Alaska cruise tax initiative passes!

On Thu, 24 Aug 2006 14:18:33 -0700 in .cruises,
Nonnymus <nobody@nowhere.com> wrote:

> As far as visiting Alaska again, I doubt if we'll ever go back. It's
> not the tax on tourists thing, but rather the ho-hum nature of the ports
> of call. Once you've seen them make a totem pole, watched a dead,
> bloated salmon float downstream and ridden the train, all that's left is
> a lot of overpriced souvenirs sold by people who were born in some other
> country and don't even speak English.
>
you can't see the real alaska from a cruise ship or its captive
excursions. in order to get there, you almost always have to
travel by air or small boat.

On Thu, 24 Aug 2006 19:22:23 GMT in .cruises, Henry
Sniadoch <sniadoch@frontiernet.net> wrote:

> I'm not worried because I know many people will NOT go on cruises to
> Alaska any more ....

fine with a lot of us up here.

Dennis you will be sorry about this, wait and see .... I have nothing
against Alaska or you .... been twice, but this will hurt the tourist
industry mark my words .... if you don't like us, it hurt you in the end
..... sorry.

Dennis P. Harris wrote:
> On Thu, 24 Aug 2006 19:22:23 GMT in .cruises, Henry
> Sniadoch <sniadoch@frontiernet.net> wrote:
>
>> I'm not worried because I know many people will NOT go on cruises to
>> Alaska any more ....
>
> fine with a lot of us up here.
>
>

Henry Sniadoch wrote:
> Dennis you will be sorry about this, wait and see .... I have nothing
> against Alaska or you .... been twice, but this will hurt the tourist
> industry mark my words .... if you don't like us, it hurt you in the end
> .... sorry.


Something that any Cruiser should do is to look at the ratio of our
land excursions to our total trip cost.

This gives us an idea of how few of our tourist dollars actually go to
support the local economy that we're visiting.


-hh

Henry....think just a minute....do you realize how much fuel costs have gone
up? It costs *much* more to drive now to Alaska for vacation compared to
last year....much more than $46 and we *still* have thousands of vacationers
arrive here.

Do you *really* think that a small fee of $50 is going to stop anyone!

Think not. Anyway, when I visited Iowa this past spring I was shocked to see
how much sales tax one had to pay.......you pay *NO* state sales tax in
Alaska....$50 is still extremely cheap.

JIM
"Henry Sniadoch" <sniadoch@frontiernet.net> wrote in message
news:MsuHg.8306$oa1.4625@news02.roc.ny...
> Dennis you will be sorry about this, wait and see .... I have nothing
> against Alaska or you .... been twice, but this will hurt the tourist
> industry mark my words .... if you don't like us, it hurt you in the end
> .... sorry.
>
> Dennis P. Harris wrote:
> > On Thu, 24 Aug 2006 19:22:23 GMT in .cruises, Henry
> > Sniadoch <sniadoch@frontiernet.net> wrote:
> >
> >> I'm not worried because I know many people will NOT go on cruises to
> >> Alaska any more ....
> >
> > fine with a lot of us up here.
> >
> >

In article <44ef2537@news.acsalaska.net>,
"Jim Booth" <booth@alaska.net> wrote:

> Henry....think just a minute....do you realize how much fuel costs have gone
> up? It costs *much* more to drive now to Alaska for vacation compared to
> last year....much more than $46 and we *still* have thousands of vacationers
> arrive here.
>
> Do you *really* think that a small fee of $50 is going to stop anyone!
That sorta assumes that the$50 is all there is. Taxes on gaming
revenue will have to replaced, as will the corp income taxes. who is
paying the Environmental Cops that are going to be placed on the boats?
That is in addition to the discussions about increasing port fees, etc.
It will be a WHOLE lot more than $50 a head from the perspective of the
Cruise Company's profit and loss view.

