Cruise Lines Score Win in Alaska

Looks like the tax the the government approved the tax to be lowered. And at the bottom of the article, it's rumored that Royal Caribbean is leaving the Port of Miami.

Cruise Lines Score Win in Alaska

Alaska's Senate has agreed to roll back a tax on cruise ship passengers that has angered the industry and led some lines to cut back on ships visiting the state.

The tax would be lowered o $34.50 from, according to news reports. The bill still must be approved by the Alaskan House.

The cruise industry has challenged the tax in federal court as an illegal entry tax and the Senate bill would reportedly settle the issue if enacted.

The Alaska Cruise Association said the state will see a 14.2 percent drop in cruise capacity this year, which is 140,000 passengers.

Association officials could not be reached immediately for comment, but the group's Web site noted: Miami-based Carnival Corp. & PLC (NYSE: CCL; NYSE: CUK) previously stated that the move of Holland America's 1,270-passenger Ryndam to Europe in 2011 and Princess Cruises' 710-passenger Royal Princess to P&O Cruises were in line with the continued drop in Alaskan deployments.

Carnival Corp. and Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE: RCL) spokespersons did not have immediate comment on the bill's passage.

Richard Sasso, who leads the marketing committee for the Cruise Lines International Association in Fort Lauderdale, said: "We need to be careful that destinations don't underestimate the value of cruise ships going to destinations and the economic contribution that makes."

Overly aggressive taxation can put a burden on guests, adding to the cost of a cruise and generate concern among cruise operators that the taxes aren't justified, especially if the proceeds aren't being used to enhance infrastructure related to cruise ships, he said. "What happened in Alaska over the years is they escalated the tax to a point where it seemed to be not only unconstitutional but also not a favorable cost structure for cruise lines to wanting to operate there."

Maritime lawyer Jim Walker of Miami, who is critical of pollution caused by cruise ships in Alaska, wrote on his blog that the vote is a big win for Carnival and its subsidiaries.

In other news

USA Today's Gene Sloan has written an article about what he describes as "Royal Caribbean's slow-motion pullout" from its longtime hub at the Port of Miami.

His posting followed Royal Caribbean's announcement that the 3,634-passenger Liberty of the Seas will move to Port Everglades in November 2011.

Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas, which is the world's largest cruise ship, is already based at Port Everglades and the sister ship, Allure of the Seas, will be based there later this year.

The tent-like roof of Royal Caribbean's terminal is a landmark at the Port of Miami, but Sloan noted the company will have only one ship left in Miami in the winter of 2011-2012.

Royal Caribbean can utilize the state-of-the art Terminal 18 at Port Everglades, which is the world's largest cruise terminal. Port Everglades officials have touted the port's next-door proximity to Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport as a key marketing advantage because it's the discount airline hub for South Florida.

Royal Caribbean's move may put pressure on the Port of Miami, which is contemplating building a new cruise terminal, as previously reported on Cruise Industry report.

The move could also enhance Port Everglades' efforts to challenge the Port of Miami as the world's busiest cruise port in upcoming years.

cruise tax controversy

http://dcbureau.org/20100415360/Natural-Resources-News-Service/lobbying-rewards-cruise-lines-in-alaska.html Alaska Lawmakers reward Cruise line Lobbyist

April 15, 2010

Written by David Rosenfeld

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Gov. Sean Parnell

There are few times when lobbying efforts pay off so handsomely. The cruise line industry increased its spending on lobbyists at the Alaska State Legislature last year 35 percent. And what did they get from Gov. Sean Parnell who took office after Gov. Sarah Palin resigned in July?

Parnell became chief proponent in March of slashing a voter-approved $46 cruise ship passenger head tax that cruise lines have blamed for declining sales and the loss of ships this season resulting in about 140,000 less passengers. The legislature in the waning days of the session this week looks to pass Parnell’s bill just as the cruise line industry wanted, reducing the head tax from $46 to about $19.

Environmentalists and most of the Alaska public favor the tax – based on a ballot initiative in 2006 – as a way to improve local economies and protect the oceans from dangerous cruise ship wastewater pollution, as DCBureau.org reported in January.

Gershon Cohen, who co-authored the initiative that first instated the head tax with Responsible Cruising for Alaska, said Parnell is simply pandering to the industry.

“The most important thing is that people voted for this (cruise ship head tax) statewide,” Cohen said. “People voted for this in almost every area of the state, even in Southeast Alaska where the cruise lines are such powerful economic players. So now here’s this one guy who’s not even in an office he was elected to saying let’s undo what the voters did just a few years ago. To say it’s inappropriate is an understatement.”

