Alaska ballot initiatives seek to curb cruise ships

[_auroraborealis_]

Hello, do you know how much we paid for excursions on our Alaska cruise? It cost almost as much as the cruise itself. People in Alaska are making big bucks off of cruise tourists - helicopter tours, boat tours, plane tours, etc. There is no way those businesses want to lose business - it's too good a racket. I'm still in shock I paid $600/pp for my family to take a helicopter ride.

Many of the business owners are in favor of curbing the number of passengers on shore.

The owners will do fine on half that.

Many are concerned that with as many as are coming the experience is at risk. There are only so many helicopter landings that can be done on the glacier per day, highly limited capacity per copter, a limited number of sled puppies that can truly be supported for space and care, etc.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Hello, do you know how much we paid for excursions on our Alaska cruise? It cost almost as much as the cruise itself. People in Alaska are making big bucks off of cruise tourists - helicopter tours, boat tours, plane tours, etc. There is no way those businesses want to lose business - it's too good a racket. I'm still in shock I paid $600/pp for my family to take a helicopter ride.

This was the same with our excursions too. I wasn't sure we'd ever get to take another Alaskan cruise so we did all of the WOW! excursions we could. The excursions added up to the equivalent of the cost of a Caribbean cruise.
I agree businesses are making a lot of money and the city is raking in taxes for all that tourists spend but it does nothing for the residents. I can understand both sides.

This argument of govenment income vs residents reminds me of Sedona.
We visited Sedona for the first time in 2008. Besides the amazing scenery, the downtown area was adorable and overall had a rustic, cowboy theme with small shops and great BBQ. We visited again 10 years later. In between each visit, we read about residents complaining to local government to stop advertising to tourists because they already have too much. When I first read it, I thought their complaints were a lot like early contributors to suburban sprawl with the attitude of "now that I'm here, let's stop building more homes".
Well, once we arrived, I could see their point. There was a huge amount of growth of homes, restaurants, etc but the roads can't handle all the traffic. It's a mess on the weekends. If I lived there and worked all week and had to run errands on my weekends off, I'd be aggravated too. Also the entire "flavor" of the town changed from rustic/cowboy to yuppie snobs which, to us, lost its appeal. It was the first (and last) time I ever encountered reading a restaurant menu which included a dog menu that included steak and on the back also listed the chef's phone number to text a complaint if your dog is not offered cold filtered water. Time to move on...

 

[tvguy]

I'm still in shock I paid $600/pp for my family to take a helicopter ride.

But you did pay it. And I suspect if you didn't, someone else would have paid and it taken your slot. We tend to stay in the under $60 a person excursion category.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

This article is more about Hawaii, but is relevant. A lot of locations have really enjoyed the quieter 2020 and have started to consider what the real metrics they should use to measure tourism are. Raw visitor numbers and money spent don't account for quality of life or quality of tourist experience, and there are many places that have experienced what amounts to overtourism. Those locations, like Juneau and Key West, are considering approaches to gate the number of visitors.

https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/a...-spots-are-re-opening-not-everyone-s-thrilled

 

[AquaDame]

This article is more about Hawaii, but is relevant. A lot of locations have really enjoyed the quieter 2020 and have started to consider what the real metrics they should use to measure tourism are. Raw visitor numbers and money spent don't account for quality of life or quality of tourist experience, and there are many places that have experienced what amounts to overtourism. Those locations, like Juneau and Key West, are considering approaches to gate the number of visitors.

If they do decide to do something about it then now would be the time... before reefs totally die off and cities get bigger. Molokini is not what it once was I hear... we're still going to take a tour in October so we'll see for ourselves.

 

[okeydokey]

Hello, do you know how much we paid for excursions on our Alaska cruise? It cost almost as much as the cruise itself. People in Alaska are making big bucks off of cruise tourists - helicopter tours, boat tours, plane tours, etc. There is no way those businesses want to lose business - it's too good a racket. I'm still in shock I paid $600/pp for my family to take a helicopter ride.

The cruise season is short, they have to charge what they can charge. We took a long excursion by boat in Juneau. I think it was 160 or 180 and worth every penny. The captain works every day, 7 days a week for the months he can, spends the off season repairing the boat etc. we are looking at a Denali trip this summer and those inland excursions are also pricey. But reasonable.

I understand they make their living from this short season, but if I were a citizen of a town taken over by gigantic cruise ships, I would totally vote to limit them.

 

[jenmiller114]

When we were on a tour in Skagway in 2019, our guide told us that we were lucky to be there on a day with just 2 smaller ships (we were on the Wonder). He said they do not have the resources for the larger ships and that it is overwhelming when they come in. The Wonder may be on the smaller side by today's standards, but it is not a small ship and it fits well under the restrictions they are recommending. All cruise lines have ships that fit within these parameters, even if that is not their preference. This is a much more reasonable approach than Key West is taking. I think imposing limits and trying to find balance is not a bad thing. They are still promoting tourism, while trying to make it manageable. If they don't do something now, the ships will continue to be larger and the crowds will continue to grow. It takes away from the experience for the visitors and becomes a burden for those small towns.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Another thing I will mention about how they have to bring in most of the staff for the summer from the lower 48 is that doing so creates weird infrastructure needs. You need to house the summer staff, but then maintain that housing (empty) through winter. You have to prep it for spring use as well.

Almost all the infrastructure then has to be built based on summer population and maintained year round. Think stuff like sewers and power grid.

So that is another element of sizing that kicks in - what you have to build and maintain for a 4-month population.