Cruise ship schedule shows substantial gain over 2019 numbers

The past three summers have been lean for Alaska cruise ship tourism, but Wrangell’s 2023 draft cruise schedule shows a substantial gain in traffic compared to the 2019 pre-pandemic season.

There are 132 scheduled stops this summer, with a combined maximum passenger capacity of 28,830 — about a 40% increase from the 2022 capacity of 20,088 and a 35% jump from 2019.

Before the pandemic shut down the industry, Wrangell’s cruise tourism numbers were on a steady climb, from 5,500 in 2011, 10,000 in 2015 and 15,000 in 2018, according to statistics compiled for the borough.

“People are pretty comfor...