Royal Caribbean Opens $137M Seward Cruise Terminal
Under a thirty-year commitment, Royal Caribbean receives preferential berthing rights and guarantees delivery of at least one hundred forty thousand passengers annually.
Royal Caribbean Group and the Alaska Railroad have opened the Dale R. and Carol Ann Lindsey Alaska Railroad Terminal in Seward, Alaska, after a June 4 ribbon-cutting, completing a $137 million replacement for cruise dock facilities that dated to the mid-1960s. Royal Caribbean Group said the terminal is Alaska’s largest cruise terminal, bringing new berth, luggage-transfer and shore-power infrastructure to Seward’s cross-gulf cruise turn-port operation.
The terminal sits next to the Alaska Railroad station for passengers continuing to Anchorage, Fairbanks and other destinations. Royal Caribbean Group’s 30-year commitment gives the company preferential berthing rights and includes a guarantee to deliver at least 140,000 passengers annually.
Josh Carroll, Royal Caribbean Group’s senior vice president of deployment, destination development and port operations, called the opening “the culmination of nearly a decade of efforts” and said it would bring “long-term economic opportunities to Seward and beyond.” The project was developed with the Alaska Railroad, The Seward Company and Turnagain Marine Construction.
Terminal layout ties cruise processing to rail
The facility has 41,500 square feet of enclosed space and a 27,000-square-foot open pass-through area for luggage transfer. Royal Caribbean said the design emphasizes passenger flow, sheltered queues and efficient processing, while the marine works include a 748-foot floating double-pier berth and a 150-foot span linking the berth area with Alaska Railroad trains and ground transportation.
The state-owned Alaska Railroad’s main route runs from Seward through Anchorage to Fairbanks. “We know how important the terminal is not just to Seward, but to communities across Southcentral and Interior Alaska,” said Bill O’Leary, president and CEO of the Alaska Railroad, which owns and operates the Seward passenger dock and terminal.
Alaska visitor-volume data put the port at 220,200 cruise passengers in 2024, up 15.0% from 191,500 in 2023; Alaska Travel Industry Association figures cited for 2025 put the following season at 140,700 passengers.
The Alaska Railroad board approved the project in August 2024. Funding included a commercial loan and $60 million in state bonds; The Seward Company led development, and Turnagain Marine Construction was the prime contractor for marine construction.
Shore power adds winter backup role
The modernization includes a shore-power system developed through a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Clean Ports Program grant. The Clean Ports Program was created with $3 billion from the Inflation Reduction Act for zero-emission port equipment, infrastructure and planning; in Seward, the installation is paired with battery storage intended to hold excess power generated during winter months for use as a backup grid during winter weather.
The terminal was also built for year-round use as Seward’s largest indoor gathering space during the cruise off-season. Royal Caribbean used the opening events for its Port Partners small-business accelerator pitch competition. Exit Glacier Greenhouses received a $20,000 grant.
Construction delay shifted early calls to Whittier
The opening followed a spring delay tied to underwater pile removal at the new dock. Three ships scheduled for Seward during one week in May were moved to Whittier, about 90 land miles north, and Royal Caribbean shifted the 4,905-passenger Ovation of the Seas’ May 15 debarkation there while adjusting line-booked cruise tours, shore excursions and transfers.
Ovation of the Seas made the first test call at the new facilities on June 5. Seward is scheduled to receive more than 100 port calls this summer and about 190,000 passengers, with Ovation due every other Friday through the season.
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