(Photos by Greg Knight/News of the North)
By Greg Knight, News of the North
The first large cruise ship of the year arrived in Juneau on Monday, April 14, as the The Norwegian Bliss docked at about noon at the AS dock.
The ship, with a crew of 1,700, can accommodate just more than 4,000 travelers per voyage.
Travel Juneau’s Liz Perry was at the visitor center dockside for the arrival. She explained what the organization does for all cruise visitors to the Capital City.
“We want to make sure that every one who steps off the ship it feels welcome to Juneau,” Perry said. “[Today] is a fairly typical early season day, so we’re hoping that they can enjoy the excursions they’ve got planned and do the walking around town that they have planned.”
Perry said locals should keep in mind that the bump in sales taxes paid to the city by ship-borne visitors helps provide essential services in the borough — and puts food on the tables of local business owners.
“In total, the visitor industry provides about 20% of Juneau’s sales tax revenue,” Perry said. “Plus, we have all of our locally owned excursion operators, our retailers, most are full time residents. They’ve got families here, so they are invested in the community. This industry provides Juneau and its residents a good bump of revenue that helps provide the services that we need and expect from our city.”
The Bliss will make a return trip to Juneau as it heads south on Monday, April 21.
The next cruise ship scheduled to be in Juneau is the Carnival Spirit, which will arrive at the Franklin Dock on Friday, April 18 at 7 a.m.