Chalk it up to influence. Lobbying records examined by the Juneau Empire show cruise line companies took a focused approach to Alaska beginning in 2006 when the head tax first passed. In 2009, they spent $433,000, up from $315,000 in 2008, according to the paper. Now it appears the industry’s efforts are paying dividends.

Attacking the Tax

In its latest move to combat the head tax, the Alaska Cruise Association agreed to drop a lawsuit against the state over the tax as long as the legislature passed Parnell’s bill “without material amendment,” according to the New York Times.

The bill calls for reducing the head tax from $46 to $34.50 and crediting ships for taxes paid to individual ports such as Juneau and Ketchikan, which charge $7 and $8 per cruise ship passenger. Most ships would therefore pay around $19 per passenger, more than a 50 percent reduction from what voters approved four years ago.

In recent years the cruise ship head tax has generated about $46 million annually, and cruise lines largely passed the tax onto customers. To put it in perspective, Carnival Corporation alone netted $1.8 billion in net income last year.

Part of the Alaska cruise ship head tax that will not be affected is an additional $4 that pays for the state’s Ocean Ranger program, which puts independent inspectors on board cruise ships to monitor sewage and other wastewater releases. The program represents the most rigorous cruise ship regulation in the western hemisphere. State regulators cited Princess Cruises – a Carnival subsidiary – for most of the two-dozen violations last year for exceeding state pollution standards.

Industry Deems Advocate Too Controversial

The power of the cruise line industry hit home for Cohen earlier this year when Alaska Department of Environmental Quality Commissioner Larry Hartig was forced to remove Cohen from a cruise ship science advisory panel because of pressure he faced from the industry. The event sparked a media firestorm mostly within the state as a handful of legislators came to Cohen’s defense.

Meanwhile, the legislature mandated a cruise industry seat on the advisory panel, currently held by Lincoln Loer an attorney for Stoel Rives, which represents cruise lines on water regulatory issues. But Cohen was viewed as too controversial.

“Here’s the cruise industry dictating to the state who will be on an independent panel to evaluate technologies that might be used in their industry,” said Cohen, who’s no stranger to government committees. He advised senators and served on past water quality advisory groups for two governors. “The really big issue here is the whole notion that corporations should have this much influence over government. That’s the real disease here.”

Head Tax Blamed for Cruise Ship Woes

The cruise industry largely blames the Alaska head tax on slumping sales figures within the state in 2009, not to mention the country was going through the biggest economic recession since the Great Depression.

Carnival Corporation Chairman and CEO Micky Arison has been one of the most vocal critics of the tax. He told a group of investors in a conference call in March that the full impact of the tax had not been fully realized until last year, basically implying the economic collapse was secondary in its effects on the cruise industry to the Alaska head tax.

“When this initiative passed, the backers have no skin in the game and have little understanding of our industry,” Arison said. “After one year for something to happen and nothing did, they claimed victory. Now years later they are feeling the impact of the initiative. It will take a similar if not longer time to recover.”

Arison felt confident the industry had gotten through to the governor. “Based on what has happened and the understanding the governor now has on the way the industry operates and the huge negative impact it (the tax) has had on the state of Alaska, there’s a likelihood the bill will pass,” Arison said. “But I don’t know. I obviously don’t know the sentiment of the legislature, but that the governor is fully supportive of the bill that he has introduced.”

Surging in Europe

In response to a 13 percent slump in North American business, Carnival and other cruise lines began this year to shift more of its business to Europe where regulations are vastly less stringent. Coupled with an upcoming requirement by the International Maritime Organization for all ocean vessels to switch to cleaner burning fuels 200 miles off the Canadian and U.S. coastlines, it may just be the regulations that have cruise lines fleeing U.S. waters.

Holland America relocated just one of its Alaska lines to Europe this year, said Sarah Scoltock, spokeswoman. “In general, Alaska’s been just a tough place to operate these past few years with the laws they passed up there,” she said. “You’ll find the same response when you speak to other lines, but we are seeing a lot of demand for cruising in Europe. The one thing ships have over hotels is that we can move them when we see more demand in different locations.”

