Ah, picturesque Juneau, Alaska, where the allure of lush forests, waterfalls and majestic glaciers draws some 16,000 cruise ship passengers a day. The downside? The constant influx of visitors is putting a strain on local infrastructure.
Royal Caribbean Group, which operates Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises and Silversea Cruises — has partnered with Alaska Native corporation Goldbelt, Inc., to eliminate the problem of slow and unreliable Wi-Fi at the Harbor by bringing Starlink to several public areas and businesses in Juneau.
You might think that connectivity isn’t a big concern for those visiting the 49th state’s capital, a remote, wilderness-filled city that can only be reached by air or sea, but that turns out not to be the case. When the harbor is at capacity, as many as six ships can arrive in a single day. With so many people in town, using the public Wi-Fi offered by local businesses is often difficult and frustrating for visitors and locals alike.
“The number one complaint this summer was slow internet speeds during busy days downtown,” said McHugh Pierre, Goldbelt’s president and CEO, in a news release. “We are excited to partner with Royal Caribbean Group “Explore a solution and add satellite Internet capacity to the city. This project will help residents and visitors have a better Internet experience every day of the week.”
Installation began the week of August 26 at the Goldbelt Streetcar’s lower terminus and will continue north on Franklin Street. The full range of the pilot program will be activated in the coming weeks. As each new hub becomes available, riders, other visitors and local residents will be able to connect for free and stay connected via a seamless network as they move through downtown Juneau.
Royal Caribbean is not new to Starlink, which was developed by Elon Musk’s SpaceX company. In 2022, the Royal Caribbean family of brands was the first to commit to adding Starlink to their ships for faster connections at sea that enable everything from web browsing and checking email to video calling and streaming.
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Cruise terminals where Royal Caribbean homeports its ships also provide connectivity to passengers, but this is the first time a cruise line has equipped a large portion of a downtown port area with Wi-Fi.
“We constantly strive to find innovative solutions to support our communities and enhance the travel experience for both residents and cruise guests,” said Preston Carnahan, associate vice president, West Coast Destinations, Royal Caribbean Group. “Our new pilot program aims to alleviate internet congestion and provide additional bandwidth for locals, while also providing internet connectivity for our guests from ship to shore.”
The statement from the line also emphasizes the need to receive feedback from users to evaluate the effectiveness of the program and determine whether similar initiatives will be implemented in other ports.
For years, Juneau borough officials have heard complaints that the influx of cruise ship passengers is affecting enjoyment of the city. On June 3, several major cruise lines, including Royal Caribbean, Carnival Cruise Line, Norwegian Cruise Line and others who are members of the Cruise Lines International Association — agreed limit the total number of ships per day to five and the total number of passengers to 16,000 from Sunday to Friday and 12,000 on Saturdays.
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