Cruise Ships ‘Redeploy’: What it Might Mean For You
I’m meeting with John Binkley, President of Alaska Cruise Association, the organization that promotes supports the cruise line industry in Alaska. We’re going to be talking about the 2006 “head tax” initiative that adds a $50 fee to every soul who steps aboard a cruise ship headed to Alaska, and the possible ramifications therein.
Rumblings of a lawsuit are in my line of questioning today, as is the claim by the industry that this $50 figure is merely an “entry fee” into the state, which, oops, I don’t think is legal. The interrelated topic of wastewater discharge also figures prominantly in this discussion, too, as the dumping of waste somehow got tangled up in the initiative as well.
I hear tell of a drop of up to 140,000 cruise ship passengers to Alaska in 2010. True? We’ll find out. Stay tuned.
