just because it hasn't been beaten to death lately

[bottom-dragger]

latest on the head tax.

 

http://kcaw.org/modules/local_news/media/audio/05taxhearpkg.mp3

[Tricia724]

In the battle of the head tax, I'm starting to see Alaska as Rocky Balboa.

 

I have read many of the comments on the cruiseline boards and this board, too, and frankly, that tax has never been much of a concern to me. I figured it was part of the total cost, and it was up to Alaska to decide what was in Alaska's best interest and it was up to the rest of us to decide what was in our best interest. Cruise prices are still controlled by supply and demand, with or without the tax.

 

We're coming to Alaska again in September, and our cruise fare is half of what we paid six years ago.....before the tax. Granted, we're not going to have a balcony this time, but if we wanted one, it would still be much less than we paid in 2004. Our last cruise R/T out of Vancouver was one of the best deals we have ever received while cruising. I'm talking comparable shoulder season cruises.

 

None of us likes taxes, but I really don't get how this head tax impacts the individual Alaska cruiser to the extent that it can determine whether or not someone can take a cruise. I do understand that it bugs the heck out of some people on general principle. For us, the airline baggage fee is going to have a greater impact.

 

I've spent a lot of time on the Alaska boards over the years, and I don't ever remember so many people coming on these boards who are on such tight budgets as they are this year. People are stretched thin, and as far as I can tell, that has little to do with the Alaska head tax. That has to do with the general economic malaise that has affected all of us in so many different ways.

 

Listening to that report, you can feel the strain....and fear....that a potential loss of tourism brings. I find that I'm becoming more and more sympathetic (or empathetic) with the Alaskans. My little corner of Pennsylvania got hit hard by the demise of the steel mills decades ago, and we are still struggling. And, our taxes have gone up and up and up, too. Whose taxes have gone down?

 

Bottom line....if Alaska reduces or eliminates the head tax, does anyone think they will actually see a difference in their cruise fares? Or, do you think you will have a better onboard experience? I don't. My point is not to defend the tax....I am just trying to figure out how lowering it is going to put extra dollars in my pocket.

[Putterdude]

While I think Alaska is slowly strangling the "goose that lays the golden egg" candidly the head tax is not going to keep me from cruising Alsaka.

[Ontario Cruiser]

Is the head tax already built into the price of the cruise or do we have to pay extra for it? Eg like the taxes in Chile and Argentia

Ontario Cruiser

[April-in-NC]

It is added after the cruise fare. When you book you have the cruise fare, then port charges and taxes.

[Ron AKA]

If you go to the Yukon, on an excursion, do you pay it again to get back into Alaska?

[tetleytea]

and it was up to Alaska to decide what was in Alaska's best interest

 

That's the problem, it NOT up to Alaska. It's up to the UNITED STATES to decide what is in the UNITED STATES' best interest. I sympathize with their situation to an extent--they might be feeling like those American colonists who don't like those British redcoats thousands of miles away in Washington DC governing for them. But the fact is, they're a state of the Union, just like everyone else. And they have to follow the same laws we do.

[bottom-dragger]

que the sound of b-d kicking the bee hive then running to a safe distance to watch the fun.

[Tricia724]

That's the problem, it NOT up to Alaska. It's up to the UNITED STATES to decide what is in the UNITED STATES' best interest. I sympathize with their situation to an extent--they might be feeling like those American colonists who don't like those British redcoats thousands of miles away in Washington DC governing for them. But the fact is, they're a state of the Union, just like everyone else. And they have to follow the same laws we do.

 

I have to admit, nobody ever explained it like this to me before.