Royal Caribbean Bringing High-Speed Internet to Juneau, Alaska

Royal Caribbean, which was an industry pioneer for adopting Starlink Internet, is again leading the charge by bringing the high-speed, low latency internet to the port of Juneau, Alaska. 

Indeed, Royal Caribbean was the first to roll out Starlink fleet-wide in 2022. Prior to the Starlink service, internet service was notoriously slow and spotty on most cruise ships – and sometimes didn’t work at all for periods of time. 

Starlink, which provides high-speed internet using satellites in Outer Space that belong to SpaceX, revolutionized Wi-Fi capabilities onboard Royal Caribbean’s 28 ships – and has since been largely adopted by the cruise industry as a whole. 

Now, Royal Caribbean Group has partnered with Goldbelt Incorporated, an Alaska Native corporation, to bring Starlink’s high-speed internet to Juneau for cruisers and locals to use free of charge as part of a new pilot program. 

The installation will begin this week (the week of September 2, 2024), at the Goldbelt Tram Lower Terminal and will continue north on Franklin Street, with the full range expected to become active before the end of September. 

“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,” said Preston Carnahan, Associate Vice President, West Coast Destination Royal Caribbean Group.

According to McHugh Pierre, President and CEO of Goldbelt, this will also provide a solution to the top complaint the company hears each summer, which is a decline in internet service during the cruise tourism season. 

“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,” added Pierre.

Royal Caribbean Group will be monitoring the success of Juneau’s internet pilot program closely – both to optimize its effectiveness and as a way of potentially expanding the initiative to other destinations in the future to continue to provide the best possible in-port experiences for cruise guests. 

Internet Pilot Program Will be Ready for Next Alaska Season

The 2024 Alaska season, which typically lasts from May through September annually, is coming to a close. Depending on how quickly Starlink is rolled out in Juneau, the final cruisers of the season may just eek out a chance to test out the new service. 

However, adding the new pilot program toward the end of the season may be a good thing – as this provides time to optimize the Wi-Fi so it’s ready to go for the 2025 Alaska Season, which is expected to be quite busy (as this current season has been). 

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While the free Wi-Fi in Juneau will be available to visitors regardless of which cruise line they sail with, Royal Caribbean, who helped spearhead the initiative, will certainly have a presence in the region in 2025.

Anthem of the Seas, Quantum of the Seas, Radiance of the Seas, and Serenade of the Seas, will all be deployed to the region between May and September of 2025. 

All four ships will primarily offer week-long voyages, but Quantum of the Seas will operate a few shorter 5-night sailings, while Radiance of the Seas will offer some longer 10-night options. 

The 5-night sailings onboard Quantum of the Seas will sail round-trip from Seattle, Washington, and will call on Sitka, Alaska, and Victoria, British Columbia. 

The longer sailings onboard Radiance of the Seas are paired with a cruise pre or post-tour on land to either Fairbanks, Alaska, or the Denali National Park and Preserve. 

But during the voyage itself, the 2,446-passenger vessel will call on Hubbard Glacier, Alaska; Juneau, Alaska; Skagway, Alaska; Icy Strait Point; Alaska; Vancouver, Canada; and the Inside Passage via Canada. 

Other cruise lines that are owned by Royal Caribbean Group, such as Celebrity Cruises and Silversea Cruises, also have a plethora of Alaska sailings scheduled for the 2025 season.