British Columbia announcement today - BC closed till 2021

[Fouremco]

1 hour ago, island lady said:

 

 

Edited May 8, 2020 by Fouremco
DUPLICATE

[Cruzygang]

On 5/7/2020 at 12:46 AM, Von & John said:

 

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...

Existence is about survival.  Will they live with some degree of comfor without tourism. Very different. 

[Cruzygang]

On 5/7/2020 at 5:06 PM, golfpccc said:

Just FYI — Celebrity, Royal Caribbean and Azamara will not announce suspensions on Cruises until after final payment is due!  They are canceling 30 days at a time.   I expect an announcement shortly suspending cruises through 7/12.  

Its like predicting the weather. So many variables. No one knows what will happen. Canceling a cruise before they know the restrictions would be stupid.  They can't uncancel. Makes sense to do it one month at a time

[Blackduck59]

6 hours ago, Coquitlam Cruiser said:

The public health officer for BC may have something to say about this as no large gatherings( more than 50) are permitted and social distancing is required even with the phase-in.  As long as international air travel is curtailed we won't have any cruise ships operating in Canada any time soon as well as the 14 day mandatory quarantine requirement.  Too many variables are stacked against cruising now and for the foreseeable future.

 

I'm pretty sure you didn't need to quote me to make your point.

What I said in response to the original post was that our Premier does not have the power to close the ports, which he does not.

I also said there was no word that the Province was closed into next year also in response to the original post.

The mandatory quarantine is also a federal law with regards to the quarantine act.

Thank you for your input, perhaps next time you can make your point without quoting me, nothing I said was untrue.

[ashstreet]

 

A request to Blackduck59: from ashstreet:

 

Hellp Blackduck59,

i, too, live in Victoria, love Celebrity Cruises, and have  a question that you may be able to answer:

If possible, could you e mail me at

frankieg8@shaw.ca

 

Many thanks,

frankie

cruise critic name: ashstreet

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Blackduck59]

56 minutes ago, ashstreet said:

 

A request to Blackduck59: from ashstreet:

 

Hellp Blackduck59,

i, too, live in Victoria, love Celebrity Cruises, and have  a question that you may be able to answer:

If possible, could you e mail me at

frankieg8@shaw.ca

 

Many thanks,

frankie

cruise critic name: ashstreet

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hi Frankie, I'd would be happy to answer your question but don't really want to do a personal email. I'm not even sure that the site would be happy if I did, in that they have disabled the Personal Messaging.

[billet]

There has been no announcement about the banning cruises. In fact yesterday the Greater Victoria Harbour Authority put out a statement "Staff continue to work with Transport Canada and Health Canada on the return of cruising when it is safe for everyone, including residents. The nationwide suspension of cruises in Canadian waters are the jurisdiction of Transport Canada. The suspension is currently in place until July 1, 2020."  Certainly, sadly, no Carnival Corporation lines will be visiting Alaska or Canada this year. 

[island lady]

16 hours ago, K12Guy said:

 

Frustrating, huh? It seems so easy to understand.

 

Yet some folks want us to take 'their word and opinion' as being fact, when, in fact, their word and opinion won't do a darn thing toward getting the refund or credits wanted/needed.

I'm not sure why that is so confusing.

 

Thank you!!  Someone finally gets it!!  Exactly it!  🤗

[Blackduck59]

3 hours ago, island lady said:

 

Thank you!!  Someone finally gets it!!  Exactly it!  🤗

 

I think there are lots of us that "get it". This whole thread was started on erroneous information.

Several points and posts have mixed understanding of jurisdiction.

While the government of British Columbia has certain powers, they do not have many of the ones that are being put forth here.

The border and ports are Federal Authority, British Columbia didn't and doesn't have the power to close the border with the USA.

That was a Federal Decision.

The 14 day quarantine order is also a Federal Authority under the Quarantine act, not a Provincial order; everyone entering Canada from anywhere in the world, citizen or not is subject to the order.

The Gentleman from Arizona is correct the chance of him getting to his vacation home on Vancouver Island is pretty slim, not from any orders by the Government of British Columbia, but from the Government of Canada. 

