Royal Caribbean has been hard at work developing new destinations for cruisers. It is building new private experiences in both Nassau and Cozumel and recently shared that it would buy the port of Puerto Maya, Mexico to create a second Perfect Day experience to follow up the massive success of its Perfect Day at CocoCay private island.
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Royal Caribbean and Alaska-based Goldbelt Incorporated have created a partnership to co-develop a new cruise port in Juneau, Alaska.
To be perfectly clear, Juneau already has a cruise port that can accommodate as many as five large ships at the same time. There are three docking facilities that technically have capacity for seven ships, but the local government has set a limit of five to help reduce congestion.
Juneau is one of the most popular cruise ports outside of the Caribbean and is a stop for most cruise lines’ Alaska sailings.
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However, the new cruise port would be a Royal Caribbean exclusive and would be designed to create more of an experience than the current port. In fact, it would be situated on Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act land on Douglas Island, in contrast to the existing port infrastructure, which is essentially adjacent to downtown Juneau
“Visitors will be transported from a modern cruise ship to a recreated 1800s Alaska Native Tlingit village,” according to a press release.
It is intended to be a culture-focused cruise ship terminal on the backside of Douglas Island.
Image source: Daniel Kline/Come Cruise With Me
A smart location for a new port
Not only will the new port be in a less congested location away from downtown, but it would also serve a practical purpose, reducing sailing times and fuel consumption, as West Douglas Island is significantly more accessible from major shipping routes compared with the downtown ports.
Royal Caribbean aims to have the port completed in time for the 2027 Alaska cruise season, which typically starts in April and runs through early October each year, although May through August is the peak.
Situated on Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act land on Douglas Island, the port's preliminary designs have two floating berths overlooking the Chilkat Range.
"Designed to utilize the existing whale-watching tour operations, the project plans for guests to depart directly from West Douglas Island onto whale-watching tours or shuttle boats to Mendenhall Glacier to counter downtown traffic. This route will remove nearly one-third of the bus traffic from Juneau's most impacted roadways, from downtown Franklin Street to the Glacier Highway, enhancing the overall guest and resident experience, while also paying testament to Alaska Native culture," according to the builder.
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This is the second project in Juneau where Goldbelt and Royal Caribbean Group have partnered to benefit the community and guest experience. This recent cruise season, the two companies worked together to donate wireless internet equipment that provides public access to high-speed Starlink WiFi, greatly reducing the impact on the residential network.
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