Cruise Tax & Regulation Initiative Fails!

Hi Everyone,

I saw this article regarding in the Juneau Empire. Apparently Dennis
and his friend's ideas to tax and regulates cruisers is not as popular
as he thought with the local friendly Alaskan citizenry. vbg
http://tinyurl.com/29dgx
Maybe Dennis should invest in a new hat. Could it be this was the
reason the petition gathering failed to get support? Check it out.
:+)
http://tinyurl.com/uaww
If you have missed any of my news' postings, they are available on my
web site.

Best regards,
Ray
LIGHTHOUSE TRAVEL
800-719-9917 or 805-566-3905
http://www.lighthousetravel.com

I am amazed that give the new taxes, etc, that the proposed initiative
requires, that the supporters base "income" estimates on all the ships and
lines remaining in Alaska.

Bet quite a few ships would pull. Not all, but enough to have a big financial
impact. While Alaska is popular right now, there is such a thing as pricing
the average cruiser out of that market - and it would not take that much of a
further price hike to start reversing the growth. Alaskan ports can't make
that much from Radisson and Crystal alone

Regards, Keith
(loved the expression on Dennis' face leaving the courtroom. And that hat!
Call the Queer Guys for Straight Guys producer right away!). January - must be
cold up there today!

On Tue, 13 Jan 2004 10:55:00 -0800 in rec.travel.cruises, Ray
Goldenberg wrote:

I saw this article regarding in the Juneau Empire. Apparently Dennis
and his friend's ideas to tax and regulates cruisers is not as popular
as he thought with the local friendly Alaskan citizenry.

it didn't fail. the industry attempted to have the alaska atty
general block it, thus delaying it. we have another two years to
gather signatures, and we WILL succeed, primarily because the
initiative will tax shipboard gambling at 33%, which would be a
great help to our current budget situation. by the time it's on
the ballot, it will pass.

and my hat is very useful with the weather we've been having. at
least i have enough brains to wear one in the wintertime.

it sure has been nice with no damn cruise ships around!

On 14 Jan 2004 00:53:30 GMT in rec.travel.cruises,
(KeithF4281) wrote:

Bet quite a few ships would pull. Not all, but enough to have a big financial
impact. While Alaska is popular right now, there is such a thing as pricing
the average cruiser out of that market - and it would not take that much of a
further price hike to start reversing the growth.

hey, i'm all for that, and so are a lot of other folks that are
sick and tired of being overrun by busses and helicopters all
summer.

I read both of the links you listed, Ray, and while you probably submitted the
second one for its photo of Dennis Harris and his hat, I hope you don't
disagree that the citizens of Juneau, Alaska should be able to attend meetings
between the city and the Northwest Cruise Ship Association and voice their
opinions.


Subject: Cruise Tax & Regulation Initiative Fails!
From: Ray Goldenberg
Date: Tue, Jan 13, 2004 10:55 AM
Message-id:

Hi Everyone,

I saw this article regarding in the Juneau Empire. Apparently Dennis
and his friend's ideas to tax and regulates cruisers is not as popular
as he thought with the local friendly Alaskan citizenry. vbg
http://tinyurl.com/29dgx
Maybe Dennis should invest in a new hat. Could it be this was the
reason the petition gathering failed to get support? Check it out.
:+)
http://tinyurl.com/uaww
If you have missed any of my news' postings, they are available on my
web site.

Best regards,
Ray
LIGHTHOUSE TRAVEL
800-719-9917 or 805-566-3905
http://www.lighthousetravel.com

On Tue, 13 Jan 2004 10:55:00 -0800, Ray Goldenberg
wrote:

I saw this article regarding in the Juneau Empire. Apparently Dennis
and his friend's ideas to tax and regulates cruisers is not as popular
as he thought with the local friendly Alaskan citizenry. vbg
http://tinyurl.com/29dgx
Maybe Dennis should invest in a new hat. Could it be this was the
reason the petition gathering failed to get support? Check it out.

Aw.... should we rent a plane (on Saturday or Sunday) and have it
carry a banner 'better luck next time, Dennis!" ? ;-)

On Wed, 14 Jan 2004 01:23:03 -0900,
(Dennis P. Harris) wrote:

On Tue, 13 Jan 2004 10:55:00 -0800 in rec.travel.cruises, Ray
Goldenberg wrote:

I saw this article regarding in the Juneau Empire. Apparently Dennis
and his friend's ideas to tax and regulates cruisers is not as popular
as he thought with the local friendly Alaskan citizenry.

it didn't fail. the industry attempted to have the alaska atty
general block it, thus delaying it.
Let me guess. It was a conspiracy, right?

we have another two years to
gather signatures, and we WILL succeed, primarily because the
initiative will tax shipboard gambling at 33%, which would be a
great help to our current budget situation. by the time it's on
the ballot, it will pass.
Then you see the big bird of passage passing away. You' d better use
those two years to save up money for the hard times to come.

and my hat is very useful with the weather we've been having. at
least i have enough brains to wear one in the wintertime.

it sure has been nice with no damn cruise ships around!
Pity you won't have a cent to spent then...

On Thu, 15 Jan 2004 08:41:40 +0700 in rec.travel.cruises, Jos
Flachs wrote:

Then you see the big bird of passage passing away. You' d better use
those two years to save up money for the hard times to come.

I was doing just fine before the atrocious growth of the cruise
monster, and I'll do just fine after, as will many of my fellow
Juneauites.

On Thu, 15 Jan 2004 02:57:27 -0900,
(Dennis P. Harris) wrote:

On Thu, 15 Jan 2004 08:41:40 +0700 in rec.travel.cruises, Jos
Flachs wrote:

Then you see the big bird of passage passing away. You' d better use
those two years to save up money for the hard times to come.

I was doing just fine before the atrocious growth of the cruise
monster, and I'll do just fine after, as will many of my fellow
Juneauites.
That I doubt very much. Like it or hate it, Juneau is now a tourist
city. In the summer season Juneau generates their whole year income.
Even you. That may be directly or indirectly, but you do make money
out of it. Even in the highly unlikely case you don't make any money
at all out of the atrocious growth of the cruise monster, you still
do: lower taxes.

It is very simple Dennis. You chase away the cruise ships, and quite a
few tourist businesses will close down. Which will force other
companies to close down too. Which in turn will not attract more
tourists, so even more businesses will close down. Less tourists to
fleece by the government usually isn't a big deal for the government.
They simply fleece somebody else. You. Meaning less spendable income,
and more people moving out of Sunny Juneau.

I guarantee it will be quit nice and very quiet. But then, graveyards
usually are.

On Fri, 16 Jan 2004 10:02:19 +0700 in rec.travel.cruises, Jos
Flachs wrote:

It is very simple Dennis. You chase away the cruise ships, and quite a
few tourist businesses will close down. Which will force other
companies to close down too. Which in turn will not attract more
tourists, so even more businesses will close down. Less tourists to
fleece by the government usually isn't a big deal for the government.
They simply fleece somebody else. You. Meaning less spendable income,
and more people moving out of Sunny Juneau.

it's not that big a part of our economy, thank goodness. a large
number of juneauites would be *very* happy if they never saw
another cruise ship. you have a very inflated idea of the
importance of the industry here. most of the businesses that
fleece the cruise pax are from the caribbean, and and are only
here during the season. they take all of their profit with them.

fewer cruise ship pax, lower impact, no expense for dealing with
the crowds. the industry hasn't been paying its way, so we'll
save money.

tell me jos, were you the HA engineer that bypassed the oil
separators so the ship could dump oily bilge waste in glacier
bay?