Carnival's cruise ship The Carnival Pride. Photo: Stan Shebs

This year, six cruise lines announced reductions in its Alaska travel itineraries and more were reported for 2011. If the cruise industry gets the reductions it wants in the Alaska head tax it will keep an estimated $20 million this year split among a handful of companies, mere pocket change to corporations such as Carnival, which earn as much in net income every four days. Recent press reports show Carnival “poised to ride a wave of success” off an economic rebound.

Cohen said the whole question of corporate profitability has lost sense of reality. “One of the things that’s really missed in our rhetoric is that the issue of how much these corporations are making are really not ever part of the equation,” Cohen said from his office in Haines, Alaska in the southeast part of the state. “They make billions of dollars a year, but if they are off by a half percent from the quarter before, then that’s a problem. Whoever guaranteed you were going to make more profit than the previous quarter for the rest of your lives? I thought this was a free market.”

more on cruise passenger taxes

http://www.alaskajournal.com/stories/040910/loc_img29_001.shtml

Web posted Friday, April 9, 2010

Lawmakers debate whether to slash cruise ship head tax

By Steve Quinn
For the Journal


A small aircraft taxis to port as two cruise ships sit at the docks in Juneau in this 2009 file photo. Lawmakers are debating whether to cut the cruise ship head tax, as tourism industry leaders say the higher rate is hurting business. File Photo/Melissa Campbell/AJOC

JUNEAU — It's always about money in the final weeks of the Legislative session, but it's not always about oil money.

In this case, the theme playing out in the waning days is the reprised debate over the cruise ship passenger head tax.

Depending on who is talking, the $50 tax that each passenger pays as part of voter approved ballot initiative should either be reduced, eliminated or left alone.

Further, some are willing to provide additional tax credits for marketing and local docking fees. Others aren't so sure.

Of the $50, tax opponents are looking to lower the $46 used for capital projects, primarily but not exclusively in port communities.

The other $4 is for environmental oversight and is not part of the debate.

There seems to be no consensus building in the finance committee rooms sitting on opposite ends of the fifth floor — known as the money floor.

The disparity of opinions grows with some calling for a change in when a tax cut would take effect or eliminating proposed tax credits that have no link to the 2006 initiative.

And the disagreement doesn't fall along party lines, either.

Rep. Bill Thomas, R-Haines, made his interpretation of these bills abundantly clear to the administration during a finance committee hearing on a proposal by Gov. Sean Parnell.

"As I understand it, the bill by the governor is to overturn the efforts by the people," Thomas said, talking to Curtis Thayer, the states deputy commissioner for the Alaska Department of Commerce.

"What this does. . .." Thayer said.

"Yes, or no?" Thomas said. "Yes, or no?

"I know what you're trying to do," he continued. "It's reducing the head tax amount voted on by the people. I know it's been amended, but this is the meat of the whole initiative."

Meanwhile, fellow Republican Kyle Johansen, the House Majority Leader from Southeast port community of Ketchikan, said he would like the entire tax repealed.

"I can't tell you whether the tax makes a difference in whether people come or not," Johansen said. "But regardless of those arguments, there is no debate that it's money out of the pockets of people who spend money on tours and in stores helping our economy. It's better in the hands of the people rather than the government."

This has been an on-going debate since the initiative passed in 2006 and the tax was assessed in 2007.

But the issue started to pick up some traction in the Capitol last month when Parnell proposed reducing the tax to $34.50 after a meeting in Miami with industry executives.

It gained momentum last week when business leaders in the tourism industry descended on the Capitol looking to push their tax agenda.

Meanwhile a two-man team who drafted the approved initiative roamed the halls making their case as well.

The debate played out in separate finance committee hearings in the House and Senate.

The issue became so divisive that lawmakers seemed to forget about the oil and gas tax for several days.

The head tax also landed the state in court.

The Alaska Cruise Association has a lawsuit pending in the U.S. District Court in Anchorage, claiming the head tax is unconstitutional.

The group, led by former Sen. John Binkley, asserts the Legislature's appropriation of the head-tax money is improper because its been used for communities no where near a port of call.

Projects include $800,000 for the Alaska Zoo in Anchorage or $430,000 for a railroad station in Wasilla.

Meanwhile, port projects in Ketchikan ($1 million for port berth replacement); Juneau ($1.2 million for emergency relief center); and Sitka ($2 million for passenger vessel lighting facility) received vetoes by former Gov. Sarah Palin.

Losing money for the Juneau project in 2008 had one lawmaker recall a cruise ship grounding in 2007 that forced nearly 300 passengers to evacuate.

