The Governor of Alaska, Sean Parnell, signed into law a bill that reduces the state head tax on cruise passengers that will lower the head tax from $46 to as little as $19.50 per person.  The tax hike had caused cruise lines like Royal Caribbean to send their ships elsewhere to avoid paying the higher costs.  Loss of business as a result of the withdrawal is estimated at $25 million for Juneau alone this year.

Last month, Alaska Governor Sean Parnell proposed the agreement to persuade several major cruise lines -- which claimed the tax was unfair and possibly illegal -- to drop a lawsuit they had filed against the state to contest the tariff, which was passed in a 2006 vote by Alaska residents as part of a larger initiative.

The new tax law comes into effect in October 2010, but it will be 2012 at least before ships can be re-routed as 2011 itineraries are already planned.

Marc Liberts of edhat.com posted a very thorough trip report from his recent cruise to Alaska aboard Rhapsody of the Seas and shared not only his report of what happened, but also gave some tips and lessons he learned through his cruise.  For those that enjoy reading some thorough reports about past cruises, this is a real treat. 

"My wife and I have been on about 10 cruises of varying length and in cabins varying from inside to suites. Overall, we like to have a balcony, and we like suites, but have decided that the suites aren't worth the extra expense. Normally we would have done the balcony, but we wanted to be near the kids who had ocean-view cabins, and we were only 3 doors down from them. They had 2 adjoining cabins for the 5 of them. One of their cabins had 2 single beds and 2 bunk beds over the singles. The kids loved the bunk beds, so that was a great idea and mom & dad loved having their own room."

Seems like Marc had a great trip and also shared some fantastic photos he took from his trip.  Definitely a good read.