Excitement and raindrops as cruisers arrive in Juneau

The Norwegian Bliss and its more than 4,000 passengers arrived in Juneau this afternoon to kick off the 2025 cruise ship season. 

City officials say tourism this year is uncertain, but visitors and vendors started the season with  optimism. 

The familiar sounds of tourists chatting on the seawalk, shuttle buses in the street and chicken sizzling at Bernadette’s barbecue filled the air. 

Tourists meandered down the seawalk, into downtown stores and to the Mendenhall Glacier. Patricia Cespedes was headed to the Goldbelt Tram with her sister. She’s from Peru but currently lives in Los Angeles.

“It was always my wish that I really wanted to come and see Alaska. It always looks so beautiful,” Cespedes said. “It was on my bucket list.” 

Another visitor, Debbie Ohl of Pennsylvania, was on her way to catch a bus to the Mendenhall Glacier. She said she booked a trip early in the season on purpose. 

“I took the cruise because I want to see glaciers, and I want to see wildlife, and I want to see mountains with snow and anything they have to offer, because I love winter,” Ohl said. “Winter is my favorite.”

The blustery spring day might have felt like winter for some visitors coming from down south, as cold rain drizzled down on the docks. 

Tyrone Payne with Juneau Tours said sales were great and there hadn’t been any hiccups.

“We sold out of our whale watches immediately, in less than an hour, and all of our times for the shuttle have been sold out already,” he said. “We only have one time left for the day. So sales have been going really well.”

City officials have warned of economic uncertainty this season. That’s amid the Trump Administration’s tariffs and recent federal firings that could impact the operation of the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center, which is Juneau’s most popular tourist attraction.

Out at the glacier, staff greeted the tourists who trickled in. It was Saaní Liana Wallace’s first day greeting the public as a cultural ambassador, and she said she was excited to talk to the visitors.

“It’s my very first minute, how do you like that?” she said.

The ambassadors were hired by the Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska to share Indigenous language, history and culture with tourists. This year they may serve a larger role at the glacier, after the Trump administration’s federal firings left the Forest Service’s presence at there in flux. 

“You know, we’re going to do the best we can with what we got, and I’m feeling very optimistic about it,” said Cultural Ambassador Supervisor Aankadax̱steen Jeremy Timothy.

Timothy said he was eager to see how the first day of cruises goes, so the ambassadors can prepare for the rest of the season.

“I mean, we’ve gone through quite a bit of hardships and things back and forth, but, you know, I’m hoping that things kind of turn out in a positive aspect for us,” he said.

There won’t be any staff at the glacier on Saturdays, however, and Timothy said he doesn’t know what that means for visitors. 

But on Monday, the people coming off the buses were enchanted by the glacier, like Basilia Quintero from Mexico. She was a little overcome by the view — and the cold weather — but she said not even her imagination prepared her for the glacier.  

“The things that I’m seeing today—Sorry, I have the mouth frozen,” she said. “Not even in my dreams.”

Juneau is expected to see around 1.65 million passengers come off ships between now and late October when the season ends. The next ship, the Carnival Spirit, will arrive on Friday.