Tag Archives: Alaska cruise

MSC Poesia Enters Drydock for Major Refurbishment

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MSC Poesia Enters Drydock for Major Refurbishment

The MSC Poesia recently entered drydock at the Palumbo Shipyard in Malta to undergo a major refurbishment project.

Having completed its winter season in Northern Europe, the MSC Cruises vessel arrived at the facility on Feb. 19, 2026.

As part of a modernization effort that will see all of the Musica-class ships undergoing refits, the 2008-built vessel is now set to get new features and venues.

The project includes the addition of MSC Yacht Club, the company’s ship-within-a-ship concept that will feature 62 new suites.

Guests staying in these new staterooms will take advantage of private areas including a sun deck, a restaurant and a lounge.

The MSC Poesia is also getting two new specialty restaurants: the American-style Butcher’s Cut Steakhouse and Kaito Sushi Bar.

Other areas undergoing significant changes include the MSC Aurea Spa, which will be redesigned and modernized.

The ship’s gym will be moved to a new area, where it will offer a fresh layout and state-of-the-art equipment.

Upon completing its drydock, the MSC Poesia is set to kick off a repositioning voyage to North America ahead of MSC’s first season in Alaska.

The two-part voyage starts with a trans-Atlantic crossing to PortMiami that is set to depart from the Italian port of Civitavecchia on April 6, 2026.

The 90,000-ton ship is then scheduled to offer an 18-night cruise to the Panama Canal that sails between Florida and Seattle.

Starting in early May, the MSC Poesia offers a series of seven-night cruises to destinations in Alaska and Canada.

Sailing roundtrip from Seattle, the itineraries are highlighted by scenic cruising at Tracy Arm Fjord and Inside Passage. Ports of call set to be visited include Ketchikan, Icy Strait Point and Juneau.

Following MSC’s maiden season in the region, the vessel is scheduled to reposition to Miami for longer cruises to the Caribbean and Central America during the 2026-27 winter season.

Juneau Reaffirms Cruise Passenger Limits Amid New Dock Proposal

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Juneau Reaffirms Cruise Passenger Limits Amid New Dock Proposal

While a proposed new cruise dock could expand the number of cruise berths in Juneau, the city currently has no plans to increase the number of guests arriving.

Speaking with Cruise Industry News, Tourism Director of the City and Borough of Juneau (CBJ), Alexandra Pierce, highlighted the town’s sustainable approach to tourism and said that the development project has not been approved yet.

“We’re one of the communities in the world that has negotiated cruise ship limits, and we don’t have any plans to change those limits,” she said.

Juneau currently holds a voluntary five-ship-a-day limit, which keeps the number of arriving guests steady.

“We’re proud of having these negotiated agreements with the cruise industry,” she said, adding that the deals “were pretty hard fought.”

Pierce noted that the project for additional cruise berths in Juneau, which is being carried out by Goldbelt, is currently pending approval from local authorities.

“They had some preliminary meetings with the city regarding their plans. However, there are very extensive permitting and reviewing processes pending, not just by us, but also by other government agencies that would be impacted,” she explained.

While the proposed port could increase the number of berths available for ships in the town, the actual growth of cruise passengers arriving depends on many other factors, Pierce continued.

“These limits that we have in place allow us to manage for the volume that we have today,” she explained.

Pierce said that such an increase would impact many areas, from transportation to emergency services infrastructure.

“All of that needs to be taken into consideration before adding an additional 500,000 people to a port that already sees 1.7 million visitors a year,” Pierce added.

“To raise those limits, we would need to see some pretty significant infrastructure improvements, which is what our city council is kind of grappling with right now.”

Juneau is soon putting together a visitor industry task force, which will also discuss the matter, she continued.

“One of the things that we’re asking them is under what conditions can Juneau grow? What are our infrastructure needs? What are our criteria for being able to welcome more passengers?”

She noted that the city is working on infrastructure improvements, but these are aimed at better hosting the number of guests that are currently arriving.

“While infrastructure is a great destination management tool, it’s also a very slow destination management tool and very expensive,” Pierce said.

“We want to make sure that we fully recognise and understand the burden on our public facilities of any sort of growth and how we can mitigate that burden going into the future,” she added.

Juneau Eyes New Seasonal Tax System Aimed at Cruise Visitors

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Juneau Eyes New Seasonal Tax System Aimed at Cruise Visitors

After doubling the fees that cruise lines pay to dock in the town, Juneau is now pursuing a plan to introduce a new seasonal sales tax system.

According to KTOO, the change is aimed at capitalising on the 1.7 million cruise ship passengers that visit the town every summer.

The new structure would raise sales taxes in the summer months and lower them in the winter, according to the local news website.

After being greenlighted by the Juneau Assembly, the proposal will now be presented to residents later this month.

Assembly members want to hear from locals before deciding whether to put it on a municipal ballot scheduled for October.

Other Southeast Alaskan towns, including Ketchikan, Sitka and Skagway, already adopt seasonal taxes, KTOO said.

Residents and visitors currently pay a five per cent tax on year-round sales in Juneau, the website explained.

If voters approve the proposed seasonal tax system, consumers will instead pay a 7.5 per cent tax in the summer and a 3.5 per cent tax in the winter.

The proposal determines that the summer season starts in April and ends in September, while the winter season runs from October through March.

In June, Juneau agreed to double the fees that cruise lines pay to dock their ships at the city-owned piers.

The change was unanimously approved by the town’s assembly and applies only to large cruise vessels.

At the time, Juneau’s Visitor Industry Director, Alix Pierce, said that the change was aimed at making the dockage fees in the town more competitive with the private sector.

“We know that our rates are definitely low compared to the private docks here, and other ports in the region are also looking at their fee structure,” she explained.

While dockage fees were previously calculated using vessels’ tonnage and length figures, the new rates are based on the ships’ passenger capacities.