Other Things You'll Want to Know - March 8, 2019

CND subscriber also read about:

• Bermuda has delayed increased taxes on cruise passengers
• Juneau city officials have declined an offer from Norwegian Cruise Line of familiarization cruise on Norwegian Joy.

Details appeared in the March 8 issue of Cruise News Daily.

Complain, Complain, Complain

Despite all the technology like scrubbers and so forth, Alaska's Department of Environmental Conservation received at least ten complaints from citizens watching Norwegian Pearl dock at Juneau on Tuesday. They were complaining about the emissions coming from the ship's smokestack.

The DEC hasn't received the reports from their own observers yet, and they can't talk about whether or not they are in the process of issuing a fine.

Details appeared in the September 7 issue of Cruise News Daily. 

Other Things You'll Want to Know - May 2, 2018

CND subscribers also read about:

• Carnival "Down Under"
• The Alaska cruise season getting off to an icy start in Juneau
• People love to watch the bionic bartenders work aboard Royal Caribbean ships (video below) 

Details appeared in the May 2 edition of Cruise News Daily.

Juneau Building War Chest

As you may remember, the city of Juneau is in a fight with the cruise lines over the proper use of money the city receives from the Alaskan head tax. It is supposed to be used for things which benefit cruise passengers. To make a long story short, the city used some of the money to build a park in an area of town the cruise lines say it would be unlikely for cruise passengers to ever go to, and the cruise lines sued the city.

The city is now planning to set aside even more funds to cover the estimated $1.6 million cost of legal fees.

Details appeared in the February 8 edition of Cruise News Daily. 

Other Things You'll Want to Know - April 6, 2017

CND subscribers also read about:

• European river cruise operator Uniworld launching a new brand
• Juneau adding to their defense fund
• After a call at St. Vincent, suddenly Seaworld doesn't look so bad

Details can be found in the April 6 edition of Cruise News Daily.

Did Juneau There's No Sales Tax on Cruise Ships While in Town?

After lots of discussion, Juneau's Assembly (city council) has agreed to exempt cruise ships from charging and collecting sales tax while they are in port in Juneau. We earlier reported that for the most part, cruise lines ignored collecting the tax, but the reason the city was considering eliminating it was that no other cities had laws on the books that required the cruise lines to collect sales tax so Juneau didn't ever want the cruise lines to get nervous about it reroute ships to avoid it. During the discussion, it came out that only one (unnamed) cruise line was actually collecting and remitting the tax. There was a faction that wanted to eliminate the tax because it would help the city appear “business-friendly” to the cruise lines.

The complete story appeared in the March 7 edition of Cruise News Daily. 

Other Things You'll Want to Know - March 2, 2017

CND subscribers also read about:

• How Carnival celebrates Dr Seuss' birthday with the Cat in the Hat
• A vote in Juneau to exempt cruise lines from collecting sales tax, not that they ever do

Details appeared in the March 2 edition of Cruise News Daily. 

Growth for Summer

Crews are working day and night (well, evenings, at least) in Juneau to complete the two additional floating berths at the city's downtown port in time for the summer cruise season.

The berths are also larger and will enable the port to handle longer ships. Currently, the longest ship that can be accommodated is 960 feet. When the new berths are completed, the city will be able to receive a 1,000-foot and 1,100-foot vessel at the same time.

Details appeared in the January 27 edition of Cruise News Daily.

Passing a Law That Will Change Nothing

The Juneau Assembly (city council) has voted in favor of a proposal to exempt sales of goods and services sold aboard cruise ships while they are in port, from city sales taxes.

In practice, the sales are minimal and the cruise lines just don't collect or pay the taxes, but the city is moving ahead drafting an ordinance formalizing the exemption after the Assembly vote. Onboard shops are closed while the ships are in port, and most of what they should be collected on are beverage sales, specialty food sales and the like.

The complete story appeared in the January 16 edition of Cruise News Daily. 

More Money than They Know What to Do With

In case you don't have your calendar marked, next Monday is the deadline for organizations in Juneau to submit their proposals for how to spend the city's head tax that was collected last year from cruise passengers visiting the city.

Details appeared in the December 28 edition of Cruise News Daily.

A Different Thought Process

A couple of weeks ago we reported that CLIA was suing the City of Juneau for misusing the head taxes they collect from cruise passengers whose ships call there.

The city has been served, and they’re going to fight it - and you won’t believe how.

The complete story appeared in the May 5 edition of Cruise News Daily. 