"What do we do if we have a catastrophe," said Sen. Bert Stedman, a Sitka Republican who serves as the Senate Finance co-chairman. "How do you justify that veto? We need to have a facility to handle that."

The association, which represents nine cruise lines, agreed to drop its suit if the state lowered the head tax by $11.50.

Bringing the tax down to the new figure helps delete the portion that cannot be spent in Alaska's port towns and goes to other state infrastructure projects.

The group and the state are drafting an agreement to drop the suit should legislation to lower the tax pass, Binkley said.

"There is competition out there," Binkley said before the hearings. "There are dozens of other countries trying to get cruise ships to their destinations. When we are losing three ships, they are going to a competing port; they aren't sitting at a dock. "

Backers of change are pointing to a newly minted study by the McDowell Group study, citing a decline of about 142,000 passengers this year and the prospects of losing 5,000 jobs statewide.

Supporters from around the state, mostly small businesses in port cities, weighed in primarily to speak on behalf of the tax cut.

"My business has been directly impacted by this head tax; we were off by 20 percent last year," said Mike Stedman, vice president of flight operations for Juneau-based tour company Wings Airways. "We are laying up 20 percent of our aircraft fleet this year. As a result we will have less jobs. In my mind this is a jobs bill."

Chip Thoma, a proponent of the 2006 ballot initiative, said the money sent to port communities for various projects illustrates the tax is working as planned.

But Thoma told lawmakers he was willing to offer a compromise, something that reflects a projected passenger decrease.

"We are projected to go down 15 percent," Thoma said. "That would be a valid decrease. It would bring it down to $39. We could live with that."

Student Cruise Terminal Project - Reuse

Doesn't seem like they're designing a building... just reusing an old building. But interesting anyways...

UF students design cruise terminal for old Ford site

The former Ford assembly plant that sits at the base of the Mathews Bridge could one day be a cruise ship terminal and destination port, according to a study conducted by a group of students at the University of Florida.

A group of 16 students in the university’s College of Design, Construction and Planning department of interior design created design possibilities for the 86-year-old building that include 60,000 square feet of cruise ship terminal space, 50,000 square feet of boutique hotel space, 10,000 square feet of restaurant/lounge space and 40,000 square feet of what the students termed “wild card” space that included a variety of possible uses including a cinema, convention space and art display space.

Preliminary cost estimates for the project from cruise ship consultants are around $30 million.

The Jacksonville Port Authority is considering moving the cruise terminal at Dames Point to Mayport or two other unnamed sites east of the Dames Point Bridge. The authority needs a new terminal because the site of the present cruise terminal at Dames Point will become home to Hanjin Shipping Co.’s new container terminal.

About 80 percent of major cruise line ships can’t pass under Dames Point bridge and nearby wires, said port authority CEO Rick Ferrin.

Sonny Redmond, one of the partners in the investment group that owns the property, Hill Street LLC, said he hopes to use the students’ design suggestions as the basis for a future development plan for the site, but not unless he earns the support of the community for the idea.

“In order to have a project like this work, you have to have 100 percent support from all the stakeholders,” Redmond said.

The 165,000-square-foot facility is part of a 35-acre tract that Hill Street owns that stretches from the base of the bridge to Talleyrand Avenue. The facility was built for the Ford Motor Co. in 1924-25. It was used as an assembly plant until the mid-1930s and then for storage and shipping through the 1950s. Although the property has been through a succession of owners until Hill Street acquired it in 2001, it has continued to be leased out to various industrial users over the years.

Redmond said the group didn’t have any specific development plans for the property when it bought it, but when the president of the Florida chapter of the nonprofit group DOCOMOMO, which advocates for preserving historic structures, asked Assistant Professor Marty Hylton to have his students review the project as a possible cruise ship terminal, he decided to take him up on the offer.

The idea has already gotten the attention of some in the cruise ship industry. Mike Greve, president of the Miami cruise ship development consultation company Global Destinations, said he likes the site because of its history, because it is an existing building that would reduce the capital expense of construction and because it’s a Downtown site.

The owner of the property now plans to contract with Global Destinations to have the site evaluated and graded for its potential as a cruise ship terminal site. If it grades well, Redmond said the next step would be approaching the city about the idea.

Back in Business!

