I Guess Alaska Cruises Will Be Cancelled Soon

[zdcatc12]

The Canadian Government on Thursday issued a new order which will prohibit cruise vessels in all Canadian waters until February 28, 2022. 

The ruling effectively kills the Alaska cruise season for foreign-flagged ships as well as other cruise seasons in the Great Lakes and Canada/New England for ships under foreign flag. Only a handful of smaller ships fly a U.S. flag. 

[ColeThornton]

Do you have a link for that, please?  I'm not seeing it online.   Thanks.

[Shanlon42]

https://www.cruisecritic.com/news/5862/

[ColeThornton]

7 minutes ago, Shanlon42 said:

https://www.cruisecritic.com/news/5862/

 

Well, that stinks, but then again what doesn't lately?  🙂  Thanks for the link.

[Shanlon42]

Lol no problem, wish it were better news

[Lost Sailor]

Would the cruise ship be allowed to dock, but no one get on or off to satisfy the international port requirement.

[Travelicious]

Aw, man.  I had been holding out hope for Canada/New England in October.

 

[ColeThornton]

Just now, Lost Sailor said:

Would the cruise ship be allowed to dock, but no one get on or off to satisfy the international port requirement.

 

 

No.  That doesn't satisfy the requirement.

[Lost Sailor]

11 minutes ago, ColeThornton said:

 

 

No.  That doesn't satisfy the requirement.

Thank you, was just a thought.  I had originally booked for 09/20 on the Encore a few months back, but then changed it a few days later for 5/22, hopefully we'll be sailing by then!

Edited February 4, 2021 by Lost Sailor

[DCGuy64]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the issue more that Alaska cruises have to call at a foreign port because of the Passenger Vessel Services Act? Couldn't that be abolished or waived? It was apparently debated in 2011 but didn't pass (amending one section of the PVSA, that is). It's worth noting that that law only applies to foreign-flagged ships operating in US waters. In theory, a US-flagged ship could take passengers between Alaskan ports without ever having to stop in Canada. Not likely, I know.

 

[farmersfight]

9 minutes ago, DCGuy64 said:

In theory, a US-flagged ship could take passengers between Alaskan ports without ever having to stop in Canada. Not likely, I know.

 

Not like our one and only U.S. flagged full size cruise ship Pride of America, but at least these are "small ships". And, they take passengers between Alaskan ports without having to stop in Canada;

 

https://www.americancruiselines.com/cruises/alaska-cruises

 

[GA Dave]

https://www.canada.ca/en/transport-canada/news/2021/02/government-of-canada-announces-one-year-ban-for-pleasure-craft-and-cruise-vessels.html?fbclid=IwAR0-HHk2LZSTLQIYpCcSN-NjhxCl8tcK9xjiFl8hib39fHZxa2Nbj3ulUhc
 

[ilovetotravel1977]

No doubt this will not be good news for the Port Halifax.  My waterfront will suffer again this year. So sad.

[tallnthensome]

I saw this coming ...... canceled my August cruise to Alaska last week . Sad .....

[BirdTravels]

Royal cancelled their Alaska season on the Quantum of the Seas a few weeks back. Unlike NCL, they allow guest to lift and shift the reservation into next year with the same price and perks. 

[GA Dave]

What will be interesting to me is to watch how quickly Canada scrambles if the US and other countries can get the vaccines out fast enough and everyone starts to travel again in the fall.  I would assume that the cruise lines will redo all their schedules immediately to eliminate anything related to Canada through at lease March 2022, and they won't be thrilled having to again redo them if Canada decides "woops, maybe we should not have closed for so long".  The economic damage to many Canadian ports and businesses may be catastrophic.

[BirdTravels]

Emergency orders come and go.  The end dates are arbitrary. We had a shelter in place emergency orders. That order was rescinded and replaced with a Tier 1 reopening following by a rescind and a Tier 2 reopening. It is far easier to write an order and amend it along the way than having to reissue it monthly or quarterly. The sky is not falling.... yet 

Edited February 4, 2021 by BirdTravels

[Georgie562]

4 hours ago, Lost Sailor said:

Would the cruise ship be allowed to dock, but no one get on or off to satisfy the international port requirement.

 

That won't be necessary as it's a big possibility the whole Alaska season in general will be axed. 

[PaulMCO]

The ruling also stated that no cruise ships are allowed in Canadian waters.  That makes it difficult to get from Seattle to Sitka or Ketchikan that many cruise go.

[farmersfight]

23 minutes ago, Encore37 said:

 

You obviously know nothing about Justin Trudeau and the Liberal government.  He won't regret the decision nor will he reverse the decision to ban all cruise ships until 2022.  He's having a great time destroying our entire economy and turning Canada into a Socialist country.

 

Hmmm...why does this sound familiar?

[bookbabe]

1 hour ago, Encore37 said:

 

You obviously know nothing about Justin Trudeau and the Liberal government.  He won't regret the decision nor will he reverse the decision to ban all cruise ships until 2022.  He's having a great time destroying our entire economy and turning Canada into a Socialist country.

 
So true.  And he can’t manage to get his sh!t together to actually receive the vaccines he has supposedly ordered in any timely fashion.  While he claims we’ll all be vaccinated by the fall, it’s more likely to be next spring at the rate he’s going.

[EleventyBangBang]

You can apparently no longer book a 2021 Alaska cruise on Royal's site - I assume NCL will soon do the same. 

 

 

[atanac]

I wonder if Alaska's senators and house members might try to float some kind of waiver bill.

Those three or four Alaskan towns were shut out of the 2020 season and now it looks like

2021 is toast. A crushing blow to all those businesses.

A waiver would be in support of United States workers. Not being forced to call at Victoria or Vancouver would mean the cruise lines could add an extra port in Alaska instead. Money that

would have went into Canada's bank accounts could be shifted to ones in Alaska and federal taxes.

I would be curious to see what Alaskan politicians are doing to adjust to Canada's ban.

[BermudaBound2014]

I’m just thinking outside the box here and someone will probably explain to me why this won’t work, but.....

 

NCL has one American flagged ship (POA). Since Hawaii has so many restrictions for inner island travel (that I don’t see ending anytime soon): could NCL move the POA to Alaska for the summer season? I believe they can sail to Alaska from Seattle without entertain Canadian water. Of course, that means Seattle would need to open up to cruising (which appears unlikely). Anchorage mayor seems pretty conservative but I think the governor is more open. People could fly to anchorage and bypass Seattle. 
 

of course, that all hinges on the POA meeting current cdc return to sailing orders which, imo, is highly unlikely to happen before the Alaska season ends. 

 

nevermind- this was a stupid idea- I’m laughing at myself  :). 

[hamrag]

14 hours ago, DCGuy64 said:

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the issue more that Alaska cruises have to call at a foreign port because of the Passenger Vessel Services Act?......

Nope, the issue is COVID-19 as clearly stated in the announcement.....although some Canadians have posted, in their opinion, it's Justin Trudeau and the Liberal government to blame!

Edited February 5, 2021 by hamrag