TEXT CRUISE TO 52886: That’s what cruise industry professionals are asking people to do in an aggressive effort to recover from travel bans and regulations imposed by state and federal agencies in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. They’ve had enough.
It’s been more than a year since cruisers have toured Alaska’s Inside Passage, and the impact to cruise-dependent tour companies and local economies has been nothing short of devastating.
Independent travel and tourism companies that operated in 2020 proved two things:
- People still want to visit Alaska — even during a pandemic.
- Successful businesses can operate while keeping visitors and locals safe.
Despite their efforts to develop health and safety programs and the fact that millions of Americans have already been vaccinated, cruise lines still remain unable to sail in the United States. But they’re not going down without a fight. Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) is committed to offering world-class vacation experiences and are ready to welcome tourist back onboard. Their number one priority is the health and safety of their guests, crew and communities they visit.
NCL has developed SailSAFE, a science-backed protocol developed with public health experts, to provide the safest cruising experience possible. They believe they can provide a safe and healthy vacation experience and want Alaskans to contact elected officials to show support for cruise lines and cruise ship dependent businesses.
Elected and regulatory officials need to hear from Alaskans who own, operate or work for tourism-based businesses in Ketchikan that are cruise ship dependent. Show your support for the cruise ship industry by using the NCL Form or contacting them individually by email, phone and/or social media and ask them to allow cruising to resume in the United States.
Congressman Don Young
Email Form
2314 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
(202) 225-5765
Senator Lisa Murkowski
Email Form
United States Senate
1900 First Ave Ste 225
Ketchikan, AK 99901
(907) 225-6880
Senator Dan Sullivan
Email Form
302 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
(202) 224-3004
Representative Dan Ortiz Representative.Dan.Ortiz@akleg.gov
Dan Ortiz Interim Address:
Alaska State Legislature District 36
1900 First Ave Ste 310
Ketchikan, AK 99901
(907) 247-4672
Dan Ortiz Session Address:
State Capitol
Room 513
Juneau AK, 99801
(907) 465-3824
Mayor Rodney Dial
RodneyD@kgbak.us
Ketchikan Gateway Borough
1900 First Avenue, Suite 115
Ketchikan, AK 99901
(907) 220-6861
Governor Mike Dunleavy
Email Form
State Capitol, 3rd Floor
PO Box 110001
Juneau, AK 99811
(907) 465-3500
Mayor Robert Sivertsen
City of Ketchikan
mayor@ktn-ak.us
334 Front Street
Ketchikan, AK 99901
(907) 225-3691
Tell your elected officials that you appreciate the amount of work cruise lines have put into developing more rigorous health and safety protocols, that you feel it is safe to sail and that the CDC should be working with the cruise line industry to allow ships to cruise again.
“We can no longer wait for the federal government to act and support our communities and businesses that rely on tourism, namely those who come to Alaska by cruise ship. Alaska was anticipated to welcome 1.3 million tourists by cruise ship before the pandemic shut that down. The combined total economic loss from a canceled cruise ship season in 2020 and 2021 amounts to $6 billion, with 2,180 businesses at direct risk – many of which are small family owned businesses. My administration is taking necessary steps to help Alaskans, starting with putting forth an aggressive aid package and seriously considering filing legal action against the CDC if the conditional sail order is not lifted. Our communities need our help now more than ever.” — Governor Mike Dunleavy (April 9, 2021)