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RCL - Use St. Pierre & Miquelon for Eastern US Cruises in 2021


Empehi
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Last fall the Empress of the Seas had a few cruises scheduled to stop in St. Pierre & Milquelon but of coarse they were cancelled.

When the CDC allows cruising in 2021 why not sail New England with the foreign port being St. Pierre. RCL must already have a relationship with this French territory.

Come on RCL .... get creative.

 

e

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16 minutes ago, Empehi said:

Last fall the Empress of the Seas had a few cruises scheduled to stop in St. Pierre & Milquelon but of coarse they were cancelled.

When the CDC allows cruising in 2021 why not sail New England with the foreign port being St. Pierre. RCL must already have a relationship with this French territory.

Come on RCL .... get creative.

 

e

Just because you want RCL to get creative doesn't mean they're on the same page. They have no intention of sailing just for the sake of it. It doesn't work that way. They have no intention of 'finding loopholes' or changing laws. 

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I was thinking about this, too, but I believe that cruise ships are banned from Canadian waters, not just Canadian ports. And there is no guarantee that France would allow cruise ships to dock, either.

 

Iceland?

Edited by kochleffel
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Since St Pierre and Miquelon are French territory, they aren't covered by the Canadian ban. However, the French government has been pretty strict thus far. Nonetheless, unlike the government of Canada, France has not placed a total ban on pleasure cruising until February of 2022. Still plenty of time for them to loosen the restrictions and allow cruising from there, or anywhere else (Martinique, St Martin, Guadeloupe, etc.). It's also important to note that anything that can be restricted, can be loosened, and vice versa. I've been following the various closures and openings since last spring and it's like a tennis match: a country locks down, then opens back up, then locks down again, etc. It's maddening.

Edited by DCGuy64
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1 hour ago, kochleffel said:

I was thinking about this, too, but I believe that cruise ships are banned from Canadian waters, not just Canadian ports. And there is no guarantee that France would allow cruise ships to dock, either.

 

Iceland?

 

Yes, I heard that it is a ban from cruise ships sailing into Canadian waters which makes the great suggestion of St. Pierre moot. I don't see a work around for NE/Canada iineraries.

 

But what is the international ocean boundary? If it is 3 miles, and those acts which require a foreign port can be halted or changed for cruises, maybe Alaska cruises to/from Seattle could proceed this year. 

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Couple of points.  International waters are 12 miles from shore.  So, the Miquelon Islands are surrounded by international waters, not Canadian waters.  You do not enter Canadian waters to get to the islands.  However, France has severe travel restrictions on their overseas territories, like the Miquelon Islands, where you have to have a "compelling reason for travel" to enter the overseas territories.  Don't think cruising is "compelling".

 

As for Greenland, those ports are out because of the new Polar Code, which places all of Greenland, but not Iceland, out of bounds for any ship that doesn't meet the new PC6 rating (and no mainstream cruise ship does, nor do virtually any of existing ships).

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20 hours ago, Another_Critic said:

[Saint-Pierre] Port may not be able to handle Vision class or larger ships.

The only 2021 itineraries I could find that intended to call there were on Seabourn and Ponant, but Holland America plans to call there in 2022 with the Nieuw Statendam. I don't know whether Holland America would plan to use the cruise pier, which is a bit outside the central area of Saint-Pierre, or to tender to the wharf downtown. The deep-sea berth can accommodate ships up to 300 meters in length; the Nieuw Statendam is just slightly shorter than that.

 

 

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18 minutes ago, chengkp75 said:

As for Greenland, those ports are out because of the new Polar Code, which places all of Greenland, but not Iceland, out of bounds for any ship that doesn't meet the new PC6 rating (and no mainstream cruise ship does, nor do virtually any of existing ships).

Is that recent?  I see several Holland, Celebrity, Princess and MSC ships scheduled to make stops there in 2022.  Those are just the big ones.  Lots of other ships from smaller lines not even including the expedition cruises

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1 minute ago, Ourusualbeach said:

Is that recent?  I see several Holland, Celebrity, Princess and MSC ships scheduled to make stops there in 2022.  Those are just the big ones.  Lots of other ships from smaller lines not even including the expedition cruises

The Polar Code was adopted several years ago, with ships having an older "Ice Class" certificate being grandfathered in until their next certification (drydocking) after 2018.  So, existing ships lose their grandfathering depending on when their renewal happens, but all grandfathering ends at the end of 2022 (something new I just found, prior I thought it was 2021).  So, according to what I've seen now, some ships (those built after 2016) could make calls at Greenland in 2021.

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1 minute ago, chengkp75 said:

The Polar Code was adopted several years ago, with ships having an older "Ice Class" certificate being grandfathered in until their next certification (drydocking) after 2018.  So, existing ships lose their grandfathering depending on when their renewal happens, but all grandfathering ends at the end of 2022 (something new I just found, prior I thought it was 2021).  So, according to what I've seen now, some ships (those built after 2016) could make calls at Greenland in 2021.

So are you saying that any ship is grandfathered in as Celebrity Summit..built 2001 has a port stop Greenland 2022.  None of the ships I saw were built after 2016

 

 

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7 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

So are you saying that any ship is grandfathered in as Celebrity Summit..built 2001 has a port stop Greenland 2022.  None of the ships I saw were built after 2016

 

 

Okay, its a bit complicated.  Using the Summit, she gets her certification every 5 years, since building, so 2006, 2011, 2016, and 2021.  So, the Summit loses its grandfathering in 2021, as this is when her first certificate renewal, after 2018, happens.  Now, a ship built in 2002, would have recertification in 2022 (20 years), so that ship could call there in 2022.  Ships built in 2003, lose their grandfather in 2018 (15 years).  Ships built in 2007, and 2012 can still call in 2022, but ships built in the years between cannot.

Edited by chengkp75
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1 minute ago, chengkp75 said:

Okay, its a bit complicated.  Using the Summit, she gets her certification every 5 years, since building, so 2006, 2011, 2016, and 2021.  So, the Summit loses its grandfathering in 2021, as this is when her first certificate renewal, after 2018, happens.

If she loses her grandfathering in 2021 how is she stopping there in 2022

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2 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

If she loses her grandfathering in 2021 how is she stopping there in 2022

She can't.  I edited my previous post as well, showing some of the strange circumstances where an older ship can call there later than a newer ship, based on when the 5 year anniversary happens.

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1 minute ago, Ourusualbeach said:

Bit she is August 14 and 15, 2022 and August 23 and 24

The only way is if they took her "out of service" during this shutdown, and suspended all classification surveys, so their certificate would renew later.  Not sure how this is actually working, with the deferred surveys, just speculating.

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1 minute ago, chengkp75 said:

The only way is if they took her "out of service" during this shutdown, and suspended all classification surveys, so their certificate would renew later.  Not sure how this is actually working, with the deferred surveys, just speculating.

Seems like there are quite a few of those older ships with exceptions in 2022 then if you look at how many have callings in Greenland. 

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41 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

Seems like there are quite a few of those older ships with exceptions in 2022 then if you look at how many have callings in Greenland. 

This whole shutdown may have extended the Arctic season one year, but definitely 2022 is the end.

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18 minutes ago, chengkp75 said:

This whole shutdown may have extended the Arctic season one year, but definitely 2022 is the end.

So back to the original topic, it looks like the itineraries could be altered for 2021 sailings to potentially include Greenland as a stop for many ships. 

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