Juneau Residents File Initiatives to Limit Cruise Ships

[Glaciers]

Interesting news from Juneau.

Ballot Initiatives

• Initiative Short Title: Limit Cruise Ship Hours / No cruise ship with a capacity of more than 250 passengers may be at dock or at anchor between 7:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m.

• Initiative Short Title: Ship Free Saturdays / No cruise ship with a capacity of more than 250 passengers may be at dock or at anchor on Saturdays.

• Initiative Short Title: Cruise Ship Size Limit / No cruise ship larger than 100,000 gross tonnage may be at dock or at anchor after January 1, 2026.

https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/24780-juneau-residents-file-initiatives-to-limit-cruise-ship-business.html

au-residents-file-initiatives-to-limit-cruise-ship-business.html

[rkacruiser]

Initiative #1:  I wonder what the owners of restaurants, cafes, and bars in Juneau would think about that.

 

Initiative #2:  I wonder what the Juneau Chamber of Commerce and all of the business owners who rely on tourist business would think about that.

 

Initiative #3:  Not a bad idea.  If there are other ships at dock or anchor, another Apartment of the Seas is not needed in a community the size of Juneau.  

[oaktreerb]

It has gotten awfully crowded in Juneau.  I was totally surprised that in 2019 the Maasdam had to tender in Juneau.  It was the smallest cruise ship in port that day and the docks were full.  Ships are getting bigger.  Mendenhall Glacier is overrun with tourists.  The best thing to do in Juneau anymore is to get out of town!

 

I think it was in 2005 Sitka was overrun with cruise ship tourists.  The sail in was beautiful and we tendered but the crowds in town were unbelievable.  Sitka cut back on ship visits but gradually returned to accepting tourists.  Maybe it’s time for a reset in Juneau. 

 

We had a port stop in Wrangell in 2019.  It was a wonderful port with a great visitor’s center.  Not crowded at all.  Aren’t there some other communities in Alaska that want ship stops?  I don’t know why HAL dropped Kodiak.  It handled one mid size ship pretty well.

 

I don’t think any ports in Alaska should accept the mega ships.  

[Heidi13]

3 hours ago, Glaciers said:

Interesting news from Juneau.

Ballot Initiatives

 

• Initiative Short Title: Limit Cruise Ship Hours / No cruise ship with a capacity of more than 250 passengers may be at dock or at anchor between 7:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m.

   

• Initiative Short Title: Ship Free Saturdays / No cruise ship with a capacity of more than 250 passengers may be at dock or at anchor on Saturdays.

   

• Initiative Short Title: Cruise Ship Size Limit / No cruise ship larger than 100,000 gross tonnage may be at dock or at anchor after January 1, 2026.

   

https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/24780-juneau-residents-file-initiatives-to-limit-cruise-ship-business.html

au-residents-file-initiatives-to-limit-cruise-ship-business.html

 

In my opinion, even 100,000 GT is way too big, but they should also factor in pax capacity.

 

The Princess "Sun" class, at full occupancy, carried almost as many as the original "Grand" class. The Sun class was < 100K GT, but Grand were >100K GT.

[Northern Aurora]

The Anchorage Daily News had an article about the initiative a week or so ago.  Alaska News Nightly, a news program on our public radio stations, has also covered it.  I have no judgement regarding the sentiment of Juneau residents, but a number of those downtown business aren't owned by Alaska residents.

[don't-use-real-name]

Forget the Covid virus factor and distance spacing - - - 

While not a serious problem for now - cruising has not resumed to its full level of operation.

 

All the port cities are definitely overwhelmed when 4 or more ships come port calling -

no matter which port it is.

By volume:

Ketchikan - 4 docks & tenders

Juneau - 4 docks & tenders

Skagway - 3 docks ? tenders

Icy Strait Point - 2 piers - & tenders

Sitka - 1 pier & tenders

 

Especially so if ships arrive fairly close in time. 

Staggering the number of ships daily may help keep the traffic manageable.

 

    

[katrina915]

I think this is very odd timing. Does Alaska want the tourist back or not?

[rkacruiser]

18 hours ago, katrina915 said:

I think this is very odd timing. Does Alaska want the tourist back or not?

 

My Nephew is an Alaskan citizen.  We have had several discussions about this over the years.  It's a very mixed bag of opinion, I have learned.  Reasons, both pro and con, with their economy maybe being the over riding pro.  Alaska has lost much revenue in recent years because of the drop in oil prices.  Their is no state income tax.  There is no state sales tax; localities may levy such, if they desire, and my understanding is that not many do and even those that do the tax rate is very low.  Tourists bring money and do help support local businesses.

 

For 2021, whatever tourist revenue that the State can receive will be welcome news.  For the future, I suspect it will be the same.  But, it will be interesting to follow these Initiatives to see what happens.  

 

    

[oaktreerb]

20 hours ago, don't-use-real-name said:

Forget the Covid virus factor and distance spacing - - - 

While not a serious problem for now - cruising has not resumed to its full level of operation.

 

All the port cities are definitely overwhelmed when 4 or more ships come port calling -

no matter which port it is.

By volume:

Ketchikan - 4 docks & tenders

Juneau - 4 docks & tenders

Skagway - 3 docks ? tenders

Icy Strait Point - 2 piers - & tenders

Sitka - 1 pier & tenders

 

Especially so if ships arrive fairly close in time. 

Staggering the number of ships daily may help keep the traffic manageable.

 

    

Skagway has three docks but the Railroad Dock handles two ships one behind the other, and there’s the Broadway dock and the Ore dock  plus the ferry dock next to the Broadway dock.  It can handle 4 ships but I can’t imagine any tendering in Skagway.

 

Sitka can actually handle two ships at dock but I prefer tendering since the sail in is amazing and you tender right into the center of town.