Our Alaskan Cruise

Holland America Line will, for the first time in the line’s history, pay calls to Anchorage, Alaska.

A diverse line-up of shore excursions within the state’s largest city has been arranged. Highlights include: fly-in fishing expeditions to remote Alaska backcountry; a sled dog rodeo; flightseeing safaris through the Chugach Mountain Range and over Captain James Cook’s Turnagain Inlet in search of beluga whales; a Prince William Sound Glacier cruise; a full-day scenic ride aboard the historic Alaska Railroad to Talkeetna with the chance to view Mt. McKinley; a guided, fly-out bear-watching tour where guests can view Alaska black and brown bears in their natural habitat; and a visit to Wildberry Park and Anchorage Museum, home of many Native Alaskan art and artifacts as well as paintings by renowned Alaskan artist Sydney Laurence.

There are some strong words being spoken at this year’s Cruise Shipping Miami convention. Holland America CEO Stein Kruse has expressed his dissatisfaction with the mounting taxes, fees and regulations that Alaska is piling onto the cruise ships.

Holland America, based in Seattle, is warning the state that the cruise industry will continue to pull ships out of the region in the face of what Kruse is calling the the heaviest costs and regulations of any destination.

Some examples of these are:

• A $46-a-person tax on cruisers
• Taxes on shipboard casino earnings
• New environmental regulations.

It has been said that in some ports a ship cannot take on fresh water because that fresh water supply from these Alaskan ports exceeds the maximum copper content for waste water in Alaskan cruise waters!

Many lines are removing ships from the Alaskan routes and it is forecasted that Alaska will see its first decline in cruise visitors in 30 years. Year over year, cruise travel is down 17%. Alaska Travel Industry Association president Ron Peck says 140,000 fewer visitors.

Despite the trouble the cruise lines are having with Alaska, the other side of the coin is that these regulations, fees and taxes are for the best interest of the State of Alaska and preserving its natural beauty. This tug-of-war between cruise line profits and environmental protection may be pulling at the travelers themselves.

The good news for potential cruise visitors is that “value” is the new industry mantra this year according to Kevin Sheehan, CEO of Norwegian Cruise Lines. However, the 10 to 20 percent discounts of 2009 may be fading fast as the word at the Cruise Shipping Miami convention is that the industry will be sailing clear of the woes of the last two years by Fall and with it prices will climb back up.

We would recommend planning for your Alaskan Cruise soon to take advantage of current pricing and before the cost of compliance with new regulations begins to filter down to your ticket prices.

My husband and I are travelers by nature. Not ones who like to follow the beaten path, but we like to set our own goals and timelines. We would never have guessed our travel plans could ever include a trip on a cruise line, but after several months of researching our desires, our financial limits and our time constraints through work, we determined a cruise would be the best way to experience Alaska.

We were interested in the culture of Alaska current, the history of the people, but mostly the sites and sounds of Alaska’s frontier. We both enjoy our visits to warm beaches, don’t misunderstand, but something about seeing a new great mountain range, calving glaciers, rainforests in the northern hemisphere, peaceful fiords really had us excited. We also couldn’t wait to try the fresh ocean-side cuisine. Alaska isn’t an easy land to travel via car. Getting to many cities can only be accomplished via boat or plane. We wanted to best orientate ourselves along but knew without an unlimited budget and over a month of time, we would never see everything on our list.

Once we started getting serious about our plans, we contacted a travel agent who had helped us with a few trips in the past, including our unbelievable honeymoon to South Africa Our travel agent works with executive clients out of Manhattan, helping to plan their dream vacations. She and her husband travel frequently themselves and we knew they would be best suited to help us put our ideal cruise together.

She suggested a few lines based on our desire to find a line without the masses of people or preplanned itineraries. We wanted to come and go as we pleased, eat what we pleased and enjoy a few quiet nights on the deck of the ship. We ultimately selected Holland America Lines and were very pleased with the results, as you’ll learn through the continuation of this blog. We also scheduled several on-shore excursions through the cruise line and ended our journey with two days on our own in Denali.