Juneau

[duquephart]

AP piece reporting that Juneau is considering a curtailment of cruise ship visits.

[Jim Avery]

50 minutes ago, duquephart said:

AP piece reporting that Juneau is cons'80idering a curtailment of cruise ship visits.

If I lived there I would be all for it.  Nowadays seasonal workers brought in from other tourist areas run the majority of the businesses cutting out many locals.  Not to mention the sheer numbers of looky loos that has gone up exponentially over the last decade or two.  When I worked up there in the '80s you hardly noticed the cruise passengers and the towns were real working towns, not tourist attractions.  Like all things, once everyone is doing it it is no longer special. And I am a part of the problem too.  😱 

[SJD117]

Visit Juneau in the winter, which I did in 1979 for my first visit to the city. That way you avoid the cruise ship crowds. There’s a tradeoff, however: The Alaska Legislature meets in Juneau in the winter, so you’re likely to meet one or more of the political nutters who make the Alaska sausage.

[Jim Avery]

Wow! 45 years ago.  Bet it was nicer back then.

[Findingmywings]

42 minutes ago, Jim Avery said:

Wow! 45 years ago.  Bet it was nicer back then.

It was great back then!  I grew up in Juneau and we welcomed the tourists every summer until the cruise lines began buying up the downtown stores and ran them themselves. At the end of the summer, downtown felt like a ghost town with a lot of the stores closed for the winter.  In recent years, the locals simply avoid downtown for the summer.  

[OneSixtyToOne]

48 minutes ago, Findingmywings said:

It was great back then!  I grew up in Juneau and we welcomed the tourists every summer until the cruise lines began buying up the downtown stores and ran them themselves. At the end of the summer, downtown felt like a ghost town with a lot of the stores closed for the winter.  In recent years, the locals simply avoid downtown for the summer.  

Hmmm. 🤔 I wonder if the “curtailment” is for the cruise lines that don’t own stores? 

[duquephart]

1 hour ago, Findingmywings said:

It was great back then!  I grew up in Juneau and we welcomed the tourists every summer until the cruise lines began buying up the downtown stores and ran them themselves. At the end of the summer, downtown felt like a ghost town with a lot of the stores closed for the winter.  In recent years, the locals simply avoid downtown for the summer.  

 

Probably because they don't want to be grabbed off the sidewalk and thrown into a jewelry store 😊.

[Jim Avery]

30 minutes ago, duquephart said:

 

Probably because they don't want to be grabbed off the sidewalk and thrown into a jewelry store 😊.

Haha, last time in Juneau we had the huckster come out of one of the "International" jewelry store and we recognized each other from the December before at their store in Antigua.  No lie, we laughed and he told me how they move with the seasons.  I can see this not being great for local shop owners.

[taiwan_girl]

I can understand why Juneau is doing it.  Last summer, spent an extended time in Dingle Ireland and would jokingly "complain" when a cruise ship was in town as it got so crowded, and we couldnt get to our favorite coffee shop, etc.. 

[snh01]

Yes, true but currently a ban is proposed only on Saturdays.  I was in Juneau last week and there were several banners arguing that currently only half the Saturdays have cruise visits and it would hurt peoples livelihoods to implement a ban.    So two views and sides to the debate.

Edited July 8 by snh01
Typo