Anchorage AK Cruise and Tours

Holland America Lines will make Anchorage Alaska a regular cruise ship stop in 2010. Before this, when a cruise lines referenced Anchorage as a cruise port they were really speaking of Whittier or Seward and then a connecting train or bus trip to Anchorage. That scenario has just taken a turn for the better.

Holland Americas "Pacific Flagship" the MS Amsterdam, which carries 1,380 passengers and a crew of 615, will be the first ship from a major line to regularly call on Anchorage as a cruise port. The port call will be part of a 14-day Alaskan Adventurer Cruise package that offers round trip luxury and excitement from Seattle Washington at a very affordable price.

This 14-day cruise will also visit Homer and Kodiak making this a one of a kind Alaskan Adventure that is surely one to be considered in your trip planning for 2010. The Amsterdam will stop in Anchorage, Homer and Kodiak; three new ports for cruise passengers, exclusive to Holland America.

7-day cruises that begin or terminate in Whittier or Seward.

Most of the major cruise lines have a 7-day cruise that included either the port of Whittier or Seward in their itinerary. These cruises typically are the ones many Alaskans like ourselves have enjoyed for years.

Many passengers on these 7-day cruise itineraries extend their Alaskan vacation with tours away from the coast to destinations such as Denali Park, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Fairbanks.

Checking out Creek Street in Ketchikan AK.	The massive glaciers of Glacier Bay Alaska.

Holland America said it will drop 20 trips between Vancouver, British Columbia, and Seward next year. The MS Veendam will not be returning in 2010 and will be visiting Bermuda instead. The company estimates it will carry 11,000 fewer passengers to Alaska next year due to this change.

Two other companies, Norwegian Cruise Line and Royal Caribbean Cruises, have announced they also be operating some of their vessels elsewhere in 2010, blaming a $50.00 head tax and other issues tied to a 2006 citizens initiative.

New taxes including this statewide head tax of $50 per person, $100 per couple, and $200 for a family of four. By itself, the impact is marginal. But when coupled with increased head taxes imposed by local communities and some new port fees, it adds up, and the cumulative effect, exacerbated by rising fuel costs, have been effectively pricing Alaska out of many would be tourists budgets and driving them and now the cruise industry away from Alaska.