Royal Caribbean clears land for new port but Juneau says they don’t have permission

• Royal Caribbean has reportedly begun preparing land clearing for its new port in Juneau, Alaska.
• But the city has told Cruise Passenger that the line doesn’t even have permission to use the new port.
• It’s unclear if and when Royal Caribbean will seek the proper permissions.

Royal Caribbean and the city of Juneau, a key cruise port in Alaska, appear to be on a collision course over plans to build a new facility.

The line last year surprised even the Juneau city council with the announcement that they would be building their own cruise port in the city, which has had a number of votes on cruise caps.

More than six months on, no one is sure just what one of the world’s biggest cruise lines intends.

A spokesperson for the City and Borough of Juneau revealed to Cruise Passenger that Royal Caribbean has already commenced some tree clearing on private land.

But this is being done before Royal Caribbean or their construction company has obtained any of the necessary permits and permissions to build the port.

“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.”

The City and Borough is also not sure if, in the case of building the port, it would be the new destination for all Royal Caribbean ships.

“That is what we have been told, but Royal Caribbean has not shared any sort of official application with us.”

Juneau and Royal Caribbean have been at odds over various issues in recent years. Royal Caribbean even threatened legal action against the town last year when it was voting on a proposal to ban cruise ships on Saturdays.

Furthermore, Royal Caribbean was a key contributor to the $500,000 campaign against the ship-free Saturdays that ended up crushing the local community’s modest $500 campaign.

Royal Caribbean has been contacted for comment.

Some Juneau community citizens have continued trying to push forward new proposals to limit cruise ships, but have yet to see success.

However, the City and Borough of Juneau says none of these actions are anti-cruise, such as the increased port fees. They simply need some kind of volume control and money to invest, to not only care for their local community, but also make sure that the local infrastructure is there to provide a pleasant experience for cruise visitors themselves.

“I think it’s important to note that the limits we have put in place are to allow us to make infrastructure and other improvements to be able to handle the volume we are seeing today. Cruise tourism is vital to our local economy, and we are proud of the number of local businesses and year-round jobs that the industry supports.

“However, we want to make sure we are managing our visitation in a way that maintains our visitor economy while ensuring that the boom doesn’t turn into a bust. The limits were negotiated in partnership with the industry, and most of our industry partners understand the need to collectively set ourselves up for success. The port fees are part of that. It’s important to charge appropriately and competitively for using our infrastructure so we can reinvest in that infrastructure.”

As far as rescheduling changes in relation to the new cruise caps, Juneau is expecting the rest of the season to run smoothly.

“The Alaska schedule is typically completed over a year in advance. Juneau and Sitka have daily passenger caps, so we needed to do some coordinated shuffling between our two ports and lines to accommodate our limits.

“The rescheduling affected a handful of calls for one ship, the Ovation of the Seas, which is currently the largest ship calling Juneau. I don’t anticipate any additional limit-related port cancellations, but I do expect some of the usual minor schedule tweaks that we always see leading up to and during the season.”