American Cruise Lines had announced they were expanding to Alaska back in April. This week, then further announced that they have been granted the appropriate permits to sail into scenic Glacier Bay, Alaska. Not many other lines are allowed to sail into the National Park.
The yet-to-be-nammed ship will sail to Bay one her seven-to-eleven night cruises, roundtrip out of Juneau.
From Wiki:
Glacier Bay National Park is a national park in Alaska. The area around Glacier Bay in southeastern Alaska was first proclaimed a U.S. National Monument on February 25, 1925. It was changed to Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve on Dec. 2, 1980 by the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act. Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve is a United States National Park in the southeastern part of Alaska west of Juneau. The park area was included in an International Biosphere Reserve in 1986 and is part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The park covers 5,130 mi² (13,287 km²). Most of the park is a designated wilderness area which covers 4,164 mi² (10,784 km²) of the park.
My take:
American Cruise Lines is all in with they Alaska deployment. I’ll admit, this expansion caught me by total surprise. Looking back on the decision, I wonder if they are trying to capitalized on the market left after the demise of Cruise West? Cruise West seemed to oversaturate the small ship market in Alaska. Hopefully a single ship works out better.