Juneau voters on track to reject Saturday cruise ship ban

JUNEAU — Juneau voters appear set to reject a ballot measure that would have banned large cruise ships on Saturdays.

From initial results, more than 59% of Juneau voters opposed the proposed cruise ship restrictions. More ballots are set to be counted Friday, but supporters and opponents don’t expect the overall results to change.

The “ship-free Saturdays” initiative, the first of its kind in Alaska, would have banned cruise ships with 250 or more passengers from disembarking in Juneau on Saturdays and the Fourth of July.

Karla Hart, a sponsor of the ballot measure, has long campaigned to limit cruise ship sailings into Juneau. In 2021, Hart failed to get enough signatures to place three different initiatives on the ballot. But she has not been dissuaded by those results.

”Oftentimes, with any legislative process, it takes a couple of efforts to ripen an issue,” Hart said in a Wednesday interview.

In 2023, close to 1.7 million passengers came by cruise ship to Juneau. The industry accounted for $375 million in direct spending, creating 3,850 direct and indirect jobs and providing over $40 million in municipal revenue, according to a report prepared by the McKinley Research Group for the City and Borough of Juneau.

However, the number of cruise ship passengers to Alaska’s capital city has more than doubled in the past 21 years, which has raised growing concerns among some residents.

Hart said the industry creates a lot of “adverse impacts.” Downtown Juneau is often “swamped” with tourists between April and October, she said. Helicopters frequently fly sightseeing tours over crowded neighborhoods. Fishermen are being displaced by whale watching tours, she said.

“It’s making Juneau unbearable for people who live here,” she said.

Protect Juneau’s Future, a group formed by local business owners to oppose the ballot measure, focused on the economic impacts on the loss of Saturday cruise ship sailings, estimating a $30 million hit in revenue.

According to a frequently asked questions page prepared by city officials, the impacts of a Saturday cruise ban were unclear. Ships could spend more time in neighboring ports in Southeast Alaska or they might skip Alaska entirely, city officials said.

McHugh Pierre, chair of Protect Juneau’s Future and CEO of Goldbelt Inc., an Alaska Native corp., argued that the Saturday ban would have been felt statewide as 25% of cruise ship passengers who arrive in Juneau continue their trips to Fairbanks.

In a Wednesday interview, Pierre said that there should be continued collaboration between local communities and the cruise lines “to ensure a good experience for passengers, and a good experience for locals.”

Last year, city officials and major cruise lines agreed to a cap of five large ships per day in Juneau. In May, a separate voluntary agreement limits the number of cruise ship passengers to 16,000 per day and 12,000 per day on Saturdays, starting in 2026.

”People want to make sure that we give our existing strategy of engagement a chance to work,” Pierre said.

Renée Limoge Reeve, vice president of government and community relations for industry group Cruise Lines International Association Alaska, thanked Juneau voters and also argued in favor of collaboration.

“We believe joint, collaborative, and direct dialogue is the best way to maintain balanced and effective tourism management to ensure long-term economic stability and livelihoods in Juneau,” she said in a prepared statement.

Hart, however, argued the current agreements are “not really a meaningful limit” and that cruise ship passenger numbers could continue to swell in coming years.

Between the two campaigns, there was a vast gulf in campaign spending. One week out from the election, Protect Juneau’s Future reported raising more than $450,000 and spending close to $400,000. The group had listed over $550,000 in campaign debts. Its biggest donors were cruise lines and Westmark Hotels.

Meanwhile, Hart reported having raised $380, including $300 from herself.

Pierre argued that the spending to defeat the ballot measure was due to the potential negative consequences if it was approved.

”Our livelihood is at stake,” he said. “You’re going to do everything you can the first time to make sure that your voice is heard and that you protect your ability to support your family.”

In the lead-up to the election, cruise lines and tour operators warned of legal challenges if the Juneau ballot measure had passed, arguing that the restrictions would have run afoul of the U.S. Constitution’s Commerce Clause. A recent 1,000-passenger limit on cruise ships in Bar Harbor, Maine, has sparked multiple legal challenges.