Alaska Port Wants ‘Ship Free Saturdays’ Amid Cruise Passenger Surge

A community push to ban cruise ships from docking in Juneau, Alaska, on Saturdays has initially fallen short. The “ship free Saturdays” campaign has failed to get the number of required signatures to get the issue on a municipal ballot.

Led by activist Karla Hart, the petition collected 2,069 validated signatures but needs 2,359 to get on the ballot. It has another week to find the additional 290 signatures. The Ship Free Saturdays campaign is calling for a Saturday ban on cruise ships accommodating more than 250 passengers. It would also ban ships on the July 4 holiday.

If the extra signatures are collected, the municipal ballot will take place on October 1.

The community-led campaign is an extra measure to restrict cruise ship traffic. The Juneau city government has already sealed an agreement with cruise lines to cap cruise ship passenger numbers, effective from 2026.

Passenger Limit already Agreed with Cruise Lines

This would limit the number of passengers in Juneau to 16,000 per day, Sunday through Friday. The cap for Saturdays is 12,000. Cruise lines have agreed to coordinate their schedules to achieve this.

This is the first collaborative agreement signed by the cruise industry in Alaska. Additionally, a separate measure agreed last year came into force this current season. It limits the number of large cruise ships allowed into Juneau to five per day.

‘Current Rules Don’t Go Far Enough’

With the Alaska cruise season getting longer, Karla Hart says these agreed limitations don’t go far enough to address the concerns of local residents. “It feels like we’re just getting led along again, and expansion will continue and more time will pass” and impacts will continue, she said.

Juneau’s visitor industry director Alexandra Pierce said city officials are “trying to balance the needs of our residents, our economy, and the needs of future opportunities for people to stay in our community.”