Tourism

Hoonah’s Icy Strait Point tourist attraction will see more visitors once a new cruise ship dock is built. That’s according to officials, who expect it to attract more cruise lines to the town 50 miles west of Juneau.

But critics worry the location will not help the rest of the city.

The Huna Totem village Native corporation opened Icy Strait Point back in 2004.

Its main attraction is a renovated salmon cannery that houses a museum and gift shops. It’s a base for bus tours, wildlife-watching excursions and a mile-long zipline.

Over the years, tens of thousands of tourists have arrived at the point via cruise ship. But those ships have anchored nearby and brought passengers ashore via small boats called tenders.

That will soon change.

“Having the dock will make a difference,” says Ruth Banaszak, Huna Totem Corp.’s marketing manager.

She says the new dock will allow more and different ships to deliver passengers.

“For instance, Disney can’t tender. The ship that comes to Alaska does not have tender boats on it. So we have talked to Disney about stopping in once we have the dock,” she says.

Disney did not immediately respond to a request for confirmation. Banaszak said another line that only uses tender boats occasionally may also be interested.

Huna Totem, the city of Hoonah and the state recently formed a partnership to oversee the dock’s design and construction. But it hasn’t always been that friendly.

The city of Hoonah wanted another location, closer to town and easier for fishermen and other locals to use. The former mayor and city council members cited a study showing the current site to be too windy in the winter.

“Considering the kind of weather they get there, I’m sure it’s going to take a hell of a beating,” says Bob Prunella, a former interim Hoonah city administrator who lives in Wrangell.

“That spot that the city picked, it’s just more protected because, quite frankly, the ships anchor in a little deeper water right there anyway,” he says.

Other former city officials didn’t return calls asking for comment.

The cruise industry opposed the city-backed site. Officials said it would only use the one now slated for construction. And the state said it would only pay for a site cruise lines would use. Then, elections changed the balance on the city council.

Now, a $23.7 million contract is going to Anchorage-based Turnagain Marine Construction.

The state contributed about $14.5 million, which is passing through the city. Banaszak says the remaining $10 million or so will come from Huna Totem.

“Nothing can be done strictly just by Huna Totem or just by the city, it really is a partnership and everyone working together to do this, because it’s quite a huge opportunity,” she says.

She says construction will begin by March and finish by the end of August. She also says the 400-foot floating pier is large enough to accommodate all ships that sail Southeast.

Former city administrator Prunella says he hopes the site decision will reduce community tensions, even if he doesn’t like the location.

“I think the important thing is, one, they’ll get the dock, and two, maybe there won’t be so much infighting in that little community,” he says.

Huna Totem estimates more than two-thirds of last summer’s 140,000 cruise passengers left their ships to explore Icy Strait Point. It expects about 20 percent more to visit the attraction with the new pier in place.

Alaska’s cruise ship season ended last week. It, and other types of tourism, attracted a similar number of visitors as in 2013. But the next few years could be different.

A group of Japanese tourists off the Norwegian Sun cruise ship walk Juneau’s waterfront, looking for an open sales kiosk.

Most days, they’d find more than a dozen. But right now, there’s just one, because the Sun is the only ship in town.

The Sun can carry up to 2,000 passengers, plus 1,000 crew. Many times this summer, they’ve joined 10,000 or more other visitors and workers visiting Alaska’s capital city.

Many are taking their first trip to Alaska–and they’ve got a lot of questions. Juneau Convention and Visitors Bureau volunteer Sharon Meier is one of the people giving them answers.

Some of those questions have pretty obvious answers.

“How far are we above sea level?” is one. “And I’m not making that up,” Meier says. “We get that all the time–and if we take American money.”

If they’re off a cruise ship, she’ll politely remind them that it’s floating in the ocean.

“And as far as the currency goes, you have to answer that based on who you are speaking with. You can never assume they want to joke, at their expense. So you just say ‘Yes, we do.’ But if they need an exchange, we can help them find a bank or someone who can help them out.”

