When state conservation officials learned last week that Princess Cruise Lines agreed to plead guilty to a systematic cover-up of its policy to dump waste into the ocean, they rushed to their record books to determine whether any ships involved had sailed in Alaskan waters.
Their concern was well-placed: In 1999, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. agreed to plead guilty to seven felony counts and pay $6.5 million in fines for environmental crimes in Alaska between…