Thread: The Alaska Situation - Could someone briefly sum this up?

The Alaska Situation ....

Keep reading many things: Port Taxes ... Some cruise lines pulling out ... Fewer cruise ship passengers hurting their economy... etc, etc.

For those of us who haven't followed this closely ... could someone briefly sum up what's going on?

The State of Alaska passed a bill that imposed a $50 head tax on each visitor. It also had provisions that added an environmental enforcement officer to each ship to monitor any violations. I believe there were also some taxes imposed on casino revenues.

Port taxes for Alaskan cruises have always been a bit higher than most warm weather itineraries. Vancouver has also been raising their port fees. That is one of the reasons why more passengers cruised out of Seattle than Vancouver last season.

In spite the higher cost, the 2008 season was good so more and larger ships were sent for the 2009 season. Then the economy really went into the tank. In order to fill the ships for the 2009 season, prices dropped big time. We were booked on a cruise the end of May that ended up selling for 1/2 of the original price. We even went again in August because the prices were so good.

The cruise lines were not at all happy when the head tax and additional regulations went into effect. After the soft market last year I think it is normal to have fewer ships up there this season and some of the cruise lines are using this opportunity to try to get the tax reduced.

There has also been a trend the last few years to have some longer Alaskan cruises. RCL has had 13-14 night cruises at the begining and end of the season. This year HAL will have a series of 14 night cruises. It will be simular to a B2B without having to pay the tax twice.

Thanks, Bliz!

You explained what going on in a nutshell so now those of us who haven't followed closely will understand.

Here is another thread about this that I think you will find interesting, Lulu:
Cruise line chief looks favorably toward Alaska - Cruising- msnbc.com