Jennifer Pemberton

For the past several months, it’s been a lot of “will they or won’t they” with regard to the cruise industry coming to Alaska this year. And now that it’s clear that they won’t, cruise towns in southeast Alaska are thinking about next year.

Juneau has a long, dark winter to look forward to after finishing out this shipless summer, but the hope is that by the time April rolls around, the pandemic will be on its way out or cruise ship companies will at least have figured out how to operate safely despite it.

In this season of the Cruise Town, we’re taking a look at what happens in a cruise town with no cruise ships. In the last episode, we talked about the events that brought us to this point — how a record breaking season evaporated before it ever got started. Now, we’re looking ahead at what’s next.

All along the coast of Alaska’s panhandle, communities — most of them much smaller than Juneau — welcome cruise ships every summer and rely on the revenue they bring.

Adelyn Baxter has an update from two other cruise towns along Alaska’s Inside Passage: Ketchikan at the southern end and Skagway at the top.

The state reported five new resident cases and 22 new nonresident cases of COVID-19 in Juneau on Monday.

The nonresident cases are employees with Alaska Glacier Seafoods and were reported locally on Sunday as a group of 26 positive cases. Of those 26 employees, one is a resident and the rest are non-residents. Not all of the test results have been reported yet from the 113 employees who were tested on Wednesday. According to a press release from the City and Borough of Juneau today, about 10 to 15 tests are still pending results.

One of the Juneau residents who was reported to have tested positive on Monday is a city employee. The employee is in isolation and the city reports that there was no known exposure from the infected person to other employees.

The outbreak at Alaska Glacier Seafoods and another on board a factory fishing vessel that docked in Unalaska are causing the number of COVID-19 cases in Alaska to soar. On Monday, the state reported another 141 Alaskans and non-residents infected with the disease.

It’s the highest one-day total yet. And, it’s the second day in a row that the state has reported more than one hundred new infections.

The state is reporting one new hospitalization and that person is in Juneau. Currently Bartlett Regional Hospital is treating two patients with COVID-19.

Alaska Public Media’s Tegan Hanlon contributed to this report.

This is season two of Cruise Town: The story of Juneau, Alaska, a town of 32,000 people, that — until the pandemic — was host to over a million cruise ship passengers every summer.

A lot about Juneau’s future is up in the air still, but one thing is certain now: more than a million cruise ship passengers will not be coming to town this summer. Local businesses are already struggling to get by without tourists. By next year, Juneau could look like a very different place. It all depends on how the industry, and the world, recovers from COVID-19 and its economic fallout.

On this episode Adelyn Baxter catches us up on the last 3 months. How did we get here — to the point where Alaska’s biggest tourism season ever just vanished?

A small cruise ship company that had planned sailings in Southeast Alaska this month is pushing back its planned starting date.

American Cruise Lines has been planning voyages starting and ending in Juneau, with stops in Skagway, Haines, Petersburg, Wrangell and Ketchikan onboard the American Constellation. That ship has capacity for up to 130 people, with passenger numbers reduced for COVID-19 precautions. It had planned cruises in late June and was working with communities to come up with acceptable protocols for screening, testing, cleaning and quarantine for its passengers and crew.

Ketchikan’s city council okayed the company’s safety plan and agreed to allow the Constellation to dock in June.

“They submitted draft protocols — which looked pretty good honestly, looked like they were trying to do the most they could,” said Rorie Watt, Juneau’s city manager.

But the company confirmed in an email statement Thursday, June 11th, that it would be delaying Alaska cruises until July 23rd.

“While we understand the state’s need for testing and quarantine requirements, currently, they pose potential complications for our passengers,” the statement said. “American looks forward to resuming cruises in Southeast Alaska very soon.”

American Cruise Lines had already notified officials in some Southeast communities.

Watt said that even with the safety plan from the cruise line in place, the state health mandate 10, which covers quarantine and testing requirements for travelers coming into Alaska would prevent the ship from docking.

“We want the visiting public including passengers on a small cruise ship to comply with health mandate 10. So, I don’t think we’re going to see any small cruise ships for another 6 weeks or so.”

Many cruise ship companies have already canceled their Alaska voyages for the season. Earlier this week, the Haines Borough Assembly voted to ask cruise lines to suspend visits to that community after discovering its first confirmed case of COVID-19.

Another Juneau resident has tested positive for COVID-19, according to a release from the City and Borough of Juneau. It’s unknown how the individual contracted the virus. Public health officials from the state are investigating the case and will be in touch with anyone who may have come into contact with this person.

The Juneau resident is included in Monday’s update from the state with 18 other Alaskans who were reported to have tested positive for the coronavirus.

Today’s double-digit increase follows spikes in reported cases statewide over the past week as Alaska’s economy continues to open back up.

In total, 35 people from Juneau have tested positive for COVID-19. Another case was announced over the weekend. There are three cases considered active and 32 individuals have recovered.

City officials in Juneau encourage residents to get tested even if they have mild symptoms of the disease.

On Saturday, city employees in Juneau started screening some out-of-state travelers for COVID-19 at the city’s airport — the same day major statewide changes went into effect for travelers to Alaska.

On Sunday, the state announced 27 new cases of coronavirus in Alaska. That’s the most cases in a single day since the state identified its first case in March.

According to a press release from the state’s Department of Health and Social Services, the new cases were discovered in eight communities: Twelve in Anchorage, 4 in Wasilla, 3 in Eagle River, 3 in Kenai, 2 in Homer and 1 each in Soldotna, Kenai Peninsula Borough and Anchor Point.

One new non-resident case in a seafood worker in the Dillingham area was reported.

Since March, 460 Alaska residents have tested positive for the virus and 21 nonresidents. The majority of them have recovered, 10 Alaskans have died.

The largest single reported increase in cases in the state before this was on April 6 with 22 cases.

The flood of new cases comes just as the state is preparing to further loosen restrictions on travel. On Friday, Gov. Mike Dunleavy announced a change to the state’s 14-day quarantine for people arriving from out-of-state. Instead, visitors and Alaskans returning to the state will be asked to take a test within 72 hours of boarding an Alaska-bound flight. That change is expected to go into effect June 5.

Dunleavy and Alaska Chief Medical Officer Dr. Anne Zink have credited the quarantine mandate, which dates to March 25, with helping to keep Alaska’s rate of infections among the lowest in the country.

Dunleavy, the Department of Health and Social Services and representatives from the municipality of Anchorage will hold a joint press conference late Sunday to address the new cases.

This is a breaking news story and will be updated as new information becomes available.