No cruise to Alaska is complete without shore excursions. Much of what Alaska has to offer -- wildlife viewing, fishing and trips to glaciers and fjords -- is just not found in small port communities.
But because of the unpredictable nature of nature, being in Alaska can also cause an aversion to excursions.
During a seven-day cruise through Alaska's Inside Passage on Cruise West's Spirit of Endeavor in June, two of the excursions I had lined up were canceled due to bad weather.
Crystal Cruises returns to Alaska for the first time since 2005 with a single early season itinerary departing Yokohama April 16. The 22-day voyage also marks the first time Crystal Serenity has ever visited the Great Land, with calls at Dutch Harbor, Kodiak, Seward and Ketchikan. Crystal Adventures will highlight the region's magnificent scenery and wildlife - taking guests zip lining through the Tongass National Forest, flightseeing above the Misty Fjords and yachting off Kodiak to view the region's wildlife.
"Crystal has designed more than a dozen new Crystal Adventures that showcase Alaska's greatest assets - its breathtaking landscape and indigenous wildlife," said John Stoll, director, land programs.
This is the time of year when tourists plan their trips to Alaska and make their bookings -- so where are they?
Alaska travel officials say some businesses are reporting a 30 percent decline compared to last year at this time -- and in 2008 Alaska tourism had a flat performance. Which means 2009 is looking dismal so far. The momentum to fill the cruise ships and hotels this summer appears to be going the way of the holiday shopping season -- down.
With a nation in recession, fewer appear willing to book an expensive trip north.
"Folks up in Fairbanks, talking to some of the operators of the hotels up there, their preseason bookings are down 30 percent," said Dave Worrell with the Alaska Travel Industry Association. "Now once again I tend to be an optimistic guy, but my optimistic projection is a 10-15 percent decline this summer."
City to spend $123,000 to study pedestrian, vehicular movement
Engineers will be systematically counting and tracking vehicle and pedestrian traffic around the cruise ship docks downtown this summer as part of a study intended to help policy-makers manage traffic and reduce congestion.
The $123,000 study, which the Juneau Assembly approved last week, is intended to help both the tourist industry and locals, Port Director John Stone said. "Reduced congestion helps everybody in town," he said.
The benefits may go both ways, but the cruise ship passengers alone are bearing the cost. The study will be paid for through the city's marine passenger fee, which charges $5 per passenger. About 1 million people a year come to Juneau on cruise ships.
Alaska Air to suspend service in and out of Petersburg
12/29/2008 9:30:28 AM
by Jorge Sidron - Travel Weekly
Alaska Airlines said it would suspend service in and out of Petersburg, Alaska, from March 23 to April 21 while the Petersburg Airport makes springtime repairs to its runway. During this period, Petersburg customers are being asked to book their travel to and from Wrangell.
Alaska Airlines said customers who already hold tickets to Petersburg should call the airline at (800) ALASKA-AIR to rebook to Wrangell. The airline will waive change fees.
Japanese signal official start of winter tourism in Fairbanks
12/29/2008 8:45:31 AM
FIRST OF 18 FLIGHTS: Homeland Security asked to make exception.
FAIRBANKS -- The winter tourism season officially began in Fairbanks over the weekend with the arrival of the first of 18 charter flights direct from Japan.
Saturday's flight aboard the jumbo jet was full, giving tourism officials hope this winter will be a banner season. The destination to Alaska's second largest city is popular in winter with tourists from Japan who come to view the aurora borealis and other activities. The direct flight takes 6 1/2 hours from Tokyo and cuts by half the amount of travel time required for a traditional flight via the West Coast.
Tsuchiya and Eiko Katsuyukz were onboard. They have planned an Alaska vacation for awhile. Like many wintertime Japanese visitors, they said viewing the aurora borealis was at the top of their must-do list. "No.1 is the aurora," Katsuyukz said through translator Colin Lawrence, who works for the Fairbanks Convention and Visitors Bureau. A professional-grade camera hanging from his neck, the visitor said he would like to capture prized images of the dancing lights. "That is the hope."
Voter initiative cuts pollution, but it may be a little too tight
12/23/2008 3:37:28 PM
Anchorage Daily News Editorial 12/21/08
The Alaska Cruise Association has been rallying support around the state to loosen water pollution standards set in the 2006 cruise ship initiative approved by Alaska voters. According to John Binkley, association president, the cruisers want to delete just these five words from the water pollution part of the cruise ship law: "at the point of discharge." Gershon Cohen, cosponsor and lead campaigner for the initiative, says he'll fight that deletion with all the means he can muster. It all boils down to copper and ammonia.
MIXING ZONES
The cruise ship law required vessels to meet Alaska water quality standards at the point of discharge -- in other words, straight out of the pipe -- rather than define a zone where the ships' pollutants can be diluted before they are measured.
That approach, known as a mixing zone, is commonplace throughout the United States; a Reagan era amendment to the Clean Water Act of 1972 provides for it. The cruise ship initiative deliberately did not. Backers wanted the initiative to stand by the spirit of the Clean Water Act, which called for no pollution discharges into navigable U.S. waters by 1985.
Move over, Sarah Palin. The Alaska governor may have won the No. 1 spot on Google's 2008 worldwide search list, making her the state's most famous resident. But in 2009, the state's entire 586,412 square miles is claiming the limelight. January 3 marks the 50th anniversary of Alaska's becoming the 49th state, and for the approximately 690,000 inhabitants of the fair, far North, it's the start of a yearlong commemoration. A trip north to join them can give you a new appreciation for the vastness and variety that is America.
Palin's campaign for vice president brought greater visibility to her home state, and that's fine with Ron Peck, president of the Alaska Travel Industry Association. The response rate to the association's direct-mail campaign this year was 20 percent higher than in previous years, he says.
FAIRBANKS — State tourism officials are warning that 2009 could be a bleak year for Alaska’s tourism industry, with some projecting decreases in business of about 30 percent. If that scenario plays out, Alaska businesses could suffer severely, they projected.
“Certainly, it is looking to be a very potentially scary summer,” said Dave Worrell, spokesman for the Alaska Travel Industry Association. “Optimistically, I would like to believe we would be down slightly. Pessimistically, we could be down dramatically. It really depends on what the economy does.”
A 10 percent decrease wouldn’t surprise him in the least, but declines could be as high as 25 to 30 percent, he said. That doesn’t bode well for the state economy, with the average visitor spending almost $1,000 while in Alaska, enabling 40,000 full-time equivalent jobs. In 2008, that spending translated to a $1.7 billion boost to the state economy.
“That’s a big hit,” Worrell said. “It’s something our policy leaders need to be very, very concerned about.”
Borough officials approved just one project with money collected from a cruise ship commercial passenger fund, leaving others on the table for a January meeting.
The borough's fund balance stands at $780,000, but the Assembly is sorting through nearly $1.5 million in projects.
The only project approved so far was a $150,000 appropriation for the Newtown commercial property owners for Water Street improvements. This means the Ketchikan-Gateway Borough Assembly will hold a special meeting to discuss various project requests.
