Despite the Great Recession, millions have disposable income. It helps that plenty of retired Americans are able to spend money for the luxury of cruises.
For Seattle, that means going to Alaska, a route that is growing again after the state reduced a passenger head tax that had dampened cruise-ship visits.
Even with the Alaska tax, Seattle expects more than 864,000 passengers to embark here this year. That’s down from 2010’s record 931,698. But the passenger count in 1999 was 6,615.
Seattle has proved a continuous draw, starting with Norwegian in 2000 and adding Disney this year. The lines use 11 vessels, typically on weeklong voyages.