So after this long winded post. You are right to be choked that RCL is dragging their feet with the cancellation. You know and they know the cruise is a no go, they are just playing the game with your money.

I have a cruise booked for New Zealand in January 2021 and that may need to be postponed, depending on how the New Zealand and Australian Governments open International travel, we also have to be able to get back into Canada after our trip.

[Purplsmurf]

We have a cruise booked sailing from Vancouver in August. While I’m expecting it to be cancelled I’m still going to make final payment next week and then move it to next year. We only decided to make final payment because we have a wedding to pay for next year and can’t pay for both 😂

[the_thunderbird]

The Greater Victoria Harbour Authority, obviously only for Victoria, does have a proposal ready for a market style venue at the terminal in the event that ships arrive; generally Canadian Provinces and the Feds play nice together. The border was a tension point at the beginning stages of the emergency response, and I could really see it being a tension point again; that being that the border could open without BC's support. 

 

Pragmatically, though, BC has enough authority to keep you on the boat, but, only the Federal government can control whether it is able to tie up or now. I've got no idea if debarkation is required by the "Jones Act"?

Edited May 10, 2020 by the_thunderbird

[ashstreet]

Question for Blackduck59 - or anyone else from ashstreet:

Like many people, my April cruise was cancelled, and I cancelled cruises booked for this October. My next cruise is on the Millennium in April 2021: 14- days in Japan followed by a TP to Vancouver.

Normally, I would be booking air, hotel in Tokyo, and excursions now. But: do you think cruises will be happening 11 months from now?

i am still waiting for refunds and don't want to complicate things unecessarily.

All advice welcome!

frankie aka ashstreet

[bigbenboys]

On 5/7/2020 at 5:58 PM, Seacruise said:

It doesn't matter if the Ports are Federal. BC closed the border to Washington State BEFORE it was agreed upon with the USA as Washington State was a hotspot. What they did was issue a 14 day quarantine to those crossing. The cruise season was also talked about before Trudeau made the announcement. 

So you step off the Plane to get to the cruise and issued a 14 day quarantine, now what?

Oh yes how are you going to Fly to Canada to board the ship? Air Canada has no flights to the USA for the foreseeable future and nor do other airlines.
You have a major problem also coming up and that is where do you get a flight crew as in Pilots? Most Captains are over the age of 45 and require a medical every 6 months. Medicals were extended 3 months and will not be extended again.
In order to get a medical you have to visit the doctor in person (NO Virtual medical here) because of all the tests that have to be done.
In a lot of cases pilots have been laid off and will also require a Check Flight before getting back behind the controls. This takes a few hours and there are not that many Simulators out there to do it in fast order.
I know this because I am a pilot.

Oh and the big one that I read last week is how do the airlines bring the planes out of storage. Boeing and Airbus only have a manual for long term storage it turns out and no short term storage manual as it hasn't been needed. This is all new to them. It isn't a matter of kicking the tires and lighting the fire.
One just needs to go look at what the Airline world body is proposing in order to start back up again.
I read yesterday the proposal that is being put forward, is the airlines will require passengers to be at the airport 4 hours before a flight to go through all the checks.  There is even talk of them requiring blood tests in some cases which in itself is problematic in my opinion. The talk of "additional" fees is also talked about. The turning off of Video screens will also take place as they are a germ magnet they say.
I truly hope this get paired down or many passengers will be more than a little ticked off before getting on the plane.

There is another problem in Downtown Vancouver right now and that is Hotels are being used to House the Homeless. This will not end anytime soon either.  Just Google Downtown East-side of Vancouver and it will open your eyes.

There are just too many hurdles as I see it to over come for this summer to be a go.

I also worked in the airline industry and understand what you are saying.

[Fouremco]

12 minutes ago, ashstreet said:

Question for Blackduck59 - or anyone else from ashstreet:

Like many people, my April cruise was cancelled, and I cancelled cruises booked for this October. My next cruise is on the Millennium in April 2021: 14- days in Japan followed by a TP to Vancouver.

