New Passenger Fee at Haines, Cruise Port Starting in 2025

Starting in 2025, Haines, Alaska will introduce a new fee of $9 per cruise passenger, with increases scheduled for 2027 and 2029. The fee will help cover port maintenance and other local needs as the town prepares to welcome more ships each year. Haines, a quieter port compared to Juneau or Skagway, expects 100,000 visitors in 2024.

Not far from Glacier Bay Park in Alaska is the small town of about 2,500 residents. Haines, Alaska is less well-known than cruise ports like Ketchikan, Skagway, and Juneau.

The port has historically received roughly 20-30 cruise ships per year. In 2024, it will get about 100,000 cruise passengers in total.

The schedule for 2025 is already heating up. There will be 13 cruise ships visiting in May. There will be 17 in June. There will be 18 in July. There will be 14 in August. These are the busiest months of the Alaska cruise season.

According to news reports, the Haines Assembly has recently approved a new tariff on cruise passengers.

Tourism director for Haines, Reba Hylton, stated that the port did not have a fee in place at all.

“So that was kind of like a big, big red flag to me when knowing that the existing cruise ship dock needed some maintenance. And you know, you want to know how you’re going to fix things, or how you’re going to make things better. And when there’s no pot of money specifically targeted to do that, for me, bringing forward a port fee was a must,” Hylton said.

Initially the fee will be $9 per cruise passenger in 2025. It will increase to $12 in 2027 and again to $13 in 2029.

The new fee has been in the works for about half a year.