alaska cruises

[simong]

since the cruises longer then 7 days are cancelled per cdc and lines like princess wont book going up and back from vancouver bc can folks go one way on princess and the other way on another line like holland america 

[adstz]

There's no way anyone would know you are doing this so I don't see why not. Might have to add in a night or 2 in a hotel to make it work but great idea.

[wallyj]

A YouTuber who is a Canadian travel agent posted 'switching' cruise lines will not work as passenger manifests are reviewed by homeland security and you will probably be caught. Rumor of quarantine after cruise would also negate ability for B2B's. Possible7 day quarantine after cruise, until revenue sailng resumes, we really have no definitive answers unless cruise lines release protocols early. 

[nini]

Even if you could do a B2B or two Alaska cruises, Canadian ports

are still closed. Per two maritime laws, the ship must visit a foreign

port on this itinerary.

[redtop101]

2 hours ago, nini said:

Even if you could do a B2B or two Alaska cruises, Canadian ports

are still closed. Per two maritime laws, the ship must visit a foreign

port on this itinerary.

.....and Canadian ports are in no hurry to re-open, unfortunately. Currently closed until March 31st, but I expect a further closure.

[gerig]

1 hour ago, redtop101 said:

.....and Canadian ports are in no hurry to re-open, unfortunately. Currently closed until March 31st, but I expect a further closure.

 

1 hour ago, redtop101 said:

.....and Canadian ports are in no hurry to re-open, unfortunately. Currently closed until March 31st, but I expect a further closure.

There are ways to get around that.  The ship pulls into port and noone departs but it is registered as a foreign port. So instead of disembarking in Vancouver the ship can sale to Seattle.   I was on a Royal anthem cruise that was to Halifax from Bayonne NJ.  It was a short cruise but it turned out there was such bad weather in Halifax that the ship headed south to Virginia and turned around and went back to Bayonne.

 

[lderochi]

16 hours ago, gerig said:

 

There are ways to get around that.  The ship pulls into port and noone departs but it is registered as a foreign port. So instead of disembarking in Vancouver the ship can sale to Seattle.   I was on a Royal anthem cruise that was to Halifax from Bayonne NJ.  It was a short cruise but it turned out there was such bad weather in Halifax that the ship headed south to Virginia and turned around and went back to Bayonne.

 

My understanding is that the “no disembarkment quickie stop” loophole was closed. The required stop is expected to be a typical cruise ship stop. Waivers for unexpected or dangerous situations are available, but those are on a case by case basis. 

[skynight]

17 hours ago, gerig said:

 

There are ways to get around that.  The ship pulls into port and noone departs but it is registered as a foreign port. So instead of disembarking in Vancouver the ship can sale to Seattle.   I was on a Royal anthem cruise that was to Halifax from Bayonne NJ.  It was a short cruise but it turned out there was such bad weather in Halifax that the ship headed south to Virginia and turned around and went back to Bayonne.

 

Special waivers are granted for extreme weather, mechanical difficulties, medical and others types of conditions which are out of ship's control.

Unless exemptions are provided service stops as you describe are no longer allowed.   

[HaveWeMetYet]

Alaska 2021 season looking very doubtful.

 

OTTAWA — Canada will not agree to lifting a ban on non-essential travel with the United States until the coronavirus outbreak is significantly under control around the world, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Tuesday.

Trudeau’s comments were a clear indication that the border restrictions will last well into 2021. The two neighbours agreed to the ban in March and have rolled it over on a monthly basis ever since.

 

Full article.

https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/trudeau-indicates-canada-u-s-border-restrictions-to-last-a-long-time

[nini]

With Trudeau's "Mother Country" administering the first COVID

vaccines this week, maybe things will be turning around sooner

than we had hoped?

[ellie1145]

On 11/25/2020 at 9:45 PM, adstz said:

There's no way anyone would know you are doing this so I don't see why not. Might have to add in a night or 2 in a hotel to make it work but great idea.

 

32 minutes ago, nini said:

With Trudeau's "Mother Country" administering the first COVID

vaccines this week, maybe things will be turning around sooner

than we had hoped?

 

Surely these restrictions, such as only 7 day cruises, are for a good reason? To ensure that nobody is able to stay longer than 7 days on a ship, or move to another ship and bring potential infection to it? To cut the risk of infection? So surely we ought not to be trying to find ways to by pass these regulations just so that we can do more than 7 days on a cruise? I am desperate to cruise again but I am prepared to wait for it to be safe. 

 

How long will it be before people are finding great ways to by-pass having the vaccination by buying fraudulent certification or whatever is needed? Seeing those selfish people who bring their pet animals on a plane or a ship, pretending that they are Emotional Support Animals, when in reality they either don’t want to pay the airfare, or they don’t want to pay for their animals to be looked after while they vacation, it won’t be long before people will find a way round any requirements.

