Alaskan cruise market suffers from higher taxes

January 1, 1970


Royal Caribbean International has decided to redeploy its Serenade of the Seas out of Alaska in 2010. The ship carries 2,100 passengers and a crew of 870 and will make 20 Alaska sailings this season.

By Phil Reimer

With the recent announcement that Royal Caribbean's Serenade of the Seas is pulling out of the Alaska market in 2010, will other cruise lines do the same?

Travel agents are telling me that the sales numbers for Alaska compared to last year at this time are down, but Royal Caribbean is not blaming its pullout on the softening travel market. It is blaming the high cost of business in Alaska. The major cruise lines that serve this market have complained about high costs over the years, but Royal Caribbean is the first line to pull out a ship because of them.

The company singled out high head taxes charged for each passenger, high local taxes and fees, corporate taxes, gaming taxes and the cost of marine pilots.

It will be interesting to see how the other major cruise lines respond to this move.

Source: Canwest News Service