"-hh" <recscuba_google@huntzinger.com> wrote in message
news:1156450877.546756.314450@m79g2000cwm. o...
> jim wrote:
>>
>> Well you wouldn't want to give up that yearly stipend that Alaska sends
>> to
>> all of it's residents each year would you?
>
> Alaska's 2005 PFD Dividend was a mere $845.76
>
> Compare that with their heating bill: the average annual heating for
> Fairbanks is 13,980 heating degree days
>
> That's twice that of Chicago (7000), Detroit (6500), Denver (6000),
> Reno (5700), Boston (5600), Philadelphia (4950), Seattle (4900), etc,
>
> Its still a long ways from well known "chilly" spots Great Falls
> (7700), Minneapolis-St Paul (8000), Green Bay (8100), and even Bismark,
> North Dakota (9000). Even the famous "icy" spot in the Lower 48,
> International Falls is only 10487 degree days, which falls 33% short of
> Fairbanks.
>
> Just yesterday (24 August), Fairbanks had 15 *heating* degree-days. It
> shouldn't take you long at all to figure out where that $845.76 PFD
> check really goes.
>
>
> -hh
>
So? YOU chose to live there so why should the State help you pay for your
heating or anything else? I live in Florida but they don't pay for my
air-conditioner or sun-screen! I expect that people in the other 49 States
would love to get a check for almost a grand every year from the State
instead of paying them large amount of taxes.
Jim

Hell, I'll just take that of the tip!
"jim" <jimbragg@> wrote in message
news:g0IHg.11497$w7.2521@bignews5....
>
> "-hh" <recscuba_google@huntzinger.com> wrote in message
> news:1156450877.546756.314450@m79g2000cwm. o...
>> jim wrote:
>>>
>>> Well you wouldn't want to give up that yearly stipend that Alaska sends
>>> to
>>> all of it's residents each year would you?
>>
>> Alaska's 2005 PFD Dividend was a mere $845.76
>>
>> Compare that with their heating bill: the average annual heating for
>> Fairbanks is 13,980 heating degree days
>>
>> That's twice that of Chicago (7000), Detroit (6500), Denver (6000),
>> Reno (5700), Boston (5600), Philadelphia (4950), Seattle (4900), etc,
>>
>> Its still a long ways from well known "chilly" spots Great Falls
>> (7700), Minneapolis-St Paul (8000), Green Bay (8100), and even Bismark,
>> North Dakota (9000). Even the famous "icy" spot in the Lower 48,
>> International Falls is only 10487 degree days, which falls 33% short of
>> Fairbanks.
>>
>> Just yesterday (24 August), Fairbanks had 15 *heating* degree-days. It
>> shouldn't take you long at all to figure out where that $845.76 PFD
>> check really goes.
>>
>>
>> -hh
>>
> So? YOU chose to live there so why should the State help you pay for your
> heating or anything else? I live in Florida but they don't pay for my
> air-conditioner or sun-screen! I expect that people in the other 49 States
> would love to get a check for almost a grand every year from the State
> instead of paying them large amount of taxes.
> Jim
>

On 25 Aug 2006 04:07:16 -0700 in .cruises, "-hh"
<recscuba_google@huntzinger.com> wrote:

> Something that any Cruiser should do is to look at the ratio of our
> land excursions to our total trip cost.
>
> This gives us an idea of how few of our tourist dollars actually go to
> support the local economy that we're visiting.
>
Especially when most of the excursion employees are either summer
temps from somewhere else (because the companies pay below-market
wages) or college students home for the summer, and many of the
excursion companies are not locally owned (Allen Marine and the
MGT Blue Bus being exceptions).

The non-Alaskan gift shops have driven many Alaskan shops out of
business, too --- one thing the initiative just passed will
change with the requirement that the cruise lines disclose any
promotional fees paid by shops to "recommend" them, in 14 point
or larger type.

On Thu, 24 Aug 2006 14:18:33 -0700, Nonnymus <nobody@nowhere.com>
wrote:

>
>As far as visiting Alaska again, I doubt if we'll ever go back. It's
>not the tax on tourists thing, but rather the ho-hum nature of the ports
>of call. Once you've seen them make a totem pole, watched a dead,
>bloated salmon float downstream and ridden the train, all that's left is
>a lot of overpriced souvenirs sold by people who were born in some other
>country and don't even speak English.
>
You didn't enjoy learning about that great American hero named Soapy
Smith? You didn't think $40 for a small piece of salmon at the salmon
bake was worth it? You didn't enjoy the jetboat ride in the rain to
see the dark speck in the sky that the tour guide swore was an eagle?
Or the cute Eskimo dolls that were made in China? Or do you have a
problem with the foreign accents, probably Iranian, in the gift shops?