Signs of recovery for cruise industry, and debate on Alaska
In Miami Beach, Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell hears that cruise ships seek out business environments more favorable than his state's. Industry execs say 2010's outlook is bright.
BY MARTHA BRANNIGAN
mbrannigan@MiamiHerald.com

Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell came to the Seatrade Cruise Shipping convention in Miami Beach Tuesday to deliver a message that Alaska is open for business to the cruise industry.

But the governor and a contingent of Alaskan tourism officials got a strong message back from the cruise lines: Faced with stiff environmental regulation and taxes in Alaska, cruise ships will sail off to more friendly waters, industry executives on a panel at Seatrade agreed.

The cruise industry has slashed the number of berths devoted to cruising in Alaska in 2010 by 17 percent from 2009. That means 140,000 fewer tourists.

Panelist Stein Kruse, president and chief executive of Holland America Line, said cruise ships ``faced with overzealous regulations'' will use their flexibility to move to favorable business environments.

In a punitive regulatory environment, ``we can and will redeploy our ships,'' Kruse said.

Disappointing ticket prices for Alaskan cruises last year also contributed to the pull-back in ships in Alaska, as recession-battered consumers looked for bargain trips, often with little or no airfare costs.

The debate over Alaska came as top cruise industry executives told a standing-room-only crowd at Seatrade that the industry is making a comeback from the darkest days of 2009.

So far in 2010, demand for Alaska cruises has improved, as has demand more broadly.

``We're seeing solid signs of recovery, albeit one that will play out over the next couple of years,'' Kevin Sheehan, chief executive officer of Norwegian Cruise Line, told the crowd.

The cruise industry, which is based in South Florida, was forced to resort to deep discounting to fill ships during the economic downturn, sometimes offering two-for-one specials and free airfare as come-ons. That cut deeply into revenue and profits.

But in recent months, cruise bookings have picked up and prices are slowly strengthening. Perhaps the most definite sign of a brighter outlook is that some lines are starting to order ships again after a 20-month hiatus during the downturn.

``Last year was a year we were saying, `Oh my God, How are we going to fill our ships?''' Gerald R. Cahill, chief executive officer of the Carnival line, told the crowd. ``If the consumer thinks the pricing is going to go down if they wait longer, they've got the wrong story.''

He added: ``Personally, I think we're going to see a lot of growth in North America.''

The cruise industry is set to introduce 26 new ships through 2012. That marks an investment of almost $15 billion and an 18 percent net increase in capacity.

But Carnival's Cahill predicted more moderate growth in new ships ahead, with more emphasis on refurbishing older ships to keep them fresh.

``The growth [in new cruise ships] to 2013 is going to sustain a healthy industry for a very long time,'' added Adam M. Goldstein, president and chief executive officer of Royal Caribbean International, concurring with Cahill's prediction of more moderate growth in cruise fleets.

After the panelists' update, several executives met with the Alaskan governor to discuss Alaska's tax and regulatory issues.

In an interview, Gov. Parnell told The Miami Herald, ``I heard clearly the need for some change to the head tax and the need to have environmental regulation based on good science.'' The governor added: ``I'm going to try to work to reduce costs for the [cruise] industry,'' in a bid to spur the state's economy.

Tourism is Alaska's second-largest industry. The state adopted a $46 per passenger head tax in 2006 following a ballot initiative. A group of cruise lines have filed a lawsuit challenging that tax.

Meanwhile, the ballot initiative also made the state's wastewater discharge standards among the strictest anywhere.

At the Seatrade conference, Holland America's Kruse complained that other industries aren't required to meet the same wastewater treatment standards.

Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/03/17/1532821/signs-of-recovery-and-debate-on.html#ixzz0ip61ykDv

Officials Outline Problems with Alaska Cruise Picture

Here's a link to a good article on recent problems with taxes for the cruise industry in Alaska.

http://www.travelagentcentral.com/home-based/conferences/officials-outline-problems-alaska-cruise-picture-20371

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

http://www.adn.com/2009/12/09/1048348/2-more-cruise-ships-to-be-pulled.html

BBC: Cruise ship squeezes down river

Video of a cruise ship squeezing down a narrow river in Germany.

VIDEO

How big is a cruise ship?

How Big is a Cruise Ship?

With emphasis on luxury and Cruise Shipcomfort, the sizes of cruise ships have gotten bigger through the years. Below are the largest cruise ships active in the world today.
Dimensions of the Oasis of the Seas

The Oasis of the Seas is the biggest cruise ship at 360 m (1,181 ft). The tonnage is 225,282 GT (gross tonnage). The beam measures 47 m (154 ft) and the height is 72 m (236 ft). The draught of the Oasis of the Seas has been measured at 9.3 m (31 ft). The depth is 22.55 m (74 ft).

