Alaska

Royal Caribbean to fix Alaska cruise infrastructure issue – The Points Guy

Published

8 months ago

September 3, 2024

Royal Caribbean to fix Alaska cruise infrastructure issue – The Points Guy

Ah, scenic Juneau, Alaska — where the allure of lush forests, cascading waterfalls and majestic glaciers draws as many as 16,000 cruise 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, unreliable Wi-Fi in port by bringing Starlink to several public areas and Juneau businesses.

Serenade of the Seas in Juneau, Alaska. GENE SLOAN/THE POINTS GUY

You might think connectivity isn’t a big concern for people visiting the 49th state’s remote, nature-forward capital, which can only be reached by air or sea, but it turns out that isn’t the case. When the port is at maximum capacity, up to six ships can call there in a single day. With that many people in town, public Wi-Fi offered by local businesses is often difficult and frustrating to use for both visitors and locals.

“The number one complaint from this summer was a slow-down of internet speed during busy days downtown,” McHugh Pierre, Goldbelt’s president and CEO, said in a press release. “We are excited to collaborate with Royal Caribbean Group to explore a solution and add satellite internet capacity to town. This project will help locals and visitors have a better internet experience every day of the week.”

Installation began the week of Aug. 26 at the Goldbelt Tram Lower Terminal and will continue north on Franklin Street. The pilot program’s full range will be activated in the coming weeks. As each new hub becomes available, passengers, other visitors and locals will be able to connect for free and stay connected via one seamless network as they move about Juneau’s downtown.

Royal Caribbean isn’t 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 its ships for faster connections at sea that allow everything from surfing the internet and checking email to video calling and streaming.

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Cruise terminals where Royal Caribbean home ports its ships also provide connectivity for passengers, but this is the first time a cruise line has outfitted a large part of a downtown port area ashore with Wi-Fi.

“We are constantly striving to find innovative solutions to support our communities and enhance the travel experience for residents and cruise guests alike,” Preston Carnahan, associate vice president of West Coast destinations for Royal Caribbean Group, said. “Our new pilot program aims to alleviate internet congestion and provide additional bandwidth for locals while providing internet connectivity for our guests from ship to shore.”

The line’s statement also stresses the need for user feedback to evaluate the program’s effectiveness and determine whether similar initiatives will be rolled out in other ports.

For years, Juneau’s borough officials have heard complaints that the influx of cruise passengers detracts from everyone’s enjoyment of the city. On June 3, several major cruise lines — including Royal Caribbean, Carnival Cruise Line, Norwegian Cruise Line and others that are members of the Cruise Lines International Association — agreed to limit the total number of ships per day to five and the total number of passengers to 16,000 Sunday through Friday and 12,000 on Saturdays.

Want to learn more about Alaska cruises? Check out our other articles below.

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Alaska

April is bringing the showers to Alaska

Published

46 minutes ago

April 29, 2025

Press Room

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – Anchorage is in the midst of its 5th wettest April on record. So far the city has recorded 1.38 inches of precipitation, when .43″ is the normal rainfall amount for the month.

Southeast Alaska seeing some of the wettest weather today. Ketchikan getting an inch and a half of rain, with more than 6-tenths in Wrangell, Petersburg and Sitka.

An area of low pressure is over the Aleutians and will be the weather maker over the next several days. Winds will increase in the interior by Tuesday. Cold Bay saw the highest gust of wind at 52 mph.

The low circulation will ensure clouds and rain over the southern areas of the state, and generate some gusty winds as well.

Southcentral will see rain, heavy at times in Prince William Sound and the Seward area too. Otherwise, it is scattered shower in the Matanuska and Susitna Valleys and Kenai Peninsula.

Watch Alaska’s Weather Source live 24/7. Get access to live radar, satellite, weather cameras, current conditions and the latest weather forecast. Also available through the Alaska’s News Source streaming app available on Apple TV, Roku, and Amazon Fire TV.

See a spelling or grammar error? Report it to web@ktuu.com

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Alaska

Jessica Michelle Singleton is saying ‘Hi Y’all’ to Alaska

Published

20 hours ago

April 28, 2025

Press Room

Jessica Michelle Singleton is saying ‘Hi Y’all’ to Alaska

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – Jessica Michelle Singleton’s Alaska tour of her newest hour-long comedy special brought her back to her teenage stomping grounds in Anchorage.

Touring performers aren’t always frequent in Alaska, and Singleton admits even as a teenager, her heart didn’t yearn to stay in Alaska when she was a student at Service High School

“I break out into hives when I get too cold,” Singleton said.

She’s performed at comedy festivals in Alaska before, along with her credits as a paid regular at The Comedy Store in LA, two recorded albums, and shorter specials on Hulu and Peacock.

Past Alaska audiences haven’t disappointed her.

“Being from Alaska, when I did the festival because we didn’t do just Anchorage, we did Homer and Seward and people just packed out,” Singleton said. “We’re so excited and I think it’s also because they don’t get a lot of live stand-up comedy.”

Singleton said shortly after filming her first hour-long special, “Hi Y’all,” Jake Armstrong, an Alaskan comic approached Singleton with an idea for a local tour. Now in the midst a tour through the Milk Run, Singleton said she’s seeing different kinds of audiences than larger cities might offer.

″I love going into smaller cities and smaller towns on the road because everyone’s so much more pumped up, because they don’t take it for granted,” Singleton said.

“Last night, somebody drove 7 hours to see me in Skagway.”

Her newest special isn’t heavy on Alaska-related material, Singleton said most of “Hi Y’all” is focused on her childhood in southern Mississippi before her mom moved their family to Anchorage.

“We don’t have time for that. That’s gotta be the next special,” she said.

However, there is one clip she hopes to show at her Anchorage debut at Bear Tooth Theatrepub that was removed during the editing of the full special.

“There will be more [Alaska jokes] in future specials, but I have done some throughout the years, little chunks, and had a couple of clips go viral where I’m talking about Alaska.” Singleton said.

Thus far in her tour, Singleton has performed stand up for Alaska audiences in Ketchikan, Skagway and Juneau, but her April 27 debut in Anchorage will be a screening of the taped special followed by a Q&A.

Following the Anchorage debut, she’ll be back on the road in Talkeetna, Cordova, Fairbanks and Palmer.

Find details for Singleton’s tickets and tour dates here.

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Alaska

Another splashy year at Slush Cup 2025

Published

2 days ago

April 27, 2025

Press Room

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – A finale to the skiing season, Alyeska Resort’s splash zone was open for business at the annual Slush Cup skiing event.

Crowds flocked to a chilly pool at the end of the Christmas Run for the inaugural “idiot swim,” where audience members hopped into the water for a dip before slush skiers took over.

Dozens of skiers flew down the hill, graded on height, style, speed, tricks and their costumes following their landing in the water.

Skiers dressed as Bart and Homer Simpson, Puff the Magic Dragon, a butterfly, and even Jesus Christ were among some who competed in the day’s star event.

Saturday’s Slush Cup 2025 winners, based on their combined points, were:

1st Place: Cole Bridge

2nd Place: Hunter Kern

3rd Place: Joe Stahla

Honorably mentioned:

Best Crash: Truman Durand

Biggest Air: Tony Nacink

Best Costume: Michael Hansen

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