Is Royal Caribbean's New Juneau Port Set To Go Ahead?

The port construction company Goldbelt is building for Royal Caribbean has entered the first stages of community consultations.
Goldbelt and Royal Caribbean are expected to officially present a proposal shortly.
While Goldbelt speak as if the port is a done deal and are already clearing land, reps from the council of Juneau don’t seem so confident.

Royal Caribbean’s controversial new port in Juneau is progressing through its initial stages of development, with the port’s construction company Goldbelt and the cruise line, confident that the project will go ahead without issue.

The Juneau Visitor Industry reported that Goldbelt had a pre-application conference with Juneau’s Community Development Department, and that the next step will involve Royal Caribbean and Goldbelt presenting their ideas to the Juneau Assembly over the coming months.

After this, the Juneau council will assess how to respond to the proposal.

The plans for this port were revealed just one day after the town of Juneau rejected the proposal for ‘ship-free saturdays’ last year, and the Juneau Visitor Industry reported they were “blindsided” by the announcement and said they were not aware of the plan until it was revealed by Royal Caribbean and Goldbelt.

The conflicting stories from either side

Juneau Industry Director Alexander Pierce, says the project is far from guaranteed and has a “long way to go”.

“There needs to be significant community consultation on whether Juneau has the capacity to handle that type of growth, the role of the facility in the existing network of visitor offerings and master planning for the surrounding area.”

The City and Borough of Juneau shared a similar sentiment with Cruise Passenger earlier this year, noting: “There has been some tree clearing on private land, but Royal Caribbean and Goldbelt, their development partner, have not applied for any development permitting with the City.

“Approval of City permits would be required for construction. Like all major land use decisions, we would need to follow a process requiring public consultation before any permits are approved or denied. None of that has happened yet.”

While Juneau remains tight-lipped on whether this project will already go out, Goldbelt is already clearing trees and speaking on the project as a shared effort between the town and the two companies.

Goldbelt President & CEO McHugh Pierre told Seatrade: “This is not a new plan — we’re activating a vision developed with the City and Borough of Juneau more than 25 years ago.

“Port facilities on the backside of Douglas have been a shared vision for decades. Today, we’re putting that plan into motion on Goldbelt’s ANCSA lands with a project that addresses key challenges in the cruise industry and brings long-term, sustainable solutions to Juneau.”

The company has such confidence that their website advertises that they expect the first ship to arrive in 2028.

Moving forward, something will have to give between Juneau’s tight-lipped approach and Goldbelt’s brimming confidence, to see whether this project is going to go ahead or not.

Royal Caribbean and Juneau continue to duel

Here is a brief summary of events between Juneau and Royal Caribbean.

Royal Caribbean donates $75,000 the the massive $500,000 campaigns that crushes Juneau citizens modest $500 budget campaign for ship-free Saturdays.
Royal Caribbean suddenly announces the construction of a new port in Juneau, which ‘blindsides’ the town.
Goldbelt begins clearing land for the new port its building for Royal Caribbean, without any official permission being granted.
Due to Juneaua’s new cruise caps, Royal Caribbean cancels a range of port visits for Ovation of the Seas.
Goldbelt and Royal Caribbean prepare their proposal for the Juneau council that would allow them to officially commence work on the port.