With an unexpected ship, Thursday will be Sitka’s biggest day of the summer cruise season

Sitka began closing Lincoln Street to traffic in 2022, when 383,000 passengers visited the town. 2024 brought Sitka’s first 10,000-passenger day, which many agreed was not optimal. (Tash Kimmell/KCAW)
There will be three ships in port on Thursday in Sitka — rather than two — with a total passenger capacity of 9,300.
The latecomer is the Nieuw Amsterdam, which notified Sitka’s port director about a week ago that it was making an unscheduled call. Combined, the three ships