Seems the cruise lines have figured out a way to increase their share of the business along their routes. We learned that most of those cute little shops right along the waterfront are actually owned (or in partnership) with the cruise lines!
In other words, the original Ketchikan wasn't "authentic" enough, so they've created a town that the cruise lines feel is more appealing to the tourist crowd!
Now, this doesn't make the authentic "local" shops happy, as they are open all year round and pretty much are the same as they've been for the past 100 or so years.
Photo at right shows a big cruise ship dominating one end of town (there were 4 big ships in port when this was taken), while the sign on an "original" business (below) gives their viewpoint.
