Uh-oh!

2 more cruise ships to be pulled from Alaska waters in 2011

With Alaska already facing big cuts in cruise-ship visits next summer, the state's two largest operators announced plans Wednesday to remove even more ships in 2011.

Holland America Lines and Princess Cruises said that they will redeploy one ship each from Alaska to Europe in 2011.

The two operators are among six cruise lines that plan to either cancel or reroute ships to Alaska next year, reducing the number of cruise visitors by more than 100,000.

The owner of the two lines, Carnival Corp., has been one of the harshest critics of the increased taxation and regulation of the cruise industry approved by Alaska voters in 2006.

During a Carnival investor meeting last spring, the company's chief executive, Micky Arison, railed against the voter-approved law, which created a passenger levy and other taxes, blaming it for the lack of growth in Alaska's cruise industry in the past two years and for turning away budget-conscious travelers during this year's recession...

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