Normally, I would be booking air, hotel in Tokyo, and excursions now. But: do you think cruises will be happening 11 months from now?

i am still waiting for refunds and don't want to complicate things unecessarily.

All advice welcome!

frankie aka ashstreet

We had a cruise booked for March 2021 that we pushed last week to March 2022. Too much uncertainty about the pandemic and second or subsequent waves; the receptiveness of foreign ports; and total silence from Celebrity to date on how they plan to operate when the time comes to restart, whenever that might be. By pushing it off for a year, we trust that these issues will have been resolved and that until then we can sit back and relax.

[middlehaitch]

39 minutes ago, ashstreet said:

Question for Blackduck59 - or anyone else from ashstreet:

Like many people, my April cruise was cancelled, and I cancelled cruises booked for this October. My next cruise is on the Millennium in April 2021: 14- days in Japan followed by a TP to Vancouver.

Normally, I would be booking air, hotel in Tokyo, and excursions now. But: do you think cruises will be happening 11 months from now?

i am still waiting for refunds and don't want to complicate things unecessarily.

All advice welcome!

frankie aka ashstreet

 

frankie,

Obviously I am not the person you are asking the question of, but here's my thought, and what I am doing for a 2021 cruise.

Plan, but don't book. the world is way too fluid right now to know what cruising will be like 11 months from now. 

 

Airlines are shrinking so any flight you may be booking now may change numerous times over the next 11 months.

 

Hotels are a little more stable, so plan which ones you may want to stay at and track their performance for a few months.

 

Excursions, quite a few of the smaller tour companies may not survive the pandemic, or may have to merge with others. Again, look at tours you would like to do, follow them for a few months, then make a booking.

 

I really feel in depth planning at this point in time could be a fruitless expenditure of your time. 

Research and observe until at least the fall, if the pandemic is under control, treatment effective, Canada and BC borders are open, and you are comfortable travelling, then start booking.

 

Cheers, heather

 

Got to say Fouremco's moving to the next year under the most recent promo (Lift & Shift?) is something worth considering.

 

Edited May 14, 2020 by middlehaitch

[Blackduck59]

57 minutes ago, ashstreet said:

Question for Blackduck59 - or anyone else from ashstreet:

Like many people, my April cruise was cancelled, and I cancelled cruises booked for this October. My next cruise is on the Millennium in April 2021: 14- days in Japan followed by a TP to Vancouver.

Normally, I would be booking air, hotel in Tokyo, and excursions now. But: do you think cruises will be happening 11 months from now?

i am still waiting for refunds and don't want to complicate things unecessarily.

All advice welcome!

frankie aka ashstreet

 

Hi Frankie,

My wife and I have a similar dilemma. We have an 11 day around New Zealand on Eclipse in January 2021 and we have airfare and hotels pre and post cruise already booked. We are waiting to see what happens. We may have to "lift and shift" but we have until August 1st to decide that.

We are hoping to proceed as planned. Our decision will be to proceed as planned if the borders are open and it feels like we will be welcome, then we go in January.

As I have said many times that will have to be our "Adult" decision.

Edited May 14, 2020 by Blackduck59

[ChuckL]

1 minute ago, Fouremco said:

We had a cruise booked for March 2021 that we pushed last week to March 2022. Too much uncertainty about the pandemic and second or subsequent waves; the receptiveness of foreign ports; and total silence from Celebrity to date on how they plan to operate when the time comes to restart, whenever that might be. By pushing it off for a year, we trust that these issues will have been resolved and that until then we can sit back and relax.

We did the same thing for pretty much the same reasons you had. We changed a Honolulu-Vancouver May 2021 cruise to May 2022. We had the dilemmas to risk of either Honolulu or Vancouver being closed down when our ship would have begun sailing to Hawaii in September 2020 for a sailing season in Australia and New Zealand, or the possibility that the full winter season sailings down under would be cancelled because the foreign ports wouldn’t accept the ship, thus canceling the return through Hawaii to Vancouver in May 2021. There were just too many uncertainties for us to feel comfortable, so we made the change. 

