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U.S. Senate allows Alaska-bound cruise ships to bypass Canada; House action could allow summer cruises this year

marykatherine111
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rockmom

rockmom

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Posted
13 minutes ago, Tree_skier said:

I hope you are right but I thought that Royal cancelled those ones.

I think they pulled them from the site for sale, but didn't cancel. I was booked on Ovation doing the short little repositioning from Seattle to Vancouver, BC with a stop in Victoria.  I had received a letter saying they would be pulling all the Alaska and Vancouver BC sailings from the site and that they'd update when they knew something.  But they did offer the option to request a full refund.  Since mine was only stopping in Canada and I knew it wouldn't go, I took the refund of my deposit.  I already had (and still have) an 8 night southern Caribbean cruise that was put into that same limbo because of the number of nights, I didn't need two.  Now if they'd just decide on that 8 nighter, which is supposed to sail on July 3rd.  

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sandebeach

sandebeach

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This was from Cruise Industry News:

The U.S. Senate has passed a bill that will allow foreign-flagged cruise ships to operate in Alaska without calling on a Canadian port as the Alaska Tourism Recovery Act was passed on Thursday. 

It's a huge step to saving part of the 2021 Alaska cruise season. 

The legislation was the work of Alaskan Senators Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan.

Next, the bill goes to the U.S. House for approval.

The House will need to vote it through and then President Joe Biden will need to sign it.

"Huge victory today in my effort to provide an opportunity for economic recovery for Alaskan communities who rely on cruise ship passengers -- the Senate just passed my bill," said Senator Murkowski in a social media post.

If the bill moves through other branches of the U.S. government efficiently, the next step would be for the industry to gain CDC approval to operate. 

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bonsai3s

bonsai3s

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1 hour ago, marykatherine111 said:

We shall see! We didn't cancel our August Ovation cruise, so maybe?

 

Genuinely hope you'll sail.

Our cruises on Ovation were all cancelled...including the Tokyo to Seattle transpacific. And our Alaska cruise...we cancelled.

Note: Not sure if the Ovation is still near Singapore but if it is, then it would have to sail across the pacific (with or without passengers) for Alaska.

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Ourusualbeach

Ourusualbeach

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2 hours ago, Tree_skier said:

I hope you are right but I thought that Royal cancelled those ones.

They only cancelled the Quantum.  OV, RD and SR were just pulled for sale like all the other sailings that stopped in Canada.. Guests on those sailings were given the option to cancel, lift snd shift or stick with the sailing.   Me, I took the shift to 2022.

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Teeara "Live from...." Rare

Teeara

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They canceled our Radiance cruise for June awhile back.  We also had the post-cruise train ride booked so that was canceled too.  So instead we booked a weeklong road trip with AAA from Anchorage to Fairbanks.  Really looking forward to it AND doing our fair share of supporting the local economies during our drive.  I'll miss sitting on our balcony, though, during the cruise.  And those double points ;o)

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badvector "Live from...." Rare

badvector

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I'll be curious to see if they move the embarkation point from Vancouver to Seattle for all of their Alaska ships.  We were supposed to go at the end of August on Serenade out of Vancouver.  If it makes it through the House, it will start getting interesting.

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jean87510 Great Review Rare

jean87510

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9 hours ago, Ourusualbeach said:

They only cancelled the Quantum.  OV, RD and SR were just pulled for sale like all the other sailings that stopped in Canada.. Guests on those sailings were given the option to cancel, lift snd shift or stick with the sailing.   Me, I took the shift to 2022.

I did as well for my may radiance cruise.  We went to the grand canyon instead last weekend.  Not exactly the same weather but beautiful scenery.

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jean87510 Great Review Rare

jean87510

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3 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

We booked a trip to Banff for July but now that is in doubt

We did 19 mile down south Kaibab and up Bright Angel in 12 hours.  Extremely difficult and would not recommend.  But amazing.  Also hiked in Sedona.  After the long weekend, I am less inclined to vacation with mask rules after tasting freedom.  I am looking forward to Alaska as I was so upset when we had to move it.  It will be our first time.

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Tree_skier "Live from...." Rare

Tree_skier

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10 hours ago, Ourusualbeach said:

They only cancelled the Quantum.  OV, RD and SR were just pulled for sale like all the other sailings that stopped in Canada.. Guests on those sailings were given the option to cancel, lift snd shift or stick with the sailing.   Me, I took the shift to 2022.

Yeah. Went and looked back at the emails and the one received didn’t say cancelled just fifer options. I took the lift and shift. 

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EdandMary

EdandMary

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it would be great if they did move the Vancouver ships to Seattle for this year so they could do the Alaska cruises as well as the Hawaii repositioning cruises. We will be curious how they handle the international cruisers for the Covid issues. Hopefully it will just require the total vaccinations for passengers and crew and we will be able to cruise from Seattle this year. Time will tell.

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suzyluvs2cruise

suzyluvs2cruise

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23 minutes ago, EdandMary said:

it would be great if they did move the Vancouver ships to Seattle for this year so they could do the Alaska cruises as well as the Hawaii repositioning cruises. We will be curious how they handle the international cruisers for the Covid issues. Hopefully it will just require the total vaccinations for passengers and crew and we will be able to cruise from Seattle this year. Time will tell.

 

First thing is to get the ships staffed and moved. Radiance, Ovation, Quantum are in Asia and Serenade is by Barbados. 

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Pratique

Pratique

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2 hours ago, At Sea At Peace said:

Thankfully, in the US Senate, it passed by Unanimous Consent.  Finally, good news on top of good news.

Actually it passed by voice vote. It came out of committee on unanimous consent.

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Pratique

Pratique

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1 hour ago, broberts said:

If the cruises are fully vaccinated it would make sense for Canada to allow them to call.

Hopefully. This bill is only for voyages that sail not later than Feb 28, 2022.

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