Juneau saw almost all of the cruise ship passengers sailing Alaska waters this summer. Skagway and Ketchikan saw a lot. And Sitka, Hoonah, Whittier and Kodiak hosted far fewer. Smaller ships called at other cities, such as Petersburg and Wrangell, plus some Southeast villages.

John Binkley is president Cruise Lines International Association in Alaska.

“It was a great season. We had almost a million visitors that will have come to Alaska on cruise ships. And about the same overall for other modes of transportation,” he says. “I think there were close to 2 million visitors this year.”

This season brought a new ship, the Crown Princess, which carries about 3,000 passengers and 1,200 crew. The same-sized Ruby Princess will sail next season, replacing a smaller ship.

Cruise lines often shuffle vessels in and out of their Alaska routes. Binkley says that has advantages.

“Many times when they put a new ship, or a newer ship, into a market, it has a loyal following. So you see a lot of passengers who want to go on the new ships and want to go to Alaska as well,” he says.

Passenger capacity has hovered around a million for several years. That may be as many as North America markets can provide.

But Binkley says cruise lines are targeting new customers, especially in Asia.

“It’s staggering the number of people who will be in the economic strata in China in the next 10 years to afford cruises. And one of the top destinations that they want to cruise through is Alaska,” he says.

“Absolutely, there’s significant interest from China,” adds Jillian Simpson, director of membership and tourism policy for the Alaska Travel Industry Association.

“And actually, already we’re getting visitors, not only from mainland China, but also people in the U.S. who are studying from China or for business who are then adding on trips to Alaska,” she says.

Simpson says the association’s final figures aren’t in. But it looks like 2014’s season was strong, with about the same number of visitors.

But not everywhere.

“With the amount of rain we saw, the flooding that was happening early in the season, impacted Denali and the railroad. And anytime there’s lots of rain or storms it impacts the day cruises or people who need to take a boat out to a lodge, as well as flightseeing tours and being able to get out to remote parts,” she says.

Southeast Alaska’s Inside Passage also saw extra rain. But that didn’t affect its numbers, since cruise ship berths are booked months in advance.

Back at Juneau’s docks, a visitor’s bureau volunteer doles out maps and tips, as he has all summer.

Some dockside greeters get to be more outgoing. Sharon Meier says she went on board ships this year, to hand out information and answer questions.

What’s her favorite part?

“Meeting the people. The visitors are so eager to see Juneau and Alaska. I think it’s on a lot of people’s bucket lists to come up here,” she says.

Many of their questions are the same, about weather and wildlife, and of course, altitude and money.

But Meier says this season brought something different.

“Some people this summer have been asking where the Sarah Palin statue is. For some reason they think there’s one in town,” she says, laughing. (There isn’t one.)

Next year’s season begins in early May, when the Ruby Princess docks in Ketchikan. The ships will keep sailing till mid-September.

The Coast Guard says they’re still investigating a grounding of a tour boat north of Juneau on Monday.

Lt. Jennifer Ferreira could not say how extensive the damage was to the 34-foot Voyager, or how the grounding occurred. She said that’s part of the ongoing investigation.

Fourteen passengers and an operator were on board when the tour boat operated by Gastineau Guiding went aground on Little Island, which is located just to the north of Lincoln Island.

The passengers evacuated to Little Island. They were taken by a small boat from the Coast Guard cutter Naushon to other nearby tour boats. A small rescue boat from Station Juneau was also dispatched to the scene and eventually escorted the other vessels to shore.

Gastineau Guiding co-owner Dawn Wolfe said the passengers were not hurt and they just considered the experience as another adventure.

The Naushon then escorted the refloated Voyager back to Auke Bay.

The Coast Guard reports conditions in the area on Monday as five mph winds, one-foot seas, and five miles of visibility.

Wolfe said a gust of wind and a strong current pushed the boat close to a rock as the tide rapidly dropped.

The vessel’s propeller was dinged, but there was no other damage. Wolfe said there wasn’t even a mark on the hull to indicate that it set down on the rocks.

She said the boat is back in the water and running again after it was looked over by the Coast Guard.

