A COVID-19-linked cruise ship is no longer coming to Juneau.<\/p>\n
The MS Westerdam, which was expected to spend two or three weeks at a private dock, will not be spending time in the capital city, City Manager Rorie Watt said during a Monday night Assembly meeting. Previously, the ship was expected sometime within the next week.<\/p>\n
The Westerdam will instead travel to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, instead of Juneau, according to a statement from Holland America Line, which owns the ship.<\/p>\n
“Aboard ship are 680 crew and 18 contract service staff, all of which tested negative for COVID-19 in mid-February,” Holland America Line said in a release. “Upon arrival to Puerto Vallarta, the ship will have sailed for more than a month with no port calls.”<\/p>\n
Holland America Line recently announced <\/a>that like Viking Cruises and Princess Cruises it will be suspending operations. The decision for the ship to dock elsewhere was reached during a broad review of ship deployment after that decision, according to Holland America Line<\/a>.<\/p>\n “Cruise ships are not coming any time soon,” Watt said.<\/p>\n He said in light of that, cruise ships are not a primary concern for city officials at the moment. Watt said what they are mainly concerned with is preventing the spread of COVID-19 and the economic impact of shutdowns amid the pandemic.<\/p>\n