Disney Cruise Line Commits to Fifteen More Years at Icy Strait Point
Photo Credit: Alaska Business Archives | Mickey Richardson | Turnagain Marine Construction
The Alaska Native village corporation for Hoonah will be welcoming Disney Cruise Line guests at Icy Strait Point at least through 2041. Huna Totem Corporation (HTC) signed a fifteen-year agreement securing preferential access at the cruise destination, the largest employer in Hoonah.
Magic and Wonder
“Disney Cruise Line has been an important part of the Icy Strait Point story for nearly a decade, and we’re grateful to build on that relationship through this agreement,” says Howard Sherman, HTC Tourism Group President. “Each Disney Cruise Line visit helps support local jobs, businesses, and economic opportunity in Hoonah while creating meaningful connections between guests and the people who call this place home.”
The agreement secures Disney Cruise Line preferential docking at Icy Strait Point for one vessel each week, and it includes a minimum annual passenger guarantee, supporting future Alaska sailings. Disney Cruise Line expanded its Alaska presence in 2026 to two ships, with select seven-night itineraries aboard Disney Magic and Disney Wonder featuring calls at Icy Strait Point.
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“This agreement will help ensure our guests can continue to enjoy the unique experiences that have made Icy Strait Point a fan-favorite destination,” says Jose Fernandez, vice president of port strategy, development and operations for Disney Cruise Line.
HTC’s port development and operations model is globally recognized, and the corporation has received numerous awards, including Travel + Leisure’s 2025 Global Vision Award, a Porthole Cruise and Travel 2025 Readers’ Choice Award for best Alaska cruise destination, and Condé Nast Traveler’s “25 Best Places to Go in 2025.”
Meanwhile, HTC continues development in Juneau of a fifth cruise dock on the capital city’s waterfront, but with a scaled-back design. Susan Bell, HTC’s vice president of strategic initiatives, told a Juneau Assembly committee meeting this week that the concept for Áak’w Landing is being downsized from 50,000 square feet to 18,000 square feet.
Bell cited the rising cost of steel for the change in plans. Furthermore, despite the smaller footprint, the cost of Áak’w Landing is rising from the 2023 estimate of $150 million to more than $250 million.
Due to construction delays, a legal challenge, steel tariffs, and market volatility, Bell says the timeline has pushed the start of the project to next summer, for completion in 2028. The reduced project would still include a welcome center, waterfront retail and dining, and a cultural center, but not underground parking.
The Juneau Assembly finalized a tidelands lease with HTC this spring for Áak’w Landing. Adding the fifth dock would avoid the need to ferry passengers from a ship that anchors offshore when all four of Juneau’s existing cruise ship docks are occupied. The project is separate from a cruise ship dock that Goldbelt Incorporated, Juneau’s Alaska Native urban corporation, has proposed for property it owns on the far side of Douglas Island.
