Mixed Answers - Alaska Cruise Ports Closed?

[Lusyd]

We are booked out of Vancouver August 2. My mom has cancer and 9 of us are booked. Some people keep telling me that the Alaska ports are closed for the year yet I haven't read that anywhere official. RCCL is still booking alaska cruises this summer. My final payment is due next week and I hate to pay the balance ($11,000) on a cruise we aren't going on either way. We want a refund as opposed to a FCC. This means we have to wait for them to cancel. Can anyone confirm or deny if the Alaska ports are closed for this summer? I read the mayor in Skagway was shocked cruislines are still booking for this summer.

[CruiserBruce]

This thread, just down the board,  is directly on target for your questions:

 

Vancouver is closed to July 1. Alaska is not closed for the season at this time. 

 

If you are sure you are not going, I would just cancel prior to final payment. Delays on refunding can be very long.

[Lusyd]

20 minutes ago, CruiserBruce said:

This thread, just down the board,  is directly on target for your questions:

 

Vancouver is closed to July 1. Alaska is not closed for the season at this time. 

 

If you are sure you are not going, I would just cancel prior to final payment. Delays on refunding can be very long.

Thank you!

 

[zqvol]

4 hours ago, Lusyd said:

We are booked out of Vancouver August 2. My mom has cancer and 9 of us are booked. Some people keep telling me that the Alaska ports are closed for the year yet I haven't read that anywhere official. RCCL is still booking alaska cruises this summer. My final payment is due next week and I hate to pay the balance ($11,000) on a cruise we aren't going on either way. We want a refund as opposed to a FCC. This means we have to wait for them to cancel. Can anyone confirm or deny if the Alaska ports are closed for this summer? I read the mayor in Skagway was shocked cruislines are still booking for this summer.

 

I would not give any cruise line any more money right now. It is simply too risky. Personally I don't think you are sailing out of Seattle this year. You might go if you are sailing out of Vancouver, but that is highly unlikely. If a cruise line files for bankruptcy protection it will take forever to get any money back from them. Personally I would rather lose the deposit than the additional $11K.

Edited April 29, 2020 by zqvol

[kennicott]

Yes, no cruise ships hardly at all, which is really hard for Alaska since close to two thirds of our visitation comes from cruise ship guests. 

 

I don't know of any of our ports which are closed or intend to close for cruise ships, however that is elementary, since, as long as Canadian ports are closed it is impractical and illegal for most foreign bottom ships to engage in commerce here without having a Canadian visit on their itinerary.

 

Even if they should port in Alaska we currently have a law that requires anybody "except essential workers like oil field types or fishermen who are restricted by other rules", entering Alaska to quarantine for 14 days. I'm in Florida right now but that also includes me, an 80 year resident of Alaska, I will have to quarantine in Anchorage in a few weeks when I return.  

 

Thousands of seasonal workers are impacted as well, many of which are Alaskan residents. As a for instance, all of the Princess Lodges are closed for the season.

 

With oil production drying up due to no markets, we are returning to days of yore, where commercial fishing will be our primary livelihood.

[aurora_borealis]

Vancouver won't open July 1, in all probability. BC doesn't want big ships in, let alone big ships full of Americans.

[darwinsrule]

There are so many things that need to happen first before the ban on ships lifts.  Right now the boarder is closed to non-essential travel by joint agreement between the Canada - U.S. governments.  That expires in a few weeks, but will be extended again.  There is a mandatory 14 day quarentine for anyone entering Canada much like the Alaska one.  Neither of those is happening until we have things under control here, and until the government is confident that the U.S. has things under control so that the risks of outbreaks is minimized. 

 

 

[Langley Cruisers]

On 4/29/2020 at 7:42 AM, Lusyd said:

We are booked out of Vancouver August 2. My mom has cancer and 9 of us are booked.... My final payment is due next week and I hate to pay the balance ($11,000)....

 

I completely understand about cancer and wanting to spend remaining your time with loved ones doing something incredible and unforgettable, and making memories that you will have with your mom and relatives. Having said that, I am also battling cancer and will NOT be going on our (long ago booked) Alaska cruise in August. In my opinion, it is simply too soon and I am already immunocompromised. I am having a hard enough time trying to stay home and distance, let alone get on a crowded ship to crowded ports, where it takes ONE person with asymptomatic Covid-19 put me in the hospital, probably never to come out again. Patients with Covid are dying alone because their family cannot visit them. I burst into tears just last night thinking of that and telling my husband I hope I do not get this virus.

 

I'm sure you and your mom and family are excited about the prospect of this wonderful cruise, but you could not pay me to get on a ship until at least next year. This is life and death we are talking about, especially for your mom. PLEASE... I ask you all to reconsider. 

 

You asked - there is absolutely no way I would pay $11,000 in final payment right now. I honestly don't think the Alaska season will be resuming this year.

 

My best to your mom and all of you. God bless. 🕊️🙏