Volendam Skips Kodiak, Delays Cruise Season

Jay Barrett/KMXT and Lisa Phu/KTOO
Cruise ship season will start late here this year, as the Holland American Line ship the Volendam skipped Kodiak today (Friday). Citing poor weather in the northern Gulf of Alaska, the 778-foot ship went straight to Juneau on its repositioning cruise from the Far East. The Volendam is carrying 1,200 passengers.
The in-cruise course change took merchants in Juneau by surprise, according to Elizabeth Arnett, tourism marketing manager for the Juneau Convention and Visitors Bureau.
"For the businesses downtown that are open year-round, it’s going to be a little extra boom for them that they weren’t expecting," she said. "But I imagine some of the retail merchants downtown that weren’t prepared to be open until next week may or may not be open."
Juneau wasn’t expecting its first scheduled cruise ship until May 1st, when the Carnival Miracle was due in. After the capital city, the Volendam will continue onto scheduled stops in Glacier Bay, Ketchikan and Vancouver.
The next cruise ship scheduled to call on Kodiak is the Silver Shadow, with a capacity of 382 passengers. Operated by Silver Seas, it’s due into port on May 13th.