Skagway port changed through 2023

[Crow9]

I noticed that Skagway is swapped out for Icy Straight Point on Princess's website, and also on other Alaskan cruise lines sites as well, even through the 2023 season.  I know there was the rock slide, but I expected that to be fixed by the 2023 season, since it seems like most of their economy is based off the business the cruise ships bring.  What is going on?

 

Edit: not all, but looks like alot of the cruise itineraries have dropped Skagway.  Royal Princess still looks like it's going there.

Edited August 17, 2022 by Crow9

[azbirdmom]

I just checked the Princess website.  I searched for cruises in Alaska selecting the May, June, July, and August 2023.  The only ship that shows Icy Strait point instead of Skagway in 2023 seems to be the Crown Princess.  The (Majestic, Ruby, Discovery, Royal etc.) all show Skagway.  Of course a lot can happen in the next several months but for now it's still on from what I see.

[putty27]

We were there 2weeks ago. 3 ships in port, princess, holland and carnival. They are just not using the section where the rock slide was.

[Crow9]

I see Icy Straight Point for them in this view, but clicking on the 'Cruise details' still shows Skagway.

[jjack413]

6 minutes ago, azbirdmom said:

I just checked the Princess website.  I searched for cruises in Alaska selecting the May, June, July, and August 2023.  The only ship that shows Icy Strait point instead of Skagway in 2023 seems to be the Crown Princess.  The (Majestic, Ruby, Discovery, Royal etc.) all show Skagway.  Of course a lot can happen in the next several months but for now it's still on from what I see.

It appears all of 2023. I’m on the last cruise in September 2023 and it was changed to Icy Strait

[jjack413]

1 minute ago, jjack413 said:

It appears all of 2023. I’m on the last cruise in September 2023 and it was changed to Icy Strait

It may take a day or so for all of the site is updated. Generally when it is finalized they send email. I remember during Covid several West Coast ports were cancelled and it took a few days to notify cruisers.

[azbirdmom]

13 minutes ago, Crow9 said:

I see Icy Straight Point for them in this view, but clicking on the 'Cruise details' still shows Skagway.

 

Well this is weird because for the exact same cruise I see the itinerary below.  What is going on with the Princess website???

 

[Crow9]

It doesn't seem to be the whole website yet, I only got Icy Straight to show up when I used the Cruise Destination and Date and Length filters at the top.

[Ptroxx]

They haven’t canceled every cruise ship.  They are rotating ships.   
they are still using the aft location on RR pier.    
was just there 2 weeks ago.   
they are tendering pax from the aft pier to a smaller dock from the marina.  

[Guest ldtr]

Keep in mind that there are two things going on.  The first is the slide area the rail road docks.

 

The second is that the lease for the tidelands under the Broadway dock and the Ore docks end next year.  The equipment of those docks is owned by White Pass Railroad, which was purchased by a joint venture that includes Holland America Princess Alaska Tours and Survey Point Holdings in 2018.

 

Apparently the current lease will not be renewed and there are plans for a new ferry dock to be built and other changes.  A recent article mentioned that the joint venture was planning to remove equipment that they own, but that the city thought would be left when the lease ended (last link).  Removing that equipment may make one or more of those docks unavailable until that equipment is replaced which might not be until 2024.

 

The following gives a little history.  Basically it appears that the 15 year lease extension has fallen through and the joint venture is playing hardball in what they will remove from the site (the joint venture owns the docks, the city the land under them) anything left when the lease ends becomes the property of the city.

 

https://www.ktoo.org/2017/08/10/new-skagway-port-lease-may-go-special-election-instead-october-vote/

 

https://khns.org/skagway-makes-waterfront-leases-available-for-public-bidding-through-rfps

 

https://khns.org/wpyr-closes-half-of-skagways-busiest-cruise-dock-plans-to-disable-other-docks-before-next-spring

[Pluto_fan]

Thank you for bringing this up!  We are booked on the Sapphire Princess next June, so I only looked at one-way options for that month.  Right now on the Princess website it looks like Northbound cruises are visiting Skagway, while Southbound cruises are visiting Icy Strait Point (the other difference in itinerary is College Fjord for NB and Hubbard Glacier for SB, which we already knew).  This is for Sapphire, Grand, and Majestic.  I will keep an eye on this while I research which option sounds better for us...

[Bgwest]

1 hour ago, Pluto_fan said:

Thank you for bringing this up!  We are booked on the Sapphire Princess next June, so I only looked at one-way options for that month.  Right now on the Princess website it looks like Northbound cruises are visiting Skagway, while Southbound cruises are visiting Icy Strait Point (the other difference in itinerary is College Fjord for NB and Hubbard Glacier for SB, which we already knew).  This is for Sapphire, Grand, and Majestic.  I will keep an eye on this while I research which option sounds better for us...

You have a good eye! 

[dmaikui]

On 8/17/2022 at 4:22 PM, Crow9 said:

I noticed that Skagway is swapped out for Icy Straight Point on Princess's website, and also on other Alaskan cruise lines sites as well, even through the 2023 season.  I know there was the rock slide, but I expected that to be fixed by the 2023 season, since it seems like most of their economy is based off the business the cruise ships bring.  What is going on?

 

Edit: not all, but looks like alot of the cruise itineraries have dropped Skagway.  Royal Princess still looks like it's going there.

I just booked the Discovery for May 2023 and Skagway is on the itinerary.

[dmaikui]

On 8/17/2022 at 4:44 PM, jjack413 said:

It appears all of 2023. I’m on the last cruise in September 2023 and it was changed to Icy Strait

I just booked Discovery for May 2023 and Skagway is on the itinerary. I didn't care for Icy Straight Point so I hope Skagway remains