The city of Juneau, Alaska, has taken proactive steps to address overtourism by implementing limitations on cruise ship visitors in the coming years.
Under an agreement between the City and Borough of Juneau (CBJ) and cruise lines, a cap of 16,000 lower berths per day on Sundays through Fridays and 12,000 lower berths per day on Saturdays will be established starting from the 2026 Alaska cruise season.
Lower berths denote passenger capacity on a ship.
Juneau’s Visitor Industry Director, Alexandra Pierce, emphasized the importance of balancing the cruise industry’s economic contributions with minimizing impacts on residents. “With this agreement, we are committing to a cap to manage our busiest days and to meet annually to ensure that our visitor numbers remain sustainable,” Pierce stated.
Major cruise lines, including Carnival Corporation, Disney Cruise Line, Royal Caribbean, and Norwegian Cruise Line, have signed the agreement.
Renée Limoge Reeve, Vice President of Government and Community Relations at the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), described the agreement as reflective of the industry’s commitment to collaborative partnerships with CBJ and Juneau residents.
This move follows previous efforts by Juneau to regulate tourism influx. Last year, the city implemented a measure restricting large ships to a maximum of five vessels on the same day, which came into effect this year.
Juneau’s actions echo broader trends of municipalities grappling with cruise ship tourism. In 2022, Bar Harbor, Maine, voted to limit daily disembarkation to 1,000 passengers, while last year, Monterey, California, effectively barred cruise ships by voting to terminate city services for them.