(KTOO) A megaship called the Norwegian Bliss was the first large cruise ship to come to Juneau this year. It tied up at the dock farthest from downtown, but at Bernadette’s barbecue stand, Dannie Lazaro was grilling a pile of chicken skewers in the hopes that people would start heading his way.

He wasn’t waiting for tourists, though. Most of his business is with the workers on the ship who largely hail from the Philippines or Indonesia and are often hankering for a taste of home.

Last year, COVID-19 restrictions meant that the crew more often than not couldn’t get off the ships in port at all, so that means Bernadette’s and other businesses in town that cater to crewmembers, did practically zero business. Bernadette’s offered delivery. Local longshoremen would pick up the food and take it to the crew stuck on the boats, but that hardly made up for the hundreds or thousands of workers that used to pass by his stand every day before the pandemic.