The ship has 16 passenger decks and has a capacity of 5,400. The crew numbers 2,165. The size of cruise ship Oasis of the Seas allows it to move at 22.6 knots (26 mph; 41.9 km/h).

The power is derived from three Wärtsilä 12V46D engines (13,860 kW/18,590 hp each). Three more Wärtsilä 16V46D engines are installed. Each one produces 18,480 kW/24,780 hp. There are whirlpools, a coffee ship, a winery and duty free shops. There is also a golf course, TV and Internet access.

The ship is operated by the Royal Caribbean International and built at the cost of US$1.4 billion. It was launched on October 28, 2009. Its maiden voyage is scheduled sometime on December 2009.
Dimensions of the Freedom of the Seas

The Freedom of the Seas is 1,119 ft (338.9 m) long. The tonnage is 154,407 GT and the beam is 126.64 ft (38 m). The size of cruise ship Freedom of the Seas gives it a waterline of 184 ft (56.08 m).

The height is 209 ft (63.7 m); that’s about 15 decks. The draught is 28 ft (8.53 m). The 15 decks are the passengers; there are three more making a total of 18.

The passenger capacity of the Freedom of the Seas is 4,370 while the crew is 1,360. The speed is 21.6 knots (40 km/h or 25 mph). The power is derived from six Wärtsilä 46 V12 engines (diesel, 12.6 MW, 17,000 hp).

These drive generators at 514 rpm. The propulsion is provided by 3 ABB Azipod podded electric propulsion units. The ship cost $800 million to build.
Dimensions of the Liberty of the Seas

The size of cruise ship Liberty of the Seas is as follows: the length is 1,119 ft (338.9 m). The beam reaches 126.64 ft (38 m), and the draught is 28 ft (8.53 m). There are 18 decks. The speed of the Liberty of the Seas is 21 knots (25 mph; 40 km/h). The crew number 1,300 and the passenger capacity is 4,370.

The ship is owned by the Royal Caribbean International. It cost $800 million to build. Its first voyage was on May 18, 2007. This cruise ship is still active. Like the other cruise ships, the Liberty features first class rooms, sports centers and other facilities and accommodations.

The massive sizes of cruise ships make them a sight to behold. But as most people will tell you, their amenities are just as impressive.

Princess Cruises Investment in Alaskan Excursions

Not related directly to Anchorage... but still shows investment by the cruising industry in Alaska.

http://www.usatoday.com/travel/cruises/item.aspx?type=blog&ak=78446.blog

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...

READ MORE

Press Release - Holland America

Here's the press release Holland America sent out on bringing a ship to Anchorage for the first time.

http://www.hollandamerica.com/news/NewsRelease.action?newsReleaseId=712

Resistance to Cruises

Alaska group to sue Princess and Holland America

Posted by Anita Dunham-Potter On July - 3 - 2008

According to a report in the Anchorage Daily News, state inspectors are being denied access to waste treatment facilities on cruise ships operating in Alaska. The first report of the season on the state’s ocean ranger program found restricted access and/or a lack of cooperation on nine of 28 ships sailing Alaska waters.

Responsible Cruising in Alaska and Campaign to Safeguard America’s Waters says it plans to file suit against Holland America Line and Princess Cruises. Both groups say that the lines are restricting the access of the state’s ocean rangers, who go aboard ships operating in Alaska waters to monitor their adherence to environmental regulations.

Princess said it just recently received its first status report from Crowley Marine Services, the company retained by the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (ADEC) to carry out the new ocean rangers program.

In a statement Princess said: “We are continuing to work with the ADEC to ensure ocean rangers can and do fulfill all of their job duties while maintaining a safe and effective working environment on board all of our vessels in Alaska.”

Holland America stated it previously developed policies intended to provide ocean rangers the access they needed “while still giving due regard to safety and security concerns as well as the other work responsibilities of the ship’s crew.”

The line said it had not received complaints from ADEC or Crowley Marine Services prior to this week that had not been quickly resolved after meetings onboard the ship.

Based on this week’s report from Crowley, Holland America said it has already made changes to give unrestricted access to the ocean rangers. The line added that it is encouraging ADEC to send a staff member to sail with an ocean ranger to evaluate operations.

http://www.expertcruiser.com/blog/alaska-group-to-sue-princess-and-holland-america/