The last cruise ship to visit the capital city pulls out of Juneau at 9 p.m. Thursday.

As stores in the tourist district pack up and shut down for the fall and winter season, the Juneau Economic Development Council wants to make sure downtown remains an inviting place to be.

If you walked by the clothing store Alpaca International on Admiral Way last winter, what you would have seen in the store windows was black curtains “and a sign that said, ‘Thank you, Juneau,'” says owner Zia Boccacio.

When the business reduces its hours this fall and eventually closes this winter, she says the main window display will remain looking “nice, bright and lively.”

“We’re going to leave, like, an alpaca image in the window surrounded with beautiful wraps and capes and we’re going to leave the lights on,” Boccaccio says.

Throughout the winter, Boccaccio says an employee will be in charge of checking on the window display every few weeks.

Her change of off-season plans is a result of a Juneau Economic Development Council initiative, Winter Windows. Executive Director Brian Holst says it’s an effort to address how Juneau’s downtown looks, “especially in the wintertime when many of our stores in the far end of town are closed.”

Roughly 40 retail stores that thrive during the summer tourist season shut down after the cruise ships leave at the end of September. Many of these businesses are located in Juneau’s Downtown Historic District and are required by city code to “provide window displays that offer year-round interest.”

“Some businesses just put up a piece of dark paper to cover their window,” Holst says.

This common practice does not meet the city’s standard.

Holst says it’s also just not attractive.

“What we want to see is a bright window, so there’s some light on the streets and people feel comfortable walking by, and a pleasantly decorated window,” Holst says.

Window suggestions include scenes of Juneau’s natural beauty or historic past. Holst says JEDC can connect seasonal businesses with local artists.

Winter Windows is part of JEDC’s downtown revitalization effort supported by the Alaska Committee, Downtown Business Association, Tourism Best Management Practices, Princess Cruises and the City and Borough of Juneau. Volunteers with these organizations went door to door and talked to business owners and managers about their window displays during the off-season. They did this once in July and then again earlier this week.

“It’s really to encourage them to do something positive for Juneau this winter,” Holst says.

Boccaccio says she’s on board with the idea and thinks it’s the least summer businesses can do.

“It’s a moral obligation as a business owner that we should cooperate and support this initiative,” Boccaccio says.

JEDC plans to visit areas of downtown this winter, take pictures and highlight the best winter windows.

An 87-year-old cruise ship passenger aboard Holland America’s Oosterdam died Thursday.

Juneau police responded in port and identified the woman as Corrine J. Underwood of Missouri. She was traveling with her daughter.

Lt. David Campbell described her as chronically ill. He couldn’t disclose specifics because of medical privacy laws, but says, “It looks like (a) rather lengthy medical history going back quite a while here, so looks as though it was probably natural causes.”

He says there were no signs of foul play.

A text message from a whale watching boat in Juneau has led to the arrest of the captain on board.

Lawrence Dupler, 67, was arrested today for driving a 52-foot tour boat while intoxicated. A breath sample revealed his blood alcohol level to be .115 percent, about 45 percent over the legal state limit for operating a motor vehicle. Under federal jurisdiction, the legal blood alcohol level for commercial vessel operators is .04 percent.

Juneau police Lt. Dave Campbell says the U.S. Coast Guard received a tip which originated from a text.

“Somebody on board the boat texted a friend that the boat captain appeared intoxicated and that friend contacted the Coast Guard and that’s what initiated the Coast Guard to do a stop of the whale watching boat,” says Campbell.

Campbell says 12 tourists and two other crew members were on board. When the Coast Guard detained Dupler, the boat was turned over to another crew member.

Dupler was brought to Auke Bay harbor around noon where Juneau police arrested him.

Known as Captain Larry, Dupler is listed  on the company’s website as a captain with local tour company Orca Enterprises. He’s been a whale watching captain since 1994 and started working for Orca in 1997.

Dupler is being lodged at Lemon Creek Correctional Center on $1,500 bail.

*Editor’s Note: The story has been updated to reflect blood alcohol thresholds for commercial vessel operators.