Juneau Sets Further Limits on Cruise Ship Visits
by Dori Saltzman
Photo: Shutterstock.com / Steve Heap
More than a year ago, in April 2023, the City of Juneau and the cruise industry signed a Memorandum of Agreement limiting the number of “large’ cruise ship visits in a single day to no more than five. Now, the City and Borough of Juneau are taking the limits even further – moving from a ship limit to a passenger limit.
Beginning in 2026, the daily cap for cruise visitors will be 16,000 people Sunday through Friday, and 12,000 people on Saturday, according to a report by Local First Media Group.
Earlier this month, the Juneau Assembly approved the limits.
Juneau residents have been asking for limits for years, and while the Memorandum of Agreement passed in 2023 was a start, with larger ships visiting Alaska, the number of visitors arriving in Juneau on a daily basis remained a problem.
While the number of ships has lessened – 485 projected ship visits in 20024 vs. more than 660 in 2023 – the numbers of visits has increased. This year, Juneau is projecting more than 1.65 million passengers will visit Juneau by ship, up from 1.64 million last year.