[Fouremco]

10 minutes ago, middlehaitch said:

 

frankie,

Obviously I am not the person you are asking the question of, but here's my thought, and what I am doing for a 2021 cruise.

Plan, but don't book. the world is way too fluid right now to know what cruising will be like 11 months from now. 

 

Airlines are shrinking so any flight you may be booking now may change numerous times over the next 11 months.

 

Hotels are a little more stable, so plan which ones you may want to stay at and track their performance for a few months.

 

Excursions, quite a few of the smaller tour companies may not survive the pandemic, or may have to merge with others. Again, look at tours you would like to do, follow them for a few months, then make a booking.

 

I really feel in depth planning at this point in time could be a fruitless expenditure of your time. 

Research and observe until at least the fall, if the pandemic is under control, treatment effective, Canada and BC borders are open, and you are comfortable travelling, then start booking.

 

Cheers, heather

 

Got to say Fouremco's moving to the next year under the most recent promo (Lift & Shift?) is something worth considering.

 

Yes, Heather, it was under the Lift & Shift policy. We jumped on the opportunity as soon as they announced it.

 

And I agree fully with the points you raise.

[ashstreet]

Thank you from ashstreet:

Really appreciate such good advice.

As soon as I get the refunds from this year's cruises, I will probably cancel April 2021 and find something for spring 2022.

You are all the best.

frankie

[BCHappyGal]

They announced today that the Canadian Border closure will be extended from May 21st to June 21st....

So our lock down continues...  However I do think this is the correct way to go...

[K12Guy]

I really wish the OP or an admin would take this post down. The title page is simply NOT correct and Celebrity doesn't deserve to be referred in that light.

[wrk2cruise]

You should use the report post button next to the post number to bring your suggestion to the attention of the mods.

[az_tchr]

1 hour ago, K12Guy said:

I really wish the OP or an admin would take this post down. The title page is simply NOT correct and Celebrity doesn't deserve to be referred in that light.

First - I cannot edit an old post even if I wanted to.

The post is correct.  Horgan clearly stated that there would be no gatherings of over 50 people in BC until 2021 unless either a vaccine or herd immunity occurred earlier.  That effectively closes entry to BC by transport of more than 50 people.  Do you think this might cover Celebrity?

The ports are legally open and only the Federal. Government can close them.  Merchant ships and exempt ferries continue to operate.  

[Blackduck59]

6 minutes ago, az_tchr said:

First - I cannot edit an old post even if I wanted to.

The post is correct.  Horgan clearly stated that there would be no gatherings of over 50 people in BC until 2021 unless either a vaccine or herd immunity occurred earlier.  That effectively closes entry to BC by transport of more than 50 people.  Do you think this might cover Celebrity?

The ports are legally open and only the Federal. Government can close them.  Merchant ships and exempt ferries continue to operate.  

 

Almost everything about the original post is erroneous. Please be aware of the jurisdictions here.

The BC Ferries are a vital link to Vancouver Island and it will be a cold day in hell when they stop running. Even though they are running at a greatly reduced capacity. And losing about a Million Dollars a day.

The 2 Ferry services that run between Victoria and the United States are both out of service because the border is closed. 

The ports are open to essential shipping. The guidelines as of 06 Apr 2020 "Prohibit all Commercial marine vessels with a capacity of more than 12 passengers from engaging in non-essential activities, such as tourism or recreation. These measures will remain in place until at least June 30, 2020"

Suffice to say I believe the Alaska cruise season is lost. That being said the Government of British Columbia does not have the final word.

 

 

[the_thunderbird]

BC confirmed closed for debarkation this season, Vancouver & Victoria (Seattle departures). There's no way the Federal government will open the Ports without Provincial consent. 

 

If the Ports were to open Dr. Henry, our Health Officer, stated she would issue an Order to prohibit actual physical entry of passengers to BC. As a resident I'm strongly supportive of this for 2020, but it'll be economically crushing. 

 

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/b-c-health-officials-say-cruise-ships-not-welcome-this-summer-1.5567086