Short Season Ends in Juneau Alaska

Norwegian Encore was last ship to leave until next year.

A very short summer tourist season for Juneau, Alaska officially ended when the 4,000 passenger Norwegian Encore picked up its lines and sailed back to the U.S.

The last ship of the year, Norwegian Cruise Line’s Norwegian Encore, brought 2,238 visitors to Juneau Wednesday, according to Carl Uchytil, port director for the City and Borough of Juneau Docks and Harbors Department. “There were fits and starts, we didn’t really know until June,” Uchytil said. “We struggled to find people on short notice to maintain the facilities. It certainly was not a normal year by any metric.”

Alaska did not enjoy a cruise ship tourist season in 2020 as the cruise industry did not operate due to the pandemic. Once the cruise ship industry restarted, Alaska suffered another setback when the Canadian government refused passage to cruise ships sailing from Seattle. Eventually, the U.S. government officials arranged a workaround that allowed ships to return, but it was not until late July.