British Columbia announcement today - BC closed till 2021

[az_tchr]

Prime Minister Horgan announced today on TV that ports in BC would remain closed to all except ship with under I think 300 passengers.  Ferry traffic continues at about 40% to Vancouver Island and US to Victoria ferry is shut.

Said in no hurry to open US/BC border to tourist traffic.

Sounds like Alaska cruising done for 2020.

Holland America and others pretty much cancelling all of 2020.  

Edited May 7, 2020 by az_tchr
Spelling and addition

[cl.klink]

Wow.  This will devastate Ketchikan, Sitka, etc.  Will there be anything left of these towns in 2021?

 

- Joel

[jelayne]

The 2020 options are getting less and less.  

[Cruising89143]

Holland America and Princess cancels certain  summer sailings. Celebrity cannot be far behind.

 

https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/22904-princess-cancels-remaining-2020-summer-season.html

 

https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/22905-holland-america-cancels-all-2020-alaska-europe-and-canada-sailings.html
 

[Fouremco]

Just so there's no confusion, John Horgan is the Premier of British Columbia, not the Prime Minister.

[marieps]

49 minutes ago, cl.klink said:

Wow.  This will devastate Ketchikan, Sitka, etc.  Will there be anything left of these towns in 2021?

 

- Joel

$15/brl oil isn't helping either.

[Seacruise]

1 hour ago, az_tchr said:

Prime Minister Horgan announced today on TV that ports in BC would remain closed to all except ship with under I think 300 passengers.  Ferry traffic continues at about 40% to Vancouver Island and US to Victoria ferry is shut.

Said in no hurry to open US/BC border to tourist traffic.

Sounds like Alaska cruising done for 2020.

Holland America and others pretty much cancelling all of 2020.  

Just to clarify something, John Horgan is Premier of British Columbia . The Prime Minister of Canada is The Right Honourable Justin Trudeau.
It is like calling the Governor of Arizona The President of the United States. 🙂 .

And Yes BC is closed this fall so no cruises period going to Hawaii or Japan.... Oh yes and if the border does open you will be required to do a 14 day quarantine.

[vivian02]

Thanks..... my August Alaska cruise final payment is due on May 8th. I made the decision two days ago to cancel and it looks like I made the right decision. The cruiseline did allow me to rebook down the road with out adding more money to the deposit. My airfare was booked on a Canadian carrier so most likely I will at least get a credit on a future flight. I have done eighteen cruises and this is the first time things went haywire. 

    I have to agree those southwestern Alaska cities will go through a economic hit not to mention Alaska will not receive those wonderful taxes from the paying customers this year. This is a situation no one saw coming. Tim

[zoomzoom13]

Do you have a link to this information?  I've searched but haven't found it yet.

[TeaBag]

18 minutes ago, zoomzoom13 said:

Do you have a link to this information?  I've searched but haven't found it yet.

Hope this helps

[Von & John]

3 hours ago, cl.klink said:

Wow.  This will devastate Ketchikan, Sitka, etc.  Will there be anything left of these towns in 2021?

 

- Joel

 

This will certainly have an impact on Ketchikan & Sitka...

However, both communities were in existence long before the Cruise Ship Companies found Alaska...

They will continue their existence into 2021...

[RickT]

It’s been discussed on other threads that The Jones ACT (or whichever act prohibits transit between US ports without a stop in a foreign country) could be amended to allow cruise ships to sail solely to US ports.  This would allow East Coast, West Coast and Alaska sailings..... assuming it is safe and there is any demand.

 

Doubt that will happen but who would have guessed the cruise industry would be shut down either.

 

Stay safe my friends. Until we sail again.

[Lady Arwen]

10 hours ago, Fouremco said:

Just so there's no confusion, John Horgan is the Premier of British Columbia, not the Prime Minister.

Thanks for clarifying!  However, we Canadians are used to it.

[TeeRick]

Was anybody still thinking that there would be an Alaska cruise season this year?  Why?

[John182]

I am not overly bothered about Cruise ships not going into BC myself but I do feel for all of you who were planning on visiting Alaska this season. It's an addictive place to go to. That said we are pretty desperate to get to BC to see our son, daughter-in-law and two growing, adorable bundles of mischief. As with pretty much everything else in these strange times whether we can or not this year is up in the air. We live in hope. Take care everybody, keep safe and be kind.

[Fouremco]

2 hours ago, RickT said:

It’s been discussed on other threads that The Jones ACT (or whichever act prohibits transit between US ports without a stop in a foreign country) could be amended to allow cruise ships to sail solely to US ports.  

It's the Passenger Vessel Services Act (PVSA). This Cruise Critic article explains the difference between the two:

https://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=3363

[Ginnyfyr]

So much for our Hawaii cruise out of Vancouver in September 😞

[iancal]

No surprise.  This announcement has been anticipated for some

time.

 

Tough decision.  I believe that British Columbia is absolutely doing the right thing. 

Edited May 7, 2020 by iancal

[phoenix_dream]

So any guesses how long it will take Celebrity to actually cancel those cruises so I can get my $$ back????  It should be happening as I write this, but I am guessing at least a couple of weeks.😒

[Firepath]

13 hours ago, cruisingator2 said:

Holland America and Princess cancels certain  summer sailings. Celebrity cannot be far behind.

 

https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/22904-princess-cancels-remaining-2020-summer-season.html

 

https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/22905-holland-america-cancels-all-2020-alaska-europe-and-canada-sailings.html
 

I wish they’d hurry up. We have final payment due in a couple of weeks.

[PoppyandNana]

14 hours ago, jelayne said:

The 2020 options are getting less and less.  

 A lot of us are still on pins and needles regarding our Aug. 2nd 14 night to Dublin from Port of Bayonne.  That port is closed as are several of the stops on the itinerary.                     

[TeaBag]

We do too, but if they don't cancel before the FP, we will.

[SilvertoGold]

Possibly HAL could change from embarkation in Vancouver to Seattle for the Hawaii (stop in Ensenada on return to San Diego)  and Seattle departure also for Japan.

 

Doubt if anything will sail that soon, though.

[phoenix_dream]

There's no question this will be very difficult for Alaska ports.  Yes, they existed long before cruising, but they have since then developed into larger communities that do in fact rely on cruise $$s.  At the same time, they currently have very few cases.  If suddenly cruise ships were to start docking and potentially bring the virus with them to spread more easily their limited medical facilities would be completely overrun.  I can't imagine, even if laws were temporarily changed, that Alaska would even want cruise ships to dock this year.

[SunFun80]

13 hours ago, TeaBag said:

Hope this helps

I listened to this in its entirety and nowhere does Horgan indicate that cruise ship ports are closed until 2021.  Can you indicate where he said this. I still have a cruise scheduled and have not cancelled as I am waiting for them to cancel.