Is Juneau Spending Too Much of Your Money?

CLIA Alaska is suing the City of Juneau. We will now pause for Vaughn Monroe to sing a verse of “Seems Like Old Times.”

The honeymoon between cruise lines and Alaskans is over, and they’re squabbling about how the Alaskans spend the cruise lines’ money. (The cruise lines always consider the port tax money as theirs, even though they’ve charged the passengers for tax. They believe if the tax didn’t exist, they could have raised the fares that much.)

The complete story appeared in the April 14 edition of Cruise News Daily.

Cruise News Daily Headlines for December 30, 2013

* Passenger Overboard from Adventure of the Seas
A passenger was witnessed going overboard from Royal Caribbean’s Adventure of the Seas on Saturday night as it was nearing the end of its cruise at San Juan.
   The Coast Guard quickly joined the search, but this afternoon (Monday) they suspended the search without finding the man’s body.

* Your Port Taxes at Work
December 31 is the deadline for Juneau citizens to request a portion of the funds collected from port taxes collected by the city from cruise passengers this year. These, of course, have to be used for capital improvements in Juneau related to the cruise ships and passengers visiting Juneau, or to fund extra services that result from the influx of people from the ships.

The complete articles appeared in the e-mail edition of Cruise News Daily delivered to our subscribers.

Cruise News Daily Headlines for November 22, 2013

* Water, Water Everywhere - Except in Juneau
Passengers probably never think about it, but when they turn on the shower or flush the toilet, that water has to come from somewhere. Cruise ships can make fresh water from sea water, but at the price of fuel these days, it’s usually better to just buy fresh water in port - if the port has it to sell.

* Other Things You’ll Want to Know
CND subscribers also read about the pause that refreshes ... and a record-breaking year in Boston.

The complete articles appeared in the e-mail edition of Cruise News Daily delivered to our subscribers.

More to the Story - It's Expensive to Visit Juneau

Earlier this week we ran a small item about outrage people served by Alaska Electric Light & Power around Juneau are probably feeling because they are facing an average of about a 20% rate increase, but the company's two largest customers, one of which is Princess Cruises, are excluded.

Princess, of course, uses the power they buy from AEL&P to power their ships while they are docked in Juneau, allowing them to shut down their engines and not burn fossil fuel.

But there's more to this story. The general manager yesterday wrote in the Juneau Empire that the reason Princess and the Green Creek Mine aren't now facing a rate
increase, is because they've already HAD their rate increase last year. And it wasn't any measly 20% increase. Princess is now paying double what they used to - 100% more.

Many Alaskans would probably think that's fair because Princess is using the power, and through some sort of Alaskan logic would conclude that Princess owes it to Alaska.

But most others in the Lower 48 would step back and look at the facts and probably conclude Princess isn't getting much of a deal in Juneau.

Juneau's power is hydroelectric power, and the water is flowing through the turbines producing electricity, and if it isn't used, it's just lost. Once the plant is built, it costs virtually nothing to produce.

Princess and the mine buy just excess power that's being produced, and would otherwise just be "thrown away." This power, like the rest produced by the hydroelectric plant, costs virtually nothing to produce. Both companies can do this, because on those rare occasions where there wouldn't be enough power for them to buy, they can start their own generators and produce the power they need themselves.

In the Empire article, the AEL&P manager says that Princess (and the mine) therefore are more or less subsidizing everyone else's power bills.

Now we see a danger here for AEL&P (just like we have for all of Alaska in the way they treat the cruise industry). If Princess - one of the utility's two largest customers - were to decide they can produce their power less expensively themselves, or if the number of ships visiting Juneau were to decrease and buy less power, the citizens of Juneau would be suddenly facing a much larger increase in their electric bills than 20%.

We asked Princess how the increased electric rates compare to keeping their engines running while at the dock. CND was told that with the new rates and current fuel prices, it's about break even, and AEL&P was made aware of this when the new rate was being negotiated.

But Princess went on to tell us that they are committed to the shore power concept. They were the first cruise line to use it, and Juneau was the first port in which they did it. They said that at this point they plan to continue buying shore power in Juneau because of positive environmental impact.

As for the future, it's always a cost versus benefit decision, so if Juneau continues to raise rates, there could well be a call from the bridge to the engine room that says, "Gentlemen, start your engines." If that were to happen, AEL&P would be saying to their customers, "People, open your wallets - much wider, please."

This article appeared in the May 7, 2010, edition of Cruise News Daily.