

Alaska is to impose a cap on the number of cruise passengers visiting the major port of Juneau from 2026.

The region’s capital city reached a ‘conceptual agreement’ with cruise lines for a daily limit at a City and Borough of Juneau assembly meeting last week.

However, specific numbers have yet to be announced.

Alaska Public Media reported Juneau’s City Tourism Manager Alix Pierce told the assembly meeting: “We do not have a preliminary agreement on an MOA (Memorandum of Agreement) with specific numbers yet but we have agreed to the concept of a daily limit MOA, which is an important step in the right direction.”

It is understood that the new plan will ensure that Saturday has the lowest number of passengers disembarking in the cruise port, which is one of the busiest in Alaska.

“They (cruise lines) knew this conversation was coming, they knew this was the purpose of the meeting and we had asked them to come ready to discuss daily limits and the issues and challenges around that,” Alix added.

Juneau has already imposed a limit of a maximum of five ships a day, starting this season, which starts today with the arrival of Norwegian Cruise Lines’ Norwegian Bliss.

Last year 1.6 million cruise ship passengers visited Juneau and numbers are expected to remain similar for 2024, despite the new limit on cruise ship arrivals.

Other major cruise lines scheduled to call in Juneau during the next few months include Carnival, Holland America Line, Princess, Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, Regent Seven Seas, Silversea and Viking.

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