 

We must be patient. It only takes one person who manages to by pass the 7 day rule who brings Covid onto a ship, or takes it from one ship to another, to put the whole cruising industry back to square one. Do we really want that because we are so impatient?

 

Here in the UK it is, of course, very good news about the vaccine, but we cannot imagine that it is a quick fix, as the vaccine is very difficult to transport and even more difficult to distribute. It’s going to take MONTHS, even in a country like ours which has a national health system which gives free medical care to all. It’s going to be an even bigger problem for those countries who have no national health service. 

 

I hope that people will not risk the future of the cruise industry by trying to find ways round regulations which have been put in place to help make cruising safer.  

 

As our Prime Minister and all of his experts have said today, we must continue to wear masks, wash hands and make space.

[memoak]

Yes it will take many months to distribute. Once it is however proof of vaccination will probably be required to board. Much like children in many states must prove the have the measles vaccination to attend public school. Maybe by mid to late summer if all goes well. There are ways to verify with doctors IDs etc. This has been the case for many years for things like malaria and yellow fever 

[gerig]

7 hours ago, skynight said:

Special waivers are granted for extreme weather, mechanical difficulties, medical and others types of conditions which are out of ship's control.

Unless exemptions are provided service stops as you describe are no longer allowed.   

The actual cruise indicated that noone would disembark in Halifax.  Canada would receive the revenue in port charges and the ship would sign the paperwork but just head to Seattle to disembark.

 

[memoak]

I would imagine that there will be centralized databases to validate your vaccination record

[caribill]

8 hours ago, gerig said:

The actual cruise indicated that noone would disembark in Halifax.  Canada would receive the revenue in port charges and the ship would sign the paperwork but just head to Seattle to disembark.

 

 

????

[twangster]

17 hours ago, gerig said:

The actual cruise indicated that noone would disembark in Halifax.  Canada would receive the revenue in port charges and the ship would sign the paperwork but just head to Seattle to disembark.

 

 

Ensenada was used to on certain Hawaii cruises from California exactly in this manner.  There was a ruling that determined the stop was used for the purposes of circumventing the PVSA.  Since that ruling the cruise lines have avoided repeating that mistake anywhere else.

 

The PVSA contains language that it can be waived for National Security reasons only.  Beyond that it would require Congress to pass an amendment.   

 

There are American companies with US crew on US flagged ships that offer Alaska cruises from Seattle and other ports in the area.  While they are small ships the PVSA exists to protect American shipping interests such as these American companies. 

 

Beyond cruise ships there are hundreds of passenger vessels in America.  In totality these US flagged passenger vessels contribute more to the US economy then the foreign cruise lines do.  Congress isn't going to open the can of worms and put a lot of effort into new legislation aimed to help foreign cruise lines paying very little US tax employing very few Americans while at the same putting the entire US passenger vessel fleet at risk just so people can go on vacation more easily.

 

Even if for some crazy reason Congress did try to amend the PVSA there is still the issue of crew C-1/D work visas that prevent cruise ship foreign crew from working in America.  If a foreign ship was allowed to operate from a US port and never visit a foreign country (Canada) the foreign crew would find themselves in violation of immigration law and their C-1/D visas.  

 

So not only are you asking for a PVSA amendment that isn't going to happen, you would also need immigration law reform with the sole purpose of allowing foreign cruise lines who pay little US tax employing very few Americans to make higher profits while negatively impacting the US companies that operate in the same waters putting US jobs in jeopardy.  

 

As much as I like to cruise and I have two Alaska cruises booked in 2021,  I would not support either a PVSA ammendment or immigration law reform for this purpose.  Instead I am actually looking at booking one of these small ship American companies.  They are more money but it means 100% of my vacation spend would go to American companies employing American crew on US flagged ships.

[memoak]

As far as validating vaccinations it was announced today that all vaccinations from each state will be sent to the CDC so there should be a database that carriers can check and avoid people who attempt to use fake vaccination documents

[nini]

12 minutes ago, twangster said:

 

As much as I like to cruise and I have two Alaska cruises booked in 2021,  I would not support either a PVSA ammendment or immigration law reform for this purpose.  Instead I am actually looking at booking one of these small ship American companies.  They are more money but it means 100% of my vacation spend would go to American companies employing American crew on US flagged ships.

 I imagine that Alaska on one of the smaller American ships would be

amazing! I just wish that they were not so expensive.

[caribill]

13 hours ago, memoak said:

As far as validating vaccinations it was announced today that all vaccinations from each state will be sent to the CDC so there should be a database that carriers can check and avoid people who attempt to use fake vaccination documents

Everyone who gets a COVID vaccination will get a record card.