This is a very volatile issue in Alaska tourism circles and it impacts more than just the passenger's side of paying more. Without getting into the politics, here's some food for thought.

Alaska is planning to impose more financial controls and taxes on the cruise lines that serve the destination than any other place in the world. The real question now has to be --- if you ran one of those cruise lines in Alaska and were facing these outrageous fees next year, would you "just say no" and reposition your ships to another destination that is a "hot" cruise market where you can fill ships and make money - like Europe?

There's a long legal battle in the next 6+ months over the points in this bill. Thankfully Alaska is a seasonal cruise market and by the time the 90 day period to start rolls around, all the ships will be far away in much warmer places. This will be a